Barney Frank: “Massachusetts is rich in history, but this is a particularly significant piece of Massachusetts from an historic…”

“Massachusetts is rich in history, but this is a particularly significant piece of Massachusetts from an historic standpoint. As the gentleman from Nevada pointed out, the Liberty and Union Flag was raised there in 1774. This is the place here in Taunton where the revolution was fueled. Robert Treat Paine, a resident of Taunton, signed the Declaration, and it continues to be important. The courthouse green, a lovely area, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the greatest landscape architect in our history and, probably, the history of the world. I am privileged to have an office right in the midst of this. So I guess I should say I would be a beneficiary of this. But it is for the city, and it will be passed on. I also should say that I became the Representative of Taunton in the last redistricting. And for the prior couple of decades it was extraordinarily well-represented by one of our great former colleagues, the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Moakley, who was sadly taken from us a few years ago.”