Political Quotes

“Thank you. I appreciate the support. I also thank the gentlewoman from California for her support all the way from the beginning of this bill to today's passage. It means a lot to me and to the people of Omaha and Boys Town. This bill will honor the significant contributions, Mr. Speaker, of Boys Town and how, in my district, it has impacted our community and our country with a fitting tribute to the legacy of Father Flanagan, who founded Boys Town. A priest and an immigrant from Ireland, Father Flanagan was of modest means, but in 1917--about 5 years after becoming a priest--he borrowed $90 from B'nai B'rith member Henry Monsky to open a boarding house because they both shared a love for the homeless boys, who had been abandoned or orphaned, living on the streets of our city. They created this boarding house, went out and recruited boys from the streets to come in, where he not only housed them and fed them but where he educated them and taught them a trade. He really felt that the education and the trade were necessary parts of making them into men who would be part of the community and be successful. Father Flanagan did not differentiate between race or religion, and by the spring of the next year, 100 boys found refuge in Father Flanagan's home. It is great seeing the pictures from that era of boys of all races who were eating together and playing together. In 1921, Father Flanagan opened his doors further. He was able to purchase the Overlook Farm way on the outskirts.…”