Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in 1906, two brothers named Nikolai and Matthew Gjelsvik arrived at Ellis Island from Norway. The only English they knew were the words ``apple pie'' and ``coffee,'' which evidently they learned on the boat on the way over. The immigration officials at Ellis Island thought that their name would be too difficult to spell and pronounce in this country, so they asked them to change their name. The names, when they got to this country, were Nikolai Gjelsvik, spelled G-J-E-L-S-V-I-K, and his brother was named Matthew. So the immigration officials asked them to change their name, and they picked the name from the farm where they worked near Bergen, Norway, which was called the Thune farm. So Nikolai Gjelsvik became Nick Thune, my grandfather. He and his brother worked on the railroad as they built it west across South Dakota. They learned English and saved up enough money to start a small merchandising company and then later a hardware store in Mitchell, SD. To this day, there is a Thune Hardware in Mitchell, although the family sold it many years ago. In 1916, Nick Thune married an Iowa girl who had moved to South Dakota to teach school, and they had three sons. The middle son, Harold, will turn 100 in a few days, and that middle son happens to be my dad. Like many of my colleagues, I send congratulatory notes to constituents for big birthdays and anniversaries. I never thought I would have the occasion to send one to my dad.…”