Political Quotes

“I appreciate the time to come here in December. I am not sure if we will get time next week here on the floor. As we look forward to Christmas, I think it is important to remember why we are here and why we are here in the House. Christmas 1777 was one of the lowest and most desperate points of American history. General Washington, fresh off defeats at Brandywine and Germantown had marched the battered Continental Army to winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Frozen rain, snow, and brutally cold temperatures tested not only the men's resolve to fight for freedom, but their bodies' ability to withstand the elements. They showed up low on provisions. It was so bad that in a letter on December 23, General Washington wrote to Henry Laurens of the Continental Congress: ``I am now convinced beyond a doubt, that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place . . . this Army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things: Starve, dissolve, or disperse. . . . [This] is not an exaggerated picture. . . . `' Historians estimate that as many as one-third of them didn't have boots or shoes. Washington ordered soldiers to build wooden huts for themselves to stave off the cold and search the surrounding countryside for straw to make bedding to keep them warm. They didn't have enough blankets to go around after all. In the same letter, Washington also noted that his Army was in danger from the enemy.…”