Kay Bailey Hutchison: “March 2 is Texas Independence Day. Every year I have been in the Senate, I have carried on the tradition, started by…”

“March 2 is Texas Independence Day. Every year I have been in the Senate, I have carried on the tradition, started by Senator John Tower, of reading on or about March 2--Texas Independence Day--William Barret Travis's letter from the Alamo. I just want to give a little background because, of course, Texas is the only State that came into our Nation as a nation. Texas was a republic for 10 years, having fought very hard for its independence from Mexico. In fact, William Barret Travis's letter was dated February 24, 1836. His letter was an appeal for support because he only had 184 men in the Alamo, in the garrison, and, of course, he was vastly outnumbered by the Mexican Army. So he was asking for help. He was pleading for help. All of this was happening around the time that the duly elected members of the Declaration of Independence Congress were coming to Washington-on-the-Brazos to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico. It was a trying time between February and April of 1836 for these Texans who were trying to gain their independence and who eventually became a part of America. It was at the Alamo, in San Antonio, TX--Tejas at the time--that 184 Texas rebels, led by William Barret Travis, made their stand against Santa Anna's vastly superior Mexican Army. These Texas patriots did not even have uniforms. They barely had arms. In fact, they only had about $1,000 to fund this entire army. So they did not waste any money on uniforms.”