Orrin Hatch: “Today is July 24--an ordinary day to millions of Americans and 98 percent of this body. But to Utahns, July 24, Pioneer…”

“Today is July 24--an ordinary day to millions of Americans and 98 percent of this body. But to Utahns, July 24, Pioneer Day, is a big State celebration. Offices and businesses are closed; there are parades and pageants in most Utah communities; and families gather for picnics and games. Mr. President, July 24 was the day in 1847 when Brigham Young stood atop a rise in Emigration Canyon, gazed at the Salt Lake valley below, and announced to the Mormon pioneers who had followed him across the Plains and across the Rocky Mountains that 'This is the Place.' Today is the 149th anniversary of Pioneer Day. It is a day Utahns celebrate so enthusiastically because it commemorates the determination and faith that brought our ancestors into the place Mormons call Zion. It commemorates the triumph over the hardships inherent in such a journey. It commemorates the sense of community that kept them together as a people. And, it commemorates the fact that the religious persecution suffered by my Mormon ancestors did not achieve its purpose.”