CELEBRATING 250 YEARS OF AMERICA

  (Mr. Mann of Kansas was recognized to address the House for 5
minutes.)
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we honor and prepare to
celebrate 250 years of American independence.
  Mr. Speaker, 250 years ago, our Founders declared to the world that
our rights do not come from government nor do they come from a king.
They come from our creator. They declared that government exists to
protect liberty, to secure the rights of people, and to preserve a
nation where free men and women could build lives, raise families,
worship God, and pursue opportunity. That idea changed the course of
human history.
  As we approach America's 250th birthday, we ought to look back with
gratitude, but we should also look forward with clarity. America's
success was not an accident. We were blessed by God with extraordinary
resources, but it was freedom that allowed the American people to turn
those blessings into the most prosperous Nation in the history of the
world.
  I often think about it this way: America was dealt three aces. First,
we were given the largest stretch of fertile farmland in the world,
which runs right through Kansas and the district that I am blessed to
represent. In the Big First District, agriculture is not just an
industry, it is our way of life. Our farmers, ranchers, feedlot
operators, ethanol producers, researchers, truckers, and small
businesses all play a role in feeding, fueling, and clothing the world.
  Second, running through that great patch of farmland is the largest
navigable river system on the planet, the Mississippi River system.
That river system gave American producers the ability to move goods,
reach markets, trade with the world, and build an economy that went
well beyond the county line, a State line, or even a coastline.
  Third, and most importantly, America was founded on faith, freedom,
private property rights, the rule of law, and limited government.
Fertile soil alone does not create prosperity. A river alone does not
create opportunity. Natural resources alone do not make a nation great.
Freedom does.
  It was freedom that allowed families to farm the land, own the land,
improve the land, pass it down to the next generation, and build
communities around it. It was freedom that allowed entrepreneurs to
take risks, churches to strengthen communities, families to flourish,
and citizens to govern themselves.

  That is why America became the most prosperous and free Nation the
world has ever known. One of the reasons we remain free is because we
have never had to rely on another nation to feed us.
  Food security is national security. A nation that cannot feed itself
cannot long remain independent. For 250 years, American farmers and
ranchers have helped secure our freedoms while our brave servicemen and
-women defended them on the front lines. Farmers have kept grocery
store shelves stocked, strengthened rural communities, supported our
economy, and ensured that America never had to turn to our adversaries
to sustain us.
  In Kansas, we understand that well. The Big First is the most
productive agriculture district in the country, ranking first in
cattle, wheat, and sorghum production. We help feed, fuel, and clothe
the world. We know when agriculture is strong, America is strong.
  Our State has always had an outsized role in the American story. We
are home to Abilene, where President Dwight D. Eisenhower learned the
values that helped him lead the Allied Forces to victory in World War
II and later to lead this Nation as our President. We are home to
leaders like Senator Bob Dole, who carried the values of faith,
service, sacrifice, and duty from the plains of Kansas to the
battlefields of Europe and the Halls of Congress.

  I like to think that the Big First District is the pilot light of
America because the values that make our country great are still alive
and well in my hometown and across Kansas. Folks where I am from live
by faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility, and service to
their neighbors. As long as those values continue to burn bright in
America, our brightest days are yet to come. However, preserving those
values requires us to be clear-eyed about the threats we have to
freedom.
  History scholars know there is an inverse relationship between the
size of government and the freedom of the people. The larger and more
intrusive government becomes, the smaller the space becomes for
families, churches, businesses, farms, and individuals to flourish.
That truth is just as important today as it was in 1776.
  Yes, America was blessed with fertile land, mighty rivers, abundant
resources, and a people willing to work, but it was freedom that
allowed those blessings to become prosperity. It was faith that gave
our Nation its moral foundation, and it was family that carried our
values from one generation to the next.
  As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, let us do more than look
back. Let us recommit ourselves to the principles that made our Nation
possible: faith, family, freedom, limited government, private property,
strong communities, gratitude, and faith in God.
  We must protect this inheritance, strengthen it in our time, and pass
it on to our children and grandchildren so that 250 years from now,
America remains prosperous, secure, free, and rooted in the truth that
our rights are derived from God, not from a king.
  Mr. Speaker, may God bless Kansas and may God bless the United States
of America. Happy birthday, America.

                       HONORING BEATRICE LUMPKIN

  (Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois was recognized to address the House for 5
minutes.)
  Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary
life and legacy of Beatrice Lumpkin, who passed away June 14, 2026, at
the age of 107 years. Bea was the living, marching, fighting embodiment
of solidarity forever.
  Many of us know Bea because of her unwavering commitment to worker
power, civil rights, and educational justice. A Chicago Public Schools
educator and leader with the Chicago Teachers Union, Bea was a fixture
at marches, rallies, and picket lines across our city.
  She started her activism early. At the age of 9, she marched with
striking textile workers. Across her century of activism, Bea was on
the front lines of the struggle for justice and equity. From marching
alongside Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Marquette Park, to
being instrumental in Harold Washington's campaign for mayor 43 years
ago, to supporting the recent unionization of Starbucks employees, Bea
showed up for her neighbors, for Chicago, and for our movement.
  In 2018, my colleague, Representative Jan Schakowsky, took to the
floor to celebrate Bea's 100 years of fighting for justice and
inspiring generations of activism.
  Today, I rise to thank Bea for reminding us that there is joy in the
struggle, in solidarity, and on the front lines of the fight for
justice because joy, in fact, is an act of resistance.
  On behalf of Chicago's Third Congressional District, I honor the
memory and the life's work of Beatrice Lumpkin, a true champion for the
working class and a giant in our movement.

             Honoring Jae Jin Pak and Timotheus Gordon, Jr.

  Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jae Jin Pak and
Timotheus Gordon, Jr., two leaders who cofounded the Chicagoland
Disabled People of Color Coalition and who serve as research associates
at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University
of Illinois Chicago.
  Throughout their careers, they have dedicated themselves to unifying
disabled, autistic, deaf, and neurodivergent people of color, fostering
collective pride, strengthening advocacy skills across our communities,
and building intersectional solidarity.
  Through the arts, culture, and relentless advocacy, they champion
disability justice, advancing the principles of accessibility and
radical inclusion within communities of color.
  By cultivating brave spaces that center the lived experiences of
disabled people of color, they dismantle systemic barriers to inclusion
and empower individuals to forge their own path to reclaim their
identities and their dignity.
  They are the architects of a more inclusive, equitable Chicago.
  On behalf of Illinois' Third Congressional District, it is my proud
honor to be able to commend Jae Jin Pak and Timotheus Gordon, Jr., for
their dedication to disability justice, radical inclusion, and the
innate dignity of all people.