[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E62-E63]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

REMEMBERING THE DEATH OF SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

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HON. MAC THORNBERRY

of texas

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to submit for the Record a
statement by the Churchill Centre commemorating the 40th anniversary of
the death of Sir Winston Churchill. The Churchill Centre has members
around the globe and a mission to ``foster

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leadership, statesmanship, vision and courage among democratic and
freedom-loving peoples worldwide, through the thoughts, words, works
and deeds of Winston Spencer Churchill.'' One of its recent activities,
for example, was to help sponsor the widely acclaimed ``Churchill and
the Great Republic'' exhibit that began at the Library of Congress last
year and is now moving around the country.
I have been a member of the Churchill Centre and its predecessors for
nearly 20 years. I believe that each of us today, as well as the
generations to come, can learn from and be inspired by the life of Sir
Winston Churchill. I commend the statement and the work of this
organization to all my colleagues.

Remembering a Great Man 40 Years On

January 24 marked the 40th anniversary of the passing of
the great British statesman and war leader, and honorary U.S.
citizen, Sir Winston S. Churchill. Believed by many to be the
greatest individual of the past Century, and widely
recognized as the single greatest obstacle to Nazi tyranny,
Sir Winston died on this date in 1965 at the age of 90.
In a career that spanned from the Victorian age to the
Space age, Winston Spencer Churchill held almost every major
government position in the British government; served in
Parliament under every monarch from Queen Victoria to Queen
Elizabeth II; won the Nobel Prize for literature in
recognition of a body of work that encompassed forty books
and innumerable articles and speeches; and, was an
accomplished artist, producing over 500 paintings in his
lifetime. His official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, when
asked to produce a one sentence description of Churchill,
wrote: ``He was a great humanitarian who was himself
distressed that the accidents of history gave him his
greatest power at a time when everything had to be focused on
defending the country from destruction, rather than achieving
his goals of a fairer society.''
As the 20th Century drew to a close, The Churchill Centre,
Washington, D.C., a broadly-based international organization
of over 3,500 members that exists to foster leadership and
boldness through the words, works, and deeds of Sir Winston
Churchill, published in its journal, Finest Hour, statements
issued by world leaders and the media supporting the
designation of Winston Churchill as the ``Person of the
Century''. Here are two of those statements:
``Churchill was the century's best example of how
individuals can shape history rather than being shaped by it.
The force of his will and his words gave courage to his
country and saved the West. Yet it was also Churchill who,
after World War II, discerned the dangers to come from
communist tyranny. Just as he defined the moral issues of the
1930s and 1940s, he defined the great moral challenge up to
our own time. Totalitarianism was the greatest evil of the
20th century, and Churchill its most able adversary.''--
Governor George W. Bush in Time, 22 November 1999.
``We can make sense of the future if we understand the
lessons of the past. Winston Churchill, my first prime
minister, said that `the further backward you look, the
further forward you can see.' And it was this importance of
history which was much in my mind when I opened the new
Scottish Parliament in July this year.''--Her Majesty the
Queen, Christmas Message, 25 December 1999.
Why should the world remember a man who lived so long ago
at a time seemingly so remote from the present? Quite simply,
because the words, the deeds, and the works of Winston
Churchill take on an aura of immortality that transcend years
and generations and can provide guidance to the world today
and into the future.
Churchill was a defender of the family as it is
traditionally understood. He believed that government should
foster independence of spirit. He believed this requires that
people own property, with little hindrance and light
taxation, and remain responsible for their own well-being.
Churchill believed Western Civilization is a force for good.
He believed that the traditions of the English-Speaking
Peoples, rightly understood, reflected truths of
unchanging vitality and application to all persons and all
times. He thought socialism and bureaucracy incompatible
with human liberty and even with the survival of nations.
He believed that certain codes of morality find sanction
in a permanent law, not made by mankind. A violation of
this law is, he believed, always wrong. Virtue, not
creativity, was his touchstone. These principles will
continue to require champions in this century.
Churchill's motto, expressed as the ``moral'' of his
acclaimed six-volume history of The Second World War, clearly
expresses these ideals.
In War: Resolution.
In Defeat: Defiance.
In Victory: Magnanimity.
In Peace: Good Will.
Now, forty years after his passing, Winston Churchill is
still quoted, read, revered, and referred to as much, if not
more, than when he was alive. Let us, therefore, take a
moment to reflect on a man who gave so much to the world
during his lifetime, and who will be remembered and honored
as long as a free world continues to exist and continues to
honor its heroes.

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