September 1, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 152 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CELEBRATING FREEDOM

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                           HON. LEE M. ZELDIN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 1, 2020

  Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to recognize composer 
Richard Fuchs of Coram, New York, and his 1983 composition entitled 
``Gettysburg.'' His music, set to the awe-inspiring address given by 
President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, has given new, melodious life to 
those brilliant two hundred and forty words, reminding modern audiences 
of the sacred and revolutionary ideals our country strives to embody.
  Just as Baltimore shopkeeper Thomas Carr first put Francis Scott-
Key's poem, ``The Defense of Fort McHenry'', to music in 1814, creating 
``The Star Spangled Banner'', Mr. Fuchs found a similar way to preserve 
the Gettysburg Address. Ever since he first saw the speech engraved on 
the side of the Lincoln Memorial at 9 years old, he wanted to honor its 
eternal message in song.
  After years of tinkering with melody and meter, Mr. Fuchs finally 
published ``Gettysburg'' in 1983, just in time for the 120th 
anniversary celebration of the Gettysburg Address. Thirty four years 
after his first visit to the Lincoln Memorial, Mr. Fuchs performed his 
creation on the monument's steps during this celebration, playing piano 
alongside his daughter and their hometown Centereach High School Choir.
  Since that first performance, Mr. Fuchs composition has been sung by 
choirs across the nation, from Tucson, Arizona to the Smithsonian. Over 
nearly four decades, through his music, Mr. Fuchs has helped preserve 
President Lincoln's vision for America for an entirely new generation, 
trying every day to live up to the principles of freedom, happiness, 
and equality our country's founders spoke of.
  In 2013, Mr. Fuchs' composition was performed with one hundred and 
fifty chorus members at the very place President Lincoln first 
delivered the Gettysburg Address. Each member of the chorus represented 
each year since the historic event.
  Like President Lincoln's address, Mr. Fuchs' composition is yet 
another stark reminder of our constant, unfinished work as Americans to 
ensure liberty and justice for all.

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