| Your local legacy
Washington, D.C. was full of excitement for the weeks as the
Library of Congress honored Local Legacies as part of their 200th
Anniversary celebration. The Library serves as a mother too all of
our local libraries. It began after Thomas Jefferson realized the
importance of libraries to not only democracy but to local
communities. He felt there was "no subject to which a Member of
Congress may not have occasion to refer." Self- government depended
on the free, unhampered pursuit of truth by an informed and involved
citizenry, according to Jefferson. The Local Legacies project is
designed to document the cultural traditions and events of local
communities. The unique collection reflects American culture and
will be preserved by the library so it can be shared with future
generations. More than 600 Local Legacy projects were proposed. I
nominated several projects and four were selected from the 21st
district. The Library of Congress unveiled the Local Legacies this
week.
I nominated a Lake Erie historical treasure that has been
selected as a Local Legacy by the Library of Congress. The U.S. Brig
Niagara has been chosen to represent the distinct history of Erie in
the project.
The Niagara was crucial in the struggle to secure
the northern boundaries of the United States, It's exciting that
something that has left a historical mark on not only Erie but all
of Pennsylvania can have it's legacy live on in the Library of
Congress. The Niagara served as the relief flagship used by
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry during the second and crucial battle
of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The tall ship led a fleet of
nine ships in defeating a British squadron of six vessels in the
battle of Lake Erie.
At the time the Niagara was being built, Erie was a remote town
with just 500 residents. To construct the squadron, experienced
shipbuilders and supplies were brought in from outside of Erie.
Construction began in 1812 and a year later, Perry came aboard to
oversee the final stages. The battle on Sept. 10, 1813 marked the
first time in naval history that an entire British squadron had been
defeated and captured. The victory determined the control of Lake
Erie, secured the Northwest Territory and opened supply lines, which
lifted the nation's morale. Following the war, the Niagara was
stationed in Erie serving as headquarters with offices, supplies and
a sick bay.
In 1820, she was deliberately sunk in Misery Bay to be preserved
for future use. Erie citizens raised and restored the Niagara on the
battle's centennial in 1913. She was rebuilt again in 1939 and from
1988 to 1990. The sailing reconstruction of the Niagara was
commissioned "Flagship of Pennsylvania" in 1990. She makes summer
voyages on the Great Lakes and eastern seaboards of the United
States and Canada. When in port, the ship is open to the public at
the Erie Maritime Museum and sails locally on Lake Erie. We must
mark moments in history such as the Niagara so that future
generations can recognize how important she was in shaping our
country. More than that, commemorating the Niagara in the Library of
Congress allows people from throughout the United States to learn
about our heritage.
News flash: The Spanish American War is over
The House of Representatives voted 420-2 to eliminate the three
percent federal excise tax on telecommunications services, including
telephone service for consumers. I supported this legislation
because it was originally enacted to pay for the Spanish American
War in 1898. At the time, this "temporary" tax amounted to a penny
on long-distance phone calls costing more than 15 cents. Over the
years, the federal phone tax has survived efforts to phase it out
and scale it back, and Congress made it a permanent 3 percent tax on
telecommunications services in 1990. Well, we won the war.
It's been over for a very long time and it has long since been paid
for. One thing about Washington is that once a tax is on the books,
it's hard to get rid of it. It's time to hang up the
102-year-old telephone tax once and for all. Just about every
American has a phone, so this tax cut will go to everyone equally
across the board.
The cost estimate of the bill is $19.8 billion over five years,
which will come from the non-Social Security budget surplus.
The repeal will be phased in over three years, with a one percent
reduction for each of the next three years. The tax will be
fully repealed by October 1, 2002. Of the 105.4 million households
in America, 99.1 million (94 percent) have telephone service.
The telephone tax repeal would provide tax relief to every one of
those households. Additionally, because of the rapid pace of
technological change, the difference between traditional
telecommunications, the Internet and other technologies is
increasingly unclear. If the federal phone tax remains on the
books, it could jeopardize recent efforts to keep the Internet free
from taxation.
If you would like to offer suggestions or be taken off of this
list please reply to this e-mail and offer your suggestions or
contact my press secretary Jennifer Hall in my Washington office.
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able to respond to your inquiry.
Have a good day,
Phil |
