House Proceeding 04-23-09 on Apr 23rd, 2009 :: 0:15:10 to 0:21:00
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0:15:07 to 0:15:27( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: diplomacy and humanitarian relief over war. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. mr. poe from texas. mr. poe:er madam speaker, request permission to address the hous

0:15:10 to 0:21:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ted Poe

0:15:28 to 0:15:48( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. poe: madam speaker, it does us well to remember our america history. over 145 years ago this country was engaged in a great civil war.

0:15:49 to 0:16:09( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: from the north and from the south. and during that war between the states, several battles took place not far from this capitol. one took place over in orange county, virginia. called the battle of the wilderness. it was the sixth highest number of casualties on bo sides during that conflict.

0:16:10 to 0:16:31( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: just to put it in perspective it occurred may 5 through may 7 in 1864. 145 years ago. there were 160,000 troops involved in that battle. 100,000 from the north, from the south. that's the number of troops today we have in all of iraq and

0:16:32 to 0:16:53( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: all of afghanistan put together. during that three-day battle, 29,000 casualties. 18,000 from the union, 8,000 from the confederates. the battle was so fierce, madam speaker, that in the wilderness, the woods, where this battle took place during that three days, it was so heated literally

0:16:54 to 0:17:14( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: that the woods caught on fire and many soldiers from the north and from the south that we sounded burned to death. two of the states had the highest casualties one in the north and one in the south. the highest in the north was from vermont. the vermonters sustained 78% casualties.

0:17:15 to 0:17:39( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: and the south, the texas brigade, sustained over 60% casualties. on the first day of the battle, the union troops were able to move the southern troops back. the second day, general rober e. lee sent the texas troops in the middle and he said the texans always move them. be that as it may, the casualties were high on both sides.

0:17:40 to 0:18:01( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: and i bring this attention to the house today and to you, madam speaker, because all of these casualties, all of these troops that engaged in that battle were americans. and we should not forget that. and that is why we have the battle of the wilderness battlefield today. about 900,000 americans a year go to this battlefield in orange county, virginia.

0:18:02 to 0:18:22( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: now we have a problem. the corporation called wal-mart wants to build a wal-mart on this sacred hallowed ground. i have a map of the wilderness battlefield. it's outlined here. you see right up northeastern portion where this x is, that's where wal-mart wants to profit from these

0:18:23 to 0:18:43( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: 900,000 people coming into orange county every year. they have the legal right. the county fathers have said they can build in this location. but we would hope that wal-mart would change their mind. i say we because myself and mr. welch, the good man from vermont, have written wal-mart and we have asked them to do the

0:18:44 to 0:19:04( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: right thingnd locate this wal-mart three miles away from the battlefield. madam speaker, i'm not sure what wal-mart's intentions are, but i can tell you their corporate model down in texas. they build a wal-mart, they build it from property line to property line, they lay that asphalt, build one of those beautiful stores, and a few years later, they abandon that

0:19:05 to 0:19:25( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: property and move down the road and build another wal-mart. i don't know if that's their plan here or not. be that as it may they should not build this wal-mart in this location. we have written wal-mart. we have received no written response from them. military historians from all over the world have asked wal-mart, don't build on this

0:19:26 to 0:19:49( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: battlefield because that's a part of american history. so far they continue to deal with this and say they are going to. i support property rights. i support the idea of a no question about it. they now have the legal right to move here. now they need to make the american decision to do what's best for america and not what's

0:19:50 to 0:20:12( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: best for this corporation. madam speaker, this land like other battlefields in our country, are consecrated with the blood?? of americans. 29,000, many are still buried there and known only to god. and we owe them the right to keep this battlefield preserved

0:20:13 to 0:20:33( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: for history and not to have a corporation like wal-mart come in and lay asphalt over their graves. we are asking wal-mart to do the right thing. put your wal-mart somewhere else. three miles down the road so that this battlefield can be preserved for american history. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to include into the record the letter that the

0:20:34 to 0:20:54( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: congressman peter welch from vermont and myself have sent to wal-mart. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. it is our hope and our desire that we as amecans preserve the heritage of this country, save this sacred land, and he corporations do the right thing not only don't build here, but maybe donate to save this land some of their corporate money. and i yield back the balance of

0:20:55 to 0:21:01( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: my time. that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. the gentleman yields back.