Today we celebrate the birth of one of our greatest Presidents. Abraham Lincoln was born one hundred and ninety-nine years ago in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. Almost 200,000 people visit his birthplace each year. Among them have been former Presidents Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, and Eisenhower. People buy Lincoln mementos and pause to reflect on the life of the man many consider our greatest President and our most eloquent and gifted orator. Lincoln was dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal and fervently desired that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".
Many statues and memorials have been erected in Lincoln's honor. Perhaps one of the most beautiful is the Linclon Memorial at the west end of the National Mall. On a sunny day this brilliant white edifice glistens in the sunlight in awe-inspiring magnificence. At night, the amber lights shimmer from behind the thirty-six Doric columns and dance across the waters of the reflecting pool as the seated figure of Lincoln gazes out in somber meditation as if in deep contemplation of yet unresolved problems. It was here on August 28, 1963, that Martin Luther King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech. And where better to give such a speech than at the feet of one of the great American dreamers.
As a Virginian, I'm sure that you have seen the Lincoln Memorial many times. I don't need to tell you about the special place it holds in our hearts. Nor do I have to remind you about the man who inspired so monumental a tribute. His name is engraved in our hearts along with his words and deeds. Freedom has never had, nor will it likely ever have again, such an eloquent and passionate spokesman.
I think it would be fitting if you and your colleagues took some time this evening to visit the Lincoln Memorial. Not only out of respect for a great man but as an opportunity to reflect on the cause we all serve, the cause that endures almost 143 years after Lincoln died. Ask yourselves if you are the worthy successors to the legacy of Lincoln. Ask yourselves what you have done to to fulfill Lincoln's request - "My dream is of a place and time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth". Are we moving towards that dream or have we sacrificed it to darker purposes? You see, many of us still believe in the dreams of Lincoln. We're just not sure that the people we've sent to Washington on our behalf still do.