|
Happy Birthday To Muhammad Ali
17 January 2007
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3
minutes to my distinguished colleague
from the State of Texas (Mr. PAUL).
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission
to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the
gentlewoman for yielding this time to
me.
2007 Ron Paul 17:1
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 58. I saw Muhammad Ali as a man
of great courage, and I admired him for
this, not because of the courage that it
took to get in a ring and fight men bigger
than he, but because of his stance
in 1967.
2007 Ron Paul 17:2
In 1967, he was 25 years old. He was the heavyweight champion of the
world, and for religious beliefs, he
practiced what Martin Luther King
made popular, civil disobedience, because
he disagreed with the war. I
thought his comments were rather astute
at the time and were not complex,
but he merely said, I have no quarrel
with the Viet-Cong. He said the Viet-
Cong never called him a name, and because
of his religious convictions, he
said he did not want to serve in the
military. He stood firm, a man of principle,
and I really admired this as a
quality.
2007 Ron Paul 17:3
He is known, of course, for his athletic skills and his humanitarian concerns,
and these are rightly mentioned
in a resolution like this. But I do want
to emphasize this because, to me, it
was so important and had such impact,
in reality, what Muhammad Ali did
eventually led to getting rid of the
draft, and yet we as a people and we as
a Congress still do not have the conviction
that Muhammad Ali had, because
we still have the selective service; we
say, let us not draft now, but when the
conditions are right, we will bring back
the draft and bring back those same
problems that we had in the 1960s.
2007 Ron Paul 17:4
I see what Muhammad Ali did as being very great. He deserves this recognition,
but we should also praise him
for being a man of principle and willing
to give up his title for 3 years at the
age of 25 at the prime of his career.
How many of us give up something to
stand on principle? He was a man of
principle. He believed it and he stood
firm, so even those who may disagree
with his position may say at least he
stood up for what he believed in. He
suffered the consequences and fortunately
was eventually vindicated.
| |
