{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2014-12-16-pt1-PgS6923", "2014-12-16", 113, 2, null, null, "Introductory Statement on S. 3020", "SENATE", "SENATE", "SSTATEMENTSIND", "S6923", "S6924", "[{\"name\": \"Tom Harkin\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"113\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3020\"}]", "160 Cong. Rec. S6923", "Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S6923-S6924]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n      By Mr. HARKIN:\n  S. 3020. A bill to establish the composition known as America the\nBeautiful as the national anthem; to the Committee on the Judiciary.\n  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing one last bill as a\nUnited States Senator. It is on an issue I have long wanted to tackle,\nchanging our national anthem to one I believe is more representative of\nthe amazing country and people that make up our United States of\nAmerica. I believe that from its very first line, ``Oh beautiful for\nspacious skies'' America the Beautiful captures the spirit of our\ndemocracy and our shared commitment to liberty and freedom far better\nthan our current anthem.\n  Now some might say but the Star Spangled Banner has always been our\nnational anthem, but that's not true. In fact its only been the anthem\nsince 1931 and its only been in popular use during the last 100 years.\nIt first became popular with the military, particularly the Navy.\n  But the bottom line is that the Star Spangled banner commemorates a\nsingle battle, just one of the many historic battles and wars that we\nhave fought to create and protect our great country. I think to me the\nthing that best captures my concern with the Star Spangled Banner, in\naddition to the fact that it is hard as heck for a layperson to sing,\nis that it doesn't actually mention the word ``America.''\n  In contrast, America the Beautiful celebrates not just the amazing\ngeography and wonder of our country--from amber waves of grain to\npurple mountains--from sea to shining sea, but also captures something\nof our national spirit when we sing ``A thoroughfare of freedom beat,\nacross the wilderness.''\n  Moreover, unlike the Star Spangled banner, America the Beautiful,\nlike our coins, like our daily invocation here in the Senate\nacknowledges a higher power and calls upon god to guide us, to shed\ngrace upon us, while also celebrating the heroism of those who have\nsacrificed their lives to create and preserve our democracy.\n  I am well aware that this legislation to redesignate the national\nanthem to ``America the Beautiful'' is not going to pass today, one of\nmy final days in the Senate, but I would ask those who follow me to\nkeep in mind the importance of symbols like the national anthem in\nreminding us what is great about this country--equality of opportunity,\ngeographic diversity and majesty, shared commitment to individual\nliberty--and give serious thought to this proposal.\n  America the Beautiful is an anthem that far better embodies both the\nland and the principles that are the unifying beliefs of our democracy\nand for which we all stand together: freedom, liberty, and progress.\nFor these reasons I believe that ``America the Beautiful'' should\nreplace ``The Star Spangled Banner'' as the national anthem and I hope\nthat my colleagues will come to share this view.\n\n[[Page S6924]]\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2014-12-16-pt1-PgS6923"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8238200098276138, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}