John R. Curtis, UT
Linked statement
“I am introducing a resolution to honor Pioneer Day and the Latter-day Saint pioneers who arrived in Utah in 1847. They faced great hardship to find religious freedom and build new communities. We should remember their hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance as we solve our own challenges today.”
“Mr. President, tomorrow, Utahns will celebrate Pioneer Day, which commemorates the arrival of the first company of Latter-day Saint pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. For many outside Utah, Pioneer Day may seem a little unique and a strange local observance, but the values it commemorates are profoundly American and can resonate with all of us. We recognize not only a historic journey but the enduring pioneer spirit that helped shape the American West and continues to shape our country today. The early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sought to actualize our first freedom and something every American should cherish: religious liberty. Instead, they were driven from their homes, stripped of their property, and forced to flee into an uncertain wilderness. Thousands traveled more than 1,300 miles across plains, deserts, and mountains. I recently walked 250 miles in remembrance of that journey, and it is true that it challenged me, but I had every modern advantage, including seven pairs of shoes, a support team, and an RV to sleep in. Their sacrifice was of an entirely different magnitude: parents buried children, children buried parents, spouses buried their soulmates. Yet they sang a song that will be sung in many church buildings across Utah on Sunday: ``Come, Come, Ye Saints.’’ In that song, they sing ``All is well,’’ for they had a vision of a land, as the song goes, ``far away in the West, where none shall come to hurt or make afraid; there the Saints will be blessed.’’ When they finally reached that place, the Salt Lake Valley, they didn’t dwell on all they had lost; they focused on what they could build. Within days, they were planting crops, digging irrigation canals, laying out streets, and creating communities where none had existed before. Over the decades that followed, they established hundreds of settlements across the Mountain West, built roads and bridges, and helped countless other immigrants travel west. That is the pioneer spirit. That is the American spirit. It is resilience in the face of hardship. It is self-reliance married with cooperation. It is choosing to build instead of surrender. As our Nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, I believe those values are as relevant today as they were nearly 180 years ago. Every generation faces its own frontier. Ours may not be crossing the plains, but we are still called to solve difficult problems, to contribute meaningfully to our communities, and to leave a better nation for those who inherit it. Americans still want to build something meaningful. They still want to provide for their families. They still want their children to inherit greater opportunities than they themselves received. Those aspirations haven’t changed. What has changed is that sometimes we forget the virtues and the sacrifices that are required to achieve them. May we all this Pioneer Day recommit ourselves to remembering that heritage and channeling that spirit in our own hearts because the American story has never belonged to just one generation. It is written by each generation willing to work, sacrifice, and build for the next. That is why the resolution I am introducing with my colleagues today is about more than honoring the past. It is about carrying forward the virtues that made those pioneers successful: faith, sacrifice, community, industry, and perseverance. May we honor their legacy by living those same values and by continuing to move our Nation forward one faithful step at a time.”
Mr. President, tomorrow, Utahns will celebrate Pioneer Day, which commemorates the arrival of the first company of Latter-day Saint pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. For many outside Utah, Pioneer Day may seem a little unique and a strange local observance, but the values it commemorates are profoundly American and can resonate with all of us. We recognize not only a historic journey but the enduring pioneer spirit that helped shape the American West and continues to shape our country today. The early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sought to actualize our first freedom and something every American should cherish: religious liberty. Instead, they were driven from their homes, stripped of their property, and forced to flee into an uncertain wilderness. Thousands traveled more than 1,300 miles across plains, deserts, and mountains. I recently walked 250 miles in remembrance of that journey, and it is true that it challenged me, but I had every modern advantage, including seven pairs of shoes, a support team, and an RV to sleep in. Their sacrifice was of an entirely different magnitude: parents buried children, children buried parents, spouses buried their soulmates. Yet they sang a song that will be sung in many church buildings across Utah on Sunday: ``Come, Come, Ye Saints.’’ In that song, they sing ``All is well,’’ for they had a vision of a land, as the song goes, ``far away in the West, where none shall come to hurt or make afraid; there the Saints will be blessed.’’ When they finally reached that place, the Salt Lake Valley, they didn’t dwell on all they had lost; they focused on what they could build. Within days, they were planting crops, digging irrigation canals, laying out streets, and creating communities where none had existed before. Over the decades that followed, they established hundreds of settlements across the Mountain West, built roads and bridges, and helped countless other immigrants travel west. That is the pioneer spirit. That is the American spirit. It is resilience in the face of hardship. It is self-reliance married with cooperation. It is choosing to build instead of surrender. As our Nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, I believe those values are as relevant today as they were nearly 180 years ago. Every generation faces its own frontier. Ours may not be crossing the plains, but we are still called to solve difficult problems, to contribute meaningfully to our communities, and to leave a better nation for those who inherit it. Americans still want to build something meaningful. They still want to provide for their families. They still want their children to inherit greater opportunities than they themselves received. Those aspirations haven’t changed. What has changed is that sometimes we forget the virtues and the sacrifices that are required to achieve them. May we all this Pioneer Day recommit ourselves to remembering that heritage and channeling that spirit in our own hearts because the American story has never belonged to just one generation. It is written by each generation willing to work, sacrifice, and build for the next. That is why the resolution I am introducing with my colleagues today is about more than honoring the past. It is about carrying forward the virtues that made those pioneers successful: faith, sacrifice, community, industry, and perseverance. May we honor their legacy by living those same values and by continuing to move our Nation forward one faithful step at a time.