"A Quintessentially American Celebration'

Statement

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today released a video message wishing all Americans a happy Thanksgiving holiday. Click on the image below to view his comments:

The following is a transcript of the Majority Leader's message:

"Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American celebration rooted in our nation's earliest foundations. It represents a shared experience of adversity, perseverance and friendship that has made our country what it is today.

"It was George Washington who proclaimed America's first official national Thanksgiving in 1789. And at the height of the Civil War, it was Kentucky's own Abraham Lincoln who made it an annual tradition.

"Lincoln saw this national Thanksgiving as a way to help heal a broken nation. We still look to it for unity in difficult times even today.

"This year, we again keep fidelity with this honorable tradition. We again give thanks to God for our good fortune to live in a nation where each of us is blessed with the freedom and the opportunity to continually reach higher -- a nation protected by men and women who would give, and have given, everything for our sake and for America's continuing promise.

"Happy Thanksgiving."

Source