Albert Hollan's Remarks Read at the Labor Day Event

[Albert Hollan couldn't attend the our Labor Day Fundraiser last weekend but he did write down some remarks that were read to the assembly. Albert, you know, underwrote the entire thing. His generosity is a model to us all] 

Welcome to Sugar Land, and welcome to my neighborhood.  My family and I have lived just around the corner for the past 20 years. 

I’m sorry that we could not be here with you tonight.  We are in a gymnasium in Canton, Oklahoma, about an hour west of Oklahoma City.  My wife’s family is having their 70th Family Reunion.   It’s remarkable that it has been held so many times, for so long, and even more remarkable how large the extended family has grown over the decades. 

I would like to spend this evening with you in Sugar Land, but I would also like to impress my two kids with the importance of continuing a long-standing family tradition.  I want to make sure that they value this family reunion as something worth preserving with their attendance, this year and in future years.  As older family members pass on, we will need the younger family members to continue this tradition, if we hope for it to last.

We have to do the same thing with our Democratic Party.  We must teach our kids our beliefs as a party and show them the value of our traditions so they will carry them on in the future.  We believe in equal opportunity, in respect for individual rights, and in educational opportunities for all.  We believe in equal access to health care for your medical condition, regardless of your economic condition.  We believe that the Constitution is the law, not a technicality.  We believe that government isn’t the problem --- government can be the solution to social and economic injustice.  We believe that good government doesn’t just happen.  It requires that we select good, qualified people, and then it requires that we work hard to get them elected. 

The first time I went to my wife’s family reunion, I was surprised at the program.  With everyone seated at long tables in the un-air conditioned gymnasium, we were directed by the Master of Ceremony to refer to our printed program, so we could sing together.  “America the Beautiful”, “Edelweiss,”  “Oh what a Beautiful Morning”.  That is our entertainment at the family reunion: Singing old songs in unison.   But the last song we always sing together is an old Woody Guthrie tune, one that you know, too: 

You may be in Sugar Land tonight, but it doesn’t belong only to Republicans.  You may be in Fort Bend County tonight, but it doesn’t belong only to the special interests and corporations.  This land is your land, and this land is my land.  We have to work together to ensure equal access to justice.  This land is your land, and this land is my land.  We have to require that judges not handle cases while they have conflicts of interest.  This land is your land, and this land is my land.  We must replace judges who have out-of-court conversations about a case with one party, but don’t include the other party.  This land is your land, and this land is my land.  This land was made for you and me.