President Offers Assistance Pakistan, India Earthquake

President Offers Sympathy and Assistance After Pakistan-India Border Earthquake

The people of the United States offer our deepest sympathies for the loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake that struck outside of Islamabad. Our initial deployments of assistance are underway, and we stand ready to provide additional assistance as needed. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this horrible tragedy.

# # # For Immediate Release, Office of the Press Secretary, October 8, 2005

more at President Bush and Pakistan or India and Earthquake or Islamabad

Freedom Calendar 10/08/05 - 10/015/05

October 8, 1898, Republican Joseph Simon (R-OR) elected as first Jewish U.S. Senator outside the former Confederacy.

October 9, 1886, Death of Rep. Benjamin Arnett (R-OH), first African-American to represent a majority white constituency in a state legislature.

October 10, 1871, Following warnings by Philadelphia Democrats against black voting, African-American Republican civil rights activist Octavius Catto murdered by Democratic Party operative; his military funeral was attended by thousands.

October 11, 1972, Horacio Rivero, first Hispanic four-star Admiral, appointed by President Richard Nixon as U.S. Ambassador to Spain.

October 12, 1813, Birth of Senator Lyman Trumbull, (R-IL), author of Republican Party’s 13th Amendment banning slavery, and of Civil Rights Act of 1866 granting full citizenship to African-Americans.

October 13, 1858, During Lincoln-Douglas debates, U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) states: “I do not regard the Negro as my equal, and positively deny that he is my brother, or any kin to me whatever”; Douglas became Democratic Party’s 1860 presidential nominee.

October 14, 1890, Birth of Dwight Eisenhower, who as President spearheaded Republican civil rights initiatives including 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts; used federal troops, marshals, and Justice Dept. officials to force Democrat governors to desegregate public schools.

October 15, 1914, African-American Republican James Weldon Johnson, celebrated poet of Harlem Renaissance movement, becomes editor of leading black journal, New York Age; served as Theodore Roosevelt’s Consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua

“Every right that has been bestowed upon blacks was initiated by the Republican Party.”

Mary Terrell, African-American Republican and co-founder of the NAACP

SOURCE: 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar more at Freedom Calendar or Republican and Republicans or African-Americans and Harlem Renaissance or civil rights