Richard F. Colburn
Contact Sen. ColburnBills Sponsored by Senator Richard F. Colburn
Member of Senate since January 11, 1995. Member, Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, 2003- (education subcommittee, 2003-04; environment subcommittee, 2003-06, 2008-; licensing & regulatory affairs subcommittee, 2003-04, chair, alcoholic beverages subcommittee, 2007-, member, 2003-04); Executive Nominations Committee, 1999-2003, 2008-; Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 1996-; Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, 2003-; Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing, 2007-. Member, Joint Committee on Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas, 1995-2003; Judicial Proceedings Committee, 1995-2003; Special Committee on Substance Abuse, 2001-03; Senate Special Commission on Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance, 2004; Agricultural Stewardship Commission, 2005-06. Chair, Eastern Shore Delegation, 1999-. Member, Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, 2001-; Maryland Rural Caucus, 2002-; Taxpayers Protection Caucus, 2003-; Maryland Veterans Caucus, 2004-.
Chair, Committee to Promote Employment of the Handicapped, Dorchester County, 1981. Member, House of Delegates, 1983-91. Member, Constitutional and Administrative Law Committee, 1983-86; Environmental Matters Committee, 1987-91. Member, Governor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, 1984-90; Lead Poisoning Prevention Commission, 1994-; Commission to Review Landlord-Tenant Laws, 1998; Shore Erosion Task Force, 1999-2000; Governor's Task Force on Eastern Shore Economic Development, 1999-2001; Study Panel on Funding Needs of Trauma Centers, 2001-03; Mid-Shore Regional Council, 2001-; Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, 2001-; Task Force to Study the Economic Development of the Maryland Seafood and Aquaculture Industries, 2002-03 (executive committee; seafood industry work group); Poultry Issues Action Team, 2003; Governor's Wellmobile Program Advisory Board, 2003-06; Rural Maryland Council, 2004-; Oversight Committee on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities, 2005-; Incentives for Agriculture Task Force, 2006-07; Eastern Shore Task Force on Foster Care, 2007-; Oyster Advisory Commission, 2007-.
Born in Easton, Maryland, February 9, 1950. Attended Easton High School; Chesapeake College, A.A., 1982. Served in U.S. Army Security Agency, sergeant, 1969-72 (top secret clearance); good conduct medal. Federalsburg Town Manager, 1991-. Dorchester County Republican State Central Committee, 1979-82. Delegate, Republican Party National Convention, 1988. Board of Directors, Maryland Rural Water Association, 1992- (past vice-president). President, Board of Directors, People for Better Housing, 1993-. Member, Dorchester American Legion Post no. 91; Federalsburg Veterans of Foreign Wars; Cambridge B.P.O. Elks Lodge no. 1272. Social Science Award, Chesapeake College, 1980; Social Science Award, Eastern Community College, 1981. Certificate of Appreciation, Maryland Municipal League, 2006, 2007. Member, Zion United Methodist Church. Married; one daughter.
Senator Richard Colburn delivers Lincoln Address before the Maryland Senate on February 12th 2009. The 200th Anniversary of the birth of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln.
DOUGLASS AND LINCOLN
MR. PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT PRO TEM, MAJORITY LEADER, MINORITY LEADER, FELLOW SENATORS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. IT IS INDEED A GREAT HONOR FOR ME TO PRESENT THE ANNUAL LINCOLN DAY ADDRESS IN THIS HISTORIC SENATE CHAMBER ON THE OCCASION OF THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN. THROUGHOUT MY LIFE THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I HAVE FELT A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I AM SURE MANY OF YOU HAVE FELT A SPECIAL KINSHIP TO OUR 16TH PRESIDENT AS WELL. AND MANY OF YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT GOVERNOR O’MALLEY ALWAYS REFERS TO REPUBLICANS AS THE “PARTY OF LINCOLN” WHENEVER HE MENTIONS THE MINORITY PARTY IN ANNAPOLIS AS A TRIBUTE TO THE GOP’S RICH HERITAGE. HISTORIANS EVALUATE POLITICAL LEADERS BY THEIR “LEGACY.” THEY EXAMINE THEIR MAJOR PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY HAVE LONG-LASTING IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR CITIZENS. CERTAINLY, LINCOLN HAS A MOST ENDURING LEGACY. AS WE SAW THIS PAST ELECTION DAY, THE HISTORIC PATH FROM THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION LEADS DIRECTLY TO A POINT IN TIME ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE YEARS LATER WHEN BARACK OBAMA WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT OBAMA HIMSELF LIKES TO RELISH THE ECHOES OF LINCOLN IN HIS OWN LIFE AND POLITICAL CAREER. HE, LIKE LINCOLN, SERVED IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN ILLINOIS. PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PRE-INAUGURAL VISIT BY TRAIN TO OUR STATE, WITH A SPEECH IN BALTIMORE, TRACKED LINCOLN’S PATH TO HIS 1861 ARRIVAL IN WASHINGTON, D.C. HOWEVER, THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES WERE MUCH DIFFERENT. THE TRIUMPHANT ARRIVAL OF PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO THE PRE-CIVIL WAR NIGHTTIME PASSAGE OF LINCOLN THROUGH OUR STATE. WE KNOW THAT JUST DAYS BEFORE TAKING OFFICE, PRESIDENT OBAMA MADE A SURPRISE VISIT TO THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL. HE THEN USED THE LINCOLN INAUGURAL BIBLE FOR HIS SWEARING-IN AS A TRIBUTE TO THE HEROIC ROLE THAT LINCOLN PLAYED IN ENDING THE EVIL OF SLAVERY IN THIS COUNTRY. I THOUGHT THAT AFTER ENJOYING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FIRST INAUGURAL SPEECH, THAT TODAY MY COMMENTARY WOULD FOCUS ON LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS AS WELL AS LINCOLN’S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A MAN FROM MY HOME COUNTY ON THE EASTERN SHORE.
THE DAY OF LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURATION, WAS RAW AND RAINY. THE STEADY RAIN ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 4, 1865 DID NOT DAMPEN THE SPIRITS OF THE ESTIMATED FIFTY THOUSAND PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE CAPITOL TO WITNESS THE INAUGURATION. HE ENCOURAGED THE NATION TO EXAM THE SINS THAT UNDERLINED THE TRAGIC CIVIL WAR. IN PREACHING “MALICE TOWARD NONE” AND “CHARITY FOR ALL”, LINCOLN EXPRESSED A TENDERNESS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE COMMON BOND OF GUILT THAT BOUND THE NORTH AND SOUTH. THE UNITED STATES HAD BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE, AND HAD BEEN FOUND WANTING. LINCOLN, UNDER HEAVY GUARD, WALKED OUT ONTO THE INAUGURAL PLATFORM OFF THE EAST FRONT OF THE NEWLY COMPLETED CAPITOL DOME. IT WOULD BE THE ONLY TIME LINCOLN WOULD BE PHOTGRAPHED SPEAKING. WE SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT TWO MARYLANDERS-ONE FROM TALBOT COUNTY AND A BALTIMORE NATIVE-WERE IN THE AUDIENCE. RESPECTFULLY, FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND JOHN WILKES BOOTH ARE AMONG THE ONLOOKERS. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE BALTIMORE NATIVE BOOTH WAS THERE? HE IS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH. LINCOLN, BEFORE RECEIVING THE OATH FROM CHIEF JUSTICE SALMON CHASE, HIS FORMER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY AND POLITICAL RIVAL, DELIVERED THE MAGNIFICENT “WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE” ORATION. WITH VICTORY IN THE FIELD NOW ALL BUT CERTAIN, HIS MIND WAS CHIEFLY FOCUSED ON WHAT HE BELIEVED WOULD BE THE DIFFICULT PROBLEM OF RECONSTRUCTION. FREDERICK DOUGLASS DECIDED TO JOIN “IN THE GRAND PROCESSION OF CITIZENS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.” AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAD BEEN EXCLUDED FROM PREVIOUS INAUGURAL FESTIVITIES. THAT EVENING THE GATES OF THE WHITE HOUSE WERE OPENED FOR A PUBLIC RECEPTION. THE PRESIDENT WAS REPORTED TO BE “IN EXCELLENT SPIRITS” AS HE SHOOK THE HANDS OF THE MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO CAME TO SHOW THEIR RESPECT AND AFFECTION. DOUGLASS WOULD WRITE “IT WAS NOT TOO GREAT AN ASSUMPTION FOR A BLACK MAN TO OFFER HIS CONGRATULATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT WITH THOSE OF OTHER CITIZENS.” THEREFORE, THAT NIGHT, DOUGLASS, WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION TO OFFER HIS CONGRATULATIONS. REFUSED ADMITTANCE AT FIRST BY THE POLICE, DOUGLASS ULTIMATELY JOINED THE RECEPTION AT LINCOLN’S ORDER. DOUGLASS HAD NO DIFFICULTY SPOTTING LINCOLN, WHO STOOD, AS HE DESCRIBED, “LIKE A MOUNTAIN PINE HIGH ABOVE THE OTHERS, IN HIS GRAND SIMPLICITY, AND HOME-LIKE BEAUTY. RECOGNIZING ME, EVEN BEFORE I REACHED HIM, HE EXCLAIMED, SO THAT ALL AROUND COULD HEAR HIM, ‘HERE COMES MY FRIEND DOUGLASS’. TAKING ME BY THE HAND, HE SAID, ‘I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU. I SAW YOU IN THE CROWD TODAY, LISTENING TO MY INAUGURAL ADDRESS; HOW DID YOU LIKE IT?” DOUGLASS WAS EMBARRASSED TO DETAIN THE PRESIDENT IN CONVERSATION WHEN THERE WERE “ SEVERAL THOUSAND WAITING TO SHAKE HANDS. BUT LINCOLN INSISTED, “YOU MUST STOP A LITTLE, DOUGLASS; THERE IS NO MAN IN THE COUNTRY WHOSE OPINION I VALUE MORE THAN YOURS. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT.”
WE SEE FOR A MOMENT THESE TWO REMARKABLE MEN STANDING TOGETHER. LINCOLN KNEW THAT DOUGLASS WOULD SPEAK HIS MIND, JUST AS HE ALWAYS HAD. “MR. LINCOLN,” DOUGLASS SAID FINALLY, “THAT WAS A SACRED EFFORT”. LINCOLN’S FACE LIT UP WITH DELIGHT. “I AM GLAD YOU LIKED IT!” HE REPLIED. LINCOLN HAD BEEN EAGER TO KNOW WHAT THE ABOLITIONIST THOUGHT OF HIS SPEECH, AND DOUGLASS HAD ASSURED HIM WITH TWO WELL-CHOSEN WORDS.
ONE BY ONE, MANY OF LINCOLN’S CRITICS WERE TURNING INTO ADMIRERS, AND THAT INCLUDED THE OUTSPOKEN AFRICAN-AMERICAN ORATOR/JOURNALIST WHO HAD CRITICIZED LINCOLN HARD ON THE SLAVERY ISSUE EVER SINCE HIS FIRST INAUGURATION DAY.
IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE WHY THE TWO MEN TOOK A LIKING TO ONE ANOTHER. BOTH HAD THEIR BEGINNINGS IN DIRT-POOR FAMILIES, EACH HAD VIRTUALLY EDUCATED THEMSELVES, AND THEN WORKED THEIR WAY UP INTO PROMINENCE. LINCOLN COULD NOT HELP ADMIRING THIS FORMER SLAVE AND SHIP’S CAULKER WHO HAD FACED A LIFETIME OF WHITE HATRED-- BUT WHO STILL BELIEVED PASSIONATELY IN AMERICA’S GREAT INTERRACIAL FUTURE. DURING THE SPEECH THE PRESIDENT SUGGESTED THAT GOD HAD GIVEN “TO BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH, THIS TERRIBLE WAR” AS PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR SHARED SIN OF SLAVERY. HE THEN ISSUED HIS HISTORIC PLEA TO HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: “WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE; WITH CHARITY FOR ALL, WITH FIRMNESS IN THE RIGHT, AS GOD GIVES US TO SEE THE RIGHT, LET US STRIVE ON TO FINISH THE WORK WE ARE IN; TO BIND UP THE NATION’S WOUNDS; TO CARE FOR HIM WHO SHALL HAVE BORNE THE BATTLE, AND FOR HIS WIDOW, AND HIS ORPHAN – TO DO ALL WHICH MAY ACHIEVE AND CHERISH A JUST, AND A LASTING PEACE, AMONG OURSELVES, AND WITH ALL NATIONS”.
MANY BELIEVED THAT THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE WAS GOING TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN HIS RECONSTRUCTION POLICY IN HIS SPEECH. ALTHOUGH IT WAS ONE OF THE SHORTEST INAUGURAL ADDRESSES, WITH ONLY 703 WORDS, IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE.
WITH THE RE-ELECTION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1864, A STRING OF MILITARY VICTORIES IN THE FIELD AND CRUMBLING CONFEDERATE RESOLVE, THERE WAS A WIDESPREAD EXPECTATION IN THE NORTH THAT THE UNION WOULD PREVAIL. WHEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN MADE HIS SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS MARCH 4, HE WAS STARTING TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE HARD WORK OF RECONCILIATION. INVOKING BIBLICAL TERMS, LINCOLN REMAINED INTENT ON FINISHING THE WAR THAT HAD DIVIDED THE COUNTRY AND FORGING A NEW NATION, BOUND TOGETHER IN PEACE. DOUGLASS WOULD LATER WRITE, “IT WAS MORE LIKE A SERMON THAN A STATE ADDRESS.” IN AN EXCERPT FROM A PEOPLE'S CONTEST: THE UNION AND CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865, PHILIP PALUDAN STATED, “THE WAR HAD BEEN INCREDIBLY VAST; OVER A HALF-A-MILLION DEAD YOUNG MEN, GRIEF SHATTERED FAMILIES THROUGHOUT THE NATION; WILLIE, THE FAVORITE SON-DEAD; 4 MILLION FREE MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, CHAINS NOW SHATTERED, FREE AFTER HOPELESS CENTURIES OF SLAVERY; VAST FIELDS, BUSY CITIES, QUIET VILLAGES DESTROYED; NEW ECONOMIC PATHS CHARTED WITH UNKNOWN COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES AHEAD; 1 MILLION MEN IN ARMS, TOUCHED BY FIRE, SOON COMING HOME, CHANGED FOREVER, CHANGED UTTERLY.” THE POINT OF LINCOLN’S ADDRESS WAS NOT TO ASSIGN BLAME, BUT QUITE THE OPPOSITE. HE WAS TRYING TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL MOOD FOR RECONSTRUCTION. BLOOD HAD BEEN SPILLED, HE GRANTED, BUT NO REVENGE SHOULD BE TAKEN. LINCOLN SHOWED NOT A TRACE OF VINDICTIVENESS AS HE WELCOMED THE SOUTHERN STATES BACK INTO THE UNION.
LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER LEE’S SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX (APRIL 9, 1865), THE 56-YEAR OLD PRESIDENT WAS MURDERED BY A PRO-SLAVERY TERRORIST, AN ACTOR WHOM LINCOLN HAD ONCE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE. IN HIS SECOND INAUGURATION SPEECH, LINCOLN WAS CLOSE TO ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL MOOD OF RECONCILIATION AND RECONSTRUCTION. Had Lincoln lived, the days of reconstruction would have been softened. JOHN WILKES BOOTH’S MURDER OF LINCOLN ON GOOD FRIDAY HAD DESTROYED ANY CHANCE OF KNOWING JUST HOW CLOSE LINCOLN WAS TOWARDS HIS RECONSTRUCTION POLICY. HOW AMERICAN HISTORY WOULD HAVE CHANGED HAD LINCOLN SURVIVED THAT FATAL NIGHT AT FORD’S THEATER. ONE OF THE PRESIDENT’S MANY BIOGRAPHERS, CARL SANDBURG, CAPTURED LINCOLN’S LINGERING CONTRADICTIONS WHEN HE SPOKE BEFORE CONGRESS IN 1959, ON LINCOLN’S 150th BIRTHDAY. HE STATED, “NOT OFTEN IN THE STORY OF MANKIND DOES A MAN ARRIVE ON EARTH WHO IS BOTH STEEL AND VELVET, WHO IS HARD AS ROCK AND SOFT AS DRIFTING FOG, WHO HOLDS IN HIS HEART AND MIND THE PARADOX OF TERRIBLE STORM AND PEACE UNSPEAKABLE AND PERFECT.”
MR. PRESIDENT, IN CLOSING TODAY, I ASK ALL OF OUR MEMBERS TO JOIN IN A COMMEMORATIVE SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION ON THIS JOYOUS OCCASION IN HONOR OF THE 200TH BIRTH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK JOE GETTY, VICTORIA GRUBER, HEATHER MOLNAR AND JESSICA STEWART FOR THEIR HELP WITH THIS SPEECH!