their bills and the house plans to take up the relief bill by the end of the month. the next goats in the house expected on monday, the 22nd. -- the next votes in the house expected on monday, the 22nd. linda thomas-greenfield, u.s. ambassador to the united nations, a procedural vote to advance her nomination with a confirmation vote expected the following day for tom vilsack to be agriculture secretary. until then, both chambers are holding brief pro forma sessions. no votes planned. watch the house live on c-span, the senate live on c-span 2. announcer: the lincoln presidential library and museum houses some of the 16th presidents rarest and most consequential documents. we take inside the springfield, illinois, library now for these treasures and the stories behind some of his most famous words.

>> here in the library where we are standing, this is the archive, where we have about 52,000 items related to abraham lincoln, and we have a vast archive of illinois history, about 12 million pages worth of manuscripts, about 200 thousand books, half a million photographs and videos, etc. it is really the place where researchers come to write books about abraham lincoln, dissertation, etc.. across the street in the museum, that is where the public comes from. all of the world, we have tourists come from countries worldwide, to the museum to learn more about the life and times of abraham lincoln. we love the museum because it is our stage. it is where we can put some of these documents and personal items that help illustrate the life of abraham lincoln, and it is where we can share him with the world. we have about 52,000 pieces in our lincoln collection, and the

majority of those pieces are housed on stairs in our climate controlled archive. many of those pieces reside in our vault. we take very seriously our job to preserve these items because 500 years from now, it sounds like a long way off, what i want people to be able to see these pieces that helped bring abraham lincoln's life in full color. so today i have taken some items from our climate controlled vault that i want to share with you. and handful of documents from his personal life, some from his public life. they help illustrate why today abraham lincoln is considered america's rate as president, and he is the most written about american of all times. abraham lincoln had just come back from being a congressman. his term in congress did not go

particularly well. he devoted himself at that point to rebuilding his law practice. he got a series of letters coming from his father's home, and the news was that his father was not doing well. his health was really failing, and they were begging lincoln to come visit his father on his deathbed. abraham lincoln did not answer the first letter, and it is not until a second letter comes that he decided to pen the letter, addressed to come as he says, "dear brother." it is his stepbrother. abraham lincoln writes, really, the last words that he once read to his father. i will read a little bit here to give you a flavor of what mr. lincoln writes. "you already know that i desire that either father or mother shall want of any comfort in

health or sickness while they live. i feel sure that you have not failed to use my name is necessary to procure a doctor. ." certainly you could use his name to get a doctor and help him through his final illness. but abraham lincoln says in this letter, "my business is such now that i can hardly leave home. if it were not how it is that my own wife is sick in bed, baby sickness, and i assume it is not dangerous. ." mary had given birth to their little boy, willie, but he writes down a small paragraph that he once read to his father on his deathbed. these are the last words that lincoln wants spoken to his father. i sincerely hope that father may recover his health, but in all of this, tell him to remember to

call upon and confide in our great and merciful and good maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. he knows the fall of the sparrow and numbers the hairs of our head. and he will not forget the dying man who puts his faith in him." some pretty religious words from abraham lincoln, who is p know that he has not exactly the most orthodox religious views. but of course, as mr. lincoln matures, his religious views become more mature as well. those words that he wants read to his father come from the gospels. abraham lincoln was certainly an individual who knew his bible very well, but i think it is significant that he chooses those religious words that he read to his father on his deathbed because he knew that his father was a religious man. his father did die from that illness. abraham lincoln did not visit him on his deathbed.

he did not visit his funeral. he never introduced his wife or his children to his father. it is a complicated relationship . the next piece comes from his presidency. this is one of the most significant documents that abraham lincoln ever issued. this is a copy of the emancipation proclamation. for the first year and a half of the civil war, abraham lincoln fought a conservative war, a war to save the union and not attack slavery. by the summer of 1862, it is clear something needs to be done about slavery, and so abraham lincoln, after the battle of antietam, the bloodiest day in american history, abraham lincoln issues the emancipation proclamation, which frees those slaves that are in territories that are currently under rebellion.

the original emancipation proclamation doesn't exist. it was burned up in the great chicago fire in 1871. this is one of, we think, 48 copies that abraham lincoln signed afterwards. these were commemorative copies. this includes abraham lincoln's original signature, as well as the signature of the secretary of state, and his secretary. this was a document that was issued as a war measure. abraham lincoln was the commander-in-chief. he is trying to put down a rebellion. in theory, the emancipation proclamation would only be in effect as long as there was an open rebellion. once that was quashed, the emancipation proclamation would no longer be the law of the land. that is what makes the 13th amendment to the constitution so significant. in january of 1865, congress passed the 13th amendment. forwarded it along to the

states, and that is how american slavery meets its end. so i chose this document to help illustrate acre ham lincoln -- abraham lincoln's elation ship with his generals. he went through several generals, committing union horses, before finding ulysses s grant. earlier in the war, lincoln thought he had found his general, general george mcclellan, a young, very intelligent individual, graduated west point, second in his class in 1846. licking thought mcclellan could bring an end to the war. it turns out there were problems along the way. after the battle of antietam in september of 1862, abraham lincoln is begging general mcclellan to move the army and to pursue the rebels. pursue robert e. lee and maybe bring an end to this horrible war, and time and time again,

general mcclellan would have a series of excuses for the president of the united states on why he could not lead his soldiers to deliver a knockout blow to the confederate forces. in this letter, written october 27, 1862, i think you get a sense of mr. lincoln -- he is losing his patience with his general. he writes, "general mcclellan, if i have done any, i deeply regret it, but to be told after more than four weeks total inaction of the army, during which period we have sent to that army every fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole, too, that the calvary horses were too much fatigued to move, presented a very cheerless, almost hopeless prospect for the future, and it

may have something of impatience in my dispatches. if not then, when could they ever be?" mr. lincoln is writing in response to a dispatch that mcclellan sent to him, saying that they could not pursue robert e. lee's forces because the horses were too fatigued. abraham lincoln had to be frustrated when he got this report back, noting a gap there. when he completed this letter, i think abraham lincoln wanted to know the exact number of horses that he had sent general mcclellan and his army, and he found out we had sent 7918 horses to mcclellan. he is frustrated with general mcclellan, and how much longer is he going to have patience

with mcclellan? there is a midterm election in 1862, and the day after the election, he relieves mcclellan of duty. the most difficult piece in the presidential library museum, that is saying a lot -- this is one of five copies in existence of the gettysburg address, handwritten by abraham lincoln. this time that he wrote out the gettysburg address, he gave it to a man named edward everett. today we do not really remember edward everett, but in the 19th century he was a prominent individual, a great speaker. he is actually the main speaker that day at gettysburg on november 19, 1863. he gives the main speech when they are dedicating the cemetery. he gives a talk that lasts for over two hours. he did not speak from notes.

he sort of put the battle of gettysburg into the context of world history, in the great battle for world history. after he finished his talk, abraham lincoln came up and read from two sheets of paper, and afterwards everett sent him a little note that said, "you said more in two minutes than i was able to say in two hours. would you write out the gettysburg address and send it to me?" this is what abraham lincoln sent to him. everett made a scrapbook memorializing that day. he pasted in the two pages of the gettysburg address. in the 20th century, that scrapbook was available for purchase. they saved their pennies, nickels, their money, and they were able to purchase that scrapbook containing the gettysburg address. they then donated it i love this.

it was written by abraham lincoln. it has an illinois connection. that's our mission, a a dual mission at the presidential library. this document speaks to it perfectly. i wanted to show something from the end of abraham lincoln's life. this is his response fonts to an admirer, a young lady had told her brother that she wanted abraham lincoln to handwrite the second inaugural and send it to her the request comes and he wants to do something nice for this young lady. he doesn't write out the

entirety of the second inaugural address. it is the shortest. it is just 702 words. it is also the best religious meditation on the meaning of the civil war. abraham lincoln second inaugural sounded more like a sermon than a standard political speech. mr. lincoln just writes out one paragraph. it's not the most famous paragraph. abraham lincoln writes out this paragraph. this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. if god wills that it continues, until all the wealth shall be

into every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword. as was said 3000 years ago, still must be said. the judgments of the lord are true and righteous. abraham lincoln has been searching throughout the civil war to figure out god's purpose. why the american people have to suffer such a horrible calamity. mr. lincoln spent a lot of time talking to god. this is the answer that he thinks god is sending to america. both sides have to suffer because both sides played a role in the egregious scent of american slavery.

people might not react well to his words. people don't often like to be told when they are wrong. nothing replaces primary sources. the artifacts he left behind, they are powerful pieces of the past. documents are the bedrock of what makes up those 18,000 books that are written about it -- abraham lincoln. every once in a while, they fit the pieces together. those objects in our museum, you can watch movies or documentaries about abraham lincoln's life. there is power in museum objects. he achieved great things.

he's another citizen of america like us. that's a very powerful lesson. >> the congress includes more than 60 new met members. this includes first-generation immigrants, television reporters, foreign -- walk athletes. watch our interviews with new members of congress. we feature freshman house democrats and senate republican members, including teresa leger fernandez, frank mrvan, bill hagerty. watch interviews with new members of congress at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> you are watching c-span, your

unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies, who provides c-span to viewers as a public service. ♪ host: the households a brief pro forma session this morning. congress is mainly out of washington this week on the president's day break. president biden returns to the white house today from camp david with the week ahead focused on his key agenda items. good morning. it is presidents' day, monday, february 15. with a new president in the white house and a former president acquitted in his second impeachment trial, we are asking about the best and worst presidents come based on a new poll.