this event took place in statuary hall of the u.s. capitol and runs about an hour. >>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i'm tom coleman. i'm the chairman of the board of the u.s. capitol historical society and a former member from the state of missouri. and i'm filling in tonight for ron sarrisen, who is our president, who is not feeling well and cannot come tonight. we will miss him, but we will soldier on in his absence. welcome to statuary hall and the 2016 presentation of our freedom award. we have been doing this since 1993, recognizing individuals as well as organizations who have broadened our understanding and deepened our appreciation for freedom. tonight we are privileged to honor david mccullough whose remarkable rich and varied body of work has brought the american story to vivid life. with an inquisitive mind, and ever active royal typewriter, and an authoritative but pleasant voice that sounds like it comes from the outer reaches of the cosmos david mccullough has exercised an extraordinary gift for expressing the ess

the house subsequently for many years, until the expansion in 1850, operated in statuary hall. but the acoustics in there were terrible. they couldn't hear each other. they just literally could not hear each other. so the debates were quite stressful because people could not -- the acoustics were just awful. that was one of the factors. in addition to winning the mexican war that led to the expansion decision to build a house wing and a senate wing. >> now, this room has got a number of paintings i want to talk about. but staying with the history of it, 1800 was important but also 1814 was also very important. >> sure was. >> what happened? >> they had begun to develop the library of congress here. when the british invaded washington, they burned both the capitol and the white house. of course it didn't burn it to the ground because it's made out of marble, but it gutted the building. it took them four or five years to get back in to the capitol. they used the initial library of congress, which the books, to start the fire. that was supposedly happened in this area. they destro

it pains me, as a member of the house of representatives, that we continue to walk through statuary hall. this is a place that should be revered, for everything one of america's greatest historians has just so eloquently stated. abraham lincoln should not be relegated to a brass plate that people pass by. and i hope that the house of representatives heeding along with the senate the remarks and the eloquence of mr. mccullough will take that into consideration for future generations so that this eloquent room might be once again restored to its grandeur. for 30 years, the capitol historical society has been passing out fellowships. those have led to the research and dedication and history that is so rich here in this great building and in this great country of ours.ours. david, this evening, you made it possible in honoring you through the donations of so many people for us to expand upon that. it is my great honor as is a tradition in the house of representatives when we're honoring people, we fly a flag over the united states capitol to commemorate their great achievement and accomplish

borlaug was unveiled in statuary hall. and also your support for renewable energy, which is very near and dear to my heart and the people of iowa appreciate that. and to some degree, you have already touched on this, but tax reform, comprehensive federal tax reform is an important issue and it obviously affects us because, and you talk about this a little bit, that tax deductibility of state and local bonds. we are concerned that the congress in doing comprehensive tax reform recognize the important role of governors and the states have in terms of controlling our own state tax authority and not being preempted. so i would just ask you to see what you can do to make sure that, first of all, that we do see comprehensive tax reform and that we do it in such a way that it does not curtail the state's ability to meet our obligations. >> thank you, governor. i look forward to working with you on that. one of the things that is out there is to have a limit on what you can deduct. and when they have a limit on the deduction, that