Mr. Speaker, the Delaware River deepening project is important

The words of Robert Brady resound like a statesman’s appeal, rooted in duty to his people and his land: “Mr. Speaker, the Delaware River deepening project is important for my constituents, for our region and for the entire nation. I trust that, when they examine the facts about it, every one of my colleagues will join me in supporting it.” Behind these words is not merely the call for a public works project, but the deeper truth that progress often requires collective trust, vision, and sacrifice. Brady speaks with the tone of one who knows that prosperity is built not in isolation, but through unity of purpose.

The ancients knew the importance of rivers, for rivers are the lifeblood of civilization. The Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Ganges—upon their waters rose mighty kingdoms. To deepen a river is not merely to change its course, but to strengthen the veins through which trade, sustenance, and growth flow. Brady’s call for the Delaware is a modern echo of that timeless truth: that a people’s prosperity is bound to the strength of its waterways, its roads, its ports—the arteries that connect the local to the national, the individual to the empire.

In his words we also hear the reliance upon trust. He does not demand obedience from his colleagues, nor does he cloak his plea in rhetoric alone. He calls instead upon reason: “when they examine the facts.” This is the essence of true leadership—not to manipulate, but to invite reflection; not to coerce, but to appeal to wisdom. His faith lies in the hope that truth, when seen clearly, will bind men and women together in common cause. Here is a lesson for all ages: that enduring progress cannot be built upon deception, but upon facts revealed and honestly weighed.

History offers us examples of such appeals. Consider the construction of the Erie Canal, a project many deemed too costly and impractical. Yet its advocates, trusting that facts would reveal its promise, persevered. When completed, it transformed the economy of a region and strengthened the entire nation, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic and multiplying commerce. In the same way, Brady’s call reflects this ancient pattern: great works are first born in doubt, but with vision, trust, and evidence, they reshape the destiny of peoples.

Yet beneath this practical matter lies a symbolic truth. The Delaware River, once a pathway for explorers and a witness to Washington’s crossing in the Revolution, is also a river of memory. To deepen it is to honor not only commerce but history, to preserve and expand the heritage of a nation that has long been bound to its waterways. Thus, Brady’s words carry the weight of both the past and the future—the remembrance of sacrifice and the promise of renewal.

The deeper meaning is this: no project, no policy, no endeavor of a people can succeed without unity and the willingness to see beyond self. What begins as a matter of regional necessity becomes, through trust and vision, a matter of national strength. Brady’s plea is not merely for dredging a river but for dredging the hearts of his colleagues from doubt to conviction, from division to shared responsibility.

The lesson is timeless: when faced with collective decisions, weigh them not only by personal benefit but by the common good. Look at the facts, listen with humility, and place your trust in reason and in the shared prosperity of all. For just as rivers bind lands together, so too does trust bind citizens together. And where trust and truth flow like deepened waters, there a nation will find its strength.

Practical actions follow: in your own life, seek the “deepening projects” that benefit not just yourself but your community. Do not act only on impulse or rhetoric, but examine the facts. When called to lead, appeal not to fear but to reason, not to division but to unity. And above all, remember that every great work—whether it be a canal, a river, or a law—requires the cooperation of many, grounded in trust and vision, for the sake of generations to come.