Jon Kyl, May 2, 2003

This year’s celebration of Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 11) marks the 90th time that the United States has officially honored our nation’s moms.

Like most holidays, it has origins reaching far back into history. There are records of celebrations of mothers in Ancient Greece. The most direct linkage to our current celebration, though, traces to the 1600s in England. The English at that time began to commemorate a "Mothering Sunday," which took place every year on the fourth Sunday of Lent. At that time, servants who lived with wealthy families were given the day off and encouraged to visit their mothers. They often brought along a special cake for the occasion or offered their mothers small gifts.

One of the earliest backers of making Mother’s Day an official holiday in the United States was Julia Ward Howe, author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. In 1870, as the nation still recovered from the horrors of the Civil War, she actually envisioned the holiday as a way for women to band together and oppose all wars - a Mother's Day of Peace.

While that political agenda never gained wide currency, the idea of honoring America’s mothers proved increasingly popular. In 1913, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President and federal officials to don white carnations on the second Sunday of May in honor of the nation’s moms. Congress officially established the holiday with a second resolution that year, asking that the U.S. flag be displayed "as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

Not everyone is a fan of the holiday. Former First Lady Barbara Bush, one of America’s best-loved mothers, once remarked, in her usual blunt style: "It's a big rip-off, you know that." She maintained that mothers deserve celebration every day, and bemoaned the "commercialization" of the holiday.

I’m the last person to quarrel with Mrs. Bush, who knows a thing or two about mothering.

And of course, she’s right. Mothers deserve to be remembered every day. But I still find the holiday worthwhile because it encourages busy, hurried Americans to take a moment to reflect on a mother’s importance - this includes stepmothers, adoptive mother, foster mothers, even mothers-in-law -- and on their role in strengthening American families.

President Bush has often rightly said that one of the hardest jobs in the world is to be a parent. The burdens on mothers - especially single working mothers -- are particularly great. Mother’s Day is another useful reminder to us of that we should act, in Congress, to support the family.

In Washington, we often get bogged down in legislative skirmishes, or "Inside the Beltway" talk about appropriations or reauthorizations. But most of the bills we introduce and actions that we take here really are designed to help families, to give moms and dads more opportunities to build better lives for themselves and their children.

Democrats and Republicans, while sharing this goal, tend to have different ideas about how to realize it. I happen to believe, for example, that giving more money to Americans through tax relief helps parents build better futures for their kids and grandkids. Helping families is also the primary goal of bipartisan increases in education spending, children’s health programs, and welfare reform. The proportion of black families headed by single women has gone down steadily since 1996 - a real sign that welfare reform has strengthened the institution of marriage in the black community.

It’s no surprise that many of our nation’s greatest leaders were heavily influenced by their moms. Abraham Lincoln frequently credited his mother, who died when he was child and was herself illiterate, with encouraging him to read and study. Just as noteworthy, Lincoln also cherished his stepmother - he called her his "angel mother" -- whom his father married a few years later. Sara Roosevelt was a powerful influence on her son, Franklin, throughout his life.

Ronald Reagan once recalled of his mother: "She always expected to find the best in people and often did, even among the prisoners at our local jail to whom she frequently brought hot meals. . . From my mother, I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true."

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have this kind of support throughout life. Some people never knew their mothers at all. Others lost their moms early in life. Consider a poignant recent example here in Arizona: that of the family of Lori Piestewa, whose contributions to our nation in Iraq will make her children proud but, sadly, also will deprive them of their mother’s guidance, special attention, and care.

We must remember moms who are loved and those who are missed.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Jon Kyl is a Republican senator from Arizona.