PenceBlog: <b>Congressman Pence's grandfather Richard Michael Cawley example of "the American Dream"<b> - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

In his speech "Renewing the American Dream: The Real Rational Middle Ground on Immigration Reform," the Congressman refers to his grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley (pictured right):

"I mentioned at the outset that I am the grandson of an Irish immigrant. I take my name, Michael Richard from his. Richard Michael Cawley came to this country on a boat from Ireland and stepped onto Ellis Island, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, in the early 20th century. Like millions who came before and since, that frightened teenage boy had a simple dream, a dream expressed when his mother handed him the one-way ticket and said, 'you have a future there,' a dream we call the American Dream.

"My grandfather grew up in a two room house in farm country east of a small village called Tubbercurry, Ireland. When I saw that home the summer after he died, I better understood a moment we shared just a few weeks before he went home to be with the Lord.

"It was the fall of 1980 and my father had finally given in to my mother’s wish for a bigger house and the two-story, 4,000 square foot home in Columbus, Indiana seemed like a palace to all of us…especially my grandfather. When I walked into the house, I saw grandpa sitting alone in the family room and I noticed his eyes were moist with emotion. When I asked if he was alright, he quietly replied in a gentle Irish brogue, 'I just never thought a child of mine would live in a house like this..'. My grandpa, like my mom and dad, lived the American Dream. He got off that boat an Irish lad, he died an American, and I am an American because of him."

posted by Pence Press Office # 1:14 PM