For those who have never visited the most iconic symbol of our country, the plaque on Ellis Island, near the feet of the Statue of Liberty, reads:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”

cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The gaze of the Mother of Exiles has welcomed the best of our people, from Einstein to Caruso to unknown heroes all over this land. From sea to shining sea, across amber waves of grain, our immigrants have made us almost unapproachable in every endeavor we as a nation have set our minds to. This must not end.

Bill Gillmore

Columbus