The Nation - News from Feb. 19, 1985
Sen. Paula Hawkins (R-Fla.) whipped through George Washington’s Farewell Address in the nearly empty Senate in the record-tying time of 39 minutes, President Reagan rested up from a vacation and federal workers took a sunny holiday, all to celebrate Presidents Day--a day on which no Presidents were born. The founder of the country actually was born Feb. 22. Hawkins, a first-termer, drew the unwanted but traditional assignment of reading the address, though Washington himself never read it. The House did away with the practice five years ago.
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