[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 12, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 AWARD WINNING SCRIPT OF DARYL FINIZIO

                                 ______


                             HON. JACK REED

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 12, 1994

  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to recognize an 
exceptional young man from my district who was recently awarded 16th-
place honors in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy 
broadcast scriptwriting contest. Mr. Daryl Finizio of Westerly, RI, 
will be entering his senior year at Westerly High School this fall. He 
has served as the class president for 2 years and in the student 
council for 4 years. In addition, he was awarded first prize in the 
Otis P. Chapman Prize Speaking Contest and was a finalist in the Senate 
Youth Scholarship Program. Daryl is hoping to attend the University of 
Rhode Island, where he will study political science. I am pleased to 
submit his award winning script into the Record today. I am certain all 
my colleagues will see this as an example of what young adults in 
America are achieving.

                        My Commitment to America

       My commitment to America is the crusade to preserve 
     democracy and freedom.
       Many Americans take for granted the luxuries that we enjoy 
     as United States citizens; I know I did; that is, until last 
     year when I experienced something that affected me so deeply 
     that I shall never forget the lessons that I learned.
       Last January my family took a trip to Tijuana and Ensenada 
     in Mexico. I had never been out of the country before and 
     knew next to nothing about living standards in Mexico. Our 
     tour bus passed through Tijuana at about mid-day, and the bus 
     had to go around the city because heavy rains had flooded 
     most of the streets inside the town. We came to a point along 
     this side road where on the Mexican side most of the small 
     houses that had been built on a hill on the side of the road 
     had been washed out. Along the road-side there were dozens of 
     recently dispossessed families, and in a small, shallow, 
     dirty ditch lay the bodies of those killed in the flood, mud-
     splattered and abandoned. On the other side there were many 
     young men not much older than myself, all of their 
     possessions packed in bags ready to make one all-out run for 
     the freedom that lay on the American side. Then, out of the 
     corner of my eye I saw the city of San Diego and the rolling 
     green California hills that surround it. And, today I can 
     easily say that, compared to the horror surrounding me at 
     that one moment, that sight is the most beautiful one in all 
     the world. There is suffering that Americans don't see in 
     places that we never go and sounds that we don't want to 
     listen to.
       So my commitment to America is to see that I, as an 
     American citizen, see to it that Americans realize just how 
     great a nation we truly have.
       Our democratic and political processes are the models for 
     all the world. We, as citizens, have the right to free speech 
     and expression; and, of course, we have the right to the 
     almighty vote.
       Today, America stands before the world as the only true 
     global superpower. We have to make a commitment that we will 
     shoulder the responsibilities which accompany such powers.
       I know that it is hard for Americans to accept so much 
     responsibility. At one point many of us would opt for 
     isolationism, but I believe that this will only bring about 
     destruction. We cannot always opt for the easy out; sometimes 
     good things come with hard work.
       But I would not presume that I can change the world, but 
     what I can do is make a commitment to change myself, to open 
     my eyes to the plight of the poor and the needy, to go where 
     I would not normally go, to see what I would not normally 
     see, and to do my best in whatever occupation I enter.
       And if the time should ever arise that my Country should 
     ever need me to serve in its military, I would gladly do so. 
     And I would not hesitate to give my life in my country's 
     defense.
       For I have never seen and the world will never know a 
     nation greater than the United States of America.

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