[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     LETTER BY HAROLD S. STEIN, JR.

                                 ______


                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 18, 1995
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to insert the following 
insightful letter written by Mr. Harold S. Stein, Jr., into the 
Congressional Record. In my view, his words are instructive, timely and 
bear a timeliness to them as well.

                                                December 27, 1994.
     Hon. Anna Eshoo,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congresswoman Eshoo: Our anger must not outpace our 
     love. As desperate as these times may be, as fraught with 
     fear our expectations, there is much that we can do to set 
     things right. My concern is that in the process, through 
     passion's flame, we violate the very principles we strive to 
     serve.
       I suspect that these sentiments influenced the patriots who 
     declared our independence, drafted our constitution, 
     struggled to maintain the sovereignty and unity of the 
     republic, and labored to give birth to and make viable the 
     United Nations as a harbinger of world peace and order. In 
     each era, in each instance of great social need, there has 
     always been the probability that the pendulum of change would 
     sweep to its opposite moment; that the dynamics of 
     overturning one act of usurpation would lead to an opposite 
     extreme, no less a tyranny.
       Today, Americans are an angry people, filled with 
     frustration bordering on pure fury. It is evident in the 
     streets and in the voting booth. It is voiced in our radio 
     and television talk shows and printed in the Op-Eds. It fuels 
     our movies, propels our music, and truncates our language 
     into a handful of vicious epithets and slogans. It has caused 
     us to resort to placing ill-fitting and simplistic labels on 
     each other not to describe but rather mark who should be the 
     targets of our next assault; surely a self-defeating strategy 
     destined to fail as a solution and demean and make ignoble 
     our ambitions.
       In short, our internecine wars between ethnic groups, 
     political parties, social tiers, races, religions, and sexes 
     has blinded us to the fact that we are citizens of one great 
     nation, obligated to solve the grand alchemy of working 
     together for a life of quality. We have taken the first steps 
     by being dissatisfied with our present condition: our 
     behavior toward each other and our environment is suspect. 
     That is good. But in our rejection of the status quo and our 
     demand for change, we must now pause and recognize that the 
     ``ins'' and ``outs'', the ``haves'' and ``have-nots'', and 
     the ``pros'' and ``cons'' are all from the same family.
       This is what is meant by healing. It is not giving in to 
     bad social habits or maintaining failing systems and faulty 
     priorities. It is rather making the changes with 
     circumspection and sensitivity, recognizing and being alert 
     to corrective moves that, like that pendulum, may swing too 
     far to a new excess.
       Let us make 1995 a year in which we make a positive move 
     towards achieving a quality of life for ourselves and our 
     children. Let us with wisdom build a more noble world with an 
     enthusiasm and energy born of love and not anger or hate.
           Sincerely yours,
                                              Harold S. Stein, Jr.


     

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