[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E742-E743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   CONGRATULATINS TO MS. APRIL GENTES

                                 ______


                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 1995
  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend 
congratulations on behalf of the U.S. Congress to Ms. April Gentes, a 
resident of Rumford, RI who is a senior at Bishop Feehan High School in 
Attleboro, MA.
  Ms. Gentes has been named a national winner in the 1995 Voice of 
Democracy Program and recipient of a National Veterans of Foreign Wars 
Scholarship Award. This distinguished program began 48 years ago and, 
this year, had 125,000 participants competing for 47 annual 
scholarships nationwide with the submission of an essay on the subject 
of ``My Vision for America.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present Ms. Gentes essay for the Record.
                       ``My Vision for America''

                           (By April Gentes)

       A world without prejudice and bigotry anywhere. A place 
     where the word hatred does not exist. Somewhere where people 
     will help one another and not think of their own needs first. 
     A place where children can run and play and moms and dads 
     won't have to worry about their safety. A land filled with 
     people who are not poor, hungry, or homeless. A place where 
     all who are there feel loved and accepted. Somewhere where no 
     man or woman, boy or girl, feels they are worthless or can 
     not make a difference in someone else's life. A place where 
     forgiveness and trust go hand in hand. A land with no 
     disease, war or killing. This is my vision for America.
       I believe that every single person in this world is here 
     for a reason. I have a story I'm sure you've heard before but 
     it ties in well about how my vision of America would be. It 
     goes like this: One day a girl was walking along a beach 
     where thousands of star fish were washed up along the shore. 
     The girl started picking the star fish up, one by one, and 
     throwing them back into the ocean. As she was doing this a 
     man walking noticed her. He walked up to her and asked 
     ``little girl, don't you see there are thousands of star fish 
     here all washed up on the sand. You can't possibly save them 
     all, so why are you trying too?'' The little girl looked up 
     at the man and, hurt by his question, thought for a moment. 
     Then she replied ``No, you're right. I can't possibly save 
     them all, but I can save this one (and she picked up a star 
     fish and threw it back into the ocean.) and I can help this 
     one'', and she picked up another one and did the same. She 
     continued on walking and throwing the star fish back into the 
     water feeling happy with what she could do to help.
       This story has so much meaning behind it. Instead of the 
     girl being intimidated by the 
     [[Page E743]] man's frightfully true question, she kept on 
     going. She was not ashamed of what she could not do, rather 
     she only thought of what she could do. If everyone in America 
     thought of one thing they could do to make someone else's 
     life a little brighter, our country would be in pretty good 
     shape.
       By starting out with lots of small things to do or ways of 
     being there for other people, soon it will lead to big 
     changes. By first starting with the family and having peace 
     and happiness within the home, eventually that peace and love 
     will spread into society.
       By learning to accept people's differences first in our 
     communities we will then be able to accept and understand all 
     those around us. By giving of our time and money to help 
     those struggling right in our area, they in turn will help 
     other people when they can. It will be like one big domino 
     effect of humans loving and caring for each other as God 
     calls us to do. People will feel good about themselves being 
     able to make a difference in someone else's life. More people 
     will want to work together to meet common goals and achieve 
     individual and nationwide dreams. America will once again be 
     the country of equal opportunities and freedom for everyone. 
     There will be no more people trapped in fear or robbed of 
     their pride. We will all be viewed as people, people who love 
     and accept, forgive and protect, one another.
       I don't believe that having this hope of America is being 
     naive. I believe it is putting a lot of faith and trust into 
     one another through, and I know we can do this together. With 
     each of us having different yet special gifts and talents, we 
     are able to share these with one another. If all of our hopes 
     and aspirations are put together we will be able to have one 
     vision of America that is a vision for everyone.
     

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