[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E788-E789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     TRIBUTE TO GAINES R. JOHNSTON

                                 ______


                          HON. SONNY CALLAHAN

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 1995
  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to congratulate Mr. 
Gaines R. Johnston, who won fifth place honors in the Voice of 
Democracy broadcast scriptwriting contest. Enclosed is a copy of his 
winning script.
  The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies 
Auxiliary sponsor the Voice of Democracy audio-essay scholarship 
competition. The program is now in its 48th year and requires high 
school student entrants to write and record an essay on a patriotic 
theme. My Vision for America is this year's theme, and over 125,000 
students participated in the program nationwide.
  Gaines is a senior at Murphy High School in Mobile, AL and is the son 
of Mr. and Mrs. William Johnston. He was sponsored by VFW Post 49 and 
its Ladies Auxiliary in Mobile.
                         My Vision for America

       If we could have one thing for the future, what would it 
     be? Money? Power? A good job? Healthy kids? Peace? Which is 
     the most important? Society tries to answer this question for 
     us. So often we hear people pleading for peace. Peace in the 
     middle east, peace in eastern Europe, peace on the streets of 
     America. But the peace I want for the future is peace of 
     mind. ``Peace of Mind.'' It's knowing that you don't have to 
     worry; you don't need to worry. Peace of mind goes beyond 
     hope. It's knowing that it's going to be alright.
       How does peace of mind go beyond hope? At first glance, 
     they can seem very similar. They achieve almost the same 
     goal. But, hope is defined as desire and expectation 
     combined, whereas peace of mind is defined as mental calm. 
     One can create hope, but you must find peace of mind. And you 
     can have hope without peace of mind--you can hope things will 
     get better without knowing they will. You just hope.
       We don't have peace of mind in America; Americans worry a 
     lot. We worry what the future will hold for us. We worry 
     because our present is alway changing. This fall America 
     votes for its new leaders. We don't know who is going to win. 
     We don't know who our leaders are going to be. Our desire is 
     so great that we must watch the media poll and repoll the 
     public even down to the last minute to try to predict who 
     will win. We want to know as soon as possible so do don't 
     have to worry as long. Americans have been removed from 
     delayed gratification so long we don't know what it is. We 
     want to know about O.J., now. We want our hamburger, now. We 
     want to know what is going on 
      [[Page E789]] around us, now. We want our five-day forecast 
     so we don't worry about the erratic weather. America wants 
     instant gratification, and when the world can't deliver that 
     to us, we worry.
       With so much to worry about, people want to find peace. 
     They want to escape from the struggles of everyday life. They 
     want to put life on hold, press the pause button and relax. 
     There's peace to be found. It's everywhere. Peace is found in 
     nature, in a sunset, in a mountain lake, in the smile of a 
     baby; there is peace. Nothing attracts a crowd like a newborn 
     baby. Complete strangers will come up to the new parent 
     carrying the baby and look at the parent and smile and look 
     at the baby and smile and smile at the parent again. The 
     complete stranger found peace in that child--an inner peace 
     knowing the future was in that beautiful smiling baby. 
     There's peace in a sunset. When you watch a sunset, you don't 
     have to worry about anything; you don't worry about who left 
     a message on your answering machine. You don't worry about 
     what time you have to get up tomorrow. You concentrate on the 
     here and now. You find serenity and that's what people look 
     for. They look for mental calm. They look for peace of mind.
       In order for America to find peace of mind, we must change. 
     When we can have faith in what is going on in the present, we 
     begin to feel better about what will happen in the future. 
     But it all starts from within. When we have control of our 
     lives, we can begin to take a look at the rest of the world. 
     We make our place in the world--we do our part to make it 
     better. It takes work and its is not instantaneous, but the 
     goal is a future peace. A peace that helps people sleep at 
     night; a peace that helps parents feel safer; a peace so 
     strong that you can look at a baby and smile and not have to 
     worry about the future.
     

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