[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E911-E912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   ARON S. EGNER WINS AMERICAN LEGION HIGH SCHOOL ORATORICAL CONTEST

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                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 1995
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, the American Legion High School Oratorical 
Contest was 
[[Page E912]] established in 1938 with the purpose of helping high 
school students develop a deeper understanding of the U.S. 
Constitution. In the last 37 years, no student from New York State has 
won the competition. That is, until this year, when Aron S. Egner of 
Ballston Lake, NY, delivered the prize-winning speech, thus earning an 
$18,000 college scholarship.
  Each year, the American Legion awards a total of $138,000 in 
scholarship prizes across the country in oratorical contests. Through 
these efforts, the American Legion accomplishes a twofold goal. First, 
through the preparation of delivery of their speeches, the participants 
develop extensive knowledge of such important topics as the U.S. 
Constitution and also hone their public speaking skills. Second, the 
prize money earned by the winners facilitates their obtaining a college 
education, and thus becoming contributive members of society. With his 
oratorical excellence, Aron S. Egner has proven that he is already well 
on his way to realizing the hopes held for him by the American Legion.
  Aron is a senior at Schenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, NY. He 
participated in other American Legion programs during the year, 
becoming Governor of New York in the Boys State Program and the 
Attorney General in Boys Nation. In the Oratorical Competition, Aron's 
speech, entitled ``Choosing Democracy,'' was judged best among those 
delivered by approximately 30,000 students from across the Nation. The 
speech eloquently and lucidly discusses the American citizen's 
privilege and obligation to vote in elections.
  Mr. Speaker, Aron has already been recognized for his achievements by 
the American Legion. I ask that you and all Members join me as I submit 
Aron Egner's prize-winning speech to the Record and extend to him my 
heartiest congratulations on this impressive achievement, as well as 
best wishes in all of his future endeavors. I know we'll be hearing 
great things from this young man for many years to come.
          American Legion Speech and Oratorical Contest--1994


                           choosing democracy

                            (By Aron Egner)

       Most of us don't appreciate what we have--until we lose it.
       We take our health for granted--until we become ill or 
     injured.
       We count on a steady family income--until a family member 
     is laid off.
       We just assume electricity will always be available--until 
     that storm knocks out power to our homes.
       Too many Americans today also take our nation's 
     Constitution for granted. What, they wonder, does a document 
     written over 200 years ago--by a bunch of guys in powdered 
     wigs--have to do with life in the 1990s?
       The answer: everything.
       Just as electricity powers everything in our homes: our 
     T.V.'s, stereos, lights, and appliances, the Constitution is 
     the engine that powers the American way of life.
       The Constitution makes America: America. A free nation that 
     operates under majority rule while preserving minority 
     rights. A nation where the rule of law reigns supreme. A 
     nation where you can criticize the government--and not go to 
     jail or face a firing squad. Where you can worship or not 
     worship God in any way you choose. Where government is the 
     servant of the people--and not the other way around.
       In the world of 1787--a world ruled by kings, queens 
     emperors and czars--those Founding Fathers in powdered wigs 
     came up with a new way of selecting leaders: elections.
       They did this because they believed in the revolutionary 
     statement at the heart of the Declaration of Independence: 
     ``* * * Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their 
     just powers from the consent of the governed.''
       Of all the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, none is 
     more important than the right to vote for our leaders. It is 
     this right that is the foundation for all our other 
     liberties.
       Voting makes us the masters of our fate, giving us the 
     ability to bring leaders to power, or force them out of 
     office.
       It sends a strong, clear message to everyone who desires to 
     govern us: that we, the people, are the true rulers. We can 
     elect you or we can defeat you. You must respond to our needs 
     and govern us well, or you will not remain in power.
       Back in 1787, no other nation on earth was governed this 
     way. But from that point on, the U.S. Constitution became the 
     inspiration for all people who wanted to live in freedom.
       Today, democracy--inspired by the U.S. Constitution--is on 
     the rise around the world.
       The Communism of the Soviet Union, fashioned by Lenin and 
     Stalin, has been replaced by fledgling democracies. Democracy 
     has also supplanted dictatorships in Eastern Europe. And 
     after finally winning the vote, the black majority in South 
     Africa has elected Nelson Mandela.
       But ironically, as we see news programs and newspapers 
     filled with stories of the triumph of democracy around the 
     globe, many of our own citizens aren't exercising their right 
     to vote.
       The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate 
     found that in the 1992 elections, only 55 percent of eligible 
     voters cast ballots.
       Even more troubling, only 37 percent of American citizens 
     between the ages of 18 and 24 voted.
       President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led the American 
     people in a world war to preserve democracy, told the people 
     of our nation in a 1944 radio address: ``Nobody will ever 
     deprive the American people of the right to vote, except the 
     American people themselves--and the only way they could do 
     that is by not voting.''
       Democracy is not a spectator sport. The right to vote is 
     useless if we don't take advantage of it.
       Throughout history, Americans have worked, and fought, and 
     died to preserve and expand their right to vote.
       Originally, the Constitution gave states broad discretion 
     in deciding who could vote. African-Americans were excluded 
     from democracy's promise. Women were also denied the vote. 
     And states imposed poll taxes and set other qualifications to 
     keep even some white men out of the voting booth.
       After the long, bloody struggle of the Civil War nearly 
     tore our nation apart, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution 
     abolished slavery. The 14th and 15th Amendments gave blacks 
     citizenship and the right to vote, and the 24th Amendment--
     not
      ratified until 1964--outlawed disqualifying voters for 
     failing to pay poll taxes or other taxes.
       In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights 
     Act into law, helping to ensure that black Americans could 
     exercise their Constitutional right to vote. He said at the 
     time: ``The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised 
     by man for breaking down injustice.''
       Women protested and demonstrated for years before the 19th 
     Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1920, finally 
     awarding them suffrage.
       And in 1971, a long campaign by young people and their 
     allies resulted in the ratification of the 26th Amendment, 
     lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
       None of these amendments was achieved easily.
       But they are given up easily--each and every time an 
     American fails to vote.
       Some people ask: Why is voting so important? When millions 
     of ballots are cast, who's going to miss mine?
       The answer is that citizenship in the United States imposes 
     responsibilities as well as rights. And the ultimate 
     responsibility we have is to preserve our rights. Not all of 
     us can serve in the armed forces, run for public office, or 
     work in government. But all of us--from age 18 on--have a 
     responsibility to vote, to safeguard our liberty and the 
     liberty of generations unborn. When you think of all the 
     brave American soldiers who gave their lives to preserve our 
     democratic way of life, it's hard to consider standing in 
     line at the voting booth much of a sacrifice.
       Other people say all the candidates are worthless; a bunch 
     of crooked, useless politicians.
       But that's a poor excuse. Life is filled with choices: what 
     meal to eat, what college or trade school to go to, what 
     career to pursue, even what car to buy. Seldom--if ever--is 
     one of these choices the embodiment of sheer perfection. We 
     choose, nevertheless, from the available alternatives. We use 
     our judgment to decide which choice is best--or at least, the 
     lesser of two evils.
       Those who fail to vote have no right to complain about the 
     failings of our government, because they have failed in the 
     most elemental duty of citizenship. They are turning their 
     backs on freedom.
       Each of us has an obligation to vote, and society's 
     institutions--the media, our government and our schools--need 
     to do a better job of hammering home that message.
       The media need to show us the good side of politics and 
     government, and not just the bad. They must help us recapture 
     the idealism that swept the nation when John F. Kennedy was 
     president. Too often today, we instead view government as the 
     corrupt conspiracy depicted in Oliver Stone's fictional 
     ``JFK.''
       Government must make voting easier. It should allow same-
     day registration of voters. It should make it possible for 
     more people to vote by absentee ballot. Elections could be 
     held over several days, to give more people time to go to the 
     polls and reduce long lines. In addition, government should 
     establish public financing of campaigns to reduce the 
     influence of big money special interests.
       Our schools need to bring social studies classes alive, by 
     emphasizing student participation and involving young people 
     in the study of current events. Students should hold mock 
     election campaigns and stage debates. They should conduct 
     mock Congressional and legislative sessions, like those held 
     by the Boys and Girls State and Nation programs. Students 
     should be encouraged not just to study yesterday's history, 
     although that is important, but to make tomorrow's history by 
     voting, learning about, and participating 1st hand in the 
     political process. These are the lessons we should, we need, 
     to teach.
       Today, our power to elect our leaders is as important as it 
     was when those guys in powdered wigs created our Constitution 
     more than 200 years ago.
       The message of the Constitution is timeless: vote as if 
     your entire way of life depended on it. Why? Because it does.
     

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