[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1236-E1237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       LITTLE LEAGUE AMBASSADORS

                                 ______


                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, 149 years ago, this June 19, the New York 
Nine played the Knickerbockers at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, planting 
the seeds that led to organized baseball in the United States. The 
rules which were established by Alexander J. Cartwright, who umpired 
the game, preceded the game between the Knickerbockers and New York 8 
months later in Abner Doubleday's Cooperstown, NY.
  America's favorite pastime has been a part of the scene in every 
State across the United States ever since, bringing together people of 
all backgrounds, races, beliefs, and economic strata in a fun-filled 
afternoon or evening of recreation, friendly competition, festivity, 
and vitality.
  When Carl Stotz created the Little League in Williamsport, PA, in 
1939, and encouraged baseball competition among youths between 9 and 12 
years of age in the Keystone State and New Jersey, a competition that 
has grown to include the entire country, he did it with full knowledge 
that, as the Newark Evening News had said earlier, ``An American boy 
can no more be separated from baseball than he can from the dinner 
table when he's hungry.''
  For many, the American pastime, baseball, is the American dream.
  For 20 youths in the Sandy Hook Little League, bringing the great 
American pastime to the shores of the land their ancestors left, is the 
American dream of 1995.
  The youths, accompanied by eight of their coaches, and attired in 
identical jackets, sweaters, and parkas depicting them as American 
ambassadors of friendship, will visit seven countries of Europe, 
beginning June 21, [[Page E1237]] playing baseball and cricket against 
competing teams from each of the countries. When they return to their 
native United States on July 4, the 219th anniversary of the signing of 
the Declaration of Independence, they will be carrying the message of 
thousands of European youth who believe, like themselves, that 
competition on the ballfield as a child will wipe out conflict on the 
battlefield as an adult.
  These youths of the Sandy Hook Little League are astute scholars, all 
achieving their academics to the best of their abilities. They are 
dedicated ball players, hard playing and energetic. They represent more 
than award-winning, unscored against, record-breaking Little Leaguers 
who can outclass the best that has ever appeared on a baseball diamond.
  They are, simply put, good, decent, wholesome American boys, the kind 
of kid the country can be proud of, the kind of kid who will be the 
leader of the Nation in the 21st century. They're the youngster with a 
fishing pole, sitting on the side of the river; the youngster with 
peanut butter on his nose and a smile across a freckled face; they're 
the imp who chews on a pencil before finishing that last question on a 
history quiz, or the big brother who hugs a baby sister, wondering why 
she cries.
  They are the ones who can carry the message of friendship; the 
message that, while an ocean may separate us from the lands of our 
ancestors, a common interest in sportsmanship, fun, and
 friendly competition that can narrow the gap that divides people of 
different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, or religious beliefs.

  While the United States enjoys lazy, languid days of summer, 
beginning June 21, our ambassadors of friendship will be visiting their 
contemporaries in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, 
Germany, Switzerland, and France, competing with them on the baseball 
diamond, and learning their backgrounds and beliefs across the dinner 
table, in the park, or on the slopes of the Alps. While the United 
States resorts to the shore or mountains for summertime recreation, our 
youthful ambassadors will be touring the historic sites, enjoying the 
recreational facilities, learning the cultural highlights of the 
various nationalities they will meet on their historic journey back to 
their roots. In short, the Sandy Hook Little League representatives 
will be representing each and every one of us, using the laces of the 
baseball glove to tie together friendships and the sparkle of a 
baseball diamond to demonstrate to our European neighbors the jewels of 
America.
  I ask you to join me in congratulating special ambassadors: Sean 
Andrews, Howard Paronto, Shane Kochon, Brian Wolcott, John Bellavance, 
Louis Collins, Ryan Collins, Chris Springsteen, James Murray, Donnie 
Hinchman, Lee Murchie, Brian Burton, Matt Smock, Brian Martin, Nick 
Riker, Chris Kaasmann, Sean Alvator, Scott Strohmenger, Matt Morin and 
Jason VanDeventer. I ask you to join me in wishing a safe journey to 
these ambassadors and their coaches: Thomas Andrews, Director, Herb 
Kochon, Substinence specialist, Rich Martin, security and first aid, 
Art Post, communications officer, Tom Barry, quartermaster, Lou 
Collins, field marshal, Herb ``Cappy'' Kaasmann, aquatics director, and 
Howard Paronto, navigator.
  I invite you to join me in asking our special ambassadors to carry 
the message of peace and friendship, of healthy athletic competition 
and international camaraderie to our friends across the Atlantic Ocean 
in seven nations of Europe where many of us have roots, memories, or 
familial ties.
  I urge you to applaud the efforts of these special ambassadors to 
spread their message of sportsmanship, friendship, and international 
peace as they travel through the nations of Great Britain, The 
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and France.
  I call on you to recognize these special ambassadors as they travel 
by plane, bus, boat, train, and on foot spreading the word of an 
America that is young enough to enjoy the baseball field yet mature 
enough to recognize that it is the leaders of tomorrow who will forge 
the future of a nation still considered a youngster in the eyes of its 
European friends.
  I welcome your wishes for a safe journey, a successful ambassadorial 
experience and a lifetime memory for these young ambassadors, our hope 
for the future, the leaders of the greatest Nation in the world during 
the 21st century.


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