[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SOUL WILL LEAD US INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I have always felt very strongly that if 
someone showed me their leader they had shown me a part of their soul. 
I think that is true of nations. When they show you their leader, they 
have shown you their soul, if that leader has been democratically 
designated, with a small D, obviously.
  But knowing that, I have been very troubled watching what has been 
going on in this Presidential primary. If what I am saying is true, 
then what kind of a soul have we got in the United States and in this 
great Nation, this great Nation built on the premise that we may have 
all come here in different boats but now we are in the same boat and we 
bloody well better figure out how we work together. Is that over? Is 
that day gone? Are we going to try and emulate Bosnia?
  On the one hand, I get very serious and very concerned about this. On 
the other hand, I must say as a Democrat, with a large D, I enjoy it. I 
kind of decided, now show me your shirt and I know who you are backing. 
If you wear a flannel shirt, we know who you are backing. You are 
obviously backing Mr. Alexander. If you wear a silk or custom-made 
shirt, you are obviously backing the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
Forbes. If you come in with a stuffed shirt, you are probably backing 
the majority leader. And if you come in with a brown shirt, I think we 
know who you are backing, too.
  So it has become kind of the shirt war. We can watch these shirts, 
and we can kind of tell whose side they are on. As I say, if it were 
not our Government, it could be really funny. There are some days when 
I think our President is the luckiest guy in the world. How could he do 
better than have this all surface in the primary? There are other days 
when I absolutely panic and say, but wait a minute, wait a minute. This 
could come to fruition.
  Over this break I had the great, great honor of addressing a 
pluralism conference in Belfast. I always wear my grandmother's wedding 
ring. My grandmother was married in Derry, Ireland. And as you know, 
Ireland has been cursed by a resurgence of the troubles, as they say 
euphemistically. And there we were with the University of Ulster and 
the Dublin City University cohosting this era of pluralism, trying to 
bring back the peace, thousands of people in the streets trying to 
bring back the peace, trying to recapture the momentum, to put this to 
an end.

  Of course my colleagues can imagine, I was absolutely barraged by 
questions. What in the world is going on in your country? You want to 
stand there on solid ground and say, you know, we have gone through 
lots of pain, we have got all sorts of scars from trying to be a 
pluralistic nation, but, my goodness, we have got all sorts of 
benefits, too. And basically the bottom line is we know we cannot go 
around pitting one group against another group.
  Yet, they are watching that happen in their newspaper, and they are 
all scratching their heads saying, wake up, America, what is the 
matter? First thing you know, you are going to transfer the troubles 
right back over to your country.
  So I think it is a time that all of us have to realize we have been 
treating politics like consumers, that what really happened in 1994 is 
that many people did not vote at all. They felt, well, if I do not like 
them, if they are not 100 percent correct, then I am not going to 
encourage them. That may work for being a consumer, but it does not 
work in civics. If you do not vote for somebody because they are not 
perfect and, heaven forbid, none of us are, then you are still going to 
have to live under whoever does win.
  So you may vote for your imperfect friend and end up with someone who 
takes the country right off the cliff or in the absolute wrong 
direction.
  So I am hoping all of us start making these distinctions between 
consumerism and civics, we start getting a little more serious and stop 
looking just at their shirts and look at their souls. It is their soul 
that will be governing this country for the next 4 years, if any of 
them find themselves in that White House. It is their soul that is 
going to reflect upon us and on our future and lead this great country 
into the 21st century.
  As we end this century, which was known as the American century, I 
get goose bumps thinking about it. What will the 21st century be known 
as? Will we no longer be a player? Will we all be pitted in fighting 
against each other? I certainly hope not. But I think those are the 
very, very serious thoughts all Americans must engage in as we watch 
this Presidential primary continue to unfold.

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