[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 45 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRATULATIONS TO COLETTE JOHNSON

                                 ______


                            HON. GREG GANSKE

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 28, 1996

  Mr. GANSKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring your attention to the 
excellent work and accomplishment of Colette Johnson for being a 
national winner in the Voice of Democracy contest sponsored by the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary. 
Colette is a senior at Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, 
IA.
  I want to offer my congratulations to Colette and to VFW Post 737 in 
Council Bluffs for sponsoring her in this contest. Following is 
Colette's inspirational essay ``Answering America's Call.''

                        Answering America's Call

                          (By Colette Johnson)

       It's time to put the phone back on the hook. She's been 
     trying to get through to you. You took the phone off to 
     forget about your responsibilities. But it's an urgent call. 
     She's been trying to get through. She needs your help. She's 
     calling now. America's calling. You need to answer her call.
       Who's calling? America? Your country. But without people 
     she's just a name. A country isn't great because of its land. 
     A country isn't great because of its buildings or cars or 
     weapons. The only thing that can make a country great is its 
     people--people who care, people who are willing to give of 
     themselves, because they have a dream bigger than 
     themselves--a dream of what America should be. America needs 
     dreamers. She needs people who see a land free from the 
     destruction of pollution, where the beauty of nature is 
     cherished and protected. She needs people who see a land free 
     from the shame of pornography, where women and children are 
     never exploited, but are respected. America needs people who 
     see a land where every home is safe from drug abuse and 
     alcoholism, where it is safe to drive through every 
     neighborhood, where every child is free from the fear of 
     abuse and kidnapping, where no one is discriminated against 
     because of their age or color or disability, where all men 
     are brothers, and all brothers are kind. America needs 
     dreamers.
       But America needs dreamers who will wake up and do 
     something. It's not enough to dream. America needs people who 
     will make their dreams a reality. She needs people who will 
     do what they should do and not just what is easy to do. 
     America needs dreamers who will plant trees, conserve water, 
     ride bikes, people who will protest pornography and protect 
     its victims. She needs dreamers who will provide foster homes 
     and adopt and love unloved children. America's dreamers need 
     to work with drug and alcohol rehabilitation. America needs 
     dreamers who will look beyond age and color and disability 
     and love all people.
       Be a dreamer. America needs dreamers. But more importantly, 
     be a dreamer who makes a dream a reality. As Henry David 
     Thoreau said, ``If one advances confidently in the direction 
     of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has 
     imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common 
     hours.'' Don't leave the phone off the hook any longer. 
     Answer America's call. She needs you.

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