[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3345-S3346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            LUCIUS WADE EDWARDS JULY 18, 1979-APRIL 4, 1996

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on March 14 of this year, one of the most 
impressive young men I have ever met came to my office, accompanied by 
his justifiably proud mother. Lucius Wade Edwards, 16, had just come 
from the White House. He had visited with First Lady Hillary Rodham 
Clinton who praised him for having been 1 of the 10 finalists in a 
contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the 
Voice of America.
  His father, John R. Edwards; his mother, Elizabeth Anania Edwards, 
and his younger sister, Kate, accompanied him to the White House living 
quarters for his visit with Mrs. Clinton.
  Wade was being honored for his having written a poignant essay 
entitled, What It Means To Be An American. Wade described going with 
his father to vote.
  It was, as I said at the outset, Mr. President, March 14, 1996, when 
Wade and his dear mother stopped by my office. Three weeks later, on 
April 4, Wade died in an automobile accident that involved no 
carelessness, no recklessness, no failure to wear his seatbelt. It was 
just one of those tragic things that happen, and it snuffed out the 
life of this remarkable young man.
  Mr. President, in a moment I shall ask unanimous consent that two 
important insertions into the Record be in order. The first will be the 
text of the award-winning essay written by Wade. It is entitled ``Fancy 
Clothes and Overalls.''
  The second is an account, published in the Raleigh News and Observer 
on April 4, 1996, relating to the tragic death of Wade Edwards.
  I now ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, that the two 
aforementioned documents be printed in the Record at the conclusion of 
my remarks and in the order specified by me.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       Fancy Clothes and Overalls

                           (By Wade Edwards)

       A little boy and his father walk into a firehouse. He 
     smiles at people standing outside. Some hand pamphlets to his 
     father. They stand in line. Finally, they go together into a 
     small booth, pull the curtain closed, and vote. His father 
     holds the boy up and shows him which levers to move.
       ``We're ready, Wade. Pull the big lever now.''
       With both hands, the boy pulls the lever. There it is: the 
     sound of voting. The curtain opens. The boy smiles at an old 
     woman leaving another booth and at a mother and daughter 
     getting into line. He is not certain exactly what they have 
     done. He only knows that he and his father have done 
     something important. They have voted.
       This scene takes place all over the country.
       ``Pull the lever, Yolanda.''
       ``Drop the ballot in the box for me, Pedro.''
       Wades, Yolandas, Pedros, Nikitas, and Chuis all over the 
     United States are learning the same lesson: the satisfaction, 
     pride, importance, and habit of voting. I have always gone 
     with my parents to vote. Sometimes lines are long. There are 
     faces of old people and young people, voices of native North 
     Carolinians in southern drawls and voices of naturalized 
     citizens with their foreign accents. There are people in 
     fancy clothes and others dressed in overalls. Each has 
     exactly

[[Page S3346]]

     the same one vote. Each has exactly the same say in the 
     election. There is no place in America where equality means 
     as much as in the voting booth.
       My father took me that day to the firehouse. Soon I will be 
     voting. It is a responsibility and a right. It is also an 
     exciting national experience. Voters have different 
     backgrounds, dreams, and experiences, but that is the whole 
     point of voting. Different voices are heard.
       As I get close to the time I can register and vote, it is 
     exciting. I become one of the voices. I know I will vote in 
     every election. I know that someday I will bring my son with 
     me and introduce him to one of the great American 
     experiences: voting.
       Wade Edwards, 16, is a junior at Broughton High School, the 
     oldest high school in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has played 
     on Broughton's soccer team, participated in student 
     government and has been an editor on the yearbook staff. He 
     is also a member of the Key Club, the Junior Classical 
     League, and the Latin Honor Society. This year Wade was 
     selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Law 
     and the Constitution. After school, he works as a messenger 
     for a law firm. One of the accomplishments of which Wade is 
     not proud was achieved outside of high school--last summer he 
     successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in 
     Africa, with his father and two friends.
                                                                    ____


                          LUCIUS WADE EDWARDS

       Raleigh.--Lucius Wade Edwards was born in Nashville, 
     Tennessee, on July 18, 1979, the first child of John R. 
     Edwards and Elizabeth Anania Edwards. He moved at two years 
     old with his family to Raleigh. He moved into the house he 
     calls home the day after his loving sister, Kate, was born. 
     He chose the green room and quickly filled it with the 
     imagination of a boy. In elementary school at Aldert Root, he 
     made lasting friendships and, when his sister joined him, he 
     was the perfect big brother, walking her home each day hand 
     and hand. Wade played basketball at the Salvation Army, the 
     YMCA, and the Jaycee Center. He played soccer for years with 
     CASL, eventually on the Broncos coached by his father, and 
     later on the Renegades. Wade attended middle school at Ligon 
     for two years, where his poetry was published and he won a 
     countrywide computing award, and at Daniels for one year. He 
     really began to become a young adult when he started 
     attending Broughton High School in 1993. He made the Junior 
     Varsity Soccer team in his freshman and sophomore years. He 
     joined various organizations, such as Junior Classical 
     League, Key Club, and the yearbook staff, where he was 
     organizations editor this year.
       In the summer between Wade's sophomore and junior years in 
     high school, Wade attended and completed the eighteen day 
     Rocky Mountain Outward Bound program. Immediately after that, 
     Wade and his father flew to Africa, where they met with close 
     friends and together successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. 
     It was the accomplishment of which he felt most proud.
       In his junior year, Wade was invited to attend and did 
     attend the four day National Youth Leadership Conference on 
     Law and the Constitution in Washington, D.C. A short story he 
     wrote based on his Outward Bound experiences was chosen for 
     publication in Broughton's literary journal and won second 
     place in the Raleigh Fine Arts Society competition for all 
     Wake County eleventh graders. He wrote an essay on the topic 
     What It Means To Be an American for the National Conversation 
     Essay contest. He wrote about voting with his father. His 
     essay was selected as one of the ten finalists nationwide. As 
     a result, in March he was invited by the National Endowment 
     for the Humanities and Voice of America to receive an award 
     in Washington, D.C. During that visit, he had a personal 
     audience with the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 
     private quarters of the White House. With his father, mother, 
     and sister watching, he received his award in the Indian 
     Treaty Room. He recorded his essay for international 
     broadcast over Voice of America.
       Wade had a greater impact than his many achievements. He 
     made many friends with his wide smile and easy way. He had a 
     genuine sweetness and compassion that made his friends 
     cherish him. He was always affectionate and loving with his 
     family, which, in this time, gives great comfort. And in 
     return he was well-loved in his home, in his school, and in 
     his community.
       In addition to his parents, Wade is survived by his sister, 
     Kate, maternal grandparents, Vincent and Elizabeth Anania of 
     Melbourne, Fla., paternal grandparents, Wallace and Catherine 
     Edwards of Robbins, N.C.
       Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Edenton Street 
     United Methodist Church.
       The family will receive friends at Brown-Wynne Funeral 
     Home, St. Mary's Street from 7-9 p.m. Sunday. Burial will 
     follow in Oakwood Cemetery.
       In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made 
     to a Memorial Fund at Broughton High School, St. Mary's 
     Street, Raleigh, in Wade's name to be used to create a 
     memorial befitting Wade's special gifts and contributions.

                          ____________________