[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO AARON PICKERING

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 29, 1996

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Mr. Aaron Pickering 
for being named as the first place winner in the 1996 Voice of 
Democracy program and recipient of the Selman Memorial Scholarship 
Award. This indeed is a great honor and one which Aaron should be very 
proud to receive.
  The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies 
Auxiliary sponsor the Voice of Democracy audio-essay scholarship 
competition. The program is now in its 49th year and requires high 
school student entrants to write and record a 3- to 5-minute essay on 
an announced patriotic theme. ``Answering America's Call'' is this 
year's theme, and over 116,000 student participated in the program 
nationwide.
  It is an honor for the second district and the entire State of 
Tennessee to be the home of the first-place winner, Aaron Pickering. 
Aaron is a senior at Halls High School. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. 
Charles Pickering.
  Aaron is an exceptional young man. In addition to receiving the 
Selman Scholarship Award, he has received numerous awards and honors 
for his endeavors. America needs more young men like Aaron to 
strengthen our Nation and secure its future. He is a well-rounded young 
man who has a bright future ahead of him.
  I request that a copy of Aaron's winning essay ``Answering America's 
Call'' be placed in the Record at this point so that I can call it to 
the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

                        Answering America's Call

                          (By Aaron Pickering)

       It's not often that a simple story changes your view of 
     democracy, but I would like to relate one to you that did 
     just that for me. One day in a social studies class a few 
     years ago we were discussing the upcoming student government 
     elections. Some of the students who had been elected to 
     office the previous year began to complain about how the 
     student body treats SGA members. The general consensus seemed 
     to be that students who did not vote in SGA elections did not 
     have the right to complain when things went wrong. That 
     concept seemed fair to me, after all, I always voted in the 
     elections and never openly complained about anything SGA was 
     doing.
       Amidst all this commotion, my teacher stood up. We all 
     expected him to join in on the attack. We were all in for a 
     shock.
       He immediately started into a story. Once he had a class in 
     which a girl named Jennifer, the SGA president, was invited 
     into as a special speaker. Jennifer was an outstanding 
     student. She had won the election by a landslide. When the 
     class began she gave an impressive speech about her many 
     ambitions and hopes for student government that year. The 
     class gave her a powerful round of applause. Jennifer basked 
     in the glory for a few moments and then she headed for the 
     door. My teacher stopped her and turned to the class, ``Does 
     anyone have a question for their new president?'' The class 
     just sat there with blank stares. My teacher asked again, 
     ``doesn't anyone have a question for their new president?'' A 
     hand slowly rose in the back of the room. It belonged to a 
     young man named Ralph. Everyone stared in amazement; Ralph 
     never said anything in class, he just sat back there, asleep 
     all the time. Ralph stood up and asked Jennifer what SGA was 
     going to do about the horrible lines in the lunchroom. Ralph 
     explained how he had only 30 minutes at lunch and he had to 
     spend 20 of those waiting in line to get his food. Jennifer 
     responded with a simple ``we're working on it.'' Ralph wasn't 
     satisfied. He went on to propose a system where different 
     classes would go to lunch on a staggered schedule to prevent 
     congestion in the lines. At this point Jennifer was furious. 
     She yelled at Ralph, ``What right do you have to complain 
     about anything, Ralph? You never do anything, you just sit 
     back there and sleep. You didn't vote in the election, so you 
     don't have any say in what we do!''
       My teacher rang in, ``Oh yes he does. Jennifer, I'm 
     disappointed in you. You are the president of the entire 
     student body; you represent them--all of them--in the student 
     government. It doesn't matter if Ralph voted in the election 
     or not, you are his president and he has every right to 
     complain about problems and offer you his opinion on how they 
     can be fixed.'' Jennifer stormed out of the room in anger.
       A few months later Ralph's plan for an improved lunch 
     schedule was implemented and the next year Ralph was elected 
     president of the student body.
       My entire class sat in silence. I had never thought of it 
     that way; all of this time I had been content to simply vote. 
     But now I realized that voting is only a small part of our 
     duty as citizens. This situation took place in a simple high 
     school government but as I have grown older and can now vote 
     in real local, state and federal elections, the message of 
     the story has never been more important. We elect officials 
     who represent us and they need to know what we are thinking. 
     It is their duty to listen to us and use our opinions to 
     guide their actions. It's a basic concept of representative 
     democracy; we can't have a government of, by, and for the 
     people unless we, the people actively participate in the 
     process.
       Ralph answered America's call. He stood up and made his 
     opinion known. He shaped the policy of his school. More of us 
     need to take a lesson from Ralph. We can't simply vote and 
     then sit back until the next election. We have to be in 
     contact with our representatives and let them know what we 
     think. Our elected officials are public servants and their 
     job is just that--to serve the public. But they can't serve 
     us unless they know what we want them to do. We must speak 
     up. That is America's call--a call that it makes on each and 
     every citizen, a call that if left unanswered would cause our 
     nation to cease to exist. It will be a glorious day when 
     every American can say that he or she plays an active role in 
     government; it is only then that the American system will 
     reach its full potential--it is only then that America's call 
     will be answered.

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