[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1070-E1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 OFFICER SORRY FOR ATTACK ON NAVY CHIEF

                                 ______


                        HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 1996

  Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, the following is an article published by the 
Indianapolis Star on May 29.
  Our Center Township assessor, Jim Maley, says, ``Sticks and stones 
may have broken his bones, but names and words broke his heart. We good 
guys are proud of Big Mike Boorda.''
  An honest mistake which hurts no one else does not deserve dishonor, 
much less death.
  At the airport, sometimes they turn the metal detector up too high 
and it even picks up the ring on your finger. If anything, Adm. Jeremy 
Boorda's sense of honor was too high. And whatever that is, it is 
certainly not dishonor.

               [From the Indianapolis Star, May 29, 1996]

                 Officer Sorry for Attack on Navy Chief

                           (By Robert Burns)

       Washington.--A Navy officer whose unsigned letter attacking 
     Adm. Jeremy M. ``Mike'' Boorda was published in the Navy 
     Times three days before Boorda's suicide has come forward and 
     apologized.
       ``I am sorry for Admiral Boorda's family and for the 
     sailors he loved,'' Cmdr. John E. Carey wrote in a letter to 
     the editor of the Navy Times.
       The newspaper, too, said it regretted publishing the 
     earlier letter, which it called a ``cheap shot.'' It promised 
     to stop publishing letters containing personal attacks.
       In a related development, the Navy distributed to all 
     sailors a message from Boorda's widow, Bettie Moran Boorda, 
     expressing thanks for their support.
       In publishing Carey's attack against the chief of naval 
     operations Navy Times did not mention that Carey had been 
     relieved of command of the guided-missile destroyer USS 
     Curtis Wilbur. He was punished for verbally abusing his crew.
       In a suicide note left at his residence at the Washington 
     Navy Yard, Boorda expressed distress over what he apparently 
     felt would become a media scandal over questions about the 
     propriety of two combat pins he had worn on his chest.
       In the unsigned May 13 letter, Carey said Boorda had lost 
     respect of his fellow officers and asked him to resign. He 
     wrote that admirals often referred to the 5-foot-4-inch Navy 
     chief as ``Little Mikey Boorda'' out of disrespect.
       New York's Newsday, reported that Carey told one of its 
     reporters he planned to leave the Navy soon.

[[Page E1071]]



            THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLOSE UP FOUNDATION

                                 ______


                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 1996

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I want to call the attention of my 
colleagues to a very special event that is taking place, the 25th 
Anniversary of the Close Up Foundation.
  As many of you know, the Close Up Foundation is the largest civic 
education organization in the country. It has not always been that way, 
when Close Up started 25 years ago their first program included 25 
participants from 14 States. Today, Close Up brings approximately 
25,000 participants annually to Washington, DC, on their various 
programs. They have participants from all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Island territories.
  These achievements are of themselves enough to make an organization 
and those who have supported it very proud; however, it does not stop 
there. Close Up has remained true to its mission over these 25 years. 
Their focus has been on efforts to be all inclusive and reach students 
who are underserved, either because of their economic, cultural, or 
geographic isolation. I am personally familiar with the difference 
Close Up has made to those who are geographically isolated.
  Since 1979, more than 9,200 Alaska students and educators have 
participated in Close Up's programs. In 1987, Close Up began an effort 
to focus on including Alaska Native students in the Washington, D.C. 
High School Program. Since that time, approximately 685 Alaska Native 
students have taken part in the Close Up program. These students, from 
every corner of Alaska including our most remote villages, come to 
Washington and mix with their peers both from within Alaska and 
throughout the United States. While they are here, they are able to 
contribute to as well as learn from the diverse population of Close 
Up's student participants. By including Alaska Native students, young 
people, who rarely, if ever, have been outside of their villages, get 
the opportunity to expand their civic literacy as well as learn about 
the rest of the country and its citizens. We, in Alaska, are very proud 
of the input all of our Alaskan students bring to their peers from the 
rest of the country.
  The contribution made by Alaska's students and educators takes many 
shapes, including returning to Alaska to become involved in and to 
organize Close Up local programs. These local programs provide civic 
education opportunities for all members of the community not just those 
students who were lucky enough to get to Washington, DC, to benefit 
from the Close Up experience. In this way, the Close Up message of 
informed, responsible citizenship is multiplied many times over to the 
great benefit of my State and the country.
  In this time of distrust and cynicism, Close Up's program works to 
break down suspicion and to show high school students that government 
is relevant to their lives and important to them as citizens. With the 
recent disturbing results of a study of peoples' public opinion of 
Congress and the Government, we, as elected officials, should make it 
our goal to raise student interest in government because the future of 
this Nation depends on their civic involvement.
  As we all know, Close Up's message of civic involvement is directed 
toward all students, not just the academic elite or the affluent. The 
federally funded Ellender Fellowship Program, along with Close Up 
generated fellowship funds, has made the Close Up civic learning 
opportunity a reality for students who would not otherwise be able to 
afford a trip to Washington, DC. In Alaska, students from families with 
limited means face an additional hurdle of very high travel costs. The 
Ellender fellowships help to level the playing field and provide civic 
educational opportunities to many students who might otherwise be 
overlooked or left behind.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been a longtime supporter of the Close Up 
Foundation, and I am delighted to be able to send my heartiest 
congratulations to them on the celebration of their 25th anniversary. 
The congratulations are for a job well done, and one I hope will 
continue for another 25 years.

                          ____________________