[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1118-E1119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    NORTH PONTOTOC STUDENT, ABIGAIL HAMILTON, IS DISTRICT WINNER IN 
                 RESPECTEEN SPEAK FOR YOURSELF PROGRAM

                                 ______


                          HON. ROGER F. WICKER

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 1996

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, more than 15,000 seventh- and eighthgrade 
students around the country participated in this year's RespecTeen 
Speak for Yourself social studies curriculum program, which teaches 
young people about the political process. The program is part of the 
Lutheran Brotherhood's philanthropic initiative in support of our 
Nation's youth.
  One of the final lessons in the program included having students 
write their Members of Congress to express their views or offer 
solutions to issues of interest. The letters were

[[Page E1119]]

judged by a panel of educators and one winner was chosen in each 
congressional district. A seventh-grade student from North Pontotoc 
Attendance Center was selected as the winner from Mississippi's First 
Congressional District. Her name is Abigail Hamilton. Abigail wrote to 
me regarding prayer in our public schools.
  I wanted to share Abigail's letter with my colleagues and 
congratulate her for participating in this program.

                                           Speak for Yourself,

                                       Ecru, MS, January 30, 1996.
     Hon. Roger Wicker,
     U.S. Representative,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Wicker: How would you feel if one day 
     someone suddenly said you could no longer continue a 
     tradition? Devastated? Grieved? This scenario describes what 
     had been done to students, teachers, and the community of 
     North Pontotoc. A tradition of student-initiated, student-
     led, prayer was taken from us. For approximately 20 years, we 
     had this type prayer in our school.
       On December 20, 1994, Mrs. Lisa Herdahl with the ACLU and 
     People for the American Way filed a lawsuit against Pontotoc 
     County Schools for having student-led, student-initiated 
     prayer over the school's intercom. A court injunction last 
     spring stopped prayer over the intercom. The court date 
     deciding whether to continue student-initiated prayer is 
     March 4, 1996 at federal court in Oxford, Mississippi.
       George Washington warned: ``reason and experience both 
     forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in 
     exclusion of religious principle.'' Research proves the 
     accuracy of his warning. Birth rates for teenagers and cases 
     of sexually transmitted diseases have risen since 1962. Also, 
     SAT test scores have plummeted for 18 consecutive years since 
     that year. What happened in 1962? The Supreme Court took 
     prayer out of public school with the Engel case.
       I support you co-authoring the school prayer amendment with 
     Congressman Istook from Oklahoma. Please participate in the 
     meeting to force this amendment to the House floor, and do 
     not allow compromises that would defeat the purpose of this 
     amendment. I wouldn't want a government written prayer or 
     mandatory participation in devotion. I trust you are 
     influencing other congressmen to be co-signers of this 
     amendment.
       Our Constitution guarantees us freedom of speech and 
     religion. However, should one person be allowed to dictate 
     the beliefs of a community? Thomas Jefferson said: ``The will 
     of the majority, the natural law of every society, is the 
     only sure guardian of the rights of man.''
           Sincerely,
                                                 Abigail Hamilton,
     7th grader NPAC.

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