[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 40 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NEVADA'S WINNING 1997 VFW ESSAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM GIBBONS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 1997

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker I would like to submit as an extension of my 
remarks, for inclusion in the Congressional Record, the following. This 
represents Nevada's winning audio-essay in the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars' 1997 Voice of Democracy Program Scholarship competition. As you 
can see below, this year's theme, ``Democracy--Above and Beyond'' is 
very well portrayed in Karianne Bodenstein's entry. Karianne is 
deserving of this honor and recognition for her efforts. It is with 
pride that on behalf of my constituents, we wish her continued success 
in her pursuit of a career in physical therapy and teaching.

                    ``Democracy--Above and Beyond''

       The year is 1967. If they could just be someplace else, 
     anyplace else. If they could just rest. If only the rain 
     would stop and they could go home. They lie in the wet ground 
     and they fight. No longer are they in the spring time of 
     their lives with their baseball caps, paper routes, spending 
     their summers playing tag and swimming in the pond. They are 
     American soldiers. They move forward, inch by bloody inch and 
     despite all their longing for safety, comfort and relief they 
     advance and fight some more.
       Why would our soldiers sacrifice their lives to die on 
     foreign ground, away from family and friends? Could it be 
     their devotion to a democracy that is truly above and beyond 
     all other forms of government. A form of government that 
     instills in its citizens a commitment so strong that no 
     sacrifice is too great.
       Every year American mothers and fathers struggle to care 
     for their children. Everyday pressures press in and it seems 
     that there is never enough time, never enough money, never 
     enough resources to get ahead. Hard work and sacrifice are 
     their companion.
       This year America's farmers have endured catastrophic 
     floods, drought and economic uncertainty to fill the 
     country's breadbasket. Head bare, face burned, hands 
     throbbing with fatigue they fought to defeat the rising 
     waters, to nourish the earth and to keep the faith.
       The nurse nurses the contagious, the handicapped, the 
     incurable, while the teacher teaches tolerance, forbearance 
     and imparts knowledge. The truck driver drives his rig 
     through the cities and towns of America. These committed 
     Americans are caring for, educating and providing for 
     America. These Americans know that the democracy they 
     safeguard is above and beyond all other forms of government.
       I'm one of America's youth and sometimes our country's 
     problems seem almost insurmountable. I know that I cannot 
     harvest from the past at a greater pace than I help replenish 
     for the future. I know that I must give and not just take and 
     so I embrace the commitment of the soldier, the parent, the 
     farmer, the teacher, all those who have invested in my future 
     and make their diligence, determination and commitment my 
     standard.
       The year is 1996. There is a couple in the winter of their 
     lives following the path to the silent, black granite wall. 
     They stop at panel twenty-two and he lifts his hand. He runs 
     his fingers over the name etched in the cold stone. Their 
     son's name. She kneels and places a worn-out baseball cap on 
     the ground. All around them are old soldiers dressed in dull 
     fatigues, business suits, on crutches, canes and in wheel 
     chairs. These are Americans who have sacrificed to protect 
     our democratic form of government.
       As I look to the future, I have no doubt that our 
     democratic form of government will survive and prosper and go 
     on. You show me another country standing so tall, being so 
     proud and having such imagination. Show me another country 
     whose people, whose beating, pounding heart is so caring and 
     so willing to examine its own wounds. And when I hear those 
     voices saying that America is in its eleventh hour. I say no. 
     All I have to do is look to the sacrifices of my parents, to 
     the sacrifice of the soldier, the farmer, the shopkeeper and 
     be willing, as they have, to safeguard this democracy, the 
     best form of government in the world.

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