[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 87 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1282-E1283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATIONS TO 1997 GRADUATES OF SAN PEDRO/NARBONNE COMMUNITY ADULT 
                                 SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 20, 1997

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 1997 
graduating classes of the San Pedro/Narbonne Community Adult School. I 
was sorry to miss the ceremonies on Wednesday evening which honored 
students who successfully met the requirements for ESL competency 
certificates, eighth grade diplomas, and high school diplomas. I also 
congratulate principal Camilla Kocol and all the faculty and staff of 
the San Pedro/Narbonne Community Adult School.
  It is my pleasure to share with my colleagues a poem that was written 
by one of the students of the school's creative writing class. This 
poem was recited by author and adult

[[Page E1283]]

school student, Bette Ann Schroeder, at Wednesday's graduation 
ceremony:

                            I Am An American

     I am an American.
     My grandfather came from China in the 1800s and helped build 
           the railroads of the West.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather came from England in the 1800s and worked in 
           the coal mines of Illinois.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather came first over the Bering Strait and the 
           Isthmus of Panama to roam the forests and valleys of 
           this great land.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather came from Germany in the 19th Century and 
           started Kindergartens.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather was captured in Africa and brought to slave in 
           the cotton fields of the South.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather came from Japan in the 1900s and founded the 
           abalone fishery in San Pedro.
     I am an American.
     My grandfather fled Pancho Villa in Mexico and worked in the 
           fields of the Imperial Valley.
     I am an American.
     It was not easy to forget the homeland, to learn the 
           language, to make a living, to struggle against 
           bigotry, to change my ways.
     I am an American.
     I am all the cultures of the world, all the religions of the 
           world, all the legends and lore of the world, all the 
           struggles for freedom everywhere.
     I am all of these, and all of these make me an American.

     

                          ____________________