[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 135 (Thursday, October 2, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1900-E1901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 AMERICAN TEACHERS IN BOZNIA AND HERZEGOVINA HELP DEVELOP SUPPORT FOR 
                      DEMOCRACY AND FREE ELECTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 30, 1997

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to recognize Anne A. Fickling, 
who participated in CIVITAS@Bosnia and Herzegovina, an intensive 
program designed to train teachers from throughout Boznia and 
Herzegovina with materials and methods developed to educate for 
democracy. Ms. Fickling was part of a team of 20 American educators who 
were assigned to 16 locations throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
including the Republika Srpska. The Americans were teamed with 18 
teachers from the Council of Europe in 9 of these sites. This Education 
for Democracy Program reached 550 teachers from both entities of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina.
  The summer training program was developed by the Center for Civic 
Education as part of a major civic education initiative supported by 
the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. Department of Education and 
built on a program begun in 1996. The U.S. Information

[[Page E1901]]

Service in Sarajevo provided valuable assistance to the program. The 
goals of the program are to provide teachers with the tools necessary 
to help prepare students and their communities for competent and 
responsible citizenship, including participation in elections and other 
opportunities to take part in the political life of their communities. 
Achieving this goal will contribute to the reconstitution of a sense of 
community, cooperation, tolerance, and support for democracy and human 
rights in this war-torn area.
  I am also pleased to announce that the curricular materials being 
used for the program in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been adapted from 
the We the People--the Citizen and the Constitution, Foundations of 
Democracy and the Project Citizen Programs which are supported by 
Congress and used in schools throughout the United States. Initial 
reports evaluating the summer program indicates the materials, selected 
and adapted by educators from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and teaching 
methods were enthusiastically received and will be adapted for use in 
classrooms in both entities of the country.
  Anne Fickling is a resident of the District of Columbia and currently 
serves as program coordinator for the Center for Civic Education. She 
has traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 times spending 25 weeks 
assisting in the coordination of this important program to promote 
Democratic values in the classroom. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend Anne 
Fickling for her dedication and commitment during the CIVITAS@Bosnia 
and Herzegovina program. Her work is helping to achieve the overall 
objective of building democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

                          ____________________