[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 13 (Monday, February 23, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S853-S854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL CHARACTER COUNTS WEEK RESOLUTION

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to again join Senator 
Domenici as an original cosponsor of S. Res. 186, a resolution 
designating the week of October 18-24, 1998, as ``National Character 
Counts Week.'' As he does every year, Senator Domenici again introduced 
this resolution on behalf of the bipartisan membership of the Senate 
Character Counts Group, and I want to thank him for his continuing 
leadership on this important effort.
  For those of you who are not familiar with Character Counts, the 
national Character Counts Coalition is an alliance of hundreds of 
groups, communities, and individuals who share a concern about the 
moral compass of our country. I know a lot of us here in the Senate 
share this concern about the wrong direction that many of our young 
people seem to be headed.
  Character Counts was born out of a meeting of some of our country's 
best thinkers and doers about five years ago. Character Counts is an 
effort that says to all of us, parents, educators, church and youth 
leaders, community and business leaders, let us constantly by action 
and example reinforce six basic values, or pillars of character. These 
pillars of character are so important and so basic that I do not think 
anyone could question them. They are: trustworthiness, respect, 
responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
  I have two young children, so I know firsthand how difficult it is 
for kids to make the right choices when they are constantly being 
bombarded by messages from our popular culture about how cool it is to 
drink alcohol, or smoke, or use vulgar language. By the time they 
finish elementary school, most kids have seen 8,000 murders on 
television.
  To counteract these messages, it is more important than ever that we 
instill in our young people the integrity and good character to stand 
up for what is right. Children are not born with good character. They 
learn by example, and if they have good role models all around them, I 
am confident they will make the correct choices for themselves. Perhaps 
Teddy Roosevelt said it best: ``To educate a person in mind and not 
morals is to educate a menace to society.''
  We often tell our kids to do what is right, but unfortunately, kids 
witness adult actions that do not reinforce that message. For example, 
I have spoken on this floor several times about the case of Juan C., a 
15-year-old New York high school student who brought a gun to school in 
1992.
  The facts of this case stand common sense on its head and send a 
terrible message to students. In 1992, Juan C. was stopped by a school 
security guard who saw a bulge resembling the handle of a gun inside 
Juan's leather jacket. The guard grabbed for the bulge, which was 
indeed a loaded .45 semiautomatic handgun.
  Juan was charged with criminal weapon possession violations. He was 
also expelled from school for one year, as is consistent with the 
``zero tolerance'' law written by Senator Feinstein and me to prevent 
guns in our schools.
  The family court that heard Juan's criminal case ruled that the 
security guard did not have reasonable suspicion to search this 
student. As a result, the court refused to admit the gun as evidence of 
Juan's court. The New York appellate court then took this decision to 
ridiculous lengths by applying the same reasoning to the internal 
school disciplinary action against the student to expel him for a year.
  This was a ludicrous decision from a court. It sent a message to 
students that there will be no consequences for bringing a loaded gun 
to school, even though that is clearly against school rules and the 
law. In some cases, like this one, it tells school officials that they 
ought to look the other way when they know a student is carrying a 
loaded weapon.
  With these kinds of messages, it is no wonder that our children are 
confused about what is right and wrong. Fortunately, this case was 
ultimately overturned, and I have also taken the step

[[Page S854]]

of introducing the Safer Schools Act, along with Senators Feinstein, 
Cleland, Coverdell, Johnson, and Landrieu, to send a clear message to 
school officials, parents, and students that guns seized from students 
on school premises can and will be used as evidence in a school 
disciplinary hearing. I hope the Congress will act on my bill soon so 
that the confusing messages the courts have been sending on this issue 
are cleared up.
  We all have a role in ensuring that our children are given the 
ethical tools they need to make difficult choices in today's world. 
Quite simply, that is what the Character Counts effort is all about.
  Before closing, I want to take a few minutes to highlight the 
Character Counts efforts that have been occurring in North Dakota. Less 
than two years ago, Character Counts in North Dakota was borne out of a 
meeting I hosted to bring together parents, educators, young people, 
and other concerned citizens to introduce them to what the Character 
Counts program is all about. In the last year, under the vigorous and 
capable leadership of 4-H youth leader Geri Bosch, Character Counts has 
blossomed. More than 800 people in North Dakota have participated in 
Character Counts training so that they could take this program, or a 
variation of it, back to their communities. Several communities in 
North Dakota are considering adopting a comprehensive Character Counts 
program. Service clubs are adopting Character Counts among their 
projects, and Character Counts was even used as the platform for one of 
our state's Miss North Dakota candidates last year. Most importantly, 
the lives of thousands of young people in North Dakota have been 
influenced for the better directly and indirectly.
  I have been proud to play some small role in supporting Character 
Counts in North Dakota and our nation. It is through these kinds of 
efforts that we can build a better future for our kids, and I pledge my 
continued help and support for teaching the pillars of good 
character.

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