[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 28 (Monday, March 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO CROATIAN HERITAGE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 16, 1998

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I pay tribute 
to my Croatian heritage. On Sunday, March 15, 1998, the Duquense 
University Tamburitzans performed at Merrillville High School in 
Merillville, Indiana. Following this event, there was a reception at 
Croatian Fraternal Union Lodge #170 in Merrillville, Indiana hosted by 
Lodge President Mrs. Elizabeth Morgavan.
  Croatian Americans have played an integral role in the development 
and continued success of the United States of America. Beginning in 
early part of this century, thousands of Croatian people emigrated to 
the United States to seek a better and more prosperous life. Many 
Croatian immigrants came to major industrial centers such a Gary, East 
Chicago, Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. The jobs that awaited 
them were not easy and the working conditions not always safe. 
Nonetheless, these brave people endured and succeeded to build better 
lives for themselves and their children.
  I grew up in an ethnic neighborhood in Gary, Indiana. It was a 
neighborhood where names like Roganovich, Mudrovich, and Milosovich 
were more common that Smith, Baker, and Wilson. It was a well tended 
neighborhood where everyone knew the names of the people on their 
block. It was a neighborhood where hard work and mutual respect ruled 
the day.
  On 38th and Madison, I learned the values which are so prominent in 
many of my Croatian brothers and sisters. I have seen first hand how 
faith, family, humility, determination, courage, concern, and 
appreciation of our shared heritage can build good character. Croatian 
immigrants did not have it easy in America. They had to fight to 
overcome language and cultural differences--but overcome they did. They 
made the steel that made the cars, machines, and engines that today has 
made America a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. For that, I am 
very proud. Croatian-Americans have played by the rules despite the 
heavy obstacles placed in front of them. For that, I am very proud. 
They have put God, family, and country at the top of the list. For 
that, I am very proud. Yes, I am proud to be a part of an ethnic group 
that has brought so much to the United States of America. Croatian 
Americans have truly lived the American dream. I will continue to fight 
to ensure that we continue to dream.

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