[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICA HAS A CRISIS OF THE SOUL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, today America is enjoying a great economic 
time. We are setting record after record on the New York Stock 
Exchange. This is a reflection of the confidence that the average 
investor has in the market.
  Likewise, many retailers are enjoying a prosperous year because 
consumer confidence has increased and we Americans are buying more. 
Unemployment is at the lowest level in 20 years. Things just look good 
on the outside, but on the inside America has a crisis of the soul.
  The statistics are staggering. Drug abuse is increasing, especially 
for younger Americans, making our society more dangerous, more 
susceptible to robbery, car jacking and gang-related crimes.
  Child abuse has increased, as broken homes try to mend themselves 
with new relationships; and, too often, it is a stepparent that is the 
initiator of the abuse. Children are so vulnerable to an adult, and far 
too often the one parent fails to protect the children from another.
  Spouse abuse has increased. Often women who are physically unable to 
defend themselves are the victims.
  Divorce rates are also a high percentage of marriages. Many people 
choose not to honor the commitments they made on their wedding day; 
and, too often, it is the children that suffer. Often quietly, they 
suffer through retreating into their rooms filled with the darkness of 
insecurity.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, America is experiencing a crisis of the soul. 
Culturally, we have turned from the virtues that built a great Nation, 
virtues like hard work, honesty, integrity, faith in God, respect for 
our neighbors, both men and women, regardless of race or religion. Now 
we seem adrift in an ocean of quiet pain and suffering, abused children 
that never make the news, abused spouses that never make the news 
unless it is the most violent of cases, broken homes, broken dreams, 
broken promises, broken commitments, broken commitments to ourselves, 
our families, our country, and our God.
  How can we return to that fullness our soul desires? How can we 
rebuild our families? How can we make America better?
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I believe each of us know in our hearts what is 
right and what is wrong, and each of us have to make choices that are 
the right choices. For, if we fail, our country fails.
  So I would like to challenge my colleagues and my fellow Americans 
that we return to the virtues that built a great Nation: honesty, 
integrity, hard work, honoring commitments, faith in God, treating our 
fellow man as we would treat ourselves.




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