[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 46 (Thursday, April 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SPEECH TO HORATIO ALGER SCHOLARS NATIONAL SCHOLARS CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 1998

  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, to all of you who are here today because 
you have been selected to participate in the 1998 Horatio Alger 
Association's National Scholars Conference, I would like to say 
welcome. As I am sure you have already learned, you have joined a very 
exclusive club of achievers who have been recognized by that fine 
organization.
  I am proud to note that several Members of Congress have been honored 
as distinguished Americans by the association such as Senator Robert 
Byrd of West Virginia and other great American's like the late Supreme 
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. But I am particularly proud that one 
of my constituents and friends, Tom Harken, serves on the association's 
Board of Directors. If each of you have not had the opportunity to meet 
this man make sure you do so. Especially if you plan on being in 
business. He is truly a Horatio Alger success story.
  Because each of you are exemplary high school seniors who have 
demonstrated outstanding qualities of honor, integrity and perseverance 
and did not allow life's obstacles to stop you, I would like to say 
``congratulations'' and to tell how proud I am of you. I would also 
like to tell you that with your distinct honor, not only comes the 
$5,000.00 scholarship you are receiving (although that is awfully 
nice), but also a responsibility to your own success and to keeping the 
dream of success alive for other young people who need to know that 
they too can ``beat the odds'' in spite of the hardships that they 
face.
  Today, as I speak to you on ``Issues Facing Congress: A Congressman's 
Perspective,'' I would like to take you back to the first time that I 
stood in this chamber, when I was your age, and how it shapes my 
perspective today and how I hope that your visit today will shape your 
vision for tomorrow.
  My first visit to Congress truly helped me understand that one of the 
greatest issues facing any session of Congress is how we keep the 
American dream alive for you and every other citizen of the United 
States, regardless of their financial, ethnic or religious background. 
This is done in many ways, but I'll come back to that later.
  Allow me to share with you how my first visit to this chamber gave me 
a glimpse of that dream of success and how that glimpse was the start 
of my commitment to making a real difference for myself and others.
  I hope you'll forgive me for being so personal, but I know that among 
you are people who can really make a difference, and I don't want to 
waste this opportunity to share my experience with tomorrow's leaders.
  When I first came to this chamber, I was very close to your age. I 
was not rich. In fact it seems as though I had worked almost every day 
of my life since I was in Junior High School. At that time, Jack Brooks 
was Congressman. Because he had come to this office by overcoming 
financial and personal adversity as a young person, he made sure that 
young people such as myself got the opportunity to be here as 
Congressional interns so that we could catch a glimpse of the dream and 
carry it on to another generation. It was during that internship that I 
committed myself not only to personal achievement but to leadership as 
well.
  As I said, one of the main issues facing Congress is how to provide 
the opportunity and tools necessary for every young person to not only 
succeed but to excel. I am attempting to do this in a number of ways 
that I think are extremely important.

  First, as a freshman Member of Congress, I have founded the 
Congressional Caucus for Missing and Exploited children. The purpose of 
this caucus is:
  1. To build awareness around the issue of missing and exploited 
children for the purpose of finding children who are currently missing 
and to prevent future abductions;
  2. To crease a voice within Congress on the issue of missing and 
exploited children and introduce legislation that would strengthen law 
enforcement, community organizing and school-based efforts to address 
child abduction; and
  3. To identify ways to work effectively in our districts to address 
child abduction. By developing cooperative efforts that involve police 
departments, educators, and community groups we can heighten awareness 
of the issue and pool resources for the purpose of solving outstanding 
cases and preventing future abductions.
  Additionally, I strongly support funding for higher education both in 
institutional funding and in the form of grants and loans for those 
whose families do not have the resources to provide them with a college 
education.
  I have the privilege of serving on two Committees in Congress. The 
Committee on Science, on which I serve on the Subcommittee on Space and 
Aeronautics which is responsible for NASA and all of it's programs, 
including the space shuttle and the international space station. I must 
say that I truly believe that the space program can do more to make the 
dream available to more people in more ways than any other single 
endeavor.
  Additionally, I serve on the Committee on Transportation where I 
serve on two Subcommittees; the Subcommittee on Water Resources and 
Environment and the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Economic 
Development. On each of these Committees, I have the opportunity to 
cast my vote in favor of the youth of today and the leaders of 
tomorrow.
  But probably the most important thing that I have the privilege of 
doing as a Congressman is to stand before a group of outstanding young 
people, such as yourselves, and say to you, do not quit, do not waiver 
and do not flinch no matter how tough the road may be. You have already 
proven that you are not easily discouraged. But I also want to 
challenge you to bring others along with you and show them the dream, 
so that when all is said and done, it is my hope that one day you will 
be standing here speaking to a group of Horatio Alger Scholars. Then I 
will know that my time in Congress was well spent.

                          ____________________