[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E962-E963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO MATTHEW KENNEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN E. PETERSON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 1998

  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
acknowledge the accomplishments of Matthew Kennedy who won a 
scholarship in the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and 
its Ladies Auxiliary Voice of Democracy broadcast script writing 
contest. Matthew is the son of Glenn and Shirley Kennedy who are 
serving as missionaries in Taichung, Taiwan and was sponsored by VFW 
Post 727. As the Pacific Areas winner, he is the recipient of a $1,500 
Silver Spring Memorial Post 2562 Scholarship Award. Competing with over 
93,000 students, sixteen year old Matthew won one of the 54 national 
scholarships with his speech ``My Voice in Our Democracy.'' I would 
like to insert his speech into the Congressional Record.

       My voice in our democracy is as powerful as a sweeping 
     tide, as far-reaching as thought, and as valuable as the 
     wisdom of Solomon. Its power is recognized and protected by 
     our Constitution, its potent influence is proven by our 
     nation's history and by current events; its value makes it my 
     duty to steward it carefully.
       Did the Founding Fathers believe the voice of a single 
     citizen holds power? Absolutely. They established the 
     freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. 
     They wove into our democracy the great principles of popular 
     sovereignty, limited government, representative government, 
     and majority rule balanced by minority rights. They enshrined 
     the fundamental worth of each individual's voice and the 
     equality of all voices. To the minds of the Founding Fathers, 
     even these freedoms and rights were not enough; they 
     established the Ninth Amendment which recognized other 
     unenumerated rights of the people. Is my voice really so 
     powerful as to be precious? The Framers of our nation

[[Page E963]]

     apparently thought so; they protected it as the essential 
     flame of democracy.
       Try telling Robert E. Joiner one vote cannot make a 
     difference. Less than twenty years ago he ran for the office 
     of Southern District Highway Commissioner in Mississippi and 
     won--by less than one ten-thousandth percent of the votes. 
     Had his opponent garnered just six more votes, Joiner would 
     have lost the election.
       Just last April, Eugene Shoemaker won the seat of 
     Orfordville, Illinois, village trustee by drawing from a hat. 
     He and his opponent each earned one hundred popular votes. 
     Had just one more villager voted, the election would have 
     been decided by the people. As it was, the outcome was left 
     completely to the fingers of chance.
       The vote of each American counts toward the election of 
     local, state, and national leaders. Its effectiveness is 
     directly proportionate to the frequency of its use. My voice, 
     and the voice of every American, does not, however, die in 
     the ballot box.
       Boycotts, like those instigated by the legendary Rosa Parks 
     bus incident in Montgomery, Alabama, and citizens 
     organizations, like those founded by the consumer advocate 
     Ralph Nader, wield profound influence.
       Demonstrations spotlight the views in the sight of the 
     public. On generating social reform, President Woodrow Wilson 
     proclaimed this, ``In order to clean house the one thing we 
     need is a good broom. Initiatives and referendums are good 
     brooms.''
       My voice, and the voice of every American, is carried on 
     the wings of peaceable assembly and petition; it influences 
     those around me and even trumpets itself through my everyday 
     actions.
       The worth of my voice, because of its power and 
     effectiveness, is incalculable. To not exercise it is a 
     foolish waste. Because our democracy provides many practical 
     vehicles for my voice, and because our country's future truly 
     depends on it, it is my duty to articulate it. Otherwise, I 
     scorn the pragmatic provisions of our democracy; I become a 
     parasite living off the nation's privileges without positive 
     contribution to the nation; I toss aside my right to cry for 
     change in society. Or as Edmund Burke put it, ``The only 
     thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do 
     nothing.'' But when I vote, petition, write, speak, or act 
     for the benefit of the nation I am, to the utmost, fulfilling 
     my patriotic duty.
       To the cynic, my voice may be merely the frail peeping of 
     one person among two-hundred-sixty million, but to Robert E. 
     Joiner, Eugene Shoemaker, Rosa Parks, Ralph Nader, and to me 
     it is the soaring shout of freedom. My voice is the very 
     essence of our democracy. Multiplied several million times, 
     my voice is the throbbing heart of America.

     

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