[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H8464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      WHAT ARE THE CHILDREN IN AMERICA LEARNING TODAY ABOUT TRUTH?

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, there is a famous story told of George 
Washington when he was but a young boy. Every schoolchild in America is 
taught this story. It is the story of how, even as a young boy, 
Washington was a person of honor. When he was asked by his father if he 
had cut down his father's favorite cherry tree, he responded, I cannot 
tell a lie, father. I did chop down the cherry tree.
  How forthright. You cannot get any more honest than that. Yet, with 
the rationalization being promoted by many in the media today, 
Washington could have responded like this and gotten away with it: 
``Well, father, I did not technically cut down the cherry tree, only 
the hatchet made contact with the tree. I did not touch the tree. I 
stand by my story and what I believe the meaning of the word `cut' 
is.''
  How things have changed in America. What are the children in America 
learning today?

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