[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   A TRIBUTE TO OUR NATION'S VETERANS

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                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 1998

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, last Memorial Day I gave an address 
before a distinguished group of veterans and their families at Triangle 
Park in the great city of Hialeah, Florida.
  Before I spoke, a young man also addressed the audience. I could 
hardly believe that the young orator was a senior in high school.
  Erich Almonte has recently graduated from Chaminade-Madonna College 
Preparatory and he is currently attending Georgetown University. I am 
certain that you will agree that his brilliant speech, which I will now 
recite as he did that morning, captures the essence of what being 
American is truly about.

       Thank you. Good morning members of the American Legion, 
     Veterans of Foreign Wars, their auxiliaries, Congressman 
     Lincoln Diaz-Balart, councilmen, and all others here today. 
     Memorial Day is an opportunity for us as Americans to thank 
     and honor those men and women who have served our country in 
     the armed forces, including both of my grandfathers and my 
     father, and especially to honor those who have died in that 
     service. It is a solemn occasion, yet one of celebration, for 
     we know that these individuals did not die in vain. You see, 
     we find one day a year to explicitly thank these men and 
     women, but each time someone exercises his or her right to 
     vote, each day we live without fear, each time we enjoy the 
     freedoms of democracy is a testament to their service and 
     sacrifice. And today I would like to thank these men and 
     women, and their fellows in the American Legion and VFW, for 
     all that they have done. Not only are they Americans to the 
     fullest extent of the word, but they are America personified. 
     And if we really want to see what Americanism is, we need to 
     look beyond mere words to these individuals here today.
       I mention Americanism for a reason. I attended Boys State 
     last year, and was privileged to have been selected to give a 
     speech on Americanism for my Boys State city. Today, I would 
     like to share that speech with you, in memory of America's 
     fallen servicemen and women.
       Americanism is what it sounds like: the embodiment of all 
     things American, and of America itself. The freedom to choose 
     who we want to run our government, and then freedom to call 
     these people to account for anything they do. Freedom to 
     think, or say, or write what we want, even if it goes against 
     what others think. Freedom to talk to God, whether we call 
     God Abba, or Allah, or Father. Freedom to decide what we want 
     to do with our lives, and then freedom to do it. You cannot 
     have Americanism, or America, without freedom.
       This freedom stems from our courage. Courage in defense of 
     our country, whether with weapons, with intelligence, or with 
     heart, the same courage we gather together to honor today. 
     Courage to leave home and friends to make a better life for 
     your family. The courage to follow our ingenuity to the end, 
     like actually injecting someone with small pox to prevent it 
     in the future. Courage in sitting in a tin can on top of a 
     mountain of rocket fuel and saying, ``Point me to the moon 
     and light the match.'' That courage explains why an American 
     flag, and only a American flag, flies on the moon today, as a 
     testament to our courage and spirit, the same spirit that 
     pioneers showed when they crossed an unmapped desert, leaving 
     farmland in their wake.
       Americanism is in the diversity that makes us whole, in the 
     integrity of our promises, in the justice of our courts, and 
     in the honor of our souls.
       But it does not come for free. No, just ask the colonists; 
     ask the soldiers and their families what its price is. It is 
     not automatic. Americanism is not in the air we breath or the 
     water we drink, but in each and every American. In the parent 
     and the artist, in the teacher and the plumber, in the police 
     officers, lawyers, politicians  . . . everyone.
       And you do not find it in a dictionary, nor in a speech, 
     but in each of us. Not only on the battlefield, but the 
     operating room and the classroom. Americanism is that which 
     makes us Americans . . . and that which Americans make it. It 
     implores us to act an not just sit idly by as children starve 
     and marijuana clouds rise. No, Americanism is not in History 
     books, but alive in us, calling out to keep her great, to 
     keep America great! Thank you.
     Erich Almonte
       May 30, 1998--Memorial Day.

       

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