[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 150 (Tuesday, October 20, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO DR. MORRIS JOHNSON, EDUCATOR TO THE WORLD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 1998

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Morris 
Johnson, a professor of history at Miami-Dade Community College who has 
used his extensive knowledge of South Africa and the Caribbean to 
improve educational opportunities and promote international 
understanding in this country and abroad.
  Over the past several years, Dr. Johnson has organized six trips to 
South Africa on which his students, other educators and members of our 
community have had the opportunity to learn first-hand about this 
important nation and to exchange ideas and information with its people.
  But Dr. Johnson has not been content with learning about South 
Africa. He wants to forge closer ties between our nations. He also 
wants to make a positive impact on the lives of South Africa's young 
people, and he is not content to wait for the governments of our two 
nations to do the job.
  For the past 4 years, Dr. Johnson has collected and shipped hundreds 
of pounds of school supplies to poor schools in South Africa, as well 
as Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Each year, 
Miami-Dade school children donate notebooks, construction paper, 
textbooks, crayons, scissors, glue, chalk, and pencils. Dr. Johnson 
distributes these items on his visits to South Africa and ships them--
often at his own expense--to school children in other countries as 
well.
  Many children in these countries have never seen these kinds of 
school supplies, which we take for granted in this country. As Dr. 
Johnson said in a recent interview, ``Ten years from now those kids 
will say the supplies made the difference. That's the reward.''
  Mr. Speaker, I think the real difference is Dr. Morris Johnson, a man 
of humanitarian vision, energy, and commitment. I know that the entire 
House joins me in honoring Dr. Johnson for the efforts he has made to 
make this world a nicer place in which to live.

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