[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H861-H862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUDAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, last week, we had Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright in front of the Committee on International Relations
delivering an address detailing activities of the Department of State
over the last year, identifying all of the hot spots in the world where
American interests were at stake, identifying what the United States of
America was doing about them.
It was intriguing, Mr. Speaker, because, in over half an hour of a
normal presentation and certainly maybe 20 or
[[Page H862]]
30 pages of written presentation that discussed in every way all of the
issues that we could possibly confront in foreign policy position,
there was one that was conspicuous for its absence, one spot in the
world that was never mentioned, one nation that was never brought to
the attention of the Committee on International Relations or, as a
matter of fact, it has not been brought to the attention of this Nation
by this administration, and that is the nation of Sudan.
There, as the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) said so eloquently a
little bit ago, in the last 15 years, over 2 million people have died
in that civil war. That is more than have died in Somalia, Bosnia,
Kosovo, and Rwanda combined. Yet, in the face of this tragedy, what we
have seen has been a lackluster attempt on the part of this
administration to deal with it.
Mr. Speaker, I was asked by a teacher at Highline Community School,
which is in the Cherry Creek School District in my District, a class
again to which my colleague, the gentleman from Virginia, referred, I
was asked by her to deliver a message to the Secretary of State; and I
did.
The message was in the form of a question from Ms. Vogel, the teacher
of this class, this fourth and fifth grade class, to the Secretary of
State; and it said essentially this, ``Why is it that you, the
government of our own country, and members of the world community, have
decided to turn a blind eye to the tortured land of the Sudan?''
{time} 1545
And I communicated that concern to the Secretary and I got a
response, a written response, from someone in her office. I delivered
that response yesterday to the school in my district. It was one of the
most incredible experiences of the time I have spent in public life; to
look at these children and this teacher, who have committed and
dedicated themselves to the ominous task of raising money to free human
beings that have been dragged into slavery in a country all the way
around the world.
This class read about this situation over a year ago and became so
concerned that they organized a group that is now worldwide. They call
it STOP, Slavery That Oppresses People. It has raised over $100,000.
This 4th grade class in Highline Community School has raised $100,000
and purchased the freedom of over 1,000 individuals in the Sudan. Mr.
Speaker, in the entire world we have been able to muster enough support
to purchase the freedom the a total of 5,000, yet 1,000 come from this
one classroom, this one elementary school. It is really quite
extraordinary, and it was an extraordinary day yesterday.
I will enter them into the Record, but I want to read a couple of the
cards I received yesterday. Each student wrote a personal card, a
personal message to me, and some of them are really quite moving. I
will not go through them all, but just some of them. And, remember,
these are, again, 5th graders.
``Our hearts are noble, so we use the noble heart to do good for
others.'' By Dong Cho.
``Dear Congressman: Hi, I'm Christina Manalostas. We bring love and
courage from our life, and give it to others in sadness.''
``God must have put us here on earth for a reason. That reason was
not to put people in slavery or to separate races. He put us here to
live free, to have freedom. He just wanted to give everyone an
opportunity for everything. Love, Charles.''
``There is nothing worse than seeing a person suffer for what they
believe in.'' Deven Eastman.
I can go on and on like that, Mr. Speaker, but I will not. I will
enter them into the Congressional Record.
I will tell my colleagues that what these children have done and what
they are continuing to do far surpasses the efforts that the whole
government of the United States has put forward to date, and I simply
want to commend them and thank them from the bottom of my heart for
such an inspirational day as I spent yesterday.
The personal messages referred to above are as follows:
I thank God for using these children to remind me of the
true spirit of giving! We have love for all people in the
world!
Barb Vogel.
____
``Caring is living the meaning of life.''--Richard Lucas,
Age 13, Upper Arlington, OH.
____
If we can eradicate slavery then the world will be a better
place.
Love,
Cynthia Jarango.
____
``Maybe if we looked deep inside ourselves we would find
the roots of today's problems and also the solutions. Man
creates problems through his temptation; maybe he could solve
them through caring.''--Alicia Hartman, Age 17, Northeast,
PA.
____
A lot of beautiful souls are in slavery and it needs to
stop.
Kristin Young.
____
``A nation with citizens who care and look out for each
other is a great nation; it will not fall apart.''--Dwain
Simmons, Age 14, Houston, TX.
____
Dear Congressman Dan: Thank you for coming to our class.
Also, thank you for supporting our campaign. I am an
abolitionist and my name is Le Shai.
Sincerely,
Le Shai.
____
When you put your mind to something, you can achieve
anything.
Joshua Fleming.
____
If we didn't eradicate slavery how would other people be
free?
Sincerely,
David Walker.
____
Power is in people! Don't be lazy take action to help
others.
Love,
Alex J. Persinger.
____
Even though Frederick Douglass is dead, I still believe
that his spirit lives in every abolitionist in the world.
Melvin Harmon.
____
The greatest power of our time is love for all people!
Love,
Thomas Turner.
____
Unless the world is perfect, without any problems, we need
to take a stand and help others.
Lindy deSpain.
____
The world needs the caring majority.
Love,
Alphonso McDonald.
____
Dear Congressman: I would like to thank you for joining our
campaign. We appreciate your work.
Love,
James Coleman.
____
Slavery is wrong, and someone needs to take a stand. Adults
are not doing enough, so kids are doing something more.
Nicole Cimino.
____
We can't have just a little group of abolitionists we need
a large group.
Love,
Josh Hook.
____
There is a sin, from the past, it is slavery and kids are
doing something about it!
Love,
Miriam Moreno.
____
God made us different, because He knew that we would be
beautiful!
Stacy Caruso.
____
Freedom is one of the world's greatest treasures. What has
happened to it?
Doni Taikalus.
____
Our hearts are noble, so use the noble heart to do good for
others.
Dong Cho.
____
Dear Congressman: Hi, I'm Christina Manalastas. We bring
love and courage from our life, and give it to others in
sadness.
Sincerely,
Christina Manalastas.
____
God must have put us here on earth for a reason. That
reason was not to put people in slavery, or to separate
races. He put us here to live free, to have freedom. He just
wanted to give everyone an opportunity for everything.
Love,
Charles.
____
There is nothing worse than seeing a person suffer for what
they believe in.
Keven Eastman.
____________________