[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.

                          ____________________