[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO AMY SCHLUETER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 10, 2000

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Amy Schlueter as 
an exceptional teenager from Rolla, Missouri. Amy was recognized 
yesterday at the Fifth Annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards as 
one of Missouri's top two student volunteers for the year 2000. Amy 
received a $1,000 award, a silver medallion and her trip to D.C. for 
her exemplary volunteer service in her community.
  Amy Schlueter started reaching out to others at a young age. Amy, a 
senior at Rolla High School, implemented and organized a ``Random Acts 
of Kindness'' club at her school to challenge her peers to act with 
kindness, not violence. Since her club began, 89 students and faculty 
members have been rewarded for random acts of kindness, and in January, 
a two-week celebration in Rolla recognized hundreds of community 
members who made a difference by being kind to others.
  In Amy's words, ``Our nightly news provides us with images of savage 
car crashes, rapes, assaults, mutilated children, gang wars, telling us 
this is reality. It is exceptionally rare to hear about people doing 
good things for one another, and the reality is, random acts of 
kindness happen every day.''
  This kind of maturity and dedication to a community is not often 
recognized in today's youth. As Amy said, we often hear about the bad 
behavior in our youth. I hope Amy will serve as an inspiration to 
today's youth as she demonstrates that it is cool to be kind to others, 
and youth can play an important role in their community.
  Next week is National Random Acts of Kindness Week. As we work on our 
annual spending bills, and go about our day-to-day business, I hope 
that my colleagues can follow Amy's example. I also hope we as a 
society can spend more time focusing on the Amy Schlueter's of the 
world when we watch the evening news so we will have good examples to 
follow.

                          ____________________