[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1532-E1533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   STUDENT CONGRESSIONAL TOWN MEETING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 19, 2000

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding 
work done by participants in my Student Congressional Town Meeting held 
this summer. These participants were part of a group of high school 
students from around Vermont who testified about the concerns they have 
as teenagers, and about what they would like to see the government do 
regarding these concerns.
  I submit these statements in the Congressional Record, as I believe 
that the views of these young persons will benefit my colleagues.

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


 on behalf of HEATHER MOYLAN, GEORGE (BUD) VANA, IV and MATTHEW JENNESS

    Regarding GENDER REQUIREMENT IN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION--May 26, 2000

       HEATHER MOYLAN: Today we would like to propose that new 
     legislation be introduced regarding gender equity, 
     legislation that would repeal any sections of affirmative 
     action that make reference to gender in the workplace. 
     Affirmative action is defined as actions taken to provide 
     equal opportunities as an admission for employment for 
     minority groups or women.
       Traditionally society has dominated by the male gender. 
     Today, however, advancements have been made for women in 
     regards to jobs, sports and education. Affirmative action 
     legislation and its close cousin, Title 9 have had a lot of 
     important and beneficial progress for women in all of their 
     endeavors. In most cases quality is already a reality. 
     Statistics show in some cases there is a female advantage and 
     of course there is still progress to be made. The legislation 
     and enforcement by the government, once crucial, has run its 
     course. The American people have become accustomed to gender 
     equality.
       States have created their own legislation. Institutions and 
     public and private sectors have their own regulations, and in 
     summary the law has done all that it can do. The danger now 
     exists that the law may be abused with so-called reverse 
     discrimination suits.
       MATTHEW JENNESS: Last night I went out and I found 
     information to back this up; with looking at the job rate 
     between male and female and I found that the participation 
     rate percentage was in 1948, 32 percent female and 86.9 
     percent male. In 1979, 50 percent female and 78 percent male, 
     and in this year, 2000, 75 percent male and 60 percent 
     female. So from that I figure that a 60 percent--there is a 
     pretty good margin there, it is close, and the ten percent 
     may be people who chose to be--females choosing to take 
     traditional roles in the family.
       GEORGE VANA, IV: I get to show you some stuff, I guess. Now 
     this is a graph of high school attendance percentage. These 
     are 14- and 15-year-olds. This right here is the male bar and 
     that represents 80.2 percent attendance and this represents 
     female attendance which is 85.6 percent, and this is I guess 
     preliminary to what we are getting to here.
       CONGRESSMAN SANDERS: So that chart shows there are more 
     girls in high school than boys.
       GEORGE VANA, IV: This is college enrollment and it is the 
     same trend basically. 41.7 percent of 18- and 19-year-old 
     males attend college, and I guess it is 51.3 percent of 
     females, age 18 to 19 years old attend college. These are 
     based on the United States Census Bureau. And then we are 
     also going to look at male versus female education 
     accomplishments, and you can see here that education 
     attainment which basically signifies some degree of some sort 
     is much, much higher nowadays within females. These are 
     numbers in the thousands, 46,888,000 females now attain 
     higher educational status compared to 29,343,000 males. And 
     current college enrollment, also in the millions, is we have 
     about 6,905,000 males in college right now as opposed to 
     8,641,000 females, so a gap exists now I guess and that would 
     almost be in favor of females where affirmative action 
     legislation many years ago served to increase these numbers.
                                  ____


          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


      on behalf of FALINDA HOUGH, DANIELLE MORGAN and WENDY PRATT

            Regarding HOUSING FOR TEEN MOTHERS--May 26, 2000

       WENDY PRATT: My name is Wendy and we are teen moms, young 
     mothers who have a lot of problems with housing, and we would 
     like it if we had a program for us to work through to get 
     help with getting housing for

[[Page E1533]]

     us. Our school put together a program called Independence and 
     it is for single mothers with one child and I have a child 
     and a child on the way, so that is not a program that I can 
     link, go through because I am going to have two children, and 
     it is just so hard for me to find someplace to stay.
       DANIELLE MORGAN: I am 16 and I have an eleven-month-old 
     son. I live at my mother's house which includes me and my 
     son, my mother, my six-year-old little brother and my 
     stepfather, and that is somewhere that I really do not want 
     to be right now because one thing is that it is hard to 
     parent when you are also being parented. I can not do what I 
     want with my son because my parents are interfering with 
     that. And I have been told that because of past college 
     students and just younger people that rented apartments in 
     Burlington, they wrecked the apartments, we are not allowed 
     to do that anymore and I feel that is unfair to me and my 
     friends and whoever else is going through the same things I 
     am going through because I feel that I deserve my own space 
     for me and my child.
       There is the Lund Home and I have lived there, I lived 
     there when I was pregnant, and I feel that is a very good 
     program. But then when you leave there, there are some people 
     that are ready for something more. And I will be 17 in August 
     and I feel like I could have my own apartment and my own 
     space to live in. I thank Lund is for a beginning process for 
     people that need to learn more things, but I have already 
     been there and now I am stuck. I have nowhere else to go.
       FALINDA HOUGH: Actually I am in the same situation as 
     Danielle. It is hard to live in your house where you are also 
     being parented and your parents are trying to tell you how to 
     raise your kid. And there should be other opportunities for 
     us as far as the Lund Center, but you cannot go there if you 
     have two children, so it is hard for other people to go 
     there. And there should be more housing for us where we can 
     live.

                                  ____
                                  

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


           on behalf of PAULA DUFRESNE and KATHLEEN SHEVCHIK

             Regarding DATE/ACQUAINTANCE RAPE--May 26, 2000

       KATHLEEN SHEVCHIK: Good morning, Congressman Sanders, 
     fellow students and those attending this event.
       Today we come before you to express our concern about a 
     crisis: date and acquaintance rape. After researching in 
     depth about date and acquaintance rape, we feel a definite 
     need for change in the near future. In out society there 
     needs to be more awareness and knowledge available for 
     students. There are many factors leading to rape whether it 
     is alcohol, drugs or even Rapinol slipped into a drink, this 
     is a serious problem needing a definite solution.
       Acquaintance rape is defined as any non-consensual sexual 
     activity between two or more people who know each other. Here 
     are some facts. 60 percent of all rape victims know their 
     assailants, but 92 percent of adolescent rape victims know 
     their assailants. On college campuses one in every four women 
     is a victim of rape. 84 percent of these women knew their 
     assailant and 57 percent of those rapes happened on a date.
       Congressman Sanders, I will enroll as a freshman next year 
     in college, and after this research I am scared that I could 
     be another statistic. Date rape is about power and control, 
     not romance and passion. Many women think it could never 
     happen to them, but they are simply not educated enough on 
     this issue.
       What we are proposing today is the need for schools to 
     provide more education on date and acquaintance rape. Women 
     need to become more aware of their surroundings and 
     situations that lead to rape. Men must be portrayed as a part 
     of the solution, not just the source of the problem.
       PAULA DUFRESNE: We think there should be an educational 
     program nationwide. This program should inform both men and 
     women on all aspects of date rape. We feel this program 
     should be attended twice; once entering high school and once 
     entering college. We feel that this program should have group 
     discussions about when sexual activity is considered rape, 
     how to be more assertive, and to realize that no always means 
     no. There should also be the victims of date rape and even 
     possibly their assailants. This program would create more 
     awareness to everyone. It would bring so much positive to 
     schools and even to individuals. The knowledge should be 
     given out before the students have to use it. We strongly 
     believe that no action will only insure that an unacceptable 
     situation remains unchanged. In conclusion, we will leave you 
     with the words of Katie Ripley, a college student who wrote 
     The Morning After, Sex, Fear and Feminism on Campuses. 
     ``Today's definition of rape has stretched beyond bruises to 
     threats of death or violence to involve emotional pressure 
     and the influence of alcohol.''

     

                          ____________________