[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 126 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10245-S10246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING A COLUMBINE HERO, BOY SCOUT EVAN TODD

 Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today to share with my 
colleagues a pair of statements I recently received from an exceptional 
young man in Colorado, Mr. Evan Todd of Littleton. Evan was one of the 
many unfortunate victims of the horrific shooting that took place at 
Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Evan was the first student 
shot in the library at Columbine High School, and despite his injuries 
he assisted other students and administered first aid to a seriously 
wounded peer until emergency services could arrive. Evan, an active Boy 
Scout, was awarded the prestigious Boy Scouts of America Honor Medal 
for his inspiring actions. Still a Columbine student, Evan has 
dedicated a tremendous amount of time to speaking to other students and 
adults around the nation concerning the problems of youth violence and 
the cultural influences on American youth. I am honored that Evan took 
the time to write to me and I ask that a copy of Evan Todd's letter to 
his fellow Scouts and a copy of a speech he delivered at ``The 
Gathering,'' a meeting of victims of school violence, be printed in the 
Record.
                                                    Littleton, CO.
       Dear Fellow Scouts: I have been told that into each life 
     some rain must fall. Some get rained on more than others. The 
     rain that came down on us at Columbine High School was a 
     cloudburst of epic proportions. This act was senseless, 
     tragic and without justification, whatsoever. 13 murdered 25 
     wounded and 1,951 students youth destroyed. As a student who 
     was shot and wounded in the library, it has changed my life, 
     forever.
       I believe that the children of a society are nothing more 
     than the reflection of the society that they are brought 
     into. The event here at Columbine in Littleton Colorado, and 
     the events at Moses Lake Washington, Pearl Mississippi, 
     Jonesboro Arkansas, Edinboro Pennsylvania, Fayetteville 
     Tennessee, Springfield Oregon, Richmond Virginia, Conyers 
     Georgia, Los Angeles California and elsewhere indicate to me 
     that our nation has a serious character flaw. Since the 
     Columbine tragedy, I have tried to stay abreast of the 
     ``adult society'' debate as to the ``why'' and ``how'' of 
     these terrible incidents. The adults debate and argue over 
     what constitutes good and what constitutes evil; what is 
     right and what is wrong. At the time of the Columbine 
     tragedy, our national leader, the President, stated the youth 
     of this nation need to learn to resolve our differences with 
     words, not weapons. At the time this statement was made, we 
     as a nation, were bombing Yugoslavia. They tell us that the 
     youth of this nation need to be more tolerant, kinder, 
     gentler, more understanding. Yet our entertainment, music, 
     TV, movies, games (and actions of) the adult world provides 
     for our consumption are all too often filled with violence, 
     sex, death and destruction. If we were to take into our lives 
     what is provided to us by our society, our actions would also 
     violate the Scout Oath & Law. Other solutions to school 
     violence have been nametags to be carried around our neck as 
     millstones, metal detectors, increased video surveillance, 
     etc. Our nation has always had guns. Our nation has always 
     had children. What our nation hasn't always had is children 
     murdering children and their parents, and parents murdering 
     their children. The ingregient that has made America 
     different is the last couple of `adult generations', and 
     their changes towards what is right & wrong, good & evil. It 
     appears to me that our society is confused. The adult world 
     seems as a ship with no rudder being cast around by the wind 
     and storms of our times, with no control or understanding as 
     to why. Many of these storms appear to have been caused by 
     their own accord. It's as if our adult society has no 
     compass, no bearing, no standards for our society. I have 
     found them confused. Even at our age, we can discern the 
     difference between what you say and what you do . . .
       In regard to the solution of watching what comes out of us 
     by monitoring closely our world with surveillance cameras, 
     what we say, how we look, etc., our society needs to watch 
     carefully what goes into us. In my room is a picture of the 
     Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming. Below the picture is 
     the following:

                         The Essence Of Destiny

       ``Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your 
     words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for 
     they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become 
     your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your 
     destiny.''
       The good news for those of us that are Scouts is that we 
     are privileged to be a part of an organization that provides 
     us the tools and instructions to put into us that which 
     builds a better person, a better nation. Those tools are 
     called the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Robert Gates, former 
     Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and 
     our current President of the National Eagle Scout Association 
     (NESA) recently stated that there is a war going on for the 
     souls of our boys and young men in this nation. He sees 
     clearly. If you are to be a scout, don't be a scout in word 
     only. Learn and practice the Oath & Law in everything you 
     think, say and do. I understand well how hard that can be, 
     but ``Do Your Best.'' To the Boy Scouts of America, thank you 
     for defending our 90-year record and not allowing the Oath & 
     Law to be redefined. As you say, it has stood the test of 
     time. The generation that wants to change the Oath & Law has 
     not stood the test of time. To all the scouts across America 
     that sent me & my troop cards, letters, posters, your 
     thoughts and prayers, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 
     To you here tonight, I bid you vaya con Dios mi amigos, God 
     Bless you and God Bless the work you do.
           Thank You.
                                                        Evan Todd,

     Eagle Scout Troop 989.
                                  ____


               Remarks by Evan Todd at ``The Gathering''

       I have been told that into each life some rain must fall. 
     Some get rained on more than others. The rain that came down 
     on us at Columbine and at Moses Lake Washington, Pearl 
     Mississippi, Jonesboro Arkansas, Edinboro Pennsylvania, 
     Fayetteville Tennessee, Springfield Oregon, Richmond 
     Virginia, Conyers Georgia, Los Angeles California and 
     elsewhere were cloudbursts of epic proportions. All of these 
     acts were senseless, tragic and without justification, 
     whatsoever. As a student who was shot and wounded in the 
     library at Columbine, who was literally trapped while 10 of 
     my classmates were murdered, 4 of them my friends and 16 more 
     of us were wounded, crippled, disfigured and paralyzed, it 
     has changed my life, forever.
       I believe that the children of a society are nothing more 
     than the reflection of the society that they are brought 
     into. These events indicate to me that America has a serious

[[Page S10246]]

     character flaw. Since the Columbine tragedy, I have tried to 
     stay abreast of the ``adult society'' debate as to the 
     ``why'' of these terrible incidents. The adults debate and 
     argue over what constitutes good, . . . and what constitutes 
     evil; what is right and what is wrong. Our nation has always 
     had guns. Our nation has always had children. I believe what 
     our nation hasn't had--is children murdering children--and 
     their parents, . . . and parents murdering their children. 
     The ingredient that has made American different is the last 
     couple of ``adult generations'' of Americans, and their 
     changes towards what is right & wrong, good & evil. Is God 
     now sending forth demons to America in the form of its 
     children, or have the demons occupied our adult society, by 
     invitation? How are we as kids treated differently than the 
     kids before us? As a generation, we are unique. We have been 
     slaughtered on our way into this world, we are murdered as we 
     live and try to grow in this world, and we are molested, 
     assaulted, sexualized and drugged. The adult society has 
     responded by creating entire new industries and professions 
     to repair their damage to us. Even as I speak to you our 
     adult society is setting the stage to murder us when we 
     become old. We are even taught that we evolved from slime. 
     (An interesting item that the public is not fully aware of is 
     that the two cold-blooded murderers in Littleton used the 
     theory of evolution as their foundation, ``Survival Of The 
     Fittest.'' You've all heard of their uniforms, the black 
     trenchcoats, but the real uniform that day was the T-shirt 
     Eric Harris had on that said ``NATURAL SELECTION'' Has our 
     adult society banned that?) It appears to me that we have 
     willingly become a culture of death and violence. Some adults 
     blame the jocks like me, the cheerleaders and others, . . . 
     even the trenchcoats, . . . and some even say if our country 
     only offered 9 round ammo clips instead of 10 or more, things 
     would be better.
       At the time of the Columbine tragedy, our national leader, 
     the President, stated the youth of this nation need to learn 
     to resolve our differences with words, not weapons. At the 
     time this statement was made, we as a nation, were bombing 
     Yugoslavia. They tell us that the youth of this nation need 
     to be more tolerant, kinder, gentler, more understanding. Yet 
     our entertainment, music, TV, movies, games (and actions of) 
     the adult world provides for our consumption are all too 
     often filled with violence, sex, death and destruction. If I 
     were to take into my life what is provided to me by society, 
     my actions too would violate the Heavenly & Moral Laws my 
     family have taught me. Other solutions to school violence 
     have been nametags to be carried around our neck as 
     millstones, metal detectors, increased video surveillance, 
     etc. It appears to me that our society is confused. The adult 
     world seems as a ship with no rudder being cast around by the 
     wind and storms of our times, with no control or 
     understanding as to why. Many of these storms appear to have 
     been caused by their own accord. It's as if our adult society 
     has no compass, no bearing, no standards for our society. 
     Even at our age, we can discern the difference between what 
     you say and what you do. . . .
       In regard to the solution of watching what comes out of us 
     by monitoring closely our world with surveillance cameras, 
     what we say, how we look, etc., our society needs to watch 
     carefully what goes into us. In my bedroom is a picture of 
     the Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming. Below the picture 
     is the following:

                         The Essence of Destiny

       ``Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your 
     words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for 
     they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become 
     your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your 
     destiny.''
       Even before Columbine, my father told me that when a 
     society opens the gates of hell for the pursuit of its' 
     happiness, for its' pleasures and for its' economy, the devil 
     will come out and have his dance with us. We here today were 
     the unfortunate ones who had to dance.
       I believe I have found the problem within America. Each and 
     every citizen can too. All they have to do is look into the 
     mirror every day to find the demon. They can also find the 
     solution in that same mirror. Ask yourself daily, ``what am I 
     thinking, saying and doing in my life to call out the demons 
     on the youth of my nation?'' In the final analysis, a nation 
     is judged on how it treats its' young and its' old. Until we 
     return to respecting life as sacred, prepare yourself for 
     more dances, more heartbreak, more death, and more 
     destruction. It also would be wise to look into the future of 
     America. It's not that hard. The character a nation instills 
     into its youth today, will be the destiny of our nation 
     tomorrow.

                          ____________________