[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E180-E181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING TENAFLY MIDDLE SCHOOL ON EFFORTS TO REMOVE LAND MINES

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                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2001

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the students of Tenafly Middle 
School for the work they have done to raise money to help rid a small 
Balkan town half a world away of land mines. The work these students 
have done is an outstanding example of humanitarian concern and 
compassion among amazingly young individuals--these are students in the 
sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
  The Land Mine Awareness Club grew out of a class taught by language 
arts teacher Mark Hyman, called ``Heroes of Conscience'' and aimed at 
the development of student leaders

[[Page E181]]

by focusing on historical figures who were models of compassion and 
service. Students in the class decided two years ago to focus on the 
land mine issue, which had been championed by Britain's Princess Diana 
before her 1998 death.
  About two dozen students from the class formed the Land Mine 
Awareness Club, designed a multimedia presentation on the world land 
mine problem, and chose the village of Podzvizd in northwestern Bosnia-
Herzegovina as a ``sister city.'' The students began taking their 
presentation to churches, civic groups and other organizations 
throughout Bergen County, explaining the dangers of land mines and 
appealing for donations to help remove land mines in Podzvizd.
  The students soon formed a non-profit organization, Global Care 
Unlimited Inc., in order to collect donations on behalf of Podzvizd. In 
addition to the presentations by the club, the school's 800 students 
began a campaign of selling paper butterflies--representative of the 
deadly ``butterfly'' model of land mine--that raised $6,000. To date, 
the students have raised a total of approximately $15,000 in donations. 
Last week, Global Care signed an agreement with the U.S. State 
Department, which will match the private donations dollar for dollar 
under its Global Humanitarian Demining Program. In all, $30,000 is now 
available to remove hundreds of mines from a field near a school in 
Podzvizd.
  Global Care Unlimited declares part of its goal to be ``to develop 
student leadership potential in the areas of organization, 
communication and technology in the service of humanitarian ideals.'' 
The students participating in this project have, in fact, learned how 
to establish a formal, non-profit organization, have learned 
communication skills by working with the local media and technological 
skills in putting together the multimedia presentation used in their 
fund-raising efforts.
  Special recognition must go to Mr. Hyman, a teacher who has made a 
difference not only in the lives of his own students but for the 
residents of Podzvizd as well. These students clearly took to heart the 
lessons they learned in this class and put them to use--in my mind, 
they have become ``heroes of conscience'' themselves.
  Mr. Speaker, land mines are horrible enough when used during time of 
war by soldiers of one army against those of another. But land mines 
are unlike other weapons that observe a cease-fire when the war ends. 
Instead, they lie dormant, their locations often forgotten and 
difficult to find even if records are available. Civilians return to 
areas that were once battlefields and become victims of land mines even 
years after a conflict has ended. Approximately 110 million live land 
mines are estimated to be buried around the world today and one blows 
up every 22 seconds. Of those injured, 90 percent are civilians--more 
than one-third of them children. In nations such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
thousands of children with missing limbs are living evidence of the 
threat posed by land mines. And thousands of others have died as a 
result of the mines.
  That is why I wrote to President Clinton last year, urging him to 
join the world effort led by Canada to ban anti-personnel land mines. 
In addition, I have co-sponsored the Land Mine Elimination Act, which 
would prohibit federal funds from being spent to deploy new anti-
personnel land mines. A total of 156 nations support a complete ban of 
land mines, as do international leaders such as General Norman 
Schwarzkopf, Pope John Paul Il and Bishop Desmond Tutu. I will continue 
to work hard to achieve the goal of ridding the globe of this man-made 
menace. This horror cannot be allowed to continue.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the United States House of 
Representatives to join me in congratulating these young people on the 
magnanimous humanitarian effort. We can all learn from the example 
offered by these youth. If I may quote from the Book of Isaiah, ``. . . 
and a little child shall lead them.''

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