[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 54 (Friday, May 3, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E717]]
 HONORING ANDREA YEUTTER OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN FOR HER OUTSTANDING ESSAY

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                            HON. NICK SMITH

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 3, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate a 
young scholarship winner from my district, Andrea Yeutter of Adrian, 
Michigan. Andrea has written an excellent essay that speaks about the 
part our Constitution plays in guiding our lives. It's always 
heartening to see young people concerned about the problems we face and 
interested in the affairs of government. Andrea speaks of our good 
fortune to live in a land where we are free to speak our minds and 
shape our own lives, a land safe for people of all religious faiths. In 
this essay Andrea Yeutter also speaks to the responsibility our 
Constitution places on us: the responsibility to nurture and defend 
this country so that we can pass on to our children a nation of 
greatness and freedom. I request that her essay be placed in the 
Congressional Record.

                      Strength in Our Convictions

                          (By Andrea Yeutter)

       Over two hundred years ago, our founding fathers sat in a 
     crowded, stuffy room discussing how America should be 
     governed. They knew too well the hard, oppressive hand of a 
     government with too much power, but they also realized that 
     without a strengthened central government our Nation could 
     not survive. After much heated debate they emerged with a 
     revolutionary new document--the Constitution of the United 
     States of America. This outline of America's founding 
     principles would be the envy of the world for generations to 
     come, as well as a blessing to those who would live under it. 
     In order for our Nation to continue in the prosperity and 
     strength we have known, however, it is essential that each 
     citizen respect the Constitution, the laws based on it, and 
     the courts that interpret it. It is also essential that the 
     laws we make and the rulings we hand down in our courtrooms 
     be congruent with the intents our founding fathers had when 
     writing the Constitution. Only in this way can we preserve 
     the values passed down to us.
       The United States is unique in that it was founded on the 
     belief that ``all men are created equal.'' Although in its 
     early days slavery still existed and women still were not 
     allowed to vote, America soon evolved into a Nation holding 
     dearly to the principle that equal rights, equal justice, and 
     equal opportunity belong to all, regardless of race, creed, 
     color, nationality or sex. Even though we often take our 
     privilege of equality for granted, we are reminded how truly 
     fortunate we are when we are reminded of the atrocities 
     taking place in other countries without this idea. Surely the 
     Afghan women under the Taliban would have given anything to 
     be American citizens, as well as the millions of poverty-
     stricken Indians who are victims of a degrading caste system. 
     The principle of equal opportunity for all has allowed many 
     people to improve themselves and the conditions in which they 
     live. it gives us a sense of dignity to know that we are held 
     as equals before the law, and a sense of responsibility to 
     know that we are, for the most part, in control over the 
     measure of success we achieve. This freedom is basic to a 
     good government.
       Our founding fathers, believing strongly in these 
     principles of equality and freedom, wisely established a 
     government that would exist to protect the freedom of each 
     individual, not to restrict it. They knew that men, if left 
     to themselves, would act selfishly and limit the freedoms of 
     others for their own benefit, and that governments would do 
     the same if given too much power. Therefore, they set up some 
     very definite boundaries and limitations for the central 
     government to respect. I believe that if they were to see our 
     country now, they would be grieved at how far the government 
     has been allowed to pry into individual liberties. It is 
     necessary for us, in the age of government expansion, to 
     support the principle that governments should get involved 
     only in those things that the people cannot do well, or at 
     all, for themselves. This means that the government should 
     play a minimal role in the private lives of its citizens, not 
     going overboard on unnecessary taxation, or excessive social 
     legislation, nor creating huge bureaucracies that bumble 
     through issues the public could take care of itself. Rather 
     it should partner with other facets of society to assist 
     those who cannot provide for themselves chiefly through lower 
     taxes, and allowing greater economic opportunity. This 
     enables and encourages people to become self-supporting, 
     productive citizens who take pride in their independence, 
     rather than becoming weak, lazy complainers looking eagerly 
     for the next welfare check to roll off the mill, forged by 
     the sweat of hard-working taxpayers.
       If we hold to the values of individual freedom and minimal 
     government interference, it is essential that we have a 
     strong economy that will allow for a self-sufficient public. 
     This strong economy must be laid on a foundation of a free 
     enterprise system, and the encouragement of individual 
     initiative. When this is accomplished, it produces business 
     owners and workers that are proud of their hard work and of 
     their accomplishments. They create better products at lower 
     prices, which further stimulate the economy, creating more 
     opportunities for people to advance themselves monetarily. In 
     order for this to continue, however, the government must 
     maintain sound money and be responsible for their economic 
     endeavors. The rights of life and liberty are meaningless if 
     citizens are deprived of their property through excessive 
     taxation, inflation, and government waste. These things 
     destroy individual initiative and the free-enterprise system. 
     They invade the bounds of personal liberty by robbing 
     individuals of their hard earned dollars, fostering the decay 
     of economic prosperity, as well as creating growing 
     resentment towards the government, which eventually leads to 
     the downfall of a nation.
       In order to remain strong internally, and as a leading 
     Nation of the world, America must continue to uphold the 
     values it was founded upon. This means limiting the scope of 
     government at home, while strengthening its position abroad. 
     America must be uncompromising in the support of individual 
     liberty across the globe, punishing those who attack it, and 
     giving assistance to those who desire to gain it. Granted, we 
     cannot become the ``policemen'' of the world, but it would be 
     a crime against our blessed freedoms and against the values 
     we hold so dear to sit by like weaklings and watch the 
     freedoms of our fellow men decay. World peace and friendship 
     will only continue through strength in our convictions and in 
     our actions.

     

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