[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 96 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S6862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          APPLAUDING DIVERSITY

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today among my colleagues 
to pay tribute to Susy Aparicio of Lexington, Kentucky. Last week, in 
what will surely be a giant step for Lexington's Latino community, Mrs. 
Aparicio officially opened Biblioteca Hispana to the public.
  Susy Aparicio, a native of Ecuador, and her husband, a native of 
Bolivia, met while they were both students at the University of 
Kentucky in the late 1970s. After a short stint in Bolivia, Susy and 
her husband returned to Lexington. Throughout their time living in 
Kentucky, they have taken notice of the severe deficiency of books, 
magazines and newspapers available in Spanish. The public library 
offers a few options, but transportation and language issues serve as 
unavoidable obstacles to many Spanish-speaking residents. Although both 
Susy and her husband understand the importance of their children 
learning and mastering the English language, they still prefer that 
their children and their children's children grow up with access to 
resources published in their native language. For nearly two decades, 
Mrs. Aparicio has dreamed of opening a library where the Hispanic 
community could have easy access to various reading materials in 
Spanish. This dream has now become a reality.
  Using a grant from the Partners for Youth Foundation, Susy organized 
a collection of about 400 books and audio and videotapes, mostly geared 
towards children. Eventually, Susy would like to obtain more funding to 
expand the library to include more adult-oriented books and offer 
storytelling, tutorial and family-literacy programs. She hopes this 
project will provide an adequate gateway for the Latino community to 
revel in its rich culture.
  America is a diverse land full of differences in opinion, prayer and 
language. While I firmly believe that to succeed in America one must 
fully embrace the English language, at the same time the new arrivals 
to America should be sure to remember and celebrate their traditional 
roots. Diversity has always been and will remain to be one of this 
nation's greatest strengths.
  Mrs. Aparicio has worked extremely hard for the Hispanic community in 
Lexington, and in the end, Biblioteca Hispana will be a place where 
future generations can take their children to learn about their 
ancestry and where they came from.

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