[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E740-E741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FREEDOM'S OBLIGATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2003

  Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I respectfully submit the words of my 
constituent, Jessica Mattiace of Moravia, NY, for submission into the 
Congressional Record. Jessica was chosen as the winner of the Veterans 
of Foreign Wars broadcast scriptwriting contest for 2003.
  Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, of the United States 
and the Ladies Auxiliary conduct a Voice of Democracy audio/essay 
competition designed to give high school students the opportunity to 
voice their opinion on their responsibility to our country. This year, 
more than 80,000 secondary school students participated in this contest 
competing for the 59 national scholarships. The contest theme for this 
year was ``Freedom's Obligation.''
  I applaud the VFW for continually providing this outlet for young 
people to share their personal views and coordinating this worthy 
competition each year. I also congratulate Ms. Mattiace on her 
achievement and wish her best of luck in her future educational 
ventures.

                          Freedom's Obligation

                 (By New York Winner--Jessica Mattiace)

  It echoes through our courtrooms, sings in our churches, whispers in 
our hearts--freedom, the very lifeblood of America, the very marrow of 
our homeland. For this right our fathers fought, and for it they died. 
So that you and I might say we truly are free, a life was yielded, a 
heart ceased to beat, a soul, enflamed with the ardent desire to be 
loosed from the bounds of oppression and persecution, was severed from 
its mortal frame. How often is such a blessing taken for granted! How 
often is it abused! How often is it reduced to a right to do whatever 
one pleases. But this is not what so many men and women gave their 
lives for. They sought to create a land where all would be granted 
equal rights, but not where liberty would be considered license for 
immorality. In our quest to protect and preserve the freedom that has 
been endowed to us by God, and guaranteed to us by the blood of our 
fathers, we have created another sort of enslavement, the enslavement 
to such false ideas of freedom. Freedom has not been granted to us for 
nothing, and it is our duty to defend it at every moment.

[[Page E741]]

  Although as humans ``Endowed by our Creator,'' as we are told by the 
Declaration of Independence, ``with certain inalienable rights,'' these 
have not been given to us without responsibilities. There exists in 
this country especially, a legacy of liberty which has been passed on 
from generation to generation, safeguarded and sustained by its 
citizens. But this freedom is not immutable. We, as Americans, must 
rise to the responsibilities that face us. When not backed by people, 
by Americans motivated with the same passion and fervor as the founders 
of this land, our freedom is but a feeble idea quickly whisked away.
  Has it become this today within our very borders? Although it must 
still be protected from outside threats, the real threat, the real 
danger is right here. It is threatened every single time a human life 
is disregarded or disrespected. With every unborn child prevented from 
ever taking its first breath, freedom is stifled and its very heart 
violated. With every hateful word or deed against a person's race, 
consent is given to forfeit the liberation of an entire country. It 
truly is a dreadful form of povery when such crimes against life are 
committed. How can a man stand upon his feet and proclaim his freedom, 
when he holds the stolen liberty of another in his hands? How can he 
defend the very thing that he has denied to others? No, it is not 
possible to secure for oneself what has been usurped from others. When 
the value of freedom is overlooked in a single human form, it is 
overlooked for all of humanity. Without compromise, this freedom must 
be defended and all obstacles and impediments standing before it must 
be defeated.
  Our obligation to protect freedom begins within our homes, in our 
day-to-day life choices which affect others. What we value shows in our 
daily lives, and is reflected in our government. We are under a 
government put in place by ourselves and for ourselves. What is 
allowable, what is just, what is humane is before us to decide. We make 
the decision not merely by how we vote, but by how we speak, how we 
act, how we live.
  In our refusal to forfeit human rights and dignity through our every 
action, we become a powerful testament to true freedom and liberty for 
all. To act in this way is our obligation; this is what we have been 
called to do by those who first ensured for us our freedom. We must 
live as free people, people valuing the liberty of all. Only then shall 
we truly be free. Only then shall this freedom be our possession, and 
only then will we be able to defend it from those who might attempt to 
snatch it from us.

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