[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 137 (Wednesday, October 1, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1940]]
                     THE CENTER FOR CIVIC EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 1, 2003

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, the Center for Civic Education of Los 
Angeles, California, is a leader in promoting civic education in the 
United States, and promoting democracy throughout the world. They 
regularly contribute to civic understanding in the United States 
through a presence in each Congressional District.
  Their excellence in teaching citizens to appreciate and participate 
in their government took an international approach seven years ago 
through annual ``Leaders Seminars'' in the Center's Civitas Exchange 
Program. I am proud that the 2003 Civitas Exchange Program Leaders 
Seminar was co-hosted by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) of our 
friend and neighbor, Mexico.
  IFE is an autonomous agency of the Mexican federal government 
responsible for organizing federal elections and promoting civic 
education. From September 25-30, 2003 the Center held the seventh 
annual Leaders Seminar of its Civitas Exchange Program in Mexico City, 
Mexico, providing an international forum on civic responsibility in 
maintaining democratic principals in government.
  IFE and the Center for Civic Education have forged a partnership to 
adapt Project Citizen, a civic education program for middle school 
students, for use throughout the Mexican school system. At the Leaders 
Seminar, Mexican students who have studied democratic practices and 
principles (through the work of IFE and the Center) analyzed national 
and community problems for more than 150 delegates from some 34 
countries and 30 states of the United States.
  A remarkable number of entities cooperate to make the Civitas 
Exchange Program a leading cooperative project of civic education 
organizations in the United States and emerging and established 
democracies throughout the world. The Civitas Exchange Program is 
administered by the Center for Civic Education and funded by the U.S. 
Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act approved 
by the United States Congress. International assistance comes from the 
U.S. Department of State and the Agency for International Development 
(AID).
  The Center for Civic Education centers their mission on Thomas 
Jefferson's philosophy on the safekeeping of democracy: ``I know of no 
safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people 
themselves.''
  For all the work the Center for Civic Education does--domestically 
and internationally--to better prepare our children to participate in 
the democratic life of our nation, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
commending this organization for their work to make this country--and 
the world in which we live--a better place for the generations that 
will follow us.

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