[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S16101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE FIRST ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIC EDUCATION

  Mr. DASCHLE. There is a great, possibly prophetic, story from the end 
of the Constitutional Convention in 1789. For weeks, delegates to the 
convention had labored in the Philadelphia heat to draft a 
Constitution. Every day, crowds waited outside Independence Hall for 
any news of their progress. Finally, a draft was agreed upon. As 
Benjamin Franklin emerged from the hall, a woman asked, ``Dr Franklin, 
what have you given us: A monarchy? Or a republic?'' Franklin famously 
replied, ``A republic--if you can keep it.''
  Some of our founders would, no doubt, be surprised that we have 
indeed managed to keep this republic they dared to imagine and create 
more than 200 years ago.
  What has enabled the United States to become the world's oldest 
surviving democracy is more than luck. It is more, even, than divine 
providence. It is also the result of deliberate work and effort by 
generations of Americans to understand and protect the principles on 
which our nation was founded, and to pass those lessons on, 
undiminished, to future generations.
  That is the heart of what we mean by ``civic education.''
  I know the majority leader shares my belief that Congress has an 
important role to play in ensuring that civic education in America 
remains strong and vital and that it reaches all Americans. For that 
reason, it was an honor for both of us, along with many of our 
colleagues, to attend the First Annual Congressional Conference on 
Civic Education from September 20th to the 22nd of this year, in 
Washington, D.C.
  The conference brought together education and civic leaders and 
others from all 50 States and the District of Columbia and gave them an 
opportunity to compare notes about what is happening in their States to 
strengthen civic education. Each State team also adopted a State action 
plan, which they will implement before the Second Annual Conference, 
which will be held in December 2004, also in Washington. I have the 
South Dakota State action plan, which I ask unanimous consent to have 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

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