[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING CASSANDRA TAMEZ'S ESSAY INTO THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 2004

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to enter into the Congressional 
Record the following essay by Miss Cassandra Tamez, a high school 
student who resides in my Congressional district. Miss Tamez's essay, 
entitled ``My Commitment to America's Future,'' earned her a Voice of 
Democracy Scholarship award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I am 
very proud of Miss Tamez's efforts and I wish her well in her future 
endeavors.

                 ``My Commitment to America's Future''

                          (By Cassandra Tamez)

       When I think of the word ``commitment,'' an image of my 
     school's athletic teams pops into my mind. I think of what 
     the coaches used to say during their pep talks before a game, 
     ``There's no question about it, we're going to win tonight. I 
     have seen the effort put in by this team . . . We have 
     determination; we have dedication; and we have commitment.'' 
     My teammates and I would get really ``pumped up.'' We were 
     ready to go out there and win. Looking back now, though, I do 
     not think that as individuals we were truly committed, 
     because commitment is not merely an effort for one game but 
     for every practice and every game.
       I think commitment is doing something, whether you have the 
     ability to or not, and sticking with it. Commitment is 
     following through every single day. Commitment is focusing 
     solely on the one thing that you commit yourself to. 
     Commitment is binding yourself to something. It is a pledge.
       So with all this in mind I ask myself, what is my 
     commitment to America's future? Should I recycle or join a 
     beautification committee to preserve America? Should I donate 
     money to foundations that help kids? Or perhaps I could 
     pledge my time to hospitals or nursing homes to help the sick 
     people of America . . .
       Most people would probably think that my efforts in any of 
     these would make little difference. After all, I am only one 
     person, a speck of sand on a beach.
       Recycling . . . Yes, collecting cans and glass bottles 
     would be a Tremendous help. My mother recycles. I went with 
     her one day to help her put all our old newspapers in the 
     recycling bin. I started thinking. How many people are there 
     in the world, billions? Out of all these people, how many 
     recycle? I laughed to myself, probably not that many. My mom 
     was definitely wasting her time.
       Donating money . . . I am not rich. How could the amount of 
     money that I give even help one person with cancer or in need 
     of help? I have seen programs on T.V. that talk about saving 
     the life of a child by just donating 88 cents a day. Then I 
     began thinking about how much it costs for me to eat for just 
     one day. I estimated that my food alone costs eight to 
     fifteen dollars. How could a child survive on 88 cents a day? 
     Is it possible?
       Pledging my time . . . I used to do volunteer work in a 
     nursing home. I would go there every day during the summer 
     and try and help out however I could. However, I remember 
     this one day that something really horrible happened. I was 
     walking down the hall when all of a sudden this lady started 
     screaming. I looked around, waiting for someone to come 
     running and help her. I waited for about ten seconds, but no 
     one came. I ran towards the nurses' station to see if anyone 
     was on their way. Three of them were just standing there. I 
     knew they could hear the woman screaming . . . I wanted to 
     tell them something, but was it my place? I returned to the 
     woman screaming instead. As soon as I walked in the room she 
     said, ``Help me, Honey. Please, it's my leg. I need to move 
     it.'' I moved forward to help her, but then I hesitated. What 
     if her legs were not supposed to be moved? Could I hurt her 
     if I moved them? By this time I was getting frantic. I told 
     her I would go get someone to help and ran out. I took five 
     steps out the door, and a nurse was standing there, calmly 
     writing on a piece of paper. ``Um, I think that lady needs 
     some help'', I told her. She looked up in annoyance and 
     shouted to another nurse that she needed something for ``The 
     Screamer.'' I stood there for a moment in shock. They acted 
     as if this woman were just a nuisance. At that moment I felt 
     hatred; clearly that woman was in pain. I did not know what 
     was wrong with her, and I could not help her. There was no 
     point in my being there.
       Taking all of my experiences into consideration, I think 
     this is exactly how many other people think; they feel 
     helpless and insignificant. They feel too small to make any 
     real difference in the world. And then I came across this 
     poem by Edward Everette Hale. He said,

     I am only one,
     But still I am one.
     I cannot do everything
     But still I can do something.
     And because I cannot do everything
     I will not refuse to do
     The something that I can do.

       I have to admit that this poem has inspired me. Because 
     even though I am but one speck of sand on a beach, I know 
     that I am a solid and firm speck, and that there are other 
     specs like me that compose the sand. I am one of many who may 
     carry the optimistic attitude of commitment to America. Once 
     again, I think back to my efforts of recycling, donating 
     money, and pledging my time, and realize that they were not 
     futile efforts at all. When I recycled, I know it was 
     probably only thirty newspapers out of trillions in the 
     world, but what if I recycled once a month? That would be 360 
     newspapers a year for a lifetime. I might save a beautiful 
     tree or even more. As for donating money, well 88 cents a day 
     from me might not feed a child, but if only nine more people 
     in my state donate 88 cents, then that child has a total of 
     $8.80, my estimate of money needed for a day. Now, as far as 
     pledging my time goes, I do not think my time spent in the 
     nursing home was a complete waste. I did help one patient who 
     was in pain.
       So once again, what is my commitment to America's future? 
     My commitment is to ``play to my strengths.'' My commitment 
     is to do my best. Like the patriotic commercials on 
     television say, ``We, the children, are America's future,'' 
     and every bit we can do helps.

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