[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 133 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVIC EDUCATION AND IN RECOGNITION OF THE MARYLAND 
                     COALITION FOR CIVIC EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2004

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, one of the major goals of our education 
system is to produce knowledgeable and informed citizens. We accomplish 
this, in part, through effective civic education programs in our 
schools--like the innovative We The People program sponsored by the 
Center for Civic Education.
  The first annual Congressional Conference on Civic Education was held 
in September 2003. The event was sponsored by the Alliance for 
Representative Democracy and co-hosted by our four distinguished 
congressional leaders: Senator Frist, Senator Daschle, Speaker Hastert 
and Leader Pelosi. One of the very positive outcomes of the 
congressional conference was the establishment of state delegations 
that returned home with the mission to enact specific policies designed 
to restore the civic mission of our schools and make available programs 
like We the People in each of our fifty states.
  In that regard, I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize Dr. 
Marcie Taylor-Thoma, the facilitator of the Maryland delegation, for 
her leadership in designing an action plan to improve civic education 
in our state. As a result of her efforts, the Maryland Coalition for 
Civic Education, representing over 40 community leaders and 
organizations, has been formed; a tool kit of best practices in civic 
education has been developed; and Maryland's teachers will soon have 
access to further professional development in the area of civic 
education.
  Moreover, I'm proud to note that these exciting developments come on 
top of Maryland's substantial existing commitments in the area of civic 
education--including our Student Service Learning requirement, our 
mandatory Government Civics course and our nearly finished state 
curriculum, which will include the teaching of civics and government 
from pre-K through high school.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Dr. Taylor-Thoma and the rest of 
her colleagues again for all of their hard work, and I look forward to 
the success of the Maryland Coalition for Civic Education as they 
participate in the second annual Congressional Conference on Civic 
Education on December 4-6 of this year.

                          ____________________