[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SHEILA SUESS KENNEDY'S INDIANAPOLIS STAR ARTICLE: ``WE THE PEOPLE 
                          BELIEVE IN VALUES''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JULIA CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, November 20, 2004

  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr Speaker, it is with pleasure that I submit 
the attached article, ``We the People Believe in Values'' for inclusion 
in the Congressional Record. This article was written by Sheila Suess 
Kennedy, associate professor of law and public policy at the Indiana 
University School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indianapolis. 
It originally appeared in the November 15, 2004 edition of the 
Indianapolis Star.

               [From the Indianpolis Star, Nov. 15, 2004]

                    We the People Believe in Values

                         (Sheila Suess Kennedy)

       Pundits tell us that voters came out on Nov. 2 to vote for 
     ``values.'' They sure didn't vote for mine.
       Let me be quite explicit about my values, which are shared 
     by millions of others--values that infuse the Declaration of 
     Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, values 
     that are absolutely central to what it means to be American.
       We believe in justice and civil liberties--in equal 
     treatment and fair play for all citizens, whether or not we 
     agree with them or like them or approve of their life 
     choices.
       We believe that no one is above the law--and that includes 
     those who run our government.
       We believe that dissent can be the highest form of 
     patriotism. Those who care about America enough to speak out 
     against policies they believe to be wrong or corrupt are not 
     only exercising their rights as citizens, they are 
     discharging their civic responsibilities.
       We believe that playing to the worst of our fears and 
     prejudices, using ``wedge issues'' to marginalize gays, or 
     blacks, or ``East Coast liberals'' (a time-honored code word 
     for Jews) in the pursuit of political advantage is un-
     American and immoral.
       We believe, as Garry Wills recently wrote, in ``critical 
     intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for 
     the secular sciences.''
       We believe, to use the language of the Nation's Founders, 
     in ``a decent respect for the opinions of mankind'' (even 
     European mankind).
       We believe in the true heartland of this country, where 
     people struggle to provide for their families, dig deep into 
     their pockets to help the less fortunate, and understand 
     their religions to require good will and loving kindness.
       We believe that self-righteousness is the enemy of 
     righteousness.
       We really do believe that the way you play the game is more 
     important, in the end, than whether you win or lose. We 
     really do believe that the ends don't justify the means.
       In our America, borrowing from our grandchildren so that we 
     can pay for a costly war without taxing the president's 
     buddies and campaign contributors is not moral.
       Dividing the Nation into red and blue, gay and straight, 
     moral and immoral, welcome and unwelcome, is not moral. 
     Excusing our own sins by pointing to the sins of others--
     torturing people, or engaging in ``holy war'' because 
     ``they'' do it too, is not moral. Lying--about sex or weapons 
     of mass destruction or an opponent's war record--is not 
     moral.
       On Election Day, claimants of the ``values'' label came to 
     the precinct where my youngest son was working to ``vote 
     against the queers.''
       In my precinct, when I handed a Democratic slate to a 
     voter, he accused me of being a ``friend of Osama.'' A 
     friend's son registering voters for Baron Hill in a church 
     was called a ``fag lover.''
       The people who live in my America need to reclaim the 
     vocabulary of patriotism and values from those who have 
     hijacked the language in service of something very different.

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