[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CECIL D. ANDRUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 2006

  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the 
House to a most important lesson in civic virtue.
  We hear much today about the shortcomings of our education system, 
about a growing sense of frustration and despair on the part of 
students, parents and policy makers. Today I have the honor and 
privilege of telling you about a success story that we all can 
celebrate.
  The heroes in this story are fifth graders at Cecil D. Andrus 
Elementary School in Meridian, Idaho. I recently received almost 30 
letters from these young Americans requesting that I do whatever I 
could to stop Congress from removing funds that pay for the ``We the 
People . . .'' civic education program at schools throughout America. 
Mr. Speaker, these students are to be congratulated and encouraged to 
continue participating in the process of our government, to fully 
realize their potential as citizens of our great nation.
  I also congratulate their teacher, Heidi Fry and their principal, 
Barbara Horn, whose dedication and example have worked their magic with 
these students.
  The ``We the People . . .'' program is funded through the U.S. 
Department of Education by act of Congress. It was established in 1987 
under the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States 
Constitution.
  Letter upon letter from the students at Andrus Elementary related 
stories about lessons they had learned through the ``We the People . . 
.'' program--visionary quotations from the Founding Fathers and the 
Framers of the Constitution, the history of the documents that became 
our blueprints for freedom, and how leaders of the founding generation 
knew that survival of our new American Republic would require each 
successive generation to learn and embrace the value, price and 
responsibility of living in a free country.
  No greater testament could exist to the value of this educational 
program than the words of these young people, Mr. Speaker. No more 
compelling argument could be made for its continued existence in our 
schools. I therefore gave them my word I would do what I could to 
restore the funding.
  As a side note, the namesake of the school those children attend--
Cecil D. Andrus--was Secretary of the Interior during the Carter 
administration and four times was elected governor of the great state 
of Idaho. I served with Governor Andrus as Lieutenant Governor during 
his third and forth terms. He was a leader who put great store in the 
value of educating Idaho's young people to prepare them for shouldering 
the responsibility of freedom and the stewardship of our human and 
natural resources. He also placed great importance on people meaning 
what they say and keeping their word--especially those in positions of 
public trust.

  In closing I should like to add the names of these students to the 
Congressional Record so that one day in the not-too-distant future, 
when citizens of Idaho and this Nation are reviewing the background of 
their generation's leaders, I'm confident these names will surely be 
among them.
  Elaine Beech, Natalie Bowman, Steven Bowman, Ashley Charles, Nicole 
Covell, Madisson Cutbirth, Alejandro Delaloza, Cole DeSilvia, Joneya 
Dunn, Amber French, Talia Johnson, Corey Kerensky, Joseph Koetter, 
Jordan Lee, Brian Luke, Taylor McQuiston, Summer Moffet, JT Moore, 
Brianna Pantell, Courtney Paul, Dillon Pierce, Zach Poralla, Rhett 
Suciu, Eric Swider, Jakob Thompson, Lindsay Williams, and Chanel Zeko.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and all my colleagues to recognize the value 
of the ``We the People . . .'' program and help me restore the funding. 
Let's keep our word to these Idaho students, and to the generations of 
American students yet to come.

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