[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1543-E1544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING AN ACHIEVEMENT OF THE UCWIP INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 23, 2008

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize one 
achievement of my former intern, Anu Ambikaipalan who participated in 
the Australian Uni-Capitol Washington Internship Program, UCWIP. After 
an experience in Washington, she returned to Deakin University in 
Melbourne, Australia where she will soon graduate and pursue a career 
in law at a prestigious local firm.
  Ms. Ambikaipalan was recently distinguished as a leader in her 
academic pursuits and was asked to deliver a keynote speech at a 
breakfast reception honoring ``Women in the Law.'' I commend to your 
attention the insightful text of her speech to reiterate the importance 
of providing professional development opportunities for youth on 
Capitol Hill and how these experiences can translate into successful 
contributions to communities, even on the other side of the world. As 
Members of Congress, we must continue to support initiatives like the 
UCWIP which not only improve the lives of our constituents, but engage 
the global community. The text of her speech follows:

       Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. It's great to see so 
     many people here today, and especially university students. 
     Being able to sleep in till 12 noon is one of the prized 
     possessions of a university student, so I'm glad you could 
     all make it.
       It is indeed a privilege to be able to speak in front of so 
     many accomplished women and men in the law here. I'd like to 
     thank the Victorian Council of Law Students' Society and the 
     convener of today's breakfast, Katie Elder, for asking me to 
     speak to you this morning on my experience as an Intern in 
     Congress in Washington, D.C., through the Uni-Capitol 
     Washington Internship Program or the UCWIP.
       In the summer of 2007, I along with 11 other Australian 
     university students, were fortunate enough to receive the 
     opportunity to work as Interns in the U.S. Congress.
       As exciting as this was, I was brought back to reality when 
     the response given by my friends to my impending internship 
     was--`So, is it like the West Wing?' or `An Intern? . . . 
     Like Monica Lewinsky?'
       The UCWIP is a program run by Mr. Eric Federing, who 
     directs and manages the program pro bono. It is now in its 
     tenth year and includes 8 participating Australian 
     universities from around Australia with approximately 60 
     applicants a year.
       Applicants are required to choose from 13 Congressional 
     offices which participated in the program. My first 
     preference was an African American Congressman, Mr. Alcee 
     Hastings, who represented the 23rd district of Florida. I 
     chose Congressman Hastings because of his strong stance on 
     racial equality and social justice. Having been in Congress 
     for almost 18 years, the Congressman is an important member 
     of the Democrat party's leadership and often champions the 
     rights of minority groups.
       When I arrived in Washington, D.C., in January 2007, I had 
     no idea that the next two months would be a life changing 
     experience.
       I remember walking through the hallowed halls of Congress 
     on the first day, nervous but also in complete and utter 
     wonderment. As the weeks went on, I tried not to become too 
     complacent as to where I was. Every morning I would take the 
     long route to my office so I could see the Capitol Building 
     and remind myself that I was working at the centre of global 
     politics.
       When we arrived on Capitol Hill, the U.S. was witnessing 
     monumental changes, with the Democrats regaining the majority 
     in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The highlight 
     for me personally, was when my Congressman gave me his only 
     ticket to the historical swearing in of the first female 
     Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
       The biggest talking point in Congress with the change in 
     power was the Iraq War and the troop surge.
       We were fortunate enough to see both Secretary of State 
     Condoleezza Rice and Former Secretary of State Madeleine 
     Albright give testimonies before the House Foreign Affairs 
     Committee in relation to the troop surge.
       As my Congressman sits on the Intelligence Committee, I was 
     lucky enough to attend one of the very rare open Intelligence 
     Committee hearings with Hon. John Negroponte, Director of 
     National Intelligence and General Michael Hayden, Director of 
     the CIA as witnesses.
       However, the UCWIP was not all about work and serious 
     political issues. The program is established to allow 
     participants to gain a well-rounded appreciation of American 
     culture and history. We were given a guided tour of the 
     battlefields of Gettysburg, visited Philadelphia and met 
     extraordinary individuals such as Mr. Joe Ichiuji, a 
     Japanese-American who fought for the U.S. army in World War 
     II, while his family were detained in concentration camps in 
     America because of their Japanese descent.
       We also attended major social events such as the inaugural 
     ball for the new mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty and 
     the annual Roe v. Wade dinner run by the National Abortion 
     Rights Action League, Pro-Choice America.
       The most significant part of my internship was the 
     opportunity to develop legislation to combat gang violence 
     which the Congressman could introduce into this Congress.
       This issue came to the forefront after the rapid increase 
     in deaths resulting from gang violence in the Congressman's 
     district. By the 5th January 2007, 8 people had been killed 
     from gang violence. That was more than one person a day. One 
     of those killed was a 2 year old boy who was left in the car 
     as his parents fled from a drive-by shooting.
       Since I had very little knowledge of gang violence, I 
     decided to put my years of researching for law assignments 
     into good use. I jumped onto Google. As I scrawled through 
     pages of information, I realized that I had just opened 
     Pandora's Box. Gang violence in America is one of the 
     deadliest and most dangerous activities on the streets, and 
     its scourge has permeated into mainstream American culture 
     through music, movies and television.
       Through my research, I discovered that the two problem 
     areas were: (1) trying to deter youths from entering gangs 
     and (2) the high rate of re-offending by youths once they 
     were released from juvenile detention.
       Looking through the limited legislation that had already 
     been put through Congress, it was evident a fresh new 
     approach was required. Clearly, the problem will never be 
     solved by middle-aged, college educated, men and women from 
     privileged backgrounds sitting on Capitol Hill, who are so 
     far dissociated from the unemployed, impoverished and 
     generally black young men who roam the streets, searching for 
     drugs and money in order to survive. A connection has to be 
     established between those making the law and the young people 
     on American streets who live day by day in fear of their 
     lives and in the shadows of gang violence.

[[Page E1544]]

       So, it was a stroke of luck when a group called `Exhoodus' 
     was holding a briefing on the Hill encouraging Congress to 
     take action combating gang violence. The forum was hosted by 
     Bill Cosby with a panel made up of ex-gang members who had 
     all spent time in jail for murder and drug related crimes. 
     The group traveled around America to speak to youths and 
     deter them from entering gangs. They informed us that gangs 
     were now recruiting from primary school, with gang members 
     being as young as 8 years old.
       Inspired by the work of this group, I figured that the only 
     way to find out what to put in the legislation was to ask 
     those directly affected by the issue. As such, we organized 
     to visit the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home to 
     have a tour of the facilities and speak to some of the 
     children incarcerated there.
       It was the most significant part of my internship and one 
     of the most confronting experiences of my life. Some of these 
     kids were 10 or 11 and had already spent 2 or 3 years in 
     detention. As we spent time with these kids, I realized that 
     they were just normal kids who had made one mistake. Most of 
     these children came from broken homes, with violent, 
     alcoholic fathers or mothers prostituting themselves to 
     support their drug addiction. Being in a gang not only 
     provided them with a family unit, but also provided them with 
     money to support their families. They too had dreams of 
     becoming a chef, journalist or an NBA basketballer, but were 
     victims of the streets and of a society that couldn't provide 
     the security and safety that they felt came from being in a 
     gang.
       When we told these kids that we wanted them to help us 
     create this piece of legislation to combat gang violence, 
     their reaction was something I can still picture today. They 
     were bursting with ideas on how to improve their local 
     communities and get gangs off their streets and kids back 
     into school.
       As we continued to work on the legislation, I was given the 
     opportunity to travel to Florida to visit the Congressman's 
     district and finally experience some resemblance of a summer.
       I visited both of the Congressman's district offices--in 
     Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. His staff took me around 
     the streets of Ft. Lauderdale and I couldn't believe my eyes. 
     I was driving through the ghetto. There was rubbish littering 
     the streets, police officers outside houses questioning 
     people and young men dealing drugs openly on street corners.
       Actually seeing the district and understanding where the 
     Congressman came from made me fully appreciate his fight 
     against racial discrimination and injustice. His policies 
     began to make more sense and I gained a lot more motivation 
     for my gang violence work.
       After discussing the issue of gang violence with local 
     officials and police, it became evident, and quite 
     frustrating, that nobody wanted to take responsibility for 
     fixing the problem. It was only when we visited a community 
     university that we discovered a possible idea for legislation 
     that would assist with gang violence.
       We organized for community colleges to work with local 
     prisons to create reintroduction programs for those who had 
     spent time in juvenile detention. Our purpose was to deter 
     them from falling back into gang activity. The legislation, 
     entitled `Path to Success' promotes initiatives to provide 
     at-risk youths with counseling and academic and vocational 
     training. Ultimately, this program is based on a principle 
     that is a central tenet of law all over the world 
     reintegrating offenders as a means of rehabilitation.
       Last week to my delight, I received an email from the 
     Congressman's office. It was to inform me that the Bill had 
     passed through Congress and the Senate. The ``Path to 
     Success'' program was finally becoming law in the United 
     States.
       My experience in Congress has made me realize that we 
     should never feel too small or powerless to make a 
     difference. Upon reflection, after working with people like 
     Congressman Hastings and Eric Federing, if we all took the 
     most valuable commodity we have--our time, and use that for 
     the benefit of others, in a personal way, imagine what a 
     difference we could make.
       Although, throughout the internship, I was acting as an 
     Ambassador for my university and Australia, at times we felt 
     like we were acting as ambassadors for those kids who were 
     stuck on the streets of America. Helping the Congressman to 
     produce this piece of legislation was one of the most 
     rewarding and proudest moments of my life.
       Being a final year law student from Deakin University, I 
     was given the chance to make a small, yet tangible 
     contribution in the most powerful Government in the world. 
     Through this, I discovered that the opportunity to make a 
     difference is out there for each and every one of us. As the 
     playwright, George Bernard Shaw once wrote, `Dream things 
     that never were and say, why not?'

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