[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 20 (Thursday, January 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S795-S798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               VERMONT STATE OF THE UNION ESSAY FINALISTS

 Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask to have printed in the 
Record some of the finalist essays written by Vermont High School 
students as part of the ninth annual State of the Union essay contest 
conducted by my office.
  The essays follow, in alphabetical order according to the finalists' 
names.

     Isabelle Desroches, Burr and Burton Academy, Senior, Finalist

  Civility in local politics is a topic of increasing importance. As we 
attempt to compromise on enormous national issues such as immigration, 
health care, and foreign policy, intense polarization has created 
unbearable tension between parties, and leads almost daily to an 
absence of civil discourse. Even more terrifying a sight in recent 
years is the aggression and polarity that has seeped into local 
elections through overly-aggressive yard signs, tempestuous town 
meetings, and neighborhood altercations that craft rifts in our 
communities. Hopefully, we can shift these themes before courtesy in 
both national and local politics dies, and my generation is left sans 
civility in our system.
  We seem to be coming upon an age of wildly strong convictions. 
Although history classes dive into both pros and cons of political 
circumstances (such as the eras of Andrew Jackson or Lincoln), citizens 
and politicians are more resistant than ever to accept the yin/yang 
relationship that can be found in any political situation. Anyone who 
follows news is chronically frustrated by this double standard. What we 
must come to accept as a nation is that none of the pressing issues 
that face us today can be solved without a common language of civility.
  Rollo May, an existential psychologist, wrote about conviction in The 
Courage to Create. ``The relationship between commitment and doubt is 
by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is 
not without doubt, but in spite of doubt,'' he wrote. May understands 
what we must come to embrace and apply to our politics: our convictions 
are strongest when we can cast doubt upon our own stance. A position 
without doubt causes ignorance and paralyzation of thought. It is 
courageous to doubt yourself and keep an open mind. We learn this in 
school, yet students are often hard-pressed to find admirable examples 
of these philosophies in our lives and on the national stage. As 
politics become increasingly heated, we can agree that it is more 
important than ever to preserve integrity and traditional decorum in 
local elections as well; movements like this must initiate in the 
strong roots of our society--our tight-knit communities. Our government 
must set a precedent of positive influence and etiquette so that 
progress and compromise can finally begin. We must work to create a 
climate of dialogue instead of hostile debate, both in communities and 
gradually on a national scale. Civility in politics is the foundation 
of the progress we need to make in the coming years. Actively working 
towards an attitude in politics that allows us to work in a bipartisan 
fashion, and incorporate doubt in our convictions and empathy in our 
approach is the only way we can ensure the survival of our American 
political system as it was intended.

      Livia Greenberg, Stratton Mountain School, Junior, Finalist

  The chest closes as the throat tightens like a python strangling its 
prey, the skin burning as it breaks out in angry hives and rashes, 
forcing one to claw at their body as a lack of oxygen begins to shut 
down vital organs. This is an allergic reaction--one that can be 
experienced by the 15 million Americans with food allergies, one of 
whom sent to the hospital due to a reaction every three minutes. The 
device used to stop reactions, called an EpiPen, can be made for thirty 
dollars; however, the lifesaving instrument retails for 600 dollars. 
The exorbitant price of the EpiPen is a result of domination over the 
healthcare market, with nothing stopping the company from raising 
prices exponentially. Unfortunately, the EpiPen is not the only example 
of why monopoly capitalism is an immoral system that abuses the 
consumers who are in need of medical help. Multiple monolithic 
companies are forcing those with medical needs to pay prodigious 
amounts for necessities, a practice that must be broken apart with 
government intervention.
  Shattering medical monopolies needs to be one of the country's 
priorities, and the most feasible solution to do so is to create a new 
act that would outlaw inflexible patents and bolster smaller companies 
financially. The federal government currently uses three anti-trust 
acts as a guideline for what is a legal or illegal trust, but because 
none of the acts address copyright, colossal companies have avoided 
punishment by patenting products or drugs in a manner that makes an 
alternative product illegal to sell. Even remotely similar products 
have been banned by the FDA and are not allowed to be sold. By creating 
a law that prohibits exceedingly unalterable patents, cheaper products 
would be allowed into the healthcare market. With a government loan, 
small-scale companies can develop the alternative competition, which 
would drive the companies that currently have a monopoly into lowering 
their prices in order to sell their product. In addition to reducing 
the cost of medical necessities, the consumers would have more freedom 
to choose which product they trust in case of an emergency and better 
access to medication essential for life.
  While both an ethical and economic issue, trusts are a problem that 
can be solved with strong government action that keeps the wellbeing of 
the American citizens at the forefront of concern. No one in the United 
States should die because of an inability to afford medication due to 
corporate greed. Creating a new anti-trust act will allow for more 
companies to develop and sell vital medications at a more accessible 
price, and will stop companies from nailing in innocent people's 
coffins.

         Seth Harte, Burlington High School, Freshman, Finalist

  I'm the kid that dreams of writing movies but is reluctant because 
I've heard too many stories of writers that fail. I love soccer and 
want to play in the MLS but know how few make it. I want to be an 
attorney someday but all I hear is how expensive it is to go to law 
school. All of this noise makes me feel like there is no way to 
succeed. But can't I try? I am starting to believe that we close the 
door before we can open it because defeat feels inevitable. Our society 
does not see the beauty in failing so we instead we just quit. I 
believe this is because of our history, our grading systems, and social 
media.
  We learn from an elementary school age that we should never fail and 
this philosophy is exhibited repeatedly throughout our schooling and 
into adulthood. We are taught that to mess up is the worst thing we can 
do because we have survived so long with a

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mindset that believes we will succeed. Although believing in ourselves 
is good it makes it hard for us to fail with dignity and the knowing 
that messing up is okay. According to MedBroadcast, one of the main 
reasons for suicide is because of failure. We just can not handle 
failing, in fact, we cannot deal with it so much that we end everything 
because of a setback.

  Our grading system has made it so only a specific type of learner 
will succeed. It has also taught us that the word failure means that we 
have been defeated or we did something wrong. The reality is that if we 
tried we didn't fail. I believe that children should not be punished 
for that. Psychology Today said that one of the leading reasons for 
stress for students was the need to get A's. I believe that Vermont 
should lean toward proficiency-based learning because it gets away from 
the letter grade and lets kids learn at their own pace.
  Social media has taken the 21st-century teens by a storm. According 
to a 2015 study, the Washington Post said that teens consume nine hours 
a day of social media. As a teenager myself, I constantly see examples 
of people showing off their success which is nice; however, it makes a 
lot of people feel bad about themselves. We should work towards a goal 
of producing more positive content.
  Our views of failure are false and missed interpreted, however, if 
you can treat failure as not what we've been taught all our lives but 
treat it as a way to improve as a human race and individuals we will 
grow tremendously know that one failure will not determine your life, 
getting straight A's are not needed to succeed and that there is more 
behind what looks like that perfect photo. If I can go through life 
believing this I know I will become that pro soccer player, that 
attorney or that writer.

       Alexis Jablonski, St. Johnsbury Academy, Senior, Finalist

  Aldous Huxley, the author of ``Brave New World,'' seems to have 
predicted the Trumpian era of disillusion and fear of immigrants. 
However, the basic idea of welcoming immigrants is central to our way 
of life; our diversity makes us stronger. Unfortunately, these values 
are being threatened. Current immigration policy is shifting toward 
exclusion of immigrant populations and has awakened an anti-immigrant 
sentiment that does not align with the historical importance of 
immigration in the U.S. These concepts are essential to America's 
identity of inclusivity, and they need to be protected as we have gone 
under such a dramatic shift in power and ideals. Trump continually 
spews blatant falsehoods which undermine that character of immigrant 
communities, in order to secure his campaign promise of a wall. It has 
become evident that our president will continue to use hateful 
rhetorical devices toward immigrant populations simply for his own 
benefit. When in fact, his beliefs and promises do not align with that 
of the American people. As demonstrated in Huxley's novel, when we 
isolate those we deem as the other, we are constricting our growth as a 
nation.
  A prime example of an attempt to dehumanize and marginalize people 
through the news is Trump's commentary on the Migrants passage through 
Mexico. Trump has continually used fear tactics to dehumanize outsiders 
and justify our hostility toward them. The media typically presents the 
migrants through an overhead image of a crowd, thus neglecting their 
humanity. ``The Caravan'' is an excuse to not view people as human. 
According to our president, they are rapists, drug dealers, killers, 
deceitful, job stealing terrorists coming in by the thousands. This 
information is simply false, and aimed to incite fear among Americans. 
Unfortunately today, our President's hateful rhetoric toward outsiders 
has reframed our former charitable nature toward immigrant populations. 
The image of the migrant people must be adjusted. We must look at their 
faces to see their individual humanity, rather than a single entity.
  We must remember the pillars by which our Nation was founded on, 
those of which make it great. The fundamental notion of inviting 
immigrants into our communities and providing them with equal 
opportunities to thrive is integral to our lifestyle. We have promised 
ourselves as Nation to provide stability to outsiders. We are an entire 
nation based on blended cultures and thoughts; these values are what 
offer us strength.
  During Donald Trump's presidential campaign Americans were fascinated 
by his explosive personality. Unfortunately, over the past two years, 
we have learned that was not merely a campaign tactic. His continual 
attacks on American democracy have activated catalysts for change. We 
will no longer stand by, entranced and misinformed. We must encourage 
activism and open discussion to promote understanding, we must evaluate 
our media consumption and make educated decisions, and we must actively 
seek the truth, in a world that is overwhelming us with inflamed 
rhetoric. Only then, will we escape this self-inflicted Brave New 
World.

      Simon Rosenbaum, Vermont Commons School, Freshman, Finalist

  When I was thirteen, I had twenty-one cents thrown at me. For a 
moment, I didn't process what was happening. I looked up to see one of 
my classmates looking back at me, waiting to see how I would react. I 
left the change on the table, and left the lunchroom in the direction 
of my next class. Instead, I shut myself in a bathroom stall and cried. 
My name is Simon Rosenbaum and I've been Jewish my entire life. I wear 
a yarmulke to school and often can't attend school events that are on 
Friday nights because they interfere with the sabbath. However, I 
haven't always practiced self-acceptance.
  I began wearing a yarmulke halfway through seventh grade. I remember 
weeks of emotional preparation for the snide remarks and lost friends 
that were sure to come. Before the morning bell had even rung, my 
kippah had already been grabbed and torn off. This was the result of 
the few Jewish kids in the school pretending that they weren't Jewish 
for fear of retribution from their classmates. I'm sad to say that they 
were right. Vermont is an extremely non-diverse state. According to Pew 
Research Center, over 93% of Vermonters are white, and approximately 
94% of Vermonters are Christian or have majority Christian heritage. 
Approximately two percent of Vermonters are Jewish, out of the eight to 
eleven percent of Vermonters that practice non-Christian faiths. These 
non-diverse societies lead to non-tolerant kids.
  When I was in eighth grade, a paraeducator made Mein Kampf required 
reading for students who she did not believe were working hard enough. 
I later learned that she only engaged in this behavior around Jewish 
students. To this day, she works in a Vermont middle school after a 
school investigation ``didn't find any incriminating evidence''. Anti-
Semitic incidents are far more commonplace in schools today then most 
educators like to admit. According to a study for The Washington Post, 
in 2018 a study reported that 69% of young Jews in America said that 
they had ``personally experienced discrimination because of their 
faith''. This is up from 39% in 2013 from the same study.

  We can solve the issue of anti-Semitism in our schools by a variety 
of actions. We should begin by instituting diversity experts as 
consultants on three month pilot periods in every Vermont school to 
observe systematic and ignorance based anti-semitism. Those consultants 
would then make recommendations in the changing of diversity education 
to the school board. If the board were to refuse the recommendations by 
the consultant, the consultant could then appeal to the State Board of 
Education. Another course of action we should be taking is to create a 
zero-tolerance policy on anti-Semitism both inside and outside of 
schools. If kids are shown the right examples while seeing the wrong 
ones punished, then the precedent will be set for an effective change 
in our diversity education. No educated child or adult would ever take 
joy from a thirteen year old crying in the bathroom.

           Andy Siki, Winooski High School, Senior, Finalist


                             Climate Change

  ``It's not enough to think it's important. We must make it urgent,'' 
says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman from New York.
  Vermont is taking action on global warming by reducing energy use and 
investing in clean energy. It is accomplishing these goals by using low 
carbon transportation, protecting farms,

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making the community green and resilient, and recycling and composting. 
By 2050 Vermont should be using 90% of clean energy sources. I'm part 
of The Youth Lobby For Climate Change. We organize an annual rally at 
the State House to show legislators that young people care about their 
future. We talk about what we're doing right now, our future as a 
state, and what will help our communities.
  In 2016 electricity made up 28% of emission in our environment. Solar 
power and other renewable energy sources can reduce that number. 
Vermont already started putting solar panels in homes, businesses, and 
schools to make a cleaner environment. Recently Elon Musk made a Tesla 
battery to store the energy from solar panels inside a house. The 
length of Vermont winters might make that storage difficult, but that's 
a problem we need to fix. By using solar energy, Vermont could reach 
the goal of using 90% renewable energy sources by 2050. Transportation 
makes up 28% of the CO2 emissions. And Vermont can reduce this 
greenhouse gas emission. We could have more bikes on the road, even an 
electric assisted bike and a bike path. Karl Kemnitzer works with solar 
bikes, and he said: ``Bikes and solar are a good combination, and it's 
also been a lot of fun! An average solar panel puts out around 16 watts 
per square foot . . . the bike is so efficient. I find that over a long 
term, I am using about 200 watts on average as I ride along.'' 
Kemnitzer now needs to fit enough solar panels on a bike. He's taking 
an engineering class and working on that problem.
  Schools should start getting students involved in their community. 
Schools can help affect our environment by recycling, reducing, and 
composting food waste. At the Youth Climate Leaders Academy students 
from Vermont and New Hampshire came together to make goals for their 
schools. We worked on composting and made a goal to start composting by 
January 2019. We would start in our classrooms then move to the 
cafeteria.
  Everyone wants to take action to change things but not everyone does. 
At the Climate Leaders Academy I learned that you have to start by 
making small changes and that will lead to big changes. If Vermonters 
fix the small problem in their communities, we can not only affect the 
whole state but also influence other states around us.

   Ragulan Sivakumar, South Burlington High School, Junior, Finalist


                             The Waste Land

  In the year 2015, the United States produced 262.4 million tons of 
waste, 130.63 million tons of which were landfilled. That is equivalent 
to 2.23 lbs./day/American person of waste landfilled. Landfilling at 
such a great rate requires us to create new landfills, taking away from 
scenic beauty while also requiring us to use more natural resources to 
create new products, costing us with long-term sustainability as well. 
To address the United States' waste problem, taxes must be put on the 
producers of materials that become waste, a governmental recycling 
program must be created, and stricter recycling laws must be imposed.
  Firstly, a landfill tax should be imposed on producers to reduce the 
net amount of waste. Landfills they take up areas that could otherwise 
be used and lose us many recyclable components, making them a detriment 
economically. Environmentally, landfills enhance climate change by 
forcing decomposition to occur anaerobically, producing methane, which, 
according to the EPA, is over 25 times as efficient as carbon dioxide 
at trapping heat. Since landfills hurt economically and 
environmentally, a landfill tax should be imposed by ton of waste. This 
tax would cause producers to reduce their landfill waste while also 
creating an incentive for corporations to create more sustainable and 
effective waste management programs. As the United Kingdom has shown, a 
landfill tax can be incredibly effective, reducing the number of 
landfills by 2/3 in 8 years. With the passing years, the tax could 
progressively increase, further incentivizing the movement from waste, 
reducing our waste problem all the while.
  Secondly, a governmental recycling program should also be created to 
complement the landfill tax. While the waste-reducing reasons are 
obvious, the other incentive is that recycling is a massive industry. 
As China has shown, recycling is a $200 billion industry. Thus, the 
United States could create its own governmental recycling program via 
some of the revenue from the landfill tax project, providing countless 
jobs while also alleviating our waste problems by making waste 
management feasible. Moreover, the recycling program would obtain the 
base materials for industry through recycling which could then be 
resold off, making the entire ordeal economically viable while also 
reducing our waste.
  Lastly, stricter recycling laws must be imposed. According to the 
EPA, only 67% of paper is recycled, 26% of glass, 34% of metals, and 9% 
of plastics, making it is obvious that stricter recycling laws are 
needed. Imposing a fine for violators would ensure that recycling 
guidelines are followed. Since no one would want to incur a fine for 
something so menial, stricter recycling laws would enable the U.S. to 
tackle the waste problem.

  In summation, the U.S. has a waste problem and must address the 
issue. We cannot continue with 130.63 million tons of landfilled waste 
each year. By implementing the policies noted above, our country would 
no longer be ``the waste land'': it would be a model for the rest of 
the world in waste management.

           Fiona Therese, Compass School, Sophomore, Finalist

  There is a picture of me on the wall, near our kitchen table. It was 
taken when I was five years old and entering kindergarten. I was 
wearing a yellow dress and wearing a big sun hat. The girl standing 
next to me, Ashley, was leaning on me and smiling. She was to become my 
best friend.
  School is supposed to be safe and fun. It's supposed to be where you 
learn about new things and experiment with new ideas. It's supposed to 
prepare you for challenges in the future. But today, too many of us are 
scared of school because we don't know what might happen while we are 
there. I was ten when I heard about the shooting in Sandy Hook. It was 
the first time I realized that school might also be unsafe and that 
someone might want to harm us. The state of our country is one of 
confusion for us, as students. We are expected to go to school trusting 
that nothing can happen. But the truth is, every day across the country 
there are reports of gun violence. Even in my small school, we have 
drills so that we'll know what to do if someone comes to school to 
attack us.
  In 2018, 113 people have been killed or injured in a school shooting. 
On average, a shooting takes place at least once every eight days that 
school is in session. After a shooting takes place, I have heard what 
people express their sympathy through `thoughts and prayers.' The time 
for prayers is over. We need change. Children should not fear going to 
school. I should not have to look around my classroom and plan a 
possible escape. I should be able to go to school with the same 
optimism that I had when I was five.
  The state of our union is one of fear because our country has not 
passed adequate gun control. How many people need to speak out about 
their lost children, family or friends before a change happens?
  Guns rights advocates argue that our right to bear arms is protected 
in the Constitution. I disagree. I believe that the Constitution is a 
living document, one that transcribes our aspirations and hope. In a 
letter to James Madison in 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote: ``No society 
can make a perpetual constitution. The earth belongs always to the 
living generation and not to the dead.'' It is time to demand change. 
The state of our union might be one of fear, but I have also seen hope. 
The hope that I see comes not from our legislature in Washington, D.C., 
but in the protests across the country. My generation is on the move. 
We are working hard to make our country and our schools safe again. 
Although these are difficult times, I have seen that even young people 
can be powerful when they work together. The state of our union is in 
the hands of those who protest, those who march, those who write 
letters, and those who demand change. So what is the state of our 
union? It's one where fear must be met with strength and I'm proud to 
be a member of a generation who is rising up to meet the challenges 
that lie ahead.

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             Henry Wu, Essex High School, Junior, Finalist

  It is the year 2060. You and your grandchildren are watching the 
charred Earth slowly recede from view within your space capsule. ``What 
happened?'' they ask. You breathe a deep sigh fraught with regret and 
anger as you reluctantly tell the story of the Earth's demise.``It all 
began in the 1970s . . . .''
  When Exxon researchers learned that the burning of fossil fuels 
influences climate, they hid their findings from the public. Other 
fossil fuel companies were complicit in denying the existence of the 
greenhouse effect for decades. Today, the oil and coal industries are 
still the main drivers of carbon emissions, and $20 billion in annual 
U.S. government subsidies perpetuates our dependence on them.
  ``Our hunger for oil and coal was insatiable. We ate and ate, but it 
poisoned us. We loved our cars and our plastics, but they killed us . . 
. .''
  The use of fossil fuels for transportation, electricity, and plastic 
production releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, trapping heat. 
Rising global temperatures and more severe and frequent natural 
disasters have already devastated human lives. In as few as twelve 
years, rising sea levels and droughts will lead to severe food 
shortages, heightened political instability, and widespread poverty. A 
recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found that 
limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 deg.C, the target of the 
Paris Agreement, will still cause $54 trillion in damage.
  ``Back in Vermont, I was a teenager when I first noticed the 
unbearable summer heat that made breathing difficult and forgot what a 
white Christmas felt like. These were merely inconveniences, but that 
all change in a few years. The searing wildfires and crippling 
hurricanes that made headlines in California and the Carolinas soon 
became commonplace. Entire cities vanished from the map because they 
were submerged underwater. Could we have avoided this?''
  The efforts of individuals--taking shorter showers, using public 
transit, going vegetarian--can only do so much, but it's large 
companies that wield influence over our government and society. A 
carbon tax that fines businesses for pollution is an effective method 
of keeping them in check. It's a regenerative economic measure that 
could fund renewable energy research and implementation.
  However, ordinary citizens still must help avoid catastrophe. In the 
end, our politicians and business leaders have a say in our nation's 
energy infrastructure, but it is our duty to convince them to adopt 
necessary changes. We must write to our members of Congress and tell 
them to resist corporate power. We must elect officials who will 
champion a carbon tax, and we must fulfill our end of the deal in 
giving up fossil fuels for renewable energy sources. So, what story 
will we tell our grandchildren? A lament of despair and regret, or a 
tale of teamwork and hope? The decisions we make today will provide the 
answer. Breaking our fossil fuel addiction and investing in renewables 
are drastic yet necessary efforts. The best time for action was forty 
years ago, but the next best time is now.

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