[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17033-17034]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         VERMONT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONGRESSIONAL TOWN MEETING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 13, 2001

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the outstanding work done 
by participants in my Student Congressional Town Meeting held this 
summer. These participants were part of a group of high school students 
from around Vermont who testified about the concerns they have as 
teenagers, and about what they would like to see government do 
regarding these concerns.
  I am asking that these statements be printed in the Congressional 
Record, as I believe that the views of these young persons will benefit 
my colleagues.

  On Behalf of Kevin Decausemacker Regarding Gun Control, May 7, 2001

       Kevin Decausemacker. Thank you for this opportunity. It is 
     a really great thing you let the youth of Vermont come and 
     express their opinions.
       Congressman Sanders. Thanks very much for coming, Kevin. 
     Give us your name for the record.
       Kevin Decausemacker. The year was 1938.
       Congressman Sanders. Your full name.
       Kevin Decausemacker. I'm sorry. I'm a little tired. I'm 
     Kevin Decausemacker. A little hard to pronounce. The year was 
     1938, one year before the invasion of Poland. It was now that 
     Adolf Hitler implemented the first example of gun control. He 
     prohibited the Jewish people from owning firearms, and by so 
     doing took substantial power away from the people. He made it 
     easier to commence his mission of genocide with little 
     resistance from his victims. This is what a government can do 
     with too much power: Whatever it wants. Our government has 
     created three different branches to limit the power it 
     possesses. The United States promotes a government of the 
     people, by the people, and for the people. The more we 
     constrict the rights that the Second Amendment states we 
     have, the more power is taken away from the people and given 
     to the government. I feel that the more power the government 
     has, the more the people are at risk of being taken advantage 
     of by it. Why implement gun control then? Solely for safety. 
     However, if safety is the main concern, in England and 
     Australia, where there are strict gun-control laws, there 
     have been rising breaking-and-entry and burglary numbers. So 
     what gun control has done there has only made the criminals 
     bolder, it gave them knowledge that their victims are 
     unarmed. Now, compare these countries with Switzerland, where 
     nearly every home has a firearm. In Switzerland there is a 
     very low crime rate, perhaps because the criminals are 
     afraid. Why, then, would any country want to make criminals 
     bolder, despite the fact that power would be taken away from 
     the people, and criminals would operate with little fear? 
     Anti-gun legislation, at least under the Clinton 
     administration, has progressed. The Brady bill is an example 
     of anti-gun legislation and that was put into effect during 
     Clinton's eight years. The Brady bill has prevented many, 
     many gun purchases. But there hasn't been a noticeable 
     decline in violent crimes due to the Brady bill alone. Why is 
     it there then? The registering of firearms is rather 
     pointless. The sole purpose behind any gun-control argument 
     is to protect the people. But how will registering firearms 
     help if criminals don't have to register them? The Haynes 
     Supreme Court decision held that criminals are exempt from 
     federal anti-gun laws regarding registration because it 
     violates their Fifth amendment protection against self-
     incrimination. In other words, only people who are not 
     criminals can be prosecuted for failing to register a firearm 
     or being in possession of an unregistered firearm. Anti-gun 
     laws would do nothing to deter criminals from committing 
     heinous deeds with the aid of a firearm. Criminals don't obey 
     laws as it is. Why would they listen if gun law were 
     stricter? Anti-gun laws would only given criminals the same 
     freedom Hitler had, to leave his victims defenseless, at his 
     mercy. Even if a criminal cannot obtain a gun, they can still 
     commit a murder or violent crime without a gun; they could 
     use a knife, a chain, a blunt object. Even a shoelace can be 
     used as a garotte. Why focus on guns? When things happen, the 
     object the criminal uses shouldn't be attacked. What we 
     should do is focus on preventing the criminals from spreading 
     further harm by means of rehabilitation in correctional 
     facilities. Anti-gun legislation needs to be put at rest, and 
     people need to be more educated about gun safety. If educated 
     on gun safety, the number of accidents would decline 
     dramatically. I myself have been exposed to firearms in a 
     safe environment and understand their danger. I know how to 
     operate and store a firearm safely and responsibly. We can 
     coexist with firearms safely, and all we need is some 
     education.
                                  ____



On Behalf of Jory Hurst, Robby Short, Emily Wright, and Kerry McIntosh 
     Regarding, School Standards, Tracking in Schools, May 7, 2001

       Jory Hurst. On the program, I think it listed us as doing--
     we are switching topics. We are doing the tracking, and the 
     other group is doing drop-out rates. Not that it matters. We 
     go to Mt. Anthony Union High School, which is a very 
     socioeconically diverse school, especially for Vermont. And 
     coming into high school, there are kids coming in from lots 
     of different educational backgrounds, so people have all 
     different kinds of experience. In our school, you kind of 
     have to track classes, just because of where everybody is at. 
     So we have five different levels of tracking. There is the 
     honors, there is the college prep, there is the B, there is 
     the applied, and then there is the remedial. We want to talk 
     about some problems we see in tracking, even though we feel 
     it is necessary. In our school, the honors is about 10 
     percent honors, about 25 in the college prep, 35 percent in 
     the B, and about 30 percent of the kids are in IEPs, 
     individual plans, and they are in special classes.
       Robby Short. Let me talk about getting into honors. It all 
     starts out in the 7th and 8th grade. You have to take a test 
     in 7th grade. It is a math test, and then, the next year, if 
     you pass the math test--I think it is 75 percent--you get 
     into honors classes for the 8th grade year, which is, you end 
     up getting into--all your core classes are honors classes. 
     Which is kind of unfair, because it is just a math test that 
     decides English, social studies and science. And if you are 
     not in 8th grade honors, and you're going into high school, 
     you are pretty much on your own getting into honors for your 
     9th grade year. You have to try your hardest with the 
     guidance office, if you have come in contact with many 
     conflicts. And if you are in honors, you automatically get 
     into it in the 9th grade. Once you get into high school, it 
     is really a battle to try and get into honors classes. Some 
     students have it easy and some don't. The students that have 
     it easy usually have a teacher backing them up by just really 
     fighting for them with the guidance office to get them in. 
     And the other students have to go through tutoring over an 
     entire summer. They have to double up in math classes--not 
     just in math classes, but double up on honors classes in high 
     school, and drop like classes that they really need. If we 
     could come up with one of one set of standards that gives 
     everyone equal chances, it would be the best for all.
       Emily Wright. Jory was talking about how there is honors 
     and college prep, and then there is B, and then the applied 
     and remedial. The problem with that is, the honors kids and 
     the applied kids get most of the privileges, and the college-
     prep and B students are left in the middle, with little 
     motivation from teachers and support from parents, per se. 
     Most college-prep kids do want to go to college and have some 
     support from home, but the B kids, on the other hand, have 
     little support from home, if any, and no motivation 
     whatsoever. And the college-prep kids usually want to go into 
     honors classes, but don't know how to go about the procedure, 
     because teachers don't seem to be reaching out to them and 
     motivating them to get a better education if they can, 
     possibly. And that's one of the biggest problems, because 
     about 60 percent of our students are in college prep and B, 
     and they have less materials to work with and less support 
     from the guidance office and teachers, and it just seems 
     unfair for that middle percent.
       Kelly McIntosh. Another negative effect of tracking that 
     must be kept in mind is that it can create like social class 
     systems in the schools. Like students are grouped according 
     to what track they're in, like the honors students, the B 
     students, college prep, and often the groups of students, 
     often they do have similar interests, but they are just 
     always together. And integration is important, because being 
     with the same group all the time allows for no variety, and 
     you don't really get to see other perspectives. Like a 
     student coming from a different area from you. And also, some 
     of thee academic class systems can lead to generalizations 
     that can go

[[Page 17034]]

     through nonacademic categories, such as with social things 
     with friends and/or into sports, and this isn't good. And 
     often kids are grouped and branded into certain classes. Like 
     if a student is grouped as a B student, then this can be a 
     self-fulfilling prophesy, and they will never really want to 
     succeed because they will think that they can't, because 
     they're not in honors, and people don't look at them with the 
     same respect. But we just need to look at everybody as an 
     individual, and then this problem will really go away. And 
     have more school unity. And teachers and students alike need 
     to keep in mind that there is more to a person than their 
     academic ranking.