[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 268-269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A GREAT TIME TO BE AN AMERICAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 25, 2002

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the horrific terrorist 
attacks of September 11, 2001, our Nation has joined together, united 
in our solemn resolve to defend freedom and liberty. As we continue to 
move forward following that tragic morning, I would like to insert in 
the Record a recent column from The Wilmington News-Journal by Beth 
Peck. I believe her inspiring words are appropriate and important 
during these times.

            [From the Wilmington News-Journal, Jan. 5, 2002]

              After Dark Year, We See America in New Light

                             (By Beth Peck)

       For the first time in my life, I belong to the American 
     mainstream. I am part of what until now has been something of 
     an underground group in America: the quietly patriotic. Until 
     Sept. 11, we were considered quaint at best, or absurd at 
     worst.
       It certainly wasn't cool to talk about our love of country, 
     our belief that America is the best nation on the planet, and 
     our feeling of gratitude that luck or providence made us 
     citizens. It has been 60 years since Americans last came 
     together as cohesively as today.
       I was too young to conceptualize the mainstream during the 
     late '60s and '70s, when ``flower power'' gave way to the 
     ``me generation.'' I didn't pay much attention to the 
     mainstream during the '80s, when style overpowered substance 
     and greed was good. And I didn't particularly relate to the 
     mainstream during the '90s, when the acquisitive focus of a 
     decade-long economic expansion finally burst with the 
     Internet bubble.
       But now, events have converged to give legitimacy to what 
     I've known all along: that we are truly fortunate to be 
     Americans.
       For all of my 35 years, I have waited for this moment. This 
     is a time when Americans are united in a reverence and 
     appreciation of the society we created and the liberty we 
     enjoy.
       What American can look at Afghanistan, with it repressive, 
     state-sponsored version of Islam, and not rejoice at our 
     First Amendment privilege to practice any (or no) religion we 
     choose without molestation or interference? What American can 
     look at Iraq, with its heavily censored, state-controlled

[[Page 269]]

     media, and not give thanks for our freedom of speech?
       We don't have to look too far back to realize that it 
     wasn't always this way. During travels in Canada this summer, 
     I was struck by the number of flags I saw flying on homes. 
     Why don't we do that here, I wondered. Why are the only 
     American flags to be found flying over car dealerships?
       That's no longer true.
       Back in the United States just days before Sept. 11, I 
     spontaneously burst into ``America the Beautiful'' while 
     standing on a trail overlooking Yellowstone Lake. The sunset 
     had given the mountains ringing the lake an extraordinary 
     amethyst hue, and I could not resist singing, ``O beautiful, 
     for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple 
     mountain majesties, above the fruited plain!''
       Others on the trail simply stared at me.
       Not any more.
       Today Americans don't take for granted the privileges they 
     share. The terrorists who rained fire on Manhattan and the 
     Pentagon reminded us that Americans have a duty to defend 
     that freedom which puts our country in a class by itself.
       This is a lesson I learned long ago as the daughter of an 
     Army captain, who served during the Vietnam war, and as a 
     granddaughter of another captain who served during World War 
     II.
       Growing up in a suburb of Washington, DC, I had ample 
     opportunity to marvel at the workings of our government. I 
     gazed upon the Declaration of Independence and the 
     Constitution on display at the National Archives. I witnessed 
     debates in the Senate chamber, I attended oral arguments at 
     the Supreme Court. My direct observations showed me how well 
     our democracy functions.
       Having seen firsthand what life is like elsewhere, I have 
     been convinced for years that despite its faults America is 
     the greatest country in the world. Episodes such as being 
     shaken down by police in Eastern Europe soon after the fall 
     of the Iron Curtain made me realize how exceptional it is to 
     have law enforcement that is largely corruption-free.
       Being ignored or elbowed aside in Asian countries because I 
     am a woman made me appreciate how much America values all its 
     citizens, not just a select few from an anointed demographic 
     group. Seeing the nervous reaction of a guide when I asked 
     him a question about his government's repressive policies 
     made me understand how precious our political freedom is.
       Life in America is not perfect. But for the bulk of 
     Americans, it is better here than it would be anywhere else.
       And now I know I am not alone in my pride for my country. 
     Patriotism is in fashion. ``United we stand'' is the slogan 
     of the moment. There is a renewed understanding that freedom 
     doesn't come for free; it must be zealously guarded from 
     those who would try to take it away. For people like me who 
     truly love America, this is our moment in the sun.
       It's ironic: An action designed to terrorize Americans by 
     demolishing our national symbols, because enemies think we're 
     weak and soft, has instead reawakened our slumbering belief 
     in this country's goodness. Whatever our differences were 
     before Sept. 11, Americans have closed ranks to defend 
     ourselves against an insidious danger that exploits freedom 
     in order to destroy it.
       So despite, or perhaps because of, the events of Sept. 11, 
     this is a great time to be an American. Why? Because now 
     everybody else realizes how great it is to be an American.

     

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