[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL DAY OF SILENCE

  (Mr. FARR of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, today across the country, 
thousands of students on our college campuses are silent. They are 
silent as a sign of solidarity of persons who, because of their sexual 
orientation and gender identification, cannot speak for themselves. 
They are silent as a form of protest against a society that silences 
persons who are different, persons who do not meet main street's 
definition of proper.
  They are silent, but we in Congress should not be. We should shout 
and raise our voices and call for an end to discrimination and 
prejudice against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons. We 
should affirm loudly that by this day of silence, America has the 
capacity and the heart to say to all persons are just that, persons; 
and all persons are deserving of fair treatment. In closing, I would 
like to thank two gentlemen from my district, Bruce Carlson and Matt 
Friday, for their dedication to such causes, and recognize the 
instrumental role they play in creating a nation free of prejudice.

                          ____________________