[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                SPECIAL-ED STUDENT VOTED HOMECOMING KING

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, most homecoming kings are probably athletes 
or student government leaders, the ``in crowd''; but students at a 
Tempe, Arizona, high school broke the mold. Marcos de Niza High 
School's landslide winner for homecoming king was a 21-year-old student 
with Down Syndrome, Poco Carton.
  Poco is well-known around campus for his dance moves at lunch and for 
his insistence on saying hello to nearly everyone. The election is a 
vivid reminder that each and every life, regardless of what value the 
world places on it, is worthy of living. Every day, Poco and those who 
share his challenges offer priceless contributions to our communities, 
but too often they are taken for granted, excluded from the 
opportunities many of us take for granted.
  Studies show that 86 percent of unborn children who are diagnosed 
with Down Syndrome are never given a chance to be elected homecoming 
king. They are aborted. Down Syndrome is a challenge that taxes anyone 
facing it. Families caring for children with this disease need our 
support and encouragement, but if we believe that the way to kill Down 
Syndrome is to kill babies, we are dead wrong.
  How many Poco Cartons have we lost to this strategy? How many lives 
could have been touched at schools like Marcos de Niza? It is a cost 
too high to calculate.

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