[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   DO THE WRITE THING CHALLENGE 2005

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the ``Do the Write Thing Challenge'' 
is a national writing contest that gives middle school students the 
opportunity to express themselves about community problems including 
guns, gangs, drugs, and violence. The students are asked to identify 
actions they can take to help address such problems.
  The Do the Write Thing Challenge, or DtWT, was created in 1994 and is 
sponsored by the National Campaign to Stop Violence. DtWT currently 
operates in 22 cities and counties, including Detroit, MI. In 2005, 
more than 32,000 students nationwide participated in DtWT by written 
submissions and by pledging not to engage in violence. Since its 
creation, more than 145,000 students have participated in the DtWT 
Challenge.
  The national DtWT finalists from each participating jurisdiction 
recently came to Washington, DC to talk to lawmakers about youth 
violence and its impact on their lives. In addition, the finalists were 
honored by the National Campaign to Stop Violence at a national 
recognition ceremony. Among those honored were Samantha Medina and 
Michael Henderson of Detroit, MI.
  Samantha and Michael both addressed the issue of gun violence in 
their writings. In her poem, Samantha wrote about the constant threat 
that guns pose to her family and friends. Michael wrote a personal 
essay about two friends and an uncle who were murdered by criminals 
using guns. Both students also chose to write about the importance of 
nonviolent solutions in resolving conflict and how the actions of 
individuals impact the safety of their entire community.
  I congratulate Samantha and Michael, and the other DtWT national 
finalists as well as all of the participants across America for their 
achievements and efforts to eliminate violence from the areas where 
they live. I believe Congress can do more to support their efforts. 
Several pieces of legislation which would increase the number of police 
officers on our streets, increase resources for school and community 
violence prevention programs, and make it more difficult for criminals 
to obtain powerful weapons are currently awaiting further consideration 
in the Senate. I urge my colleagues to take up and pass these bills to 
make our families and communities more safe.

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