[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 14698-14699]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    ``CREATING A BRIGHTER TOMORROW''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 10, 2008

  Mr. MANZULLO. Madam Speaker, I would like to commend to the attention 
of this Congress the following speech by one of my constituents, 16-
year-old Heidi Erbsen, of Stephenson County, Illinois. Heidi 
participated in an oratory contest hosted by the American Legion. Her 
speech won first place at the local, division and state levels, and she 
then moved on and completed as a quarter finalist at the national level 
of competition. As we face the difficult decisions of today, I hope 
Heidi's words will stir us to cling to our heritage as we seek to 
create a brighter tomorrow.

                      Creating a Brighter Tomorrow

                           (By Heidi Erbsen)

       As many of you know, Abraham Lincoln is notorious for the 
     Gettysburg Address, which states, ``Four score and seven 
     years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new 
     nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the 
     proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are 
     engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or 
     any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We 
     are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to 
     dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place 
     for those who here gave their lives that that nation might 
     live.'' When he spoke these words in 1863, it must have been 
     hard for him to imagine our country's future. With all of the 
     struggles facing our nation, how could he have ever known for 
     sure that we would continue to prosper? The Civil War had 
     split the nation, torn families apart, and claimed thousands 
     of American lives, yet President Lincoln still believed in a 
     brighter tomorrow for his country and his people. This 
     mentality has carried our country through every single 
     struggle it has faced. It is the belief that the people of 
     our nation can give it a brighter tomorrow. And now, for over 
     200 years our country has prospered because of this belief, 
     and it will continue to do so as long as we uphold this 
     legacy.
       When the monarchy in Europe began to mandate religion and 
     other personal affairs in the 1600s, many people began to 
     seek refuge from their oppression. The rule in Europe made it 
     so hard for people to live without persecution that many 
     sought to leave their homes in search of a New Life. 
     Thousands of these people found their new life in what was 
     then known as the New World. Since the pilgrims sailed to 
     America, this country has been a monument of hope. This New 
     Land represented a chance for men and women to start over 
     new. It gave them a chance to create their own fortune and 
     futures. It was a land not yet at the grip of a stifling 
     ruler or government. Most of these colonists arrived here 
     with nothing in their pockets, and a dream in their hearts. 
     It was the dream of freedom and prosperity, and it would not 
     by any means come easy. The first men and women to colonize 
     America suffered more than any of us can imagine. They 
     endured brutal wars, strife, famine, and much more, but they 
     never gave up their dream, and slowly they began to see this 
     dream come alive. When the same ill leadership the pilgrims 
     had escaped in the 1600s began to take hold of the New World 
     in the 1700s the

[[Page 14699]]

     colonists finally fought back. After the Revolutionary War 
     plagued them with years of death and despair, a new horizon 
     dawned on America. The Declaration of Independence was signed 
     and what was formerly known as The New World became The 
     United States of America.
       Becoming a free nation of our own may have seemed like the 
     end of struggle for the people of America at the time, but it 
     was really only the beginning. After being ruled by a single 
     monarch for so long the people in our country had no idea how 
     to govern themselves. When they were finally declared a free 
     nation there was a long period of struggle for guidance and 
     rule. Many feared that any form of government would tarnish 
     the freedom they had struggled so hard to achieve. The very 
     men who wrote our Constitution harvested the fear that they 
     would become their own dictator. They knew that it was 
     entirely up to them to see that the future of their country 
     was a bright one, free from persecution and oppression in any 
     form. That is why they did everything in their power to 
     dispose of any form of ultimate rule. They knew they had only 
     one chance to set the land of their dreams into motion. They 
     wanted a balance between the power and the people. This way 
     the people could have a say in what was just in everyday life 
     rather than abiding by the rules of a leader focused only on 
     what would make things easier for him or her. As a solution, 
     they developed a three-part system, each containing officials 
     elected either indirectly or directly by the people, each 
     branch having one main duty: To see that one particular 
     person or even section of the government never gained too 
     much power. Not only did this three-part system give them the 
     balance they were striving for, but our writers of our 
     constitution hoped to ensure that every man, woman, and child 
     living in America benefited from the natural freedoms to 
     which we are all entitled. And to this day, it does just 
     that.
       As citizens of America today, we are still reaping the 
     benefits of the sturdy foundation that was built up by our 
     ancestors. The men and women who came together to put a stop 
     to persecution did so not in vain. Look around. We are still 
     living without it today. We have preserved their efforts, but 
     in doing so some of us have lost sight of the sacrifices that 
     have been made. Today many Americans take the freedoms we 
     have for granted. I've lived in the United States all my 
     life, and I'm sure many of you have. I understand completely 
     how hard it is to walk out that front door every morning and 
     not take what we have for granted. When you live in a country 
     as free and prosperous as ours how could you not? But if we 
     don't continue to appreciate the sacrifices that have been 
     made, neither will the generations following us. And the more 
     we take what we have for granted, the more we lose those 
     values the first colonists in the new world built our country 
     upon. Now is our time to ensure that the foundation of our 
     nation does not crumble. I know I said previously that the 
     United States becoming a free nation was only the beginning, 
     but if we as a nation continue to strive for freedom and 
     justice for all, we do not have to be the end. Our country 
     has succeeded all these years for one reason and one reason 
     only, and that is the effort that has been put forth by 
     citizens just like every one of us in this room. We have the 
     power to ensure that our country's walls do not crumble, all 
     we have to do is remember its roots, and continue to live by 
     its foundation.
       In times like these, when there are huge obstacles facing 
     us we need to keep our faith in our country and its 
     foundation. The first settlers in the New World never gave up 
     on their hopes and dreams, despite the famine and hardships 
     they faced. Abraham Lincoln never lost sight of the bigger 
     picture, regardless of the alarming death tolls brought about 
     by the Civil War. He knew that our founders had structured a 
     government sturdy enough to withstand the hardships of war 
     and strife. All he had to do was encourage the people of our 
     nation to create a brighter tomorrow. In the United States 
     there is always a brighter tomorrow awaiting us, all we have 
     to do is build it.

     

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