[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17592]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING CODY ALECIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 15, 2010

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor 
Cody Alecia, of Denair, California.
  What has America come to when a 13-year-old student must be concerned 
for his safety when he waves the American flag? This past week, Denair 
Middle School, located in my home district, asked one of their 
students, Cody Alecia, to remove an American flag he has been proudly 
displaying on the back of his bicycle for two months. Cody and his 
family were told that the flag needed to be removed for his own safety, 
in light of problems that arose during the previous school year when 
students carried the Mexican flag to the school on Cinco de Mayo. 
Thankfully, on November 12th, the school district reversed the decision 
and has informed Cody that he can once again display his flag.
  I am pleased that the Denair Unified School District has made the 
correct decision and is once again allowing Cody to display his flag. 
However, I am deeply concerned about the circumstances that led to Cody 
being asked to remove his flag in the first place and want to make 
every member of the House aware of it. I raise this issue on the floor 
of the House because I believe what happened to Cody gives us a 
snapshot of our current national culture. The flag of the United States 
of America is a symbol of everything that this country stands for--
unity, prosperity and freedom. Every morning, in classrooms across 
America, students of all ages and nationalities pledge their allegiance 
to the flag and to this country. For an American student to ever be 
told that displaying the American flag in America may make him a target 
for violence is a travesty and terrible testament to what is happening 
in our country.
  I am proud of Cody for choosing to display his patriotism, his 
respect for the men and women who have fought and died for this 
country, and his love of this country. And I am proud to represent this 
community, which has displayed such overwhelmingly positive support for 
Cody. I want to thank ``The American Legion Patriot Guard'' and the 
other riders here today, especially the Merced American Legion, Post 
83, Patriot Guard, for their organization and passion to the cause. I 
would also like to thank everyone else who chose to walk and ride to 
Denair Middle School with Cody this morning and to display their pride 
in the American flag and the ideals that it represents. I hope many 
more people will be inspired by Cody's example and will choose to fly 
the flag more often.

                          ____________________