[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21380]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING MR. TODD LaVOGUE AND HIS STUDENTS AS HASTINGS' HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 19, 2011

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. 
Todd LaVogue and the students in his social studies class at Roosevelt 
Middle School in West Palm Beach. Mr. LaVogue recently engaged his 
students in Amnesty International's letter-writing campaign for human 
rights. Mr. LaVogue and his students joined people of good conscience 
around the world in writing letters to government officials in many 
countries, urging them to release political prisoners and prisoners of 
conscience. The students were able to see what such efforts can 
accomplish when the government of the nation of Myanmar released 
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after many years of house arrest.
  By expressing their concern for people improperly and unfairly held 
in captivity by authoritarian governments around the world, Mr. LaVogue 
and his students are shining examples of the best in humankind. They 
are people deserving of respect and admiration from all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Mr. LaVogue and his students, and I 
am pleased to name them true Hastings' Heroes.

                          ____________________