[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             BRANDON PULLIG

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 2013

  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to interact with some of the 
brightest students in the 22nd Congressional District who serve on my 
Congressional Youth Advisory Council. I have gained much by listening 
to the high school students who are the future of this great nation. 
They provide important insight into the concerns of our younger 
constituents and hopefully get a better sense of the importance of 
being an active participant in the political process. Many of the 
students have written short essays on a variety of topics and I am 
pleased to share these with my House colleagues.
  Brandon Pullig is a senior at Deer Park High School in Harris County, 
Texas. His essay topic is:

    In Your Opinion, What Role Should Government Play in Our Lives?

       Ever since the times of the philosopher John Locke to 
     Revolutionary heroes such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine 
     to the current President Barack Obama, people have had many 
     different beliefs on how government should play a role in our 
     lives. While there have been differing views since the start, 
     there has been one thing in common; the explicit disagreement 
     on the role of which government should follow. Yes, everyone 
     believes their opinion is correct because that is the 
     definition of a belief. However, I write today not to share 
     why my beliefs are correct nor to express how the U.S. 
     Government should be leading the nation, but to tell my 
     Congress, the most powerful body of our government, what not 
     to do.
       Now, I digress momentarily to inform you that I am not a 
     writer. I am not a literary mastermind who can reach into 
     thin air, pick out the perfect sentence, and transfer it onto 
     paper for all to read. No; I am but a worried 17 year-old, 
     frightened for the future of our country. Thus being said, I 
     apologize for my lack of professionalism and formality. When 
     asked to write this, I saw it as an opportunity to directly 
     communicate with Congress and not as an assignment to write 
     about my feelings whilst hiding behind fancy words causing a 
     lack of personality. Ergo, I plead with you to listen to what 
     I have to say and to take it to heart.
       As a young man on the verge of becoming part of the ``real 
     world,'' leaving high school behind, I find it crucial that I 
     involve myself into the world of government, trying to find 
     what makes it tick. By doing so, I have found that our 
     government is fantastic. The system our founding fathers 
     established is the only reason we, as a nation, have survived 
     the past 236 years. We have evolved the governmental process 
     commendably as well. These facts do not, unfortunately, make 
     up for the horrendous damage politics have caused. The 
     concept of politics has torn apart our government. The lack 
     of cooperation between the two major parties in the last 
     decade and a half has been detrimental to the well being of 
     our nation. Of course our government should tax, regulate 
     trade, deal with foreign nations, create laws to protect the 
     rights of the people, etc. Yet, we have fixated our beliefs 
     so heavily on the ideals of one party or the other and I, as 
     a concerned citizen, am tired of the gridlock that has been 
     hopefully unintentionally created. I urge you to remember the 
     prosperous years in which our nation's leaders, Congress, set 
     aside their party and worked for the better good of all 
     people. This may be hard to do because our minds have been 
     corrupted into thinking black and white, but remember the 
     generation--my generation--that must live with the mistakes 
     made by the Republican and Democratic leaders who were too 
     ignorant to look past their parties' beliefs and to accept 
     what will benefit all. I write to defend my generation and 
     for you to remember the true role of our government, which is 
     to ``establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide 
     for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and 
     secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
     Posterity.''

                          ____________________