[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   A TRIBUTE TO ANDREW JOON-HAO TAN FOR HIS WINNING ESSAY DEMOCRACY: 
                 COHESION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 2014

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Andrew Joon-hao Tan, a 
student at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park, California, for his 
First Place Award in the 2013 Making Democracy Work Student Essay 
Contest held by the United States Capitol Historical Society. His 
extraordinary essay, entitled Democracy: Cohesion Between People and 
Government, follows.

       ``What political power could ever carry on the vast 
     multitude of lesser undertakings which the American citizens 
     perform every day, with the assistance of the principle of 
     association,'' wrote French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville 
     when he visited the United States to observe American 
     government. Tocqueville evaluates the American governance and 
     decides that for democracy to be effective in America, 
     citizens and organizations must actively participate in the 
     government. After the American Revolution, representatives 
     from each state met together to write the Constitution, an 
     American standard for how democracy would function. Recently, 
     however, the government has been less productive than in the 
     past. Some have begun to question if democracy can remain an 
     effective form of government in the current era. Democracy 
     has the potential to be a flourishing style of government, 
     but is predicated on the protection of individuals' rights 
     and liberties, people's access to education and information, 
     and actively participating citizens, all of which, they 
     claim, are resting on shaky grounds.
       First and foremost, individual liberties must be guaranteed 
     to everyone in a democracy. This provides protection to 
     minority groups whose rights may otherwise be construed upon. 
     Civil liberties can be encroached upon during times of 
     national crises. A recent example of this is the Patriot Act, 
     which was enacted after the terrorist attacks on September 
     11, 2001. Even though reining in civil liberties seemed 
     appropriate for national security reasons in the immediate 
     aftermath, there have been unintended consequences whereby 
     our basic civil rights have been infringed. The debate over 
     the role of the National Security Agency is currently being 
     adjudicated in federal courts because many people feel that 
     their fourth amendment rights are being violated. The 
     expansion and retraction of our rights must continually be 
     examined, and the government must provide enforcement of 
     these rights to all citizens to create a bond of trust 
     between the people and the government.
       Secondly, education should be available to all citizens, 
     policies must be transparent, information should be widely 
     accessible, and diverse points of views should be encouraged. 
     When citizens in a democracy are educated, democracy 
     functions much more effectively. Across countries, education 
     and democracy are highly correlated. In other words, those 
     who receive poor education are less likely to be politically 
     active. Also, less educated people are more vulnerable to 
     propaganda and false information, leaving them susceptible to 
     vote based on the influence of others. Citizens also deserve 
     access to uncensored information. In regimes where 
     information is tightly controlled, citizens are restricted 
     from developing their own opinions and this limits their 
     capacity to fully engage in the political process. It is the 
     government's responsibility to provide basic education and 
     ensure freedom of the press so that citizens are engaged and 
     empowered to play a part in a successful democracy.
       Finally, citizens must fulfill their civic duties in a 
     democracy. These include voting and jury duty but can also be 
     as simple as staying updated on current issues and obeying 
     the law. Unfortunately, many of these simple duties are 
     commonly overlooked. Even in the last presidential election 
     in 2012, where there was a record voter turnout only about 
     60% of registered voters voted. Thus, the voice of around 40% 
     of people was not heard in the ballot. Similarly, fulfilling 
     civic responsibilities is necessary for democracy to work 
     well. For example, jury duty has been difficult to implement. 
     According to Sun Sentinel, in South Florida about two of 
     every three people skip jury duty with or without being 
     exempted. Jurors in South Florida have only a 41% response 
     rate and 3,000 people must be requested to fill 1,000 jury 
     spots because of the high rejection rate. This may be an 
     extreme case, but the lack of commitment to civic 
     responsibility is not unique to Florida. Complacency in civic 
     involvement ultimately leads to erosion of democracy and make 
     our system stale and unsustainable.
       The ``lesser undertakings which the American citizens 
     perform every day'' are essential in a democracy because 
     government cannot fulfill all the needs of citizens. In a 
     successful democracy individual rights and liberties must be 
     applied impartially, education and current information must 
     be readily available, and the citizens must do their part to 
     allow the law to be applied fairly. America has survived and 
     struggled through adversities to become one of the longest 
     living democracies in the world because of its strong 
     commitment to the Constitution, impartial application of the 
     law and unrestricted information from varying political 
     opinions. Democracy is an active and dynamic process, and 
     flourishes with self-examination and engagement of its 
     citizens, but languishes with complacency.

  Mr. Speaker, I ask the entire House to join me today in honoring 
Andrew Tan, an extraordinary young man, for his deep understanding of 
the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our nation, and for his 
ability to write about it in a cogent, understandable and inspiring 
style. He is an inspiration to all of us and he is an eloquent 
statement about the youth of our nation.

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