The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUDAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H861-H862 on March 2, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUDAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, last week, we had Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in front of the Committee on International Relations delivering an address detailing activities of the Department of State over the last year, identifying all of the hot spots in the world where American interests were at stake, identifying what the United States of America was doing about them.
It was intriguing, Mr. Speaker, because, in over half an hour of a normal presentation and certainly maybe 20 or 30 pages of written presentation that discussed in every way all of the issues that we could possibly confront in foreign policy position, there was one that was conspicuous for its absence, one spot in the world that was never mentioned, one nation that was never brought to the attention of the Committee on International Relations or, as a matter of fact, it has not been brought to the attention of this Nation by this administration, and that is the nation of Sudan.
There, as the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) said so eloquently a little bit ago, in the last 15 years, over 2 million people have died in that civil war. That is more than have died in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda combined. Yet, in the face of this tragedy, what we have seen has been a lackluster attempt on the part of this administration to deal with it.
Mr. Speaker, I was asked by a teacher at Highline Community School, which is in the Cherry Creek School District in my District, a class again to which my colleague, the gentleman from Virginia, referred, I was asked by her to deliver a message to the Secretary of State; and I did.
The message was in the form of a question from Ms. Vogel, the teacher of this class, this fourth and fifth grade class, to the Secretary of State; and it said essentially this, ``Why is it that you, the government of our own country, and members of the world community, have decided to turn a blind eye to the tortured land of the Sudan?''
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And I communicated that concern to the Secretary and I got a response, a written response, from someone in her office. I delivered that response yesterday to the school in my district. It was one of the most incredible experiences of the time I have spent in public life; to look at these children and this teacher, who have committed and dedicated themselves to the ominous task of raising money to free human beings that have been dragged into slavery in a country all the way around the world.
This class read about this situation over a year ago and became so concerned that they organized a group that is now worldwide. They call it STOP, Slavery That Oppresses People. It has raised over $100,000. This 4th grade class in Highline Community School has raised $100,000 and purchased the freedom of over 1,000 individuals in the Sudan. Mr. Speaker, in the entire world we have been able to muster enough support to purchase the freedom the a total of 5,000, yet 1,000 come from this one classroom, this one elementary school. It is really quite extraordinary, and it was an extraordinary day yesterday.
I will enter them into the Record, but I want to read a couple of the cards I received yesterday. Each student wrote a personal card, a personal message to me, and some of them are really quite moving. I will not go through them all, but just some of them. And, remember, these are, again, 5th graders.
``Our hearts are noble, so we use the noble heart to do good for others.'' By Dong Cho.
``Dear Congressman: Hi, I'm Christina Manalostas. We bring love and courage from our life, and give it to others in sadness.''
``God must have put us here on earth for a reason. That reason was not to put people in slavery or to separate races. He put us here to live free, to have freedom. He just wanted to give everyone an opportunity for everything. Love, Charles.''
``There is nothing worse than seeing a person suffer for what they believe in.'' Deven Eastman.
I can go on and on like that, Mr. Speaker, but I will not. I will enter them into the Congressional Record.
I will tell my colleagues that what these children have done and what they are continuing to do far surpasses the efforts that the whole government of the United States has put forward to date, and I simply want to commend them and thank them from the bottom of my heart for such an inspirational day as I spent yesterday.
The personal messages referred to above are as follows:
I thank God for using these children to remind me of the true spirit of giving! We have love for all people in the world!Barb Vogel.
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``Caring is living the meaning of life.''--Richard Lucas, Age 13, Upper Arlington, OH.
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If we can eradicate slavery then the world will be a better place.
Love,Cynthia Jarango.
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``Maybe if we looked deep inside ourselves we would find the roots of today's problems and also the solutions. Man creates problems through his temptation; maybe he could solve them through caring.''--Alicia Hartman, Age 17, Northeast, PA.
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A lot of beautiful souls are in slavery and it needs to stop.Kristin Young.
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``A nation with citizens who care and look out for each other is a great nation; it will not fall apart.''--Dwain Simmons, Age 14, Houston, TX.
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Dear Congressman Dan: Thank you for coming to our class. Also, thank you for supporting our campaign. I am an abolitionist and my name is Le Shai.
Sincerely,Le Shai.
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When you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything.Joshua Fleming.
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If we didn't eradicate slavery how would other people be free?
Sincerely,David Walker.
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Power is in people! Don't be lazy take action to help others.
Love,Alex J. Persinger.
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Even though Frederick Douglass is dead, I still believe that his spirit lives in every abolitionist in the world.Melvin Harmon.
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The greatest power of our time is love for all people!
Love,Thomas Turner.
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Unless the world is perfect, without any problems, we need to take a stand and help others.Lindy deSpain.
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The world needs the caring majority.
Love,Alphonso McDonald.
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Dear Congressman: I would like to thank you for joining our campaign. We appreciate your work.
Love,James Coleman.
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Slavery is wrong, and someone needs to take a stand. Adults are not doing enough, so kids are doing something more.Nicole Cimino.
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We can't have just a little group of abolitionists we need a large group.
Love,Josh Hook.
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There is a sin, from the past, it is slavery and kids are doing something about it!
Love,Miriam Moreno.
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God made us different, because He knew that we would be beautiful!Stacy Caruso.
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Freedom is one of the world's greatest treasures. What has happened to it?Doni Taikalus.
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Our hearts are noble, so use the noble heart to do good for others.Dong Cho.
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Dear Congressman: Hi, I'm Christina Manalastas. We bring love and courage from our life, and give it to others in sadness.
Sincerely,Christina Manalastas.
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God must have put us here on earth for a reason. That reason was not to put people in slavery, or to separate races. He put us here to live free, to have freedom. He just wanted to give everyone an opportunity for everything.
Love,Charles.
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There is nothing worse than seeing a person suffer for what they believe in.Keven Eastman.
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