[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E654-E655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

IN RECOGNITION OF MS. AMI KARLAGE

______

HON. JIM BUNNING

of kentucky

in the house of representatives

Thursday, April 23, 1998

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to take a few minutes to
recognize an outstanding achievement by a young high school student
from Kentucky.
Ms. Ami Karlage of Edgewood, in my congressional district, recently
won a 1998 Voice of Democracy broadcast scriptwriting contest for
Kentucky as sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I have attached
a copy of her winning essay for all to read.
Ms. Karlage is a junior at Holmes High School and is one of only 54
national winners. She was sponsored by VFW Post 6095 of Latonia, and I
understand she is planning on becoming a geneticist one day. Given the
intelligence she shows in her essay, I expect that she will eventually
accomplish whatever she sets her mind to.
I am proud of Ms. Karlage, and I commend my colleagues' attention to
her essay about the importance of principle and standing up for one's
beliefs. They are time-honored lessons we should never forget.

``My Voice in our Democracy''

(By Ami Karlage)

``. . . Give me liberty or give me death!''
--Patrick Henry

``Join the union, girls, and together say Equal Pay for Equal
Work''.
--Susan B. Anthony

``I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not excuse--
I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard!''
--William Lloyd Garrison

[[Page E655]]

These famous words ring throughout our country like the
echoes of silent bells. Voices, unused in generations, can be
heard today, still urging us to fight for what is good, to
stand up for what we believe. These voices created and
preserved our democracy, and they resound in our memories, a
symphony of noble and pure ideas. Yet, added to this
harmonious music of the past is a cacophony of voices
belonging to the present: millions of people, each shouting
his or her own opinions with little or no regard for anyone
else's thoughts. Amidst all this turmoil, how can my voice be
heard? How can my voice make a difference?
In todays' democracy, many cynical, disillusioned people
would tell you that it's not worth shouting to be heard, it's
not worth standing up for what you believe. Because no one
listens, no one cares. I cannot believe that. Too many
problems in the past have been corrected because one person
dared to speak out against them. America won its independence
because one person had the courage to challenge British rule.
The rallying cry of ``No taxation without representation''
swept a nation of diverse peoples and fractured opinions and
united a majority of the population to work towards a common
goal. Women won the right to vote because one person refused
to be silent. The writings and speeches of Susan B. Anthony
sparked reforms in women's dress, social freedoms, and
ultimately, constitutional rights in a time of heightened
civil turbulence. Slavery was abolished because one person
proclaimed it unjust. The accomplishments of William Lloyd
Garrison and other abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglas
and Sojourner Truth, resulted in the thirteenth amendment to
the Constitution, which effectively outlawed slavery. Each of
these controversies were important developments in our
nation's growth, and each of them began with a single person
who persisted until another person listened . . . and another
. . . and another, until that first person was shouting with
the multitude instead of against it.
If I want my voice to be heard, I have to ignore the
cynics. I have to shout against the millions. I have to call
out incessantly. I have to refuse to be silent, in the hopes
that one person might take note of my cry. If I influence
just one other person, then my voice has been heard. If I
cause that person to examine or change his or her views, then
my voice has made a difference. My voice is not the voice of
the millions, nor does it have to be. My voice in democracy
is just that: My voice, shouting against the crowd, so that I
might be heard.
And today, there are so many more ways in which my voice
can be heard. 150 years ago, communication was limited to the
written word, in the form of newspapers and pamphlets, and
the spoken word. As a student living in this day and age, I
have the technology to reach many, many more people. for
example, I have television. through television, I can make my
voice heard across the nation, simultaneously; whereas, it
was nearly impossible for an abolitionist or a suffragette to
achieve the same effect. I also have the internet, which is
growing daily, and radio, which reaches a large percentage of
the population. On a local level, I have service groups, a
school newspaper, clubs and other organizations, all designed
to give me a forum to voice my opinions and to allow my voice
to be heard. How much faster could Patrick Henry have
inflamed a nation, had he been able to use the present day
media?
Each of those historic, echoing voices belonged to an
individual who felt the need to speak out against injustice,
to better the world in which he or she lived. And even as a
tempest begins with a single drop of rain, so did the
American Revolution, the Women's Suffrage Movement, and the
Abolitionist Movement begin with a single thought, a single
voice shouting among millions of others. If our country could
be so drastically influenced by just one person in the past,
there is no reason that it cannot be just as affected by my
voice in the present.

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