Congressional Record—Senate S299
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February 2, 2000 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S299 Mr. Aca Singer, President of Federation of swift and sure. On September 17, 1991, teachers in eastern Washington in ad- Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia. the reborn nation became a member of dressing violent crime in their commu- Protestant the United Nations and is a signatory nity and making their school a safer Dr. Peter Kuzmic¸, President, Council of to a number of its organizations and place for all students. The Leadership Evangelical Churches in Croatia.∑ other international agreements. It also Class at Naches Valley High School has f is a member of the Organization for Se- done an excellent job at incorporating RESTORATION OF LITHUANIA’S curity and Cooperation in Europe, the creative solutions and programs to curb gang activity and encourage fel- INDEPENDENCE North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the Council of Europe. low students to do well in school. For ∑ Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, on Lithuania is an associate member of their efforts, I am presenting these stu- February 6 of this year, in the Divine the European Union, has applied for dents and their teacher, Mr. Sanford Providence Church, in Southfield, NATO membership and is currently ne- Jetton with my ‘‘Innovation in Edu- Michigan, several hundred Lithuanian gotiating for membership in the WTO, cation’’ award. Americans will gather to mark the OECD and other Western organiza- Naches Valley is a rural school dis- tenth anniversary of the restoration of tions. trict at the foot of the eastern side of Lithuania’s independence. Joined by The United States established diplo- the Cascade Mountains. For years, Lithuania’s ambassador to the United matic relations with Lithuania on July Naches Valley High School reflected States, His Excellency, Stasys 28, 1992. But our nation never really the small community values with little Sakalauskas, they will be celebrating broke with the government and people conflict between students. In 1996, it their nation’s original, modern inde- of Lithuania. The United States never discovered it was not immune from the pendence day, February 16, 1918, as well recognized the forcible incorporation of problems that are common-place in as the events of March 1, 1990, the date Lituania into the U.S.S.R., and views most large urban schools—gangs, on which Lithuania was finally and ir- the present Government of Lithuania drugs, depression, crime, to name a revocably released from the grip of So- as a legal continuation of the inter-war few. viet communism. republic. Indeed, for over fifty years When the high school had its first in- Michigan’s Lithuanian-American the United States maintained a bipar- cident of gang violence, students in the community also will celebrate the per- tisan consensus that our nation would Leadership class were both frightened severance and sacrifice of their people, refuse to recognize the forcible incor- and angry. While such a reaction would which enabled them to achieve the poration of Lithuania into the former be expected, their response was any- freedom they now enjoy. Soviet Union. thing but typical. Not only did the stu- I have reviewed the bare facts before: America’s relations with Lithuania dents confront the gang members, chal- On March 11, 1990, the newly elected continue to be strong, friendly and mu- lenging them to be positive contribu- Lithuanian Parliament, fulfilling its tually beneficial. Lithuania has en- tors to the school atmosphere, but they electoral mandate from the people of joyed Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) proactively worked with their prin- Lithuania, declared the restoration of treatment with the United States since cipal, their Leadership teacher Sanford Lithuania’s independence and the es- December, 1991. Through 1996, the Jetton, the Mayor, and the deputies tablishment of a democratic state. This United States has committed over $100 from the sheriff’s department to ad- marked a great moment for Lithuania million to Lithuania’s economic and dress the problem. The students helped write a town or- and for lovers of freedom around the political transformation and to address dinance which declared the local park globe. humanitarian needs. In 1994, the United to be part of the school grounds for an The people of Lithuania endured 51 States and Lithuania signed an agree- years of oppressive foreign occupation. hour before and an hour after school, ment of bilateral trade and intellectual or whenever that park is being used for Operating under cover of the infamous property protection, and in 1997 a bilat- Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939, Soviet school activities. This allows for dis- eral investment treaty. ruptive students to be dealt with both troops marched into Lithuania, begin- In 1998 the United States and Lith- by law enforcement and the school’s ning an occupation characterized by uania signed The Baltic Charter Part- communist dictatorship and cultural own ‘‘zero tolerance’’ gang policy. nership. That charter recalls the his- As a result of this direct interven- genocide. tory of American relations with the Even in the face of this oppression, tion, most of the gang members relin- area and underscores our ‘‘real, pro- quished that affiliation and eventually the Lithuanian people were not de- found, and enduring’’ interest in the se- graduated from Naches. In addition, feated. They assisted their oppressors curity and independence of the three there have been no further incidences and kept their culture, their faith and Baltic states. As the Charter also of gang violence at Naches Valley High their dream of independence very much notes, our interest in a Europe whole School since 1996. alive even during the hardest times. and free will not be ensured until Esto- The Leadership class did not stop The people of Lithuania were even nia, Latvia, and Lithuania are secure. with the problem of gang violence. Its able to mobilize and sustain a non-vio- Mr. President, I commend the people members looked for innovative ways to lent movement for social and political of Lithuania for their courage and per- promote drug and violence prevention change, a movement which came to be severance in using peaceful means to through school and community service. known as Sajudis. This people’s move- regain their independence. I pledge to The list of student-initiated accom- ment helped guarantee a peaceful tran- work with my colleagues to continue plishments is quite impressive: sition to independence through full working to secure the freedom and The class established a Student Ac- participation in democratic elections independence of Lithuania and its Bal- countability Board (S.A.B.) which pro- on February 24, 1990. tic neighbors, and I join with the peo- vides alternative consequences for stu- Unfortunately, as is so often the ple of Lithuania as they celebrate their dents pulled over by the sheriff’s office case, peace and freedom had to be pur- independence.∑ for traffic violations. The S.A.B. has chased again and again. In January of f resulted in a 50 percent reduction in 1991, ten months after restoration of traffic citations. Seat belt use among RECOGNITION OF THE NACHES independence, the people and govern- students has also risen from 63 percent VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL LEADER- ment of Lithuania faced a bloody as- in 1997 to 93 percent in 1999. sault by foreign troops intent on over- SHIP CLASS Working with the University of throwing their democratic institutions. ∑ Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, as the Washington, the class prepared a sui- Lithuanians withstood this assault, Senate prepares to debate the Elemen- cide awareness program which has maintaining their independence and tary and Secondary Education Act in since spread to six other schools. their democracy. Their successful use the coming weeks, one of the topics we The class initiated a ‘‘Student Shar- of non-violent resistance to an oppres- will no doubt address is this issue of ing Solutions’’ program which teams sive regime is an inspiration to all. school safety. up schools throughout the Yakima Val- Lithuania’s integration into the I want to recognize the extraordinary ley for such events as a countrywide international community has been efforts of a group of students and graffiti paint-out. VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:41 Dec 04, 2013 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\2000SENATE\S02FE0.REC S02FE0 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY S300 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 2, 2000 The class has also taken the lead in umphant season can be attributed to beyond the hours of 9 to 5, they showed such projects as replenishing local food the performance of several key players, us just how much can be accomplished banks and in raising money for a fellow including six players that were chosen when everyone works together for a NVHS student who was severely in- to start in the Pro Bowl. common goal and is committed to jured in a car crash and whose family Kurt Warner, stepping in as the doing more than his or her fair share. has no medical insurance. starter after Trent Green was injured We would be remiss if we overlooked These young leaders, and their teach- in an early preseason game, enjoyed another admirable quality of this fine er have been recognized in their com- one of the best years ever for an NFL organization, and that is the commit- munity at problem solvers and gen- quarterback, throwing for 4,353 yards, ment to the community. When the erous servants. In 1998, the Naches Val- 41 touchdowns and only 13 intercep- Rams relocated to St. Louis in 1995, the ley Leadership Class received the tions, a performance worthy of being team identified community involve- Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce awarded the NFL’s Most Valuable ment as one of the top priorities.