Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the good works of the students of the Ulysses Byis Elementary School in Roosevelt, Long Island, in my district. On Tuesday, March 18, I visited the students…
Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the good works of the students of the Ulysses Byis Elementary School in Roosevelt, Long Island, in my district.
On Tuesday, March 18, I visited the students at the school to honor their hard work in raising awareness and funds for humanitarian efforts helping those suffering from the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The students worked to help achieve and support the mission of the U.N. Millennium Development goals in bringing aid and awareness to health, education, poverty, and sustainable living needs in Africa.
Under the guidance of educators Ms. Hazelton, Ms. Warfield, and Principal Lillian Coggins-Watson, the students got involved with the national network of O Ambassador's clubs, a part of Oprah's ``Angel Network,'' with the goal of working to find solutions to global challenges through active learning, idea sharing, and taking action.
The students worked diligently and raised $1,100 in just 2 days to benefit relief agencies in the East African Nation of Sudan. These students made an extraordinary effort to help a problem that is very far away from them, and their work and contributions need to be acknowledged.
Considering the volume of money Congress manages every single day, $1,100 might sound like a small amount, but the effort by the children of Ulysses Byis Elementary School was massive, considering that many of the families in the Roosevelt School District face harsh economic challenges of their own.
The fact that these students worked as hard as they did to raise the money that will help save the lives of people thousands of miles away speaks not only of their extraordinary character, but what a terrific job the teachers and parents in the Roosevelt School District are doing in instilling in the children the qualities that make our citizens and Nation great.
The students have not stopped in their efforts to raise money and attention to the difficulties facing the people of Darfur. In fact, since I visited the school just 2 weeks ago, the students have raised over $600 more and have the goal of reaching $5,000 by the end of the school year. They plan to sell scratch-off tickets, hold a walk-a-thon, and continue to collect the pocket change that students bring with them to school. These children will not let any obstacle prevent them from achieving their goal to help the Sudanese people.
Some of the money raised by the students will go towards the purchase of mosquito bed nets, which have been shown to dramatically lessen the spread of malaria. The seemingly simple technology of insecticide treated
bed nets has proven to be remarkably effective and can save thousands of lives a year by minimizing one of the region's most deadly diseases.
As has been mentioned many times here on the House floor, the situation in Darfur is dire, and financial aid is crucial in helping to manage the humanitarian crisis that is being faced there every day.
While we are still working to find ways to help eliminate the violence and brutality of genocide that has become synonymous with Darfur, we need to take a lesson from the students and work to help them manage the health and well-being of the country's population. Each year, thousands of Sudanese will fall victim to disease and famine. What makes these deaths even more tragic is that so many could have been prevented by the use of the kind of bed netting that the money raised by the students will go towards purchasing.
Additionally, this week we will vote on H.R. 5510, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hide United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. The bill will provide much-needed funds that will be useful in advancing the causes that the children are working toward. This bill will help impact one of the most important issues of our time, helping to stem the spread of deadly and potentially preventable diseases.
It is absolutely vital that the United States Government and Members of this Congress continue to decry the outrageous horrors of genocide and Darfur. And we must continue to find ways, as the children have, to help the Sudanese people survive.
I would like to extend my congratulations and deepest gratitude to the students of the Ulysses Byis Elementary School, and their teachers, principals and parents for their tremendous efforts and their spirit of giving and generosity.
I would also like to thank and recognize the efforts of Oprah Winfrey for offering the tools and inspiration for the children at the Ulysses Byis School and students throughout the Nation through her Angel Network and O Ambassadors program to take action and to do the hard work necessary to help those less fortunate.
Finally, I would just like to tell the students of the Ulysses Byis School to keep up their good work. Don't quit. I know that you will reach and exceed your goals. The people of Darfur need your help, and we are all behind you. I thank the students for the work they have done.
