Honoring the contributions of Catholic schools.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1008, honoring Catholic Schools Week and recognizing the outstanding contributions that Catholic schools have made to America.

As a proud graduate of St. Symphorosa Grammar School and St. Ignatius College Prep and as a strong supporter of Catholic education, I am honored to sponsor this resolution again this year. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for joining me in working on this resolution as well as on many other important issues.

Since 1974, Catholic Schools Week has celebrated how Catholic schools have positively impacted our country, and it has recognized their outstanding contributions in providing a strong academic and moral education, as well as teaching the importance of responsibility to one's family and community.

The National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have provided exemplary leadership in conceptualizing and organizing Catholic Schools Week. This year's theme is timeless in scope and universal in its values. ``Catholic schools-- dividends for life: faith, knowledge, discipline, morals.''

This theme perfectly embodies the call of America's Catholic schools, always emphasizing the necessity of a well-rounded educational experience. Nearly 95 percent of Catholic schools have a service program, and the average student completes approximately 80 hours of public service. My desire to serve was fostered by the dedicated teachers whom I had in 12 years of Catholic school.

Today, almost 2.2 million elementary and secondary students are enrolled in nearly 7,500 Catholic schools. By maintaining an excellent student-teacher ratio and through dedicated efforts, Catholic school students, on average, surpass other students in math, science, and reading in the three grade levels tested by the NAEP test. The graduation rate for Catholic high schools is 99 percent, and 97 percent of Catholic high school graduates go on to college or to technical school. In a country where poor educational reports have sadly become an annual tradition, these statistics are truly remarkable and should be greatly commended.

Catholic schools are known for embracing students from all walks of life and are highly effective in providing excellent educational opportunities for minority students and disadvantaged youth. Almost 15 percent of students in Catholic schools are not Catholic, and over the past 30 years, the percentage of minority students enrolled in Catholic schools has more than doubled. Despite exceptional results, the success of Catholic schools does not depend on selectivity, accepting nine out of every 10 students who apply.

In addition to producing well-educated students, Catholic schools save American taxpayers billions of dollars every year by lessening the number of students in already overburdened public schools. In fact, it is estimated that taxpayers save over $1 billion from students attending Catholic schools in the Chicago area alone and $20 billion nationwide. The importance of this savings is undeniable to American taxpayers.

Unfortunately, the current economic climate, combined with decades- long travails of the middle class, have been hard on Catholic schools in some areas. Like me, my wife, Judy, attended Catholic schools for 12 years, graduating from St. Patrick's Grade School and Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, last year, St. Patrick's closed. This closing has proven to be a great loss, not just for the students of St. Patrick's but for the entire community of Moxham, demonstrating just how important Catholic schools are to the greater community.

I was born and raised and live in the Chicago archdiocese, which still has one of the most successful school systems in the country. More than 96,000 students attend 258 schools. In my district alone, there are seven Catholic high schools and approximately 50 grammar schools, including one of the best in my home parish of St. John of the Cross in Western Springs.

My experiences have taught me the important spiritual, moral, and intellectual foundations that Catholic schools provide to students. A Catholic education has granted me the knowledge, discipline, desire to serve, and a love of learning that has enabled me to achieve my doctorate degree and become a teacher before being elected to Congress. In recognizing Catholic Schools Week, we pay a special tribute to the dedicated teachers and administrators who sacrifice so much, in many cases working for less than they would earn elsewhere.

Many of my formative memories are of teachers who taught me the values

of faith and service. When I come down to this House floor, I can't help but remember the coach of my Student Congress team, Sister Diane Wiefenbach. I cannot forget in high school the impact that she had on me. That's something that I will always remember. Throughout the United States, millions of others have similar memories of the dedicated sisters, priests and lay teachers who gave their hearts and souls to touch the lives of their students.

Mr. Speaker, American Catholic schools deserve our praise, our support, and our gratitude. I would like to thank everyone who cosponsored this resolution. To share our congratulations in support for Catholic schools, I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1008. This resolution honors the contributions that Catholic schools make to our communities and, in particular, recognizes the annual Catholic Schools Week, celebrated from January 31 to February 6 of this year. I thank Mr. Lipinski of Illinois for introducing H. Res 1008, for recognizing Catholic Schools Week, and for his ongoing support for Catholic schools nationwide.

Catholic Schools Week is an event co-sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The week honors the principals, teachers, coaches, and parents who educate more than 2.2 million children in Catholic Schools. This year, the Conference of Catholic Bishops selected ``Dividends for Life--Faith, Knowledge, Discipline, and Morals'' as the theme.

Guam's association with the Roman Catholic Church dates back to Ferdinand Magellan's arrival on our island in 1521. Guam became an important port-of-call along trade routes through the Pacific sailed by Spanish galleons. Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Spanish Jesuit missionary, arrived in Guam in 1662 during his journey from Mexico to the Philippines. Padre San Vitores vowed to return to Guam upon leaving the island.

Three years later, through his close ties to the royal court, he persuaded King Philip IV of Spain and Queen Maria Ana of Austria to order the establishment of a Catholic mission in Guam. Padre San Vitores established a mission in the village of Agana, which later became the site of the island's first Catholic Church. It is now the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agana, canonically erected in 1911 and elevated to a Diocese in 1965--300 years after Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores kept his promise to return to the island. The Diocese was further elevated in 1984 to a Metropolitan Diocese. Today it enjoys a congregation of 101,000 strong throughout Oceania.

The Roman Catholic faith grew strong on Guam over the years. This strength is represented in the quality of Catholic school education on the island. Our island has six elementary and middle schools, and four high schools that teach the Catholic faith along with strong academic curriculum.

The Catholic school tradition on Guam began with Bishop Appollinaris Baumgartner. He recognized our island's need for quality education inspired by the Catholic faith. In 1946, he invited three Sisters of Mercy from North Carolina to Guam. They established The Academy of Our Lady, the first all girls' Catholic high school on Guam. This school remains in operation today. Also, Bishop Baumgartner invited the School Sisters of Notre Dame of La Crosse, Wisconsin, to come to Guam in 1949. Soon after arriving on the island the Sisters founded Notre Dame High School, a Catholic co-educational high school. Notre Dame High School also remains open today. Father Duenas Memorial High School is the third Catholic high school on Guam. Its namesake, Father Jesus Baza Duenas, was executed on July 11, 1944, by the Japanese forces occupying Guam. Father Duenas was killed along with his nephew because he would not betray the location of an American sailor hiding on the island. Father Duenas Memorial High School continues his legacy of courage and integrity. Lastly in 2008, the Archdiocese of Agana opened St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School, to further educate Guam's students. The school is a co-educational high school offering a college preparatory academic program that challenges and develops its students to become moral and productive citizens with global perspectives firmly rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the teachings of the Catholic Church. All four schools offer rigorous curricula to prepare students for college while instilling strong moral values and an understanding of the Catholic faith.

Today, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana remains committed to serving the people of Guam. Under the direction of the Most Reverend Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap, DD, Metropolitan Archbishop of Agana, Catholic educational institutions on Guam provide quality academic instruction to students. The contributions of the Catholic school system to the people of Guam are reflected in our local leaders in the clergy, government, and private-sector who are alumni of the Catholic schools.

I recognize and commend the Catholic schools in Guam for their commitment to a rigorous education, sound moral values, and respect and understanding for the Catholic faith. It is my hope that the tradition of Catholic schools education on Guam and around the United States will remain strong for generations to come.

Madam Speaker, then they came for the Baha'is.

The Baha'i Faith is the youngest of the world's independent monotheistic religions. Founded in Iran in 1844, it now claims more than 5 million adherents in 236 countries and territories. Gathering worshipers from nearly every national, ethnic and religious background, the Baha'is preach tolerance, diversity and equality.

To an Islamic dictatorship that denies its people basic political and human rights, this religion founded in Iran on the tenets of religious tolerance remains an anathema to the Supreme Leader. And the world is standing by as Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority nears its final stages.

In 2006, Iran's Armed Forces Command Headquarters ordered the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Police Force to identify members of the Baha'i Faith in Iran and monitor their activities.

In that same year, we saw the largest roundup of Baha'is since the 1980s. The Iranian Interior Ministry ordered provincial officials to ``cautiously and carefully monitor and manage'' all Baha'i social activities. The Central Security Office of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha'i.

In 2007, the situation worsened. More than two-thirds of the Baha'is enrolled in universities were expelled once identified as Baha'is. Police entered Baha'i homes and businesses to collect details on family members.

Twenty-live industries were ordered to deny licenses to Baha'is. Employers were pressured to fire Baha'i employees and banks were instructed to refuse loans to Baha'i-owned businesses. Baha'i cemeteries were destroyed.

In November 2007, three Baha'i youths were detained for educating underprivileged children.

The following month, the Iranian Parliament published a draft Islamic penal code, requiring the death penalty for all ``apostates''--a term applied to Baha'is and any convert away from Islam.

On May 14. 2008, seven members of Iran's national Baha'i coordinating group were arrested. This is reminiscent of the mass disappearance and assumed murder of all the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran in August, 1980.

On August 1, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H. Res. 1008, condemning the persecution of Baha'is in Iran and calling for the immediate release of all Baha'is imprisoned solely on the basis of their religion.

Our bipartisan voice bought the Baha'i leadership some time--but it appears only 6 months.

This week, the Government of Iran charged the seven Baha'i leaders with ``espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.'' Deputy Tehran Prosecutor Hassan Haddad declared, ``The charges against seven defendants in the case of the illegal Baha'i group were examined . . . and the case will be sent to the revolutionary court next week.''

It is time for the international community to act.

Today, along with my colleagues Jim McGovern and Brad Sherman, I am introducing a bipartisan resolution calling on the Government of Iran to immediately release the seven Baha'i leaders and all others imprisoned solely the basis of their religion.

I urge President Obama and Secretary Clinton, in concert with the international community, to publicly condemn Iran's persecution of its religious minorities and demand the release of these seven community leaders.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1008, honoring the contributions of Catholic schools.

January 31 through February 6 has been designated Catholic Schools Week. 2010 marks the 36th annual Catholic Schools Week, jointly sponsored by the National Catholic Education Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Supporting Catholic Schools Week and the work of Catholic schools demonstrates support for the vital role that Catholic elementary and secondary schools play in providing a quality education to the 2.2 million students enrolled across the Nation.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states Catholic schools have a graduation rate of 99 percent, and about 97 percent of Catholic high school graduates go on to postsecondary training, to 4-year colleges, to community colleges, or to technical schools. In addition to academic success, Catholic educators place an emphasis on the importance of moral and social character development. By emphasizing the importance of developing character as well as academic knowledge, Catholic school educators help students become good citizens as well as academic leaders.

The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2010 is ``Dividends for Life.'' This theme highlights the good work done by the Nation's Catholic schools, and it reminds parents that the dividends of a Catholic school education--students prepared in faith, knowledge, morals, and discipline--last a lifetime. The investment in a Catholic school education yields a lifetime of knowledge, moral and social guidance and community.

I recognize and appreciate the work of Catholic schools, their administrators and teachers, parents, and volunteers in providing a quality academic, moral, and social education. Catholic schools are an invaluable resource to students, parents and to communities.

I have the great privilege of representing the Second District of Kentucky. Throughout the Second District, there are settlements from migration into Kentucky that have traditional Catholic backgrounds, wonderful school systems, and wonderful people who are teaching in the school system, who are maintaining the school system, and who are ministering at the schools, and there are the local citizens who fund- raise and who do things for the schools. Their principal areas are throughout the district. There's Bardstown, Kentucky, which is a beautiful city, and then there's Owensboro, Kentucky, a great vibrant city on the Ohio River. Both of their Catholic high schools are very successful in students, in athletics, and in serving their communities. I also have a section of Louisville. Though the schools are not in my district, Louisville has a great tradition of great Catholic high schools and of the Catholic education.

On behalf of the people of the Second District, which has such a great tradition, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from one of our great national treasures, the city of New Orleans, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1008, which recognizes and honors the dedication and academic excellence of Catholic schools in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. Catholic schools provide each and every student with a quality education and life skills training through the commitment, professionalism, and faith of their teachers and administrators. I would like to thank Mr. Lipinski for his leadership in bringing this resolution to the Floor and I ask my colleagues to join me supporting its passage.

The impact of Catholic education in the United States is tremendous, as over 2 million elementary and secondary students, including more than 100,000 students in my home state of New Jersey, continue to receive a values-added education with an emphasis on academic excellence, advancement beyond high school, fundamental morals and community reinvestment. The graduation rate for Catholic school students is outstanding at 99 percent with 97 percent of these graduates choosing to continue their education through college studies.

The week of January 31, 2010 to February 6, 2010, marks the annual national celebration of Catholic Schools Week. An event which began in 1974, this year's theme of ``Catholic Schools--Dividends for Life: Faith, Knowledge, Discipline, Morals,'' exemplifies the broad spectrum of Catholic education. Students are taught to strive for scholastic excellence, the importance of an integrated focus on the transcendent importance of God, the skills of personal and academic discipline, and to recognize and defend moral imperatives.

Catholic schools, Mr. Speaker, are an integral part of our nation's commitment to education and serve a cross-section of American students. Catholic schools have a rich history of welcoming, serving and educating new immigrants. With close to 30 percent of Catholic school enrollment from minority backgrounds and approximately 15 percent from non-Catholics; it is evident that this extraordinary institution meets the needs of a highly diverse group of young people.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a few words which sum up the unique and extraordinary vision of Catholic education from a 1972 pastoral message by the National Conference on Catholic Bishops: ``Education is one of the most important ways by which the Church fulfills its'' commitment to the dignity of the person and building of community. Community is central to education ministry, both as a necessary condition and an ardently desired goal. The educational efforts of the Church, therefore, must be directed to forming persons- in-community; for the education of the individual Christian is important not only to his solitary destiny, but also the destinies of the many communities in which he lives.''

Again, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this important element of faith-based education which serves alongside America's public and private schools to strengthen and reinforce our education system.