Fifty years ago, on June 18, 1976, as a member of the House of Representatives, I submitted an essay by a student from Dike, Iowa, in celebration of America’s 200th birthday.
I’m once again submitting work by a student from Iowa, but this time in the celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
As we celebrate America’s birthday this year, students all across the country are participating in a national writing and artwork contest answering the prompt: “What does America mean to you?”
Mary Elouise, a fourth grader from Waukee, Iowa, was recently selected as a first-place winner for this contest.
In Mary Elouise’s first-place winning poem submission, she wrote about the American flag, and she detailed in that poem how it represents America and her family’s military service.
She concluded her poem by saying: “I look at our flag and I proudly say, God bless the USA.”
Mary Elouise also was recently recognized by the Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, for her second poem, titled, “People Behind the Flag.” This poem was submitted to Iowa’s America250 student writing contest on America’s founding principles.
So, I ask unanimous consent to put both of Mary Elouise’s winning poems into the record and urge my colleagues to read them.
