S5636 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 25, 1995

As of the close of business yesterday,

Monday, April 24, the Federal debt

stood—down to the penny—at exactly

$4,839,548,467,525.15 or $18,371.01 for

every man, woman, and child on a per

capita basis.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I

A NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE

fcommend Americans who are participating in the National Day of Service.

Today, people all across this Nation

are working together in community

service. As we speak, people of all ages

and backgrounds are using their hands

and hearts to show their American

spirit.

This day should remind us all of what

it means to be an American, for today,

our people are standing side by side.

They are gathering, not to discuss

their differences, but to pursue common goals.

Today, Americans are standing side

by side immunizing infants. They are

standing side by side tutoring schoolage children. They are standing side by

side restoring urban parks, feeding and

sheltering the homeless, and rehabilitating housing and community centers.

Today, we stand united as Americans.

In West Virginia, people in Braxton

County will work together to create a

nature trail near the Braxton County

Middle School so students can learn

more about their environment. In

Welch, people are working to clean a

vacant school so it can be converted in

a facility to offer a safe shelter for victims of domestic violence by the local

agency known as SAFE, Stop Abusive

Family Environments. These activities

for National Youth Service Day are

just a few examples of important community work sponsored by the West

Virginia Commission National and

Community Service.

This day strikes a warm, familiar

chord for me personally. From personal

experience, I know the benefit of working with others to build better communities.

In 1964, the VISTA program brought

me to a coal camp community in

Emmons, WV. There, I followed Kennedy’s call to service and worked with

the people of Emmons, trying to do my

small part in building a stronger community.

Together, we built a baseball field

and a community center. We brought

the people much needed preventative

health care. We rallied to bring a

schoolbus to Emmons and helped to

keep Emmons’ kids in school.

From personal experience, I know

that community service benefits participants as much as it benefits communities. My work with VISTA taught

me a very important lesson: That I can

make a difference.

Today, the people of America celebrate that same lesson: Each and every

American can make a difference.

Let us all be careful not to forget

that important lesson at the end of the

National Day of Service. Let us remember and reaffirm that lesson every

day of the year.

Why must we remember the lesson

every day of the year? The reason is

simple: Community service programs

work.

Just look at the resounding success

of AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps gives thousands of young Americans the tools to

make a difference in their own lives

and in the lives of others.

AmeriCorps participants perform

vital services in America. Just over 6

months ago, 85 West Virginians were

sworn into AmeriCorps. Today they are

working with 20,000 people nationwide

to keep schools safe, restore natural resources, tutor teenagers, and more—all

in exchange for education.

Programs like AmeriCorps simultaneously open doors to higher education

and help build stronger communities.

They allow Americans to help each

other, and build trust, understanding,

and hope.

Mr. President, I am proud to stand in

support of the National Day of Service.

I salute everyone working in community service. I congratulate each of

them for making a difference.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise

TRIBUTE TO DAVID MARTIN

ftoday to pay tribute to David Martin, a

distinguished public servant, an inquisitive adventurer, and a uniquely warm

individual.

I came to know David when he served

on the staff of my father, the late Senator Thomas J. DODD. To my siblings

and me, however, David Martin was

much more than an employee of one of

our parents. He was more like a beloved uncle and insightful teacher

wrapped into one.

I recall spending a number of delightful evenings at David’s home with my

family engaged in stimulating conversation. One could not come away

from talking with David Martin without learning something new. He was a

gripping conversationalist.

He was very unassuming and did not

aggressively advertise his superior

knowledge. You had to probe to find

that rich vein, but once you succeeded,

your reward was real and immediate.

David had such a dynamic and engaging intellect that he was a magnet for

some of the 20th century’s foremost authors and thinkers. He counted Ralph

Ellison, George Orwell, Norman Mailer,

William F. Buckley, Jr., and Edward

Teller among his friends.

David’s biography is so varied and

fascinating that it reads more like that

of a protagonist in a novel than a reallife individual. He was a veteran, a war

correspondent, a noted author of political science, a human rights advocate

and a legislative expert. He even coordinated Richard Byrd’s last expedition to the South pole. David Martin

was a true renaissance man.

His three books on Yugoslavia are

still required reading for anyone who

wants to understand that troubled part

of the world. He was a passionate advocate for refugees, and as executive director of the Refugee Defense Committee from 1946 to 1947, he was instrumental in ending the inhumane practice of

forcible repatriation of war time refugees to the Communist eastern bloc.

David was legendary in the Senate

for the breadth and depth of his expertise. During the 11 years he served on

my father’s staff, David was a key

mover behind the eventual adoption of

the limited test ban treaty. He also advised my father on a range of foreign

policy hot spots, from Germany to Africa, from the Dominican Republic to

Southeast Asia.

After working for my father, David

went on to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he organized hearings on

marijuana that are generally credited

with alerting the public to the true

danger of the drug.

David’s first wife, Judy Asti, whom

he married in 1947, died in 1971. He remarried in 1974 to Virginia Worek

Levy. He is survived by Virginia, as

well as his two children, Joe and Rebecca; his brother, Maurice Manson;

and two stepsons, Ian and Raoul Levy.

Today we live in a better country and

a better world thanks to David Martin.

I think that is among the highest

praise that can be given to an individual who has passed away, and in David

Martin’s case it is richly deserved.

ANNIVERSARY OF COL. CHARLES

SHELTON CAPTURE IN LAOS

fMr. FORD. Mr. President, Saturday,

April 29 marks the 30th anniversary of

Col. Charles Shelton’s capture in

Southeast Asia.

Colonel Shelton grew up in my hometown, Owensboro, KY, where you could

find him playing football for the high

school team, courting his wife, and developing the values that would later

serve him so well as he served his country.

Like so many other dedicated American soldiers, the day he left the United

States to fly secret reconnaissance

missions over Laos, he put his life on

hold, whether that meant the dreams

and ambitions of an individual life, or

the simple pleasure of watching his

five children grow into adults.

But, when he was shot down on April

29 and captured, the notion of putting a

life on hold took on a new and horrible

dimension for Colonel Shelton and his

family. That’s because for the next 29

years, Colonel Shelton remained an official prisoner of war—the final U.S.

military personnel to be so listed by

the American Government.

Because of numerous reports of

sightings and escape attempts well into

the 1980’s, it wasn’t until 1994 that his

children requested the Pentagon to

change his status to presumed killed in

action.

While we can’t begin to imagine what

this wait was like for Colonel Shelton

or his family, we can pay tribute to his

service and to the ordeal he and his