From the congressional Record (
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"HONORING COURTNEY NORTON
HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Courtney Norton, who recently completed the seventh grade at Main Street Junior High School in Madera, California. Courtney was awarded first place prize for the Western Region in the Annual Elks Writing Contest for an entry she submitted while in the sixth grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Madera. The writing prompt was ‘‘What does the flag of the United States of America stand for?’’ Courtney responded to the prompt with this poem:
I am the Star Spangled Banner,
The flag of the United States of America,
I stand for freedom, peace, justice, liberty, and dreams,
I have seen every battle fought by our country
over the last two hundred years,
I have been flown in France, Korea, Vietnam and Rome.
I have been ripped, torn, spit on, burnt and
trampled, but I still stand proud.
I stand for immigrants who gave their lives
to make this country a better place to live.
I stand for every soldier in every war who
fought for this country.
I stand for a nation of love, hope, and opportunities.
These colors don’t run!
I am worshipped, loved, saluted and respected.
I stand for the United States of America, the
land of the free and the home of the brave.
FOREVER MAY I WAVE!
As a result of her first place prize, Norton was invited to the Elks annual convention in San Diego to read her poem for the conventioneers. Her poem also caught the attention of Operation Mom, an organization of mothers of the military, who asked Courtney for her
permission to include a copy of her poem in each of the thousands of care packages that they send to the service men and women posted overseas. In addition, the organization invited Norton to present her poem at their Operation Welcome Home Rally, scheduled for August 19, 2003, in Livermore, California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to honor
Courtney Norton for her outstanding accomplishments, patriotic spirit, and support for our men and women in uniform. I urge my colleagues to join me in wishing Courtney many years of continued success.