Third-graders learn about their government.
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) discussed global responsibility with third-graders at Bear Tavern Elementary School Friday, encouraging them to maintain their interest in earth-friendly technologies and applauding their year-long focus on citizenship.
According to JoAnn Meyer, school district spokeswoman, Rep. Holt shared his own interests in democratic ideals, discussing his pending bill that would require a paper trail for electronic voting machines. "Voters need to know their votes count and they’ll be counted," the congressman told the students in David Friedrich’s class.
Rep. Holt, a Hopewell Township resident, also shared his views on Afghanistan, where Army Maj. Joe Boler, the students’ "adopted" serviceman for the school year, is stationed. Rep. Holt, a two-time visitor to Afghanistan, told the youngsters while it is important to help people in need around the world, it is equally important to respect our differences.
"There are a lot of different people in the world and when we say we want to help them we shouldn’t mean we want to help them be like us," the four-term congressman said.
At students’ requests, Rep. Holt detailed many of the legislative initiatives he has led, including an amendment to the energy bill designed to help commuters cut down on the amount of time they spend in traffic, his work for a paper trail for electronic voting machines and his push for more funding for foreign language study.
The pro-environmental congressman was clearly delighted by student questions about the uses for solar energy and chuckled when asked what it was like to be a five-time Jeopardy champion. "Five times doesn’t mean much any more, does it?" Rep. Holt quipped.
The congressman told the students he was instructed to bring three changes of clothing for the tapings, and denied being nervous. "If I had known how many people watched it and how seriously they took it, I would’ve been nervous," he admitted.
Rep. Holt, a former teacher, nuclear program monitor for the U.S. State Department and assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory at the time he ran for Congress in 1998, said he didn’t struggle much with the decision to try a career on Capitol Hill.
Throughout his life, he said, he was reminded of the good things his father, elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29, had done as an effective member of that chamber. The promise of being able to make a difference is what motivated and still motivates him to run, said Rep. Holt.
Asked about the hardest part of his job, Rep. Holt did not hesitate. "There aren’t enough hours in the day," he said. "But I guess that’s one of the hardest things in (anyone’s) life."
He encouraged the students to write to him and urged them to stay concerned about the environment. "If the Earth isn’t healthy, it hurts us."
Rep. Holt’s visit capped a year-long focus on democratic themes for Mr. Friedrich’s students. The youngsters studied free elections, U.S. presidents and the rights and responsibilities of good citizenry.

