RECOGNIZING ABIGAIL ROTH, GRADES 6 THROUGH 8 WINNER OF WISCONSIN'S 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2026 STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

On 2026-09-14, Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6) delivered a floor speech titled "RECOGNIZING ABIGAIL ROTH, GRADES 6 THROUGH 8 WINNER OF WISCONSIN'S 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2026 STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST" in the House.

RECOGNIZING ABIGAIL ROTH, GRADES 6 THROUGH 8 WINNER OF WISCONSIN'S 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2026 STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E906-E907] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] RECOGNIZING ABIGAIL ROTH, GRADES 6 THROUGH 8 WINNER OF WISCONSIN'S 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2026 STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST ______ HON. GLENN GROTHMAN of wisconsin in the house of representatives Monday, September 14, 2026 Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Abigail Roth, the winner of the sixth through eighth grade division of my 2026 Student Essay Contest, and to commend this outstanding young person from Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District for her thoughtful reflections on our country and system government. Abigail, a seventh-grade student at Neenah Middle School, was selected as the winner for her essay on the importance of an informed and educated citizenry, strong communities, civic engagement, and the ability of Americans to work together to improve our country. I am proud to recognize Abigail for the time, effort, and thought she put into her essay. Her work demonstrates an appreciation for the responsibilities of citizenship and the principles that have helped make our nation strong. I congratulate her on this achievement and am pleased to include in the Record her winning essay: Abigail Roth--Neenah Middle School, 7th Grade I believe America's strength comes from our nation's ability to grow and move forward with the engagement and attention of the citizens. To realize America's strength, the citizens must be well informed and educated. Those citizens create communities that generate trust between their neighbors to influence policy. When those communities unite, America has a system in place to change the fate of our governmental system for the better. This system can create long lasting change in America, improving the country for future generations. In order for America to grow and move forward, the public must be well informed and well educated. Everyone that has the right to vote should have access to education. Education creates a solid base of knowledge and skills necessary to promote individual civic responsibility. Civic responsibility is important because it leads to engagement with our country, necessary for a strong democracy and nation. Without the ability to read the ballot, how can we expect anyone to be engaged with democratic process? Next, having a well informed public that knows what is going on in the nation is very important. It's not enough that citizens can read, it is that they do read, and learn about issues in their government that they care about. With robust information, a well informed public enlivens democracy to grow and move forward, because people can make better decisions about what is happening in their country. To have a well informed public, reliable sources of information must be available. Newspapers, news channels, and government reports that adhere to standards which promote reliability and trustworthiness are valuable. These information sources create an environment where good faith debate and discussion can occur. America's strength is tied to its citizen's ability to constructively debate the issues of the moment. Secondly, America derives strength from the trust built through engaged communities. When citizens are engaged with the issues that are affecting their community they can unite and come together to improve. When a community solves a problem they build trust by talking to each other and working together to fix the problem. People get involved in their community by joining events, talking to neighbors and joining clubs in their community. Anything that requires multiple people to interact in a community creates familiarity and trust. The government especially requires familiarity and trust from its constituents. As people work with each other to address issues in their community, those same people grow to become influential parts of the government. Whether they submit public comments, letters to their representatives or running for local office, these people exert influence on governance that leads to improvement. This process of well- informed, and educated citizens engaging with the issues of their community keeps growing until a chain of trust bonds every person. America derives strength from the trust through communities that come together and unite. Lastly, we have built a system of government that can improve upon itself. When we have a well informed and well educated public we can create good ideas. These good ideas will be tested by the community through discussion and debate to identify and refine them into great ideas. Then those great ideas will be carried up from local to state to federal politicians who can deploy them to help the nation. An example of this is the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. Over the span of about 70 years, the idea of women's suffrage spread grew from novel, to good, to great, until finally being ratified in 1920. In other forms of government, like the British monarchy from which the USA revolted, citizens' ideas take a back seat to what the leader wants. But in this nation we have created a system where things can change and be better. Overall, America's strength comes from a public being well informed. That public must belong to communities that create trust and generate great ideas. Those great ideas then inform the governmental system that adapts to become better. To make America stronger, citizens must obtain good education, keep themselves well informed, build community to discuss and debate how America can improve, and engage in the political process to see their ideas come into law. America's strength will improve if we work together to ensure that all citizens can partake in this country's growth. [[Page E907]] ____________________