European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                If you be got a cause Congress can name a Day week or month after it saturday March 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 by Lawrence l. Knutson associated Pressw hat do Vietnam veterans George and Ira Gershwin Mark Twain myasthenia Gravis polish americans and the Federal building in Green Bay wis., have in common answer they were All saluted commemorated condemned hailed renamed or otherwise taken note of by Congress last year and in Many cases honoured or singled out by special Days weeks months or even entire years. All were specially designated by Laws adopted by the House and Senate and signed by the president along with measures concerning such groups or matters As american women older workers fair housing world health and cancer prevention. In 1985, the Senate met for 1,252 hours and 31 minutes Over 170 Days. The House met for 965 hours and 16 minutes Over 152 Days. A total of 7,777 Bills and resolutions were introduced. At the end of the legislative process just 240 measures had been passed by both houses and signed into Law by the president including All authorization and appropriations measures needed to pay the government s Bills and the Gramm Rudman deficit reduction plan aimed at eliminating the Federal budget deficit by 1991. Of those 240 Laws at least 107 were dedicated to such matters As naming Federal office buildings honouring worthy americans and setting aside various Days week and months to Herald achievement remember anniversaries and give attention to worthy causes and worthy groups. Consider for example congressionally proclaimed anniversaries there was the 25th anniversary of . Weather satellites the 24th anniversary of the ill fated Bay of pigs invasion in Cuba the 75th anniversary of the boy scouts of America the 25th anniversary of the peace corps. The entire year was proclaimed by Law the Oil heat Centennial  following tradition Congress designated Days in May and june for Mother s Day and father s Day and set aside the entire month of june to Honor family reunions. Congress also took time to Praise famous men and women Gold medals were ordered struck to Honor the work of popular song composers George and Ira Gershwin. May 6 was set aside to Honor or. Jonas Salk discoverer of the vaccine for polio june 12 was designated Anne Frank Day in Honor of the teen Ager Erma Bombeck whose diary became one of the most poignant documents of the holocaust in Europe and the week beginning june 23 was named Helen Keller deaf Blind awareness week in Honor of the famous Pioneer in those Fields who was herself deaf and Blind. Congress renamed hiking trails and Airport control towers. It renamed Federal office buildings in several cities to Honor among others former rep. John Byrnes r-wis., in Green Bay and former sen. Wallace f. Bennett a Utah in Salt Lake City. Worthy groups got special notice there was women s history week in March followed by older worker s week. Jewish heritage week in april was followed by a special week for crime victims. Correctional officers were put on the congressional Calendar for a week in May which was also the official month for older americans. But the Vietnam veterans got just one Day May 7. May was a Busy month. Congress used it to carve out weeks for senior Center week National science week and it designated the entire month hot Only for the elderly but for very special arts .a. Month and better hearing and speech month. Throughout the rest of the year there were National family week National High tech month National tourism week National sewing month National historical Black colleges week world food Day victims of terrorism Day National women s veterans recognition week National Home care week National temporary services week and made in America month. Then Congress started looking ahead to 1986. The entire year of 1986 was named save the .a. Year. Then it was designated the year of the Flag. And then it was named again for the sesquicentennial year of the National Library of Medicine. And then there were diseases last year Congress paid appropriate attention not just to cancer and alzheimer s disease but also to osteoporosis Down s syndrome and myasthenia Gravis. The Beauty of these congressionally selected Days weeks months and years is that in the Era of frantic efforts to Cut Federal budget deficits they Cost practically no Money except the printing costs of the congressional record in which they Are described. If you re a Parent who believes that English Isth Universal language Between you and you child. You re new to this  May All speak the same words but they Don t even begin to mean the same thing. For example when someone Calls and asks me what Are you doing and i say nothing i mean nothing. I am sitting there staring into space with my hands in my Lap and my eyes glazed Over. Even my breathing is shallow. When you ask a child what he is doing and he says nothing that my Friend is a 911 signal. Doing nothing to a child is what is not being done out of the sight of a Parent behind a closed door or at a Friend s House when there is no one at Home. Sometimes in the background there Are sounds of water running a dog laughing bodies falling Glass being broken or sirens getting louder and louder. If a Parent is smart he or she will ask As quickly As possible How Many people in the room a doing nothing with you How Long have you been doing it and Why did it take you 15 minutes to answer the question another phrase that does not translate the same from English adult to English child is in a  to an adult a minute is a precise form of time measurement. It spans exactly 60 seconds no More no less. When an adult says ill be there in a minute they Are locked into a time Frame that does not give. When a child is asked to do dishes and he responds in a minute that can mean anywhere from an hour to three weeks. It can mean when he is finished talking on the phone to a girl who wants to play Phil Collins entire albums for him. It can mean when he goes to the bathroom plays with the dog shoots a few baskets until it gets dark and does his Homework. It has been known to Span a period of time so Long the pattern of the dirty dishes is discontinued. I cleaned my room does not have the same meaning for kids As it does for a Mother. I personally have always used the definition in the second College edition of the american heritage dictionary in which clean is a verb meaning to remove dirt or other impurities. It seems rather Clear to me that that would include socks drying on a Light bulb pizza boxes under the bed eight pairs of underwear stuffed in the closet a science project that is multiplying and Orange juice on the ceiling. That is obviously not the Case. Oddly enough neither Parent nor child Ever becomes totally bilingual. There Are always gaps like get me up Early. I have to  Parent Early is 5 . Child Early is at noon. The first time i discovered this Gap was one Day when i asked my son if he had washed his face. A 19 Inch Tongue came out of his Mouth and hit every Corner of his face. He said  that s when i knew i had used a word that would not translate. C 1986, los Angeles times Syndicate