Oratorical contest winner shares speech with County Legislature

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Hannah Brundage, a Kendall High School senior, shared her winning speech from the Orleans County American Legion Oratorical Competition on Tuesday with the County Legislature.

Brundage won the county event, and also the 8th District Level. She will next compete at Mt. Morris on Feb. 2 for the zone level competition. Zackary Baron of Albion, who was second at the district level contest, also advances to the zone level competition on Feb. 2.

Brundage entitled her speech, “Understanding the Government.” She began by asking how many in the audience ever leave home, wondering if they will ever see their loved ones again, not knowing if they would make it back alive?

Her father, Daniel Brundage, experienced that as an Army veteran with the 10th Mountain Division. He served a tour in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq. As a firefinder radar technician, his job was to locate incoming artillery and their trajectories and determine the enemy’s position.

“Putting his life on the line, he was able to save countless other soldiers from a gruesome death,” Hannah Brundage said. “Just like him, thousands of men and women in the military are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect us. Many do not return.”

In her speech she talks about the power of Congress to declare war, and how the president sometimes oversteps the executive role and commits the country to conflicts and warfare, without Congress’s support.

She also highlights other powers of Congress that affect Americans, from the economy to civil rights. Congress also plays a big role in judging whether the president should be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Brundage urges citizens to educate themselves on the Constitution and the role of government.

“As James Madison said, ‘Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,’” she said.