[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS

  (Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I read with great sadness and 
sorrow in this morning's papers that the new chairman of the Rules 
Committee has replaced the portrait adorning that committee's wall.
  The portrait that had hung on that site was of Claude Pepper, one of 
the most revered and respected Members ever to serve in this 
institution, a man long associated with protecting the rights and 
dignity of senior citizens.
  The portrait that replaces it, one of Howard W. Smith, a man perhaps 
best remembered for his obstruction in passing the country's civil 
rights laws. A man who in his own words ``never accepted the colored 
race as a race of people who had equal intelligence and education and 
social attainments as the white people of the South.''
  Mr. Speaker, it has been said that a picture speaks a thousand words. 
I know the gentleman from New York meant no offense, meant no harm. He 
should change his mind. Symbols in our society are important. We do not 
need angels on our walls, but certainly we can do better. Mr. Chairman, 
please take down that picture. Take it down now.


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