[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H2795-H2802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  COMMEMORATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VOTING RIGHTS CAMPAIGN OF 
                                  1965

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight at this hour during 
this special order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the voting 
rights campaign of 1965. Thirty years ago this day, March 7, 1965, was 
a turning point in the struggle for the right to vote in the American 
South.
  In commemorating the voting rights campaign of 1965, we honor the 
great sacrifices many people made to secure voting rights for all 
Americans.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, you must keep in mind that during another period in 
our history, during the 1960's, there were certain political 
subdivisions in the 11 Southern States of the old South, from Virginia 
to Texas, where 50 to 80 percent of the population was black, and there 
was not a single black registered voter. The practice used by whites to 
keep blacks out of their political process ranged from economic 
retaliation to outright murder. In many instances brutal acts of 
violence were directed against those who tried to register to vote. 
Those few who were allowed to register were harassed, intimidated, and 
even beaten when they tried to exercise their precious right to vote.
  One State, the State of Mississippi, had a black voting-age 
population of more than 450,000, and only 16,000 blacks were registered 
to vote. In one county in Alabama, Lowndes County, between Selma and 
Montgomery, AL, the county was more than 80 percent black, and there 
was not a single registered black voter.
  In the little town of Selma, the county seat of Dallas County, AL, 
majority of black population, only 2.1 percent of blacks of voting age 
were registered to vote.
  The drive for the right to vote came to a head in Selma in the heart 
of the Black Belt after a series of nonviolent protests and after 
people had been shot, beaten, and killed. A small band of citizens on 
March 7, in an effort to dramatize to the Nation and to the world the 
need for voting rights legislation, decided to march from Selma to 
Montgomery.
  Young black children, some elderly black men and women, left the 
Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church on Sunday afternoon, March 7, 1965, walking 
to twos, It was a silent, nonviolent, and peaceful protest, walking 
through the streets of Selma.
  Crossing the Alabama River, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, when 
they reached the apex of the bridge, they saw a sea of blue, Alabama 
State troopers.
  The Governor of the State, at that time Gov. George Wallace, had 
issued a statement the day before saying the march would not be 
allowed. The sheriff of Dallas County, a man by the name of Jim Clark, 
on the Saturday night before the march on Sunday had requested that all 
white men over the age of 21 to come down to the Dallas County 
Courthouse to be deputized to become part of his posse to stop the 
march.
  Sheriff Clark was a very big man who wore a gun on one side, a 
nightstick on the other side, and he carried an electric cattle prodder 
in his hand. He did not use it on cows. He used it on peaceful, 
nonviolent protesters.
  As we continued to walk on that Sunday afternoon, we came within the 
hearing distance of the State
 troopers and a man identified himself and said:

       I am Maj. John Cloud of the Alabama State Troopers. I give 
     you 3 minutes to disperse and go back to your church. This is 
     an unlawful march, and it will not be allowed to continue.

  In less than 1\1/2\ minutes, Maj. John Cloud said, ``Troopers 
advance,'' and you saw these men putting on their gas masks. They came 
toward us, beating us with nightsticks, bullwhips, tramping us with 
horses, and using tear gas.
  That Sunday, March 7, 1965, became known as Bloody Sunday. There was 
a sense of righteous indignation all across the country. People could 
not understand what they saw on television. They could not understand 
the picture they saw in the paper the next day coming from Selma.
  Lyndon Johnson, 8 days later, came before this hall and spoke to a 
joint session of the Congress on March 15, 1965, to urge Congress to 
pass a strong voting rights law.

                              {time}  2100

  In that speech President Johnson started off the night by saying:

       I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of 
     democracy.

  He went on to say:

       I urge every member of both parties, Americans of all 
     religions and of all colors, from every section of this 
     country, to join me in that cause.

  President Johnson continued by saying:

       At times, at times history and fate meet at a single time 
     in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending 
     search for freedom.

  He went on to say:

       So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago 
     at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.

  And the President went on to say:

       There long-suffering men and women peacefully protested the 
     denial of their rights as Americans. Many were brutally 
     assaulted. One good man, a man of G-d, was killed.

  A few days between March 7, 1965, and March 15, 1965, a young white 
minister by the name of James Reed, who came down from Boston to 
participate, was beaten by the Klan and later died.
  In that speech here in this hall Lyndon Johnson said that night over 
and over again, ``We shall overcome.''
  [[Page H2796]] In a matter of a few months, Mr. Speaker, the Congress 
passed the Voting Rights Act, and it was signed into law on August 6, 
1965. Because of the March from Selma to Montgomery, because of the 
leadership of Lyndon Johnson and the action of the Congress on August 
6, 1965, we have witnessed what I like to call a nonviolent revolution 
in American politics, especially in the South. Today in Selma more than 
75 percent of blacks of voting age are not registered to vote, and you 
have a biracial city council. In a State like Mississippi today there 
are more than 300,000 registered black voters, and the State of 
Mississippi has the highest number of elected black officials. In 1965, 
on March 7, 1965, there were less than 50 black elected officials in 11 
Southern States. Today there are more than 7,000.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we have come a distance. We made a lot of progress. 
But I think what happened 30 years ago as we meet here tonight tends to 
dramatize the distance we must still travel before we create a truly 
interracial democracy in America.
  So, Mr. Speaker, at this time I am going to yield to some of my 
colleagues that are willing to participate in this special order in 
memory, not just in memory, but in commemoration, I guess, in 
celebration, of what happened in that little town of Selma, what 
happened in other parts of Alabama, but also in Mississippi, and 
Tennessee, and Louisiana, North and South Carolina, and Texas, all 
across our country really, to make democracy real.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Becerra].
  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis].
  I say to the gentleman first that it is with great honor that I stand 
next to him today with the opportunity to participate in this special 
order that he has organized because he is one whose footsteps I hope I 
have a chance to follow in the future, as well as someone who has 
distinguished himself in the past as one of those who marched way back 
when, in the 1960's, and made it possible for some of us to be here 
today. I consider myself someone who is the fruits of much of the work 
of people like the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis], and I think it 
is only a tribute to the folks like him that we have a chance to come 
before here, and speak and say how things really are. So to the 
gentleman from Georgia and those like him who have fought and continue 
to fight, Mr. Speaker, I say, ``Thank you for giving me the opportunity 
to stand here today and speak on behalf of voting rights for all 
Americans.''
  Clearly the Voting Rights Act was a landmark piece of legislation for 
our country and for our history. The Voting Rights Act made it possible 
for people for the first time to truly participate in America's 
democracy, and of course now that we see the 30th year of the Voting 
Rights Act, it is only fitting that we have a chance to discuss its 
many successes, especially in light of the fact that there are so many 
obstacles and so many deterrents to its successful implementation that 
are being placed before us these days.
  I think it is clear that there have been benefits to the African-
American community throughout this Nation. It is unquestionable that it 
opened doors for many people who for years have been closed out of the 
process. But let me focus a little bit of my time on two emerging 
communities that, too, have benefited from the Voting Rights Act and 
who have struggled as well to try to make sure that America truly is a 
place for all.
  Let me focus a few minutes, if I may, on the Asian-Pacific Americans 
in this country and the Latinos of this country who, as the gentleman 
from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] mentioned, are part of America and make up 
that fabric which makes America so great.
  The Asian-Pacific American community is really coming of age. It is a 
community in California which represents about 10 percent of the 
State's population. That is a dramatic increase over the last decade or 
two decades, yet the Asian-Pacific population is woefully 
underrepresented in office and in other signficant places of 
importance. The participation rates are very low right now for Asian-
Pacific Americans when it comes to voting, and the biggest barrier, of 
course, is language. Right now what we find is that without some 
assistance and an opportunity to learn the language, it becomes very 
difficult for people to fully participate and understand the process, 
but fortunately the Voting Rights Act has made it possible for a number 
of Asian-Pacific Americans to become fully participant members of 
democracy. Just in California alone in the last few elections 25,000 
additional voters, citizens, Asian-Pacific Americans, have gone to the 
polls, voted and become participants because the Voting Rights Act made 
it possible for them to participate through bilingual ballots. Now that 
is an example of how the Voting Rights Act has helped the Asian-Pacific 
American community.
  In the Latino community, Mr. Speaker, it is much the same. I should 
note that the Latino community has a long history, especially in the 
Southwest, where there were settlements in this country long before the 
Pilgrims made it to the shores of the east coast. But Latinos have also 
suffered from poll taxes, white primaries and intimidation. Throughout 
the history of the Southwest it was very difficult for Latinos to 
participate in the process because literacy tests or language barriers 
were imposed, but the Voting Rights Act has made it possible for real 
progress to be achieved. I think it is clear to say that the doubling 
of Latino elected officials over the last 10 to 15 years, the increase 
in voter participation by Latinos, oh, say from 1975 from about 1.5 
million to over 3 million are marked increases that deserve recognition 
especially for the Voting Rights Act.
  I can go on and on and talk about how things are improving not just 
in the southwest, but in New York City where there has been a 17-
percent increase in the number of Latinos who are registered to vote. 
But what we find from this is once they begin to participate in the 
process, they become full Americans, and I think that is what we hope 
to achieve through the Voting Rights Act, is full Americans, and I want 
to say to people like the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] to those 
who will participate in this special order, that it gives me great 
pride to say that back in the 1960's, when the march and the struggle 
came to a head and we had a chance to really televise it, that there 
was a chance to tell the American people that people have struggled, 
struggled not just for decades, but for centuries, to provide true, 
true rights, true representation to all people, not just a particular 
minority, not just to those that have been disenfranchised, but to all 
people, and I think, when you look at all the different communities 
that we have in this country that make up the fabric of America, you 
can truly say that the Voting Rights Act has worked. We should make it 
work more. We
 should preserve it. In fact we should strengthen it.

  I would just like to say that it is time for us to stand together and 
do what was done 30 years ago, say that the Voting Rights Act must not 
only continue, but we must strengthen it. So I thank the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for the opportunity to be here today.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I thank the gentleman from California, my 
friend and colleague, for participating in this special order.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-
Lee], and I want to thank her for being here and participating.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with both celebration and 
trepidation that I rise this evening in recognition of the 30th 
anniversary of the March From Selma to Montgomery and passage of the 
Voting Rights Act.
  I celebrate with my colleagues the inspiring courage that fortified 
the unarmed band of non-violent probably people like our neighbors, who 
were tear-gassed, charged and brutally beaten by State police on 
horseback as they tried to peacefully cross the Edmund Pettus bridge in 
Selma, Alabama, 30 years ago today I also salute them--for these 
courageous souls changed the course of history of this nation--and when 
the 35,000 strong reached Montgomery after the March 7 march, they were 
black and white together.
  I celebrate the courage of the distinguished gentleman from Georgia, 
[Mr. Lewis], who was on that bridge on 
[[Page H2797]] March 7, and suffered great injury in the name of 
freedom along with the gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. [McKinney], has 
been instrumental in providing my colleagues and I the opportunity to 
address the chamber this evening.
  And I celebrate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that has ensured the 
freedom for all Americans to cast their ballots in peace and safety.
  A freedom some may take for granted these days, but a freedom for 
which so many--black and white--were forced to fight and too often die.
  My trepidation, Mr. Speaker, comes in the knowledge that there are 
those around this Nation today who seem to have forgotten America's 
long and tortured history of racial injustice. There are those, Mr. 
Speaker, who would turn back the clock to a time of fear and 
polarization. Those who are again willing to stroke the fires of racial 
division in their pursuit of short term gain.
  As history's demagogues have always chosen their scapegoats, American 
demagogues today seek to make different classes and races of people 
their scapegoats.
  Encouraged by November's election analysis, today's demagogues want 
to promote anger and divisiveness amongst America's many races--
particularly those most associated with the civil rights movement--
African-Americans.
  If they can convince white Americans that they should fear these 
diverse Americans instead of spending more constructive time solving 
the problems of binding work instead of welfare, of insuring the 
maintenance of school lunches and breakfasts instead of ketchup as a 
meal, and insuring a higher minimum wage for our citizens then today's 
demagogues will succeed in their efforts to divide and conquer America.
  Today's demagogues here in Congress and across the country on talk-
radio have fought tooth and nail the motor-voter laws that make it 
easier for all Americans to register to vote when they renew their 
driver's licenses or vehicle registrations.
  They have been gerrymandering Congressional Districts for their 
advantage for more than 200 years.
  But now that Congress has been fairly and legally diversified through 
the Voter Rights Act, the demagogues want to challenge the Voting 
Rights Act in court.
  And just as police and fire departments, construction sites, 
corporate offices and graduate school classrooms are beginning to show 
the kind of racial, cultural and gender diversity that is America, the 
demagogues want to abolish any and all Government programs that they 
call ``affirmative action.''
  Mr. Speaker, my trepidation comes when I hear the demagogues make 
blanket condemnations of all affirmative action programs--as though it 
was affirmative action and not a changing global economy that is to 
blame for America's anxiety over job security.
  Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, I welcome positive debate on 
affirmative action programs and we can work together to improve any 
utilization of these programs.
  But let us make no mistake about it, affirmative action is not and 
never was some crazy scheme foisted on America by bleeding heart 
zealots. It was and remains the direct consequence of sustained and 
oppressive racism, and to those who argue that that kind of racism is a 
thing of the past, let me share with you some of my recent mail.
  Mr. Jack Clark of Morgan, Georgia, offers his insight into American 
race relations. Mr. Clark claims it was the white male who made our 
country great and that, quote, ``Niggers Will Destroy America.''
  Mr. Speaker, another anonymous correspondent, also from Georgia, 
offers this Nazi-like solution to racial tensions, quote, ``Save 
America, Nigger Genocide.''
  Mr. Speaker, I did not consider lightly whether or not to share this 
mail with my House colleagues and the rest of America, and it is with 
mixed feelings that I did so.
  As an American first, I am ashamed that such thinking still goes on 
in any quarter.
  As an African-American who has worked all her life to improve racial 
harmony in my hometown of Houston and across the country, I was stunned 
to receive such cruel insults by people who haven't the slightest idea 
who I am or what I stand for.
  Mr. Speaker, I know the vast majority of white Americans would be as 
insulted as I am by these disgusting thoughts.
  And I know they are not the ones discriminating against African-
Americans in matters of education, employment, housing or finance.
  But, as we commemorate the Selma to Montgomery march for freedom, and 
the Voter's Rights Act, this good-hearted majority must be reminded 
that tremendous evil still lurks in the hearts of a dangerous minority.
  And if we are not careful, we run the risk of returning to our dark 
past.
  Let me conclude, Mr. Speaker, with a heartfelt plea to all 
Americans--white, black, brown and yellow.
  We must celebrate our diversity, we must maintain our courage, and we 
must stay strong so we can resist the demagogues' message of fear and 
hatred.
  Despite skin color and cultural heritage, we are all brothers and 
sisters, and brothers and sisters must care for each other and see to 
it that justice is done.
  Let us remain vigilant and never forget that united we stand, and 
divided we shall surely fall.
                              {time}  2114

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman 
from Texas for participating in this special order and say to her that 
I am very grateful for her involvement and for her leadership. I think 
the mail that you got from my State tends to dramatize to the Nation 
and to all of us that the scars and stains of racism are still deeply 
embedded in the American society. So we must still act. We must still 
speak. And thank you.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. I am grateful for those words and let me say to you 
that our challenge is before us. You have paved the way and we join you 
in making this country a better place for all of us.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I now would like to 
recognize the gentleman, my friend and colleague, the gentleman from 
North Carolina [Mr. Watt].
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. I rise today to stand with this brave 
man, Representative John Lewis, to commemorate the anniversary of the 
Selma to Montgomery march, one of the milestones in civil rights 
history. Thirty years ago today hundreds of brave African-American men 
and women, Representative John Lewis among them, risked their lives to 
ensure the voting rights of all people, regardless of their race.
  During the 1960s, the State of Alabama was notorious for its 
practices of segregation. Like many States in the South, Alabama did 
not even acknowledge the equal rights of black men and women. In 1965, 
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other began trying to 
escalate his Selma voting registration campaign. But whites in Alabama, 
including then Governor George Wallace, were just as adamant in their 
protests against the voter registration campaign.
  On March 7, 1965, more than 600 marchers gathered in front of Brown's 
Chapel AME Church in Selma to prepare for the 50-mile march from Selma 
to Montgomery. This march was intended to dramatize the demands for 
voting rights. Led by the Reverend Hosea Williams, a King lieutenant 
and my distinguished colleague, Congressman John Lewis, who at that 
time was the national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 
Committee, the marchers headed for the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma. 
Unfortunately, they were not prepared for what was in store for them. A 
solid wall of State troopers, a smoke bomb and an ensuing attack and 
chase by the troopers and sheriff's posse. The marchers were violently 
driven back as ambulances shuttled the injured to the hospital and 
treated others on site for cuts, bruises, and tear gas aftereffects.
  The infamous bloody Sunday became a monument to history. Many of 
these marchers, including Representative Lewis, were college students 
who heeded the call of civil rights leaders for all blacks to become 
active in the movement. Students in my own congressional district 
heeded the call 5 years prior to the Selma march in 1960. Four 
[[Page H2798]] African-American students, black students from North 
Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC, including one of my 
constituents, Franklin McCain, made history for the civil rights 
movement and the State of North Carolina.
  On February 1, 1960, these African-American students staged a sit-in 
at the Woolworth's department store counter in Greensboro. This was by 
no means the first sit-in in North Carolina but this particular one 
opened the doors for a student movement that began creeping up 
throughout the South.
  On the evening following the four students'
   sit-in, 50 students met and created the Students Executive Committee 
for Justice. The following day, the four A&T students were joined by 
more than 300 African-American students from A&T and Bennett College, 
also in my congressional district. They organized a massive sit-in at 
various lunch counters across the city of Greensboro. Four days later, 
1,600 students decided to halt the demonstrations at the request of 
city leaders who promised talks and negotiations.

  However, no compromise became evident to any of the students, so the 
sit-ins resumed on April 1. On April 21, 45 demonstrators were arrested 
for their protest. Yet, subsequent sit-ins and boycotts forced the city 
of Greensboro to reopen lunch counters on a desegregated basis by July 
1960.
  The students' acts made a tremendous difference in both of these 
historical civil rights milestones: the sit-ins and the march in Selma. 
Their involvement and commitment not only helped make strides in voting 
rights but in the entire arena of desegregating America.
  Mr. Speaker, I had hoped that this would be the end of my 
presentation in this special order, but when I went back to my office 
today I was reminded of the significance of the Selma march again. When 
I went back to my office from the floor today, in March 1995, I had a 
memo from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. They reminded me once again 
that we have not yet quite arrived.
  It said on April 19 the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two 
crucial voting rights cases from Louisiana and Georgia. These cases ask 
the Supreme Court to consider whether race or ethnicity can 
constitutionally be considered in constructing electoral districts.
  The attack is not limited to oddly shaped or bizarre congressional 
districts, said the memo. It is not the districts' shapes but their 
racial composition as majority black and majority Hispanic that is 
being challenged as unconstitutional.
  ``The legal principles,'' the memo went on to say, ``established in 
these cases will have wide-reaching impact.'' Plessy versus Ferguson 
ensconced the nationwide principle of separate but equal in a case that 
presented the claim of one person seeking to ride in a white-only 
railroad car. Brown versus Board of Education directly involved only 
four school districts, but the decision revolutionized the law of 
racial equality.
  And the memo went on to say the lower court in the Louisiana case 
ruled that any race consciousness in districting is always subject to 
strict scrutiny. Yet, the creation of majority-minority electoral 
districts almost never occurs by chance. Because race is such a 
dominant force in American politics, it would be impossible to provide 
fair representation to racial and ethnic minorities without taking race 
into account.
  Since minorities have been elected almost exclusively from majority-
minority districts, the U.S. Congress and State and local legislative 
bodies are at risk of once again becoming virtually all white.
  So, today, once again, we are reminded of why these brave people made 
that march in Selma. And, unfortunately, once again we are reminded 
that the march and the fight and the struggle for equality in the 
voting rights area and in every segment of our society still has not 
been completed.
                              {time}  2130

  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. We must fight. We must continue to march 
together. I commend my colleague, Representative Lewis for putting 
together this special order, and I express my thanks to him for 
inviting me to participate, but more importantly, I express my sincere 
thanks to him for the bravery that he demonstrated 20 years ago today 
when he faced the marshals and the tear gas and the fear that must have 
existed on that bridge in Selma, AL. Thank you for allowing me to 
participate, Representative Lewis.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my friend and 
colleague from North Carolina for those kind words and for 
participating in this special order tonight. We are very grateful for 
your participation. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the head of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the 
Honorable Mr. Payne from the State of New Jersey.
  Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from 
Georgia, the Honorable Representative Lewis, who over 30 years ago led 
the Nation in the march on bloody Sunday. It was in fact the same date 
as tonight when he led the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, when 
Sheriff Jim Clark and his posse, with the Alabama State troopers, stood 
there and treated people as brutally as any act in this Nation.
  As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, I take great pride in 
drawing attention to a very important piece of legislation that 
resulted from that action. After years of judicial and administrative 
wars, which were highlighted with the passage of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965, this country just recently began to get women and minority 
officials elected in significant numbers.
  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its extension in 1970 and 1975 had 
a profound effect on the black political participation in the South. 
The percentage of voting age blacks registered in the South in March, 
1965 was only 35.5 percent, compared with 73.4 percent of the white 
population. The percentage of blacks registered was especially low in 
States targeted by the special provisions of this act, and it was in 
the area of the South that the act had the most direct and important 
impact.
  By the end of 1965, Federal examiners, working in 32 counties in the 
covered States, had listed the names of 79,000 African-Americans to be 
added to the voting registration rolls. By the end of 1967, more than 
half a million new black voters were listed in the States covered by 
the Voting Rights Act. Since 1970, changes in black registration rates 
have been more erratic, but have generally moved upward. Moreover, the 
substantial increase in the number of black registered voters has been 
accompanied by a significant rise in the number of black elected 
officials.
  So I share this history with you to emphasize how important this bill 
really is to African-Americans and to our communities. More 
importantly, I believe these statistics are even more remarkable when 
one considers that as late as 1940, 95 percent of adult blacks residing 
in the States in the South were deterred from voting. Many people had 
been beaten, lynched and harassed so that African-Americans could have 
the right to vote. The barriers at the time were numerous to them. They 
included all-white primaries, poll taxes, literacy taxes and economic 
intimidation. Within a generation, these barriers were largely
 dismantled; however, some still exist. By far the biggest increase in 
black registration occurred in the late 1060s in the southern States 
covered by the Voting Rights Act.

  And let me say that it is interesting to note that it was not only in 
the South where we have had problems, but when we look at Black History 
Month, which just passed, we found that following the Civil War, it was 
the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867 that gave blacks the 
right to vote.
  Blacks were elected to Congress. Hiram Revels of Mississippi became 
the first black to serve in Congress, when he took his seat in the U.S. 
Senate on February 25, 1870. Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the 
first black Member of the House of Representatives when he took his 
oath of office on December 12, 1870. In fact, in the first Presidential 
election open to African-American voters, the blacks gave the deciding 
vote. Ulysses S. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour by a margin of 300,000 
votes. It was estimated that 
[[Page H2799]] Grant received 450,000 votes from newly freed slaves.
  Unfortunately, in my home State of New Jersey, African-Americans were 
shut out of the political system for a very long time. In fact, in 1807 
the State legislature restricted voting rights to only white males, 
eliminating privileges that our State's 1776 Constitution had existed 
for both African-Americans and women. Despite immediate opposition to 
the 1807 restrictions, the State's 1844 Constitution continued to limit 
the franchise to white men.
  In an effort to gain a right to vote, the first statewide black 
convention was convened at Trenton's Zion AME Church in 1849. The 
convention petitioned the legislature to put aside prejudice and allow 
all citizens to vote. Their effort was unsuccessful. The reality is 
that New Jersey in the 1800s was sometimes compared to the South. New 
Jersey was a slave holding State and it was reluctant to change. 
References to New Jersey as the land of slavery are found in historical 
letters of pre-Civil War era. New Jersey was the last northern State to 
approve laws abolishing slavery. It was in 1804 when a bill was passed 
establishing a gradual system of the practice of ending slavery, but 
the bill actually allowed slavery to continue until after the 
Emancipation Proclamation to the end of the Civil War.
  So as I conclude, it is important that we do know about history, that 
we do know that New Jersey questioned President Abraham Lincoln's 
authority to free the slaves. It was also the only northern State that 
failed to ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the 
Constitution.
  And so as we look around, we have seen a great deal of improvement. 
As we look around, we see that the importance of this bill is 
important. As we look around, we see that we have seen a great deal of 
progress in the course of history as African-Americans. We have seen 
many move into elective offices. Today there are over 8,000 elected 
African-Americans as compared to 280 in 1965, and so as I conclude, I 
once again want to congratulate the gentleman from Georgia for this 
very important event tonight and I thought that it was important, as we 
celebrate Black History Month, that we hear a bit about the history of 
African-Americans throughout this country and thank you, Mr. Lewis, for 
this opportunity.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and 
my friend, the gentleman from New Jersey, for participating in this 
special order, for his remarks, and for taking the time out to remember 
the people that participated in the march from Selma to Montgomery. I 
think it is fitting and appropriate tonight that we pause and 
commemorate, to take stock of the distance we have come as a Nation and 
as a people. I think as a Nation and as a people, we are on our way 
down that long road to creating a truly interracial democracy in 
America, a creative and beloved community, the open society, and this 
is what America is all about, creating a society where all of our 
people are able to participate and share in the fruits and dream of 
this great country of ours.
  So tonight, as we commemorate, as we celebrate, as we pause, as I 
stated before, we have a distance to go, but we are on our way and 
there will be no turning back.
  I would like to, Mr. Speaker, yield to a colleague and a friend, the 
gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Fields], who, if not for the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 and the march from Selma to Montgomery, Mr. Fields, 
like many of us, would not be here tonight.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Let me 
just say to the gentleman that I too appreciate his efforts and I think 
on this very floor I have expressed my appreciation and my gratitude to 
the gentleman for all the commitments he has made to civil rights and 
voting rights in this country, and while the gentleman was walking 
across the bridge in 1965 I was only 2 years old, a little bit better 
than 2 years old, and I just want to thank the gentleman for, 
irrespective of the dogs and irrespective of the tear gas and 
irrespective of the police officers and the fire hoses, the gentleman 
still found the gall and the courage to march for what was right, and I 
just want to thank the gentleman. I think even today the gentleman 
would probably realize that the Voting Rights Act is still under 
attack.
  The gentleman from North Carolina, Mel Watt, mentioned about the case 
in Louisiana, but in his own State there is a challenge in terms of the 
redistricting of his congressional district and the district that he 
represents. In the State of Georgia, in the gentleman's own State, 
there is a challenge in redrawing the congressional districts in the 
State of Georgia and in the State of Texas, and on the 19th the Supreme 
Court will hear both the Georgia and Louisiana cases. I want to thank 
the gentleman; irrespective of the outcome of that case, he certainly 
has made his mark on this institution, and I rightfully am here largely 
because of people like you who have opened up the doors for people like 
me, and I thank you for that.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I thank my friend and colleague for those kind 
words.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to 
talk a little bit about some of the rescissions and some of the things 
that have taken place here in Washington, DC, just to change the 
subject just a minute, and I am going to yield back to the gentleman 
because I think the gentleman has just received another invited guest.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Well, Mr. Speaker, if I may, let me yield to my 
colleague from the great State of Georgia, the gentleman from the 
second Congressional District of Georgia, Mr. Bishop.
  Mr. BISHOP. I thank my colleague, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, 8 days following the event known to history as Bloody 
Sunday, President Lyndon Johnson came to this Chamber to formally call 
on Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act.
  In his remarks, the President predicted that Selma would prove to be 
a turning point in the country's history comparable to Lexington and 
Concord.
  As we now know, he was right. The Voting Rights Act had been under 
discussion for some time. But it was Bloody Sunday that gave it the 
momentum to finally get through the House of Representatives and Senate 
and become law.
  Its impact was nothing less than revolutionary. The new law 
authorized the Attorney General to send Federal examiners to supersede 
local registrars wherever discrimination occurred. This provided a 
means for dealing with disenfranchisement cases quickly and effectively 
without going through the prolonged and cumbersome process of 
litigation. Prior to enactment, millions of Americans were routinely 
denied the right to vote. After enactment, the opportunity to register 
and vote was immediately opened to all Americans for the first time in 
the country's history.
  Although a majority of Selma's residents were black, only 3 percent 
had been permitted to register in 1965. Many techniques were employed 
to keep people disenfranchised. If an ``i'' was not dotted or a ``t'' 
crossed, a registration form was thrown out. If the registration form 
was filled out perfectly, a verbal literacy test was administered with 
questions so obscure the registrars themselves could not have answered 
them. And even if the questions were answered correctly, the registrars 
could tell applicants they failed anyway. There was, after all, no 
appeal.
  When organized voter registration efforts got underway in Selma as 
early as 1962, firings, arrests, and beatings became recurring 
realities of life. On one occasion, 32 teachers were fired, en mass, 
just for trying to register. There were instances when blacks tried to 
register in large numbers and were kept waiting in lines from morning 
to night without ever having a chance to register with police standing 
guard throughout the day to prevent anyone from giving them food or 
water.
  These forms of government oppression intensified when Dr. King made 
Selma the center of the civil rights movement early in 1965. Within a 
few months, hundreds of people involved in the voter registration 
campaign--white and black--were severely injured and three lost their 
lives. Much of the violence--particularly the brutal trampling and 
beatings of men, women and 
[[Page H2800]] children on Bloody Sunday--was carried out in plain view 
of television audiences from coast to coast.
  Millions of Americans of both races were outraged. In fact, thousands 
of people ignored the dangers and poured into Alabama from all over the 
country in the weeks following Bloody Sunday to join the continuing 
demonstrations.
  People were outraged over the injustice. On one side, people saw 
courage. On the other, they saw an extreme abuse of power. They saw one 
side simply seeking the right to vote. And the other advocating the 
denial of rights. They saw the non-violence of one side and the 
unrestrained and often unlawful violence of the other. And they could 
not miss the fact that one side was steeped in faith and spirituality 
and the other side in raw hatred. These stark contrasts certainly 
influenced the tide of public opinion.
  But I believe many Americans were influenced by something more 
personal. I believe people throughout the country began to understand 
that if the most fundamental right of citizenship could be denied to 
one group of people it could surely be denied to anyone. It might be 
African-Americans today, tomorrow it might be people who belong to the 
wrong political party, or the wrong religion, or nationality.
  The denial of voting rights to black Americans was, in fact, 
threatening to undermine the very foundation on which our republic 
stands. In my view, it was a struggle that involved more than the 
rights of one group of citizens. In a very real sense, it was a 
struggle for the very soul of our country.
  Selma galvanized America behind the Voting Rights Act. And the Voting 
Rights Act changed America. When our esteemed colleague, John Lewis, 
received a key to the city where he was clubbed 30 years ago, it was 
dramatically symbolic of this change.
  To be sure, the country still has its share of problems. Poverty and 
hunger and intolerance still exist. Too much crime and drug abuse and 
violence plague our communities. We still have disparities in 
opportunities. But just as the Selma demonstrators walked across the 
Edmund Pettus Bridge 2 weeks after Bloody Sunday during those memorable 
days in 1965, and continued their march freely and triumphantly to 
Montgomery, so has America crossed a bridge into a new ERA of expanded 
freedom and opportunity for all.
  Throughout the country's history, one of our strengths has been our 
capacity for self-correction--the capacity to confront our problems, to 
deal with them, and eventually to emerge with a renewed and 
strengthened commitment to the ideals of equality of justice and 
opportunity on which America was founded. Lexington and Concord were 
early examples. Selma is a more recent one.
  I am proud to be an American. I am proud of my native State of 
Alabama and my adopted State of Georgia where I have lived and worked 
for most of my adult life. With all my heart, I believe in the values 
our country and our States have advanced for more than two centuries--
values which so many Americans have defended with their lives.
  We commemorate the events that took place in Selma three decades ago 
for a reason. It is a part of our history that reaffirms these values 
that we treasure more than life itself. It is reaffirmation of the 
march toward justice and equality of opportunity that our country has 
been engaged in for more than 200 years.
                              {time}  2145
  But more than that, it forces us to focus on the threats of immediate 
and imminent danger that America now faces from the attacks on 
affirmative action, to remedy the effects of hundreds of years of 
discrimination, intimidation, violence and race, to the renewed attacks 
in the courts on the Voting Rights Act that was paid for with blood, 
with sweat and with tears on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
  Mr. Speaker, I come here tonight to commemorate the brave people who 
stood before the tremendous odds, the violence, and faced the harsh 
punishment of merely seeking to ask for their rights. I salute my 
colleague, the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis, and the hundreds 
and hundreds of others who paid the price that we might have our voting 
rights.
  America, this is 1995, 30 years later. Let us not turn back the 
clock. Let us not go back to where we were in 1965. Thank God we can 
remember the bloody Sunday in Selma in 1965.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my friend and 
colleague from the State of Georgia for those kind words and for his 
brilliant statement. He is a native of the State of Alabama. We both 
left the State of Alabama and moved to Georgia and now we both 
represent the State of Georgia in the Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I think tonight we have tried to say why we marched from 
Selma to Montgomery 30 years ago and why we come tonight to 
commemorate, to celebrate the great progress we have made as a Nation 
and as a people down that road toward a truly interracial democracy.
  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the 
distinguished Representative from Georgia, Cynthia McKinney, for 
sponsoring this special order to commemorate two significant events in 
history, the 30th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 
historic march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 which fueled its 
enactment. I am pleased to join my colleagues in reflecting upon these 
important events.
  The march on Selma was a journey that forever transformed America's 
racial politics. Out of the violence and turmoil came the passage of 
our Nation's strongest voting rights legislation. On Sunday, March 7, 
1965, about 500 marchers assembled at a church in Selma, Alabama, to 
begin a 50-mile march to the state capital of Montgomery.
  For many years the leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., and others had fought to put African-American 
citizens on the voter rolls. The need was urgent, since the ballot box 
represented the key to equality, political empowerment and economic 
opportunity. Dr. King recognized the fact that he could not succeed 
without a Federal voting rights law. It was determined that Selma, 
Alabama, the ``cradle of the Confederacy,'' would be the focal point 
for a drive to bring about such a statute.
  Mr. Speaker, when marchers gathered in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 
1965, they thought the journey to Montgomery would take only four days. 
Instead, before they could even leave the city of Selma, America was 
left with the painful images of a brutal confrontation at the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge that exposed state troopers swinging clubs, firing tear 
gas, and using their horses to run down marchers. Our Nation watched as 
African-Americans were beaten and trampled.
  The day after ``bloody Sunday,'' Dr. King issued a national call for 
protestors to join the effort in Selma. The call was answered by 
thousands of black and white Americans from all parts of the Nation and 
all segments of society, including baptist ministers, jewish rabbis and 
civil rights activists. This time the marchers made it to Montgomery. 
In August, just five months later, President Johnson signed into law 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, providing the Nation with the strongest 
voting rights legislation in nearly a century.
  As we gather today to mark the anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery 
march, we recognize the leadership of our good friend and colleague, 
John Lewis. He was only 25 years old when he and other protestors were 
brutally beaten in Selma. His determination and perseverance placed him 
in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights in America. We are 
proud that today he represents Georgia's Fifth Congressional District 
in the Congress.
    
    
  Mr. Speaker, the Voting Rights Act is considered to be one of the 
most effective civil rights laws which this Nation has adopted. When 
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 
1965, he started America on a new course of equality for those who had 
lacked political representation. In 1957, 1960 and 1964, Congress 
enacted civil rights laws to eliminate racial discrimination in the 
electoral process. However, the initiatives proved to be ineffective 
largely because they provided for enforcing
 voting rights in the courts on a case-by-case basis, which proved to 
be a time-consuming and ineffective approach.

  The Voting Rights Act was originally designed to implement the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitution which guaranteed the right to 
vote free of discrimination based on color or race. It was later 
amended to extend protection to the Nation's non-English speaking 
minority populations. Thus, the act has been instrumental in bringing 
our Nation nearer to realizing the goal of full equality in the 
electoral process.
  In their book, ``Controversies in Minority Voting: The Voting Rights 
Act in Perspective,'' the authors, Edward G. Carmaines and Robert 
Huckfeldt, write that the Voting Rights Act: 
[[Page H2801]] ``has altered the racial composition of the electorate, 
the party coalitions and the officeholders. It has transformed the 
appeals of politicians, the lines of political debate and the bases of 
political cleavage. Most important, it has transformed the strategies 
and agenda of American politics.'' Nowhere is the law's impact more 
evident than in Congress itself. In 1965, there were six black Members 
of Congress and four Hispanic Members. Today, there are 41 members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus and 18 Hispanic Members serving in this 
legislative body.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us who have fought to secure voting rights and 
equal representation join today to commemorate the historic anniversary 
of the march on Selma and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. We also 
gather to reaffirm our commitment to the principles upon which this 
Nation was founded--liberty and justice for all. Many battles have been 
waged to secure these rights. Yet, we cannot and shall not rest until 
they apply to each and every citizen in this great democracy.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, Selma, AL captured the 
attention of people around the world. At a time when there were 6 
African-American Members of Congress and thousands of disenfranchised 
people in this country, 500 peaceful marchers were brutally attacked at 
the Edmund Pettus Bridge by State troopers for dramatizing the need for 
voting rights legislation.
  All Americans, black, white, and every color, benefited from the 
conviction of these bold marchers. Dr. Martin Luther King once 
suggested in a Detroit speech that if you haven't found a cause worth 
dying for, you haven't found anything to live for. These brave members 
of the civil rights movement, found their cause in a simple act of 
conscience. For this they suffered the brutality of Bloody Sunday and 
experienced the joy of seeing the Voting Rights Act become law on 
August 6, 1965.
  The struggle for voting rights was not over, far from it. The Reagan 
Justice Department in cases involving Mississippi, Louisiana, North 
Carolina, and Virginia supported the annexation of areas designed to 
dilute black voting strength. In 1985 they initiated a series of 
criminal prosecutions against civil rights workers in the five black 
majority counties in Alabama. Eight of the very people who led the 
march from Selma to Montgomery were indicted for voter fraud.
  Thrity years later, our hard won victories are still under attack. 
States are refusing to implement the motor-voter law, the drawing of 
majority minority districts is under fire and affirmative action is in 
jeopardy. Frederick Douglass, a crusader in the fight against slavery 
who died 100 years ago, said something once that still applies today, 
``where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance 
prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an 
organized conspiracy to oppress rob, and degrade them, neither persons 
nor property will be safe.''
  We must never forget the legacy of struggle, survival and 
perseverance left to us by our African-American forebears. It is forged 
on a vision of freedom, equality, and opportunity that we must preserve 
for our children. Our memory of these individuals should only serve to 
fuel our fires as we attempt to preserve the rights of all Americans to 
participate in the political process. We must be as courageous as the 
marchers were on that Sunday morning in 1965 and meet the challenge 
head on.
  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, we take it so blithely nowadays. 
Every 2 years--sometimes more often--we go to our local library, 
school, dry cleaners and pull a lever, darken a circle or punch a 
hole--all to cast our vote for the representatives of our choice. 
Whether it's the school board, county assessor, or the highest office 
in this land--voting has become commonplace, even sometimes considered 
a burden by some.
  But in 1965 in Selma, AL, it was not commonplace--it was not a 
burden. In fact, voting was worth marching for, demonstrating for and 
even dying for by those whose choices were restricted by oppression.
  It is those heroes who marched from Selma to Montgomery--we all 
remember the famous names like King and all of the other not so famous 
names who had a burning desire to make sure all people--red or yellow, 
black or white, had the right to vote freely.
  On this 30th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, it is 
fitting that we reflect on yet another recent voting success.
  In South Africa last year, black Africans had the opportunity to vote 
for the first time. The stories are poignant. One account is told about 
a couple of black housekeepers who rose early that morning, put on 
their best goin-to-meeting clothes, rode in with their white employers 
and stood together, for hours, waiting to cast their votes for the 
first time.
  It was not a burden; it was not an inconvenience; it was a 
privilege--an event--a time to wear your Sunday's finest because the 
vote took on a sacredness. That vote in Johannesburg, Capetown, and 
Soweto was exercised for the first time after blood shed, unrest, and 
revolution. That revolution ended in the election of Nelson Mandela and 
for the first time true freedom rings in South Africa.
  That story is repeated over and over again I the Stans of the former 
Soviet Union, the countries of South America and even in the far east 
where the concept of one man, one woman, one vote is becoming the 
archetype.
  Let us not ever be so brazen, so commonplace that we forget the 
struggle, the heartbreak, the price paid for the voting rights act. On 
this the thirtieth anniversary, let us be vigilant for any continued 
injustices or breaches of that inalienable right and let the words of 
Dr. Martin Luther King ring true: An injustice anywhere is a threat to 
justice everywhere.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to commemorate the 
30th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. In 1962, only 5.3 percent of 
the voting-age black population was registered to vote in Mississippi. 
There were only 500 black elected officials in the entire country.
  The year I was elected to Congress was historic--especially for 
Florida. For the first time in over 120 years, an African-American 
represents my district in Congress. Representatives Carrie Meek and 
Alcee Hastings also represent Florida in Congress. The Congressional 
Black Caucus has grown to 40 members, the largest ever. Sixteen new 
African-American Members, most from the South, were seated in the House 
of Representatives and one African-American Senator, Carol Moseley-
Braun, was seated, expanding the number of Congressional Black Caucus 
members to 40. There are now 57 women, 19 Hispanics, 8 Asians, and 1 
American-Indian. This is the highest number of minorities to ever serve 
in the history of the U.S. Congress. Despite these gains, less than 2 
percent of the elected officials in this country are black. We still 
need the Voting Rights Act, we still have a long way to go.
  Let me tell you a little bit about Florida's first Member of 
Congress. Josiah Wells, from Gainesville, FL, was first elected to the 
House of Representatives in 1879 but his election was challenged and he 
lost his seat after only 2 months in office. However, by that time, he 
had already been reelected to a new term. Believe it or not, his next 
victorious election was challenged after ballots were burned in a 
courthouse fire. And thus ended the congressional career of Florida's 
first black Representative.
  Once Reconstruction began, 21 black Congressmen were elected from the 
South between 1870 to 1901. However, after 1901, when Jim Crow 
tightened his grip, no black person was elected to Congress from the 
South for over 70 years. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 
Voting Rights Act, it is more timely than ever, to study what happened 
to black representation during Reconstruction. This period may seem 
like ancient history, but what happened then seems to be happening all 
over again.
  Although history was made with the 103d Congress, reaction to that 
history was the election of 1994--the revolution of the conservative 
right. Angry white men were not happy with the history we made in 1992. 
They have launched a contract on America
 and in just the first 50 days they have:

  Threatened school lunch programs; threatened Meals on Wheels for 
seniors; cut Pell grants; eliminated the Cops on the Beat Program that 
have provided more than $11 million for over 150 cops to the Third 
Congressional District; and threatened to eliminate affirmative action 
programs, including the 8(a) Small Business Program.
  For the first 100 years of America's history, African-Americans did 
not have the right to vote; they were enslaved. Eventually, the 
Constitution was amended to make African-Americans free. After the 
Civil War, some African-Americans were able to exercise their rights to 
vote but this lasted for just a brief time. After the Reconstruction 
period, things actually got worse and Jim Crow ruled the South. The 
civil rights movement exploded because African-Americans were fed up 
with living in America without real democracy. Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr., whose birthday we recently celebrated, and many others sacrificed 
their lives to have the Voting Rights Act passed into law. The Voting 
Rights Act was enacted in 1965 but it has taken almost 30 years to 
implement in the South. The reason districts were redrawn was because 
of a long history of violations of the Voting Rights Act--we cannot 
lose sight of this. The Voting Rights Act was enacted because people 
that should have been represented were not represented. Too many have 
died for us to allow a few frightened individuals to steal back these 
long-overdue rights to representation. What matters most is not what 
the district looks like, but who is in them--those who have been left 
out.
  New attacks, just like the attacks on Josiah Walls, are from the good 
old boys from the bad old days who are trying to roll back the clock 
and send minorities to the back of the political bus. Congress now 
looks more like 
[[Page H2802]] America than at any time in the past. However, even 
though there are more women and African-Americans in Congress than ever 
before, neither group is fully represented proportionately to their 
numbers in the general population. Blacks and women are still 
underrepresented even though we have begun to make progress. The voters 
of America should be outraged that a few people are trying to take away 
the representation blacks, Hispanics, women, and other minorities have 
been struggling for over 127 years to achieve.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to extend their remarks on the 
subject of my special order tonight.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  

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