[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17005-S17006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE BLACK REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOTS

 Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, Saturday was Veterans Day, a 
day we set aside to honor those brave men and women who have risked 
their lives for our freedom. I want to call your attention to a group 
of soldiers who are often forgotten in Veterans Day tributes; namely 
the 5,000 African-Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War. I also 
want to make you aware of the efforts underway to finally honor these 
men with a monument on The Mall. Lastly, I want to speak of a family in 
my State who is working to make this memorial a reality.
  Most Americans remain unaware of the black patriots who gave their 
lives for the freedom they themselves could not fully enjoy. About 20 
percent of the soldiers who drove the British from American soil were 
African-Americans. Few schoolchildren know that the first victim of the 
Revolutionary War was an African-American, Crispus Attucks, killed in 
the Boston Massacre in 1770. Peter Salem, James Armisted, Salem Poor, 
and Prince Whipple, are just a few of the other black men who served, 
fought and died in our Nation's war for freedom and independence. Valor 
and fortitude in battle are especially awe-inspiring when one takes 
into account the hostility and oppression that African-Americans faced 
from the nation for which they fought. These men have received little 
recognition of their sacrifice for their country. Indeed, their 
contributions have been, ``very carefully kept out of sight by orators 
and toast-drinkers,'' according to poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
  We now have an opportunity to honor and salute the men and women 
whose actions contributed to the birth of our Nation, a nation whose 
Constitution now embodies the very ideals of freedom these patriots 
risked their lives for. Only in the 150 years since their deaths has 
this Nation begun to secure and enforce the truths we holds to be self 
evident: life, liberty; and the pursuit of happiness, for all 
Americans. The Nation owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to them for 
their courage to stand with little or no hope of realizing the fruit of 
their accomplishments.
  In 1986 and again in 1988, Congress passed legislation authorizing 
construction of a monument to these men. The site selected is on The 
Mall, just north of the Reflecting Pool. Since no taxpayer funds are 
being used for this monument, Senator Chafee and I introduced the S. 
953, the black Revolutionary War patriots commemorative coin bill. The 
bill proposes the minting of 500,000 commemorative coins, which should 
raise approximately $5 million for use in financing the monument.
  All proceeds over and above the cost of minting the coin will go 
toward constructions of the monument. This bill is revenue-neutral; it 
will cost the Federal Government absolutely nothing. The funds are 
needed to support a monument that will both honor and educate. It will 
symbolize the struggle of all individuals who have not previously been 
recognized.
  Mr. President, I would now like to speak briefly about some 
constituents of mine, the Bailey family of Waukegan, IL. Marina Bailey 
and her three daughters learned about the proposed monument 4 yeas ago, 
and they have turned a bedroom of their house into an office for their 
fundraising efforts. They launched a public awareness campaign in 
support of the memorial and to make the history of the black 
Revolutionary War patriots more widely known. Jamila Bailey spoke to 
neighboring schools from the time she was 16 years old. They have 
constructed and mailed information packets to schools starting in 
Illinois, then all over the country, asking students to send funds to 
the Patriots foundation. The Bailey family has been responsible for 
thousands of dollars raised for this memorial. Marina Bailey said that 
her dedication to this project is to promote awareness and celebration 
of our diversity and the contributions we have all made to our Nation. 
``We are a quilt,'' she said, ``We are not a sheet. All of us together 
make up the beauty and diversity of the American people.''
  Like the Bailey family, I want this memorial to become a reality. The 
best way to ensure that is through swift passage of the Black 
Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative Coin Act. As citizens who 
benefit daily from the sacrifices made by those previously unrecognized 
soldiers, I call upon my colleagues for their cosponsorship and help in 
expediting the passage of S. 953. The passage of this bill will ensure 
swift construction of this memorial, so that America may finally bestow 
honor 

[[Page S 17006]]
on these traditionally overlooked veterans. 

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