[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S67-S70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______


            THE ROAD TO MOUNT RUSHMORE IS A BALANCED BUDGET

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, Mount Rushmore, set in the heart 
of the Black Hills National Forest, was created as a shrine to 
America's democracy. As a powerful American symbol, it is the jewel of 
the National Park System. Like all other units of the National Park 
System, Mount Rushmore was forced to close as part of the Government 
shutdown on December 15, 1995.
  However, thanks to the extraordinary dedication of one man, Mount 
Rushmore will remain illuminated for all to see during this dark period 
preceding fiscal responsibility. Mr. Art Oakes has graciously donated 
funds to ensure that the monument is able to remain lit for the more 
than 2 million visitors it receives each year.
  I share with all Americans the frustration that the Federal 
Government remains partially shut down. It is clear that Americans want 
a balanced budget and are willing to shoulder the burden to get it 
done.
  Mr. Oakes has shown us just how dedicated Americans are to a balanced 
budget. He is willing to give up his own hard-earned money to help 
Mount Rushmore through this shutdown crisis. He recognizes that Mount 
Rushmore is not just a park, but a symbol of what America represents--
both to other Americans and to tourists from overseas.
  Today, my wife Harriet and I would like to show our support for Mr. 
Oakes' efforts by donating $200 for continuing the nightly illumination 
of the Mount Rushmore monument.
  As many of you may know, Mount Rushmore was designed in 1927 by 
Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants. The monument is a shrine 
of American Presidential heroes: George Washington, Father of the 
Nation; Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence; 
Theodore Roosevelt, conservationist and trustbuster; and Abraham 
Lincoln, the Great Emancipator and preserver of the Union.
  More than 65 years later, Mount Rushmore is still one of the most 
powerful symbols of America. It represents the freedom of democracy, 
the melting pot country which offers the hope of a better life. Yet how 
can we continue to promise a better life if our President refuses to 
agree on a plan to balance the budget?
  We need a balanced budget. The American people want and deserve an 
end to shamelessly wasteful spending programs. Washington must operate 
under a budget where we live within our means--as people in my home 
State of South Dakota do every day.
  I feel passionately that we must give the dream of America--
represented by Mount Rushmore--back to our children. We can do that 
only if Bill Clinton agrees on a balanced budget. I want the National 
Park Service and the rest of the Federal Government back at work and 
fully functioning. This will happen if Bill Clinton agrees on a 
balanced budget. It is that simple. Bill Clinton should stop stalling 
and start leading. He should support our goal of a balanced 
budget.

[[Page S68]]


              CONGRATULATIONS TO CONGRESSMAN KWEISI MFUME

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I am most pleased to join with 
the citizens of Baltimore and Maryland in expressing warmest 
congratulations to Congressman Kweisi Mfume upon his appointment as 
president and chief executive of the NAACP. Those of us privileged to 
have worked closely with Congressman Mfume are convinced that the 
NAACP, the African-American community, and all Americans of goodwill 
will be well served by this appointment. It is an inspired choice.
  Kweisi Mfume's accomplishments compellingly demonstrate the quality, 
strength, and determination of his character. Against great odds, 
Congressman Mfume overcame what would be considered for most people 
insurmountable obstacles in shaping his life and career. In his first 
elected office, he established an outstanding record for public service 
as a member of the City Council of Baltimore. This was followed by 
service in the U.S. House of Representatives where as chair of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, he led that group with exceptional 
effectiveness and vision.
  It is very encouraging that the NAACP Board of Trustees has called 
upon Congressman Mfume's leadership at such a critical time in the 
history of the organization and of the civil rights struggle. He brings 
to this demanding responsibility unique dimensions of perception and 
experience. His long-time grassroots involvement has equipped him with 
a special understanding of needs of individuals and community groups, 
while his proven and tested national leadership gives him a unique 
knowledge of the realities and demands of the public and private 
sectors. These insights and experiences will greatly benefit the NAACP.
  Congressman Mfume's appointment further solidifies the historic and 
productive relationship between Baltimore and the NAACP, whose national 
headquarters is located in our city. He follows in the footsteps of 
other distinguished Baltimoreans who were critical to civil rights 
progress: the late, great Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who 
led the relentless effort which finally brought down the legal 
structure of segregation; Clarence Mitchell, Jr., the NAACP's chief 
Washington lobbyist, whose legislative genius was critical to the 
passage of every landmark piece of civil rights legislation and, Dr. 
Lilly Jackson and Ms. Enolia MacMillan, two courageous leaders of 
Maryland's NAACP who inspired their counterparts throughout America.
  Congressman Mfume's presence will be deeply missed in the Congress. 
But, like another esteemed colleague, former Representative William 
Gray, now the President of the United Negro College Fund, he is 
continuing the struggle for justice and equality in a newer arena.
  I salute the NAACP for this outstanding appointment and pledge to 
continue working with its members and new leader in the continuing 
struggle for an America which provides opportunity and fairness for all 
its citizens. I ask to have printed in the Record several articles from 
the Baltimore Afro-American, the Baltimore Jewish Times, the Baltimore 
Sun, the New York Times, and the Washington Post describing the 
achievements and life of this extraordinary man and the great 
challenges which lie ahead for him.
  The articles follow:

           [From the Baltimore Afro-American, Dec. 16, 1995]

                         New Hope at the NAACP

       It borders on the ironic that after a nationwide and 
     lengthy search to find a new leader for the much beleaguered 
     NAACP, the right candidate--and some would say the perfect 
     candidate--came from the same city where the association has 
     its headquarters--Baltimore.
       In selecting Rep. Kweisi Mfume as its President/CEO the 
     NAACP--to use an apt description--has struck oil. Rarely has 
     the naming of an individual to such high profile position 
     been greeted with such an unanimous chorus of approval, from 
     the President of the United States, to the man and woman in 
     the street.
       If ever things were meant to be, then probably it was meant 
     to be that Mr. Mfume would be called upon to resurrect the 
     nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, and 
     that he would respond at the cost of giving up a seat in the 
     U.S. Congress to which he could have been reelected as long 
     as he wished.
       A more qualified candidate--and here we are not simply 
     talking about what appears on paper but what's inside--would 
     be most difficult to find. It is as if the man and the job 
     were waiting for each other.
       There are the challenges ahead for Mr. Mfume of eliminating 
     the $3 million plus debt, rebuilding staff, redefining the 
     role of the NAACP, rebuilding bridges of understanding that 
     his immediate predecessors destroyed, and above all, 
     restoring the faith of people in the NAACP.
       This is a tall order, but we believe Mr. Mfume is the right 
     person, in the right place, at the right time, to fill it.
       He can not do this however, unless the African American 
     people, who have always been the rock on which the NAACP 
     stood, rally now to its support.
       Either through donations, or memberships, or a combination 
     of both, it is imperative that all of us join Mr. Mfume in a 
     grand and glorious campaign to set matters right at the 
     NAACP.
       Without it, we would indeed be in dire straits.
                                                                    ____


            [From the Baltimore Jewish Times, Dec. 15, 1995]

                          Mfume's Advancement

       Rep. Kweisi Mfume's decision last week to leave Congress 
     and assume the leadership of the National Association for the 
     Advancement of Colored People is an important development for 
     a black community that needs strong and farsighted leadership 
     to fight the unprecedented attack on the civil rights 
     advances of the past half-century now underway in Washington. 
     It also is welcome news for a Jewish community that remains 
     concerned about the decay of our cities, and rising signs of 
     black anti-Semitism.
       Rep. Mfume's story--his rise from a life on the streets and 
     the kinds of social problems that have become epidemic in our 
     cities--is legend in Baltimore. And he has become, as 
     described by Baltimore Jewish Council Executive Director 
     Arthur C. Abramson ``a strong and supportive friend of the 
     Jewish community.'' (See ``A Friend, In Deed,'' on Page 22.)
       His tenure as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus was 
     not without controversy; it was Rep. Mfume, after all, who 
     suggested a ``covenant'' between the influential 
     congressional group and Nation of Islam leader Louis 
     Farrakhan. But he also helped give the caucus a new 
     prominence and ability to help shape the national agenda.
       These are discouraging times in Congress--for Democrats and 
     black legislators, in particular. The civil rights agenda is 
     under assault; important social programs that have helped 
     keep stabilize cities despite growing poverty and growing 
     despair are being decimated.
       Rep. Mfume faced an extraordinary choice; stay in a safe 
     congressional seat, and fight from within to head off the 
     most sweeping Republican cuts--or work to rebuild an 
     organization that was once the towering giant of the civil 
     rights movement, but which has failed to adjust to the harsh 
     realities of the 1990s.
       Rep. Mfume's decision for the latter reflects his deep 
     commitment to his people and to a nation that can no longer 
     afford to turn a blind eye to the agony of our cities.
       Rep. Mfume, who has worked closely with Jewish leaders over 
     the years, can provide the soul for a revitalized alliance 
     that should benefit both communities.
       Kain Y'hee Ratzon, Rep. Mfume.
       So may it be.
                                                                    ____


                       [From the Washington Post]

  A Fighter in the Public Arena--In Mfume, NAACP Hires a Director It 
          Hopes Can Push It To Reclaim Its Historic Leadership

              (By Hamil R. Harris and Michael A. Fletcher)

       In choosing Rep. Kweisi Mfume as its new leader, the NAACP 
     reached out to a former street fighter and seasoned 
     politician to take on a daunting array of internal and 
     external challenges facing the historic civil rights 
     organization.
       NAACP officials hope Mfume (D-Md.), who was named president 
     and chief executive officer Saturday, can bridge the divide 
     between blacks and whites, battle the increasingly powerful 
     congressional conservatives and heal the internal divisions 
     that have crippled the organization in recent years.
       ``The organization needed a jolt of electricity, and he is 
     exactly the man to give it to them,'' veteran civil rights 
     activist Roger Wilkins said yesterday. His uncle, Roy 
     Wilkins, headed the NAACP for years.
       Mfume ``is a man who understands the streets. He also has 
     operated in the highest policy spheres in the United States. 
     He is smart, he is tough, and he has integrity,'' Wilkins 
     said. For Mfume, the job offers a chance to broaden his role 
     as a national black leader by reaching out to a new 
     generation of activists while reassuring the old guard of the 
     civil rights establishment, who form the core of the NAACP's 
     support. He has pledged to work to recruit young people and 
     others who have seen the NAACP, the nation's oldest and 
     largest civil rights organization, as elitist and 
     increasingly irrelevant.
       ``The time is now for a new generation to join the NAACP,'' 
     Mfume, 47, said during his acceptance speech Saturday. 
     ``While we value maturity and experience, we must learn to 
     cherish youth. . . . I reach out to the current generation 
     and say to you in the clearest terms that it is all right to 
     come back home to the NAACP.'' Baltimore 

[[Page S69]]
     NAACP member Kobi Little, 24, welcomed Mfume's comments. He is suing 
     the organization because youth members, ages 17 and younger, 
     are barred from voting in branch and national elections. ``I 
     think it will mean good things for the organization,'' he 
     said.
       Mfume is in his fifth term representing Baltimore's 
     predominantly black 7th Congressional District in the House. 
     In 1992, he was elected and served for two years as chairman 
     of the Congressional Black Caucus, when it enjoyed the peak 
     of its power working with a Democratic president and a 
     Democratic majority in Congress. He plans to resign from the 
     House and assume his new post Feb. 15. ``We are at the 
     crossroads of tremendous change in our nation,'' Mfume said. 
     ``Despite the gains made by African Americans, racism 
     continues to divide our country and polarize our people. We 
     can stand by and watch in the comfort of our own 
     circumstances, or we can step forward and dare to lead.''
       Mfume has scored his first victory by uniting the fractious 
     NAACP board behind his selection, which was unopposed, 
     despite some board members' previous plans to challenge the 
     search committee's candidate. The challenge ``never 
     materialized,'' said board member Joe Madison, who was a 
     finalist for the job. ``I'm just ecstatic about the choice 
     and relieved that someone of the stature of the congressman 
     would step up and take the job.''
       Mfume said he plans to reach out to the NAACP's historic 
     allies in the corporate and white communities. He also plans 
     to make a ``long list'' of courtesy calls on national black 
     figures, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
       Mfume's selection won cautious praise from Jewish activists 
     who traditionally have supported the NAACP but have been 
     alarmed in recent years by its overtures to Farrakhan, whose 
     rhetoric has been denounced as antisemitic.
       Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation 
     League of B'nai B'rith, hailed Mfume's selection yesterday. 
     He said, ``We need the NAACP to be strong and active and to 
     be a major voice for civil rights, for unity, and to fight 
     discrimination.''
       But he added: ``I will have a problem if he looks to 
     Farrakhan for leadership. I hope and believe he will not.'' 
     Born Frizzell Gray in West Baltimore, Mfume--in the words of 
     poet Langston Hughes--didn't ascend to power on a crystal 
     staircase. He dropped out of school and fathered five sons by 
     four women by age 22.
       Gray hung out on street corners, got into fights and 
     drifted between menial jobs. But he changed his life as 
     radically as he changed his name. He said the name, which is 
     of African derivation, translates as ``conquering son of 
     kings.''
       Mfume received a degree in urban planning from Morgan State 
     University and became a talk show host on the college's radio 
     station. Mfume championed issues of the poor and the 
     disenfranchised and won a seat on the Baltimore City Council 
     in 1979. NAACP board member and civil rights activist Julian 
     Bond was on the search committee that selected Mfume. Bond 
     said that what is at stake now is the very survival of the 
     NAACP--``its future, its very existence.''
                                                                    ____


               [From the Washington Post, Dec. 15, 1995]

               Big Choice for Kweisi Mfume--and the NAACP

                         (By William Raspberry)

       Every now and then someone will make a choice that, however 
     little you might have anticipated it, immediately strikes you 
     as brilliant--even obvious.
       That's my reaction to the NAACP's selection of Kweisi Mfume 
     to be its new leader. The 47-year-old Baltimore congressman 
     was nowhere on my list of candidates for the job; I'd simply 
     never thought of him in that connection. But as soon as I 
     heard that he'd been chosen, I could only think: Yes!
       Clearly, it's a brilliant choice for the troubled 
     organization as it wrestles with the difficulties of changing 
     directions without losing its fundamental character. Mfume is 
     young enough, savvy enough and ``street'' enough to deal with 
     the young people his predecessor, the Rev. Benjamin Chavis, 
     tried to reach during his foreshortened tenure. As a fifth-
     term congressman, former chair of the Congressional Black 
     Caucus and widely respected civic and political leader, he is 
     experienced enough and solid enough to instill confidence in 
     the rest of his potential constituency.
       Nor, now that I think of it, is it a bad choice for Mfume 
     himself. He may have been close to the limit of his political 
     influence and patience, given the country's tightening purse 
     strings and rightward movement. The NAACP leadership gives 
     him a shot at leadership on a new, higher, more effective 
     level.
       But even brilliant choices are not guaranteed success. If 
     Mfume will permit a word of caution from an admirer:
       The NAACP is, in some ways, two organizations--one devoted 
     to a glorious past of fighting Jim Crow, school segregation 
     and laws calculated to limit black advancement; the other 
     groping for relevancy at a time when so many of black 
     America's problems (though arguably spawned by racism) are 
     perpetuated and exacerbated by our own inappropriate choices 
     and behavior.
       Kweisi Mfume is also two men--the one accepting the 
     traditional view that racism is our number one problem, the 
     other bold enough to see the need for blacks to change their 
     behavior, no matter what white people do or fail to do.
       Which Mfume is taking charge of the NAACP? His acceptance 
     speech of last Saturday offers a small clue. ``We are at the 
     crossroads of tremendous change in our nation,'' he said. 
     ``Despite the gains made by African Americans, racism 
     continues to divide our country and polarize our people. We 
     can stand by and watch in the comfort of our own 
     circumstances, or we can step forward and dare to lead.''
       A guaranteed applause line, that. And yet I hear myself 
     asking: Lead where? For if he is talking about leading a 
     fight against racism, I fear he is missing the boat. Racism 
     has not disappeared from American life; far from it. But I 
     really do believe that it is no longer the main barrier to 
     black progress--particularly among those of us most in need 
     of progress. Does Mfume?
       Like most of us, I suppose he is of two minds. The recent 
     settlement of cases involving discrimination at Denny's 
     restaurants, the humiliation of two innocent black teenagers 
     by security people at the Eddie Bauer's outlet in suburban 
     Washington, the race killing of two civilians by white 
     supremacist soldiers from Fort Bragg, N.C.--all these things 
     and more counsel vigilance against racism. Mfume understands 
     that.
       But he understands something else: that lasting change must 
     come from within. It wasn't racism that made Mfume (then 
     known as Frizzell Gray) a violent, street-running dropout who 
     fathered five sons by three women--all ``without benefit of 
     clergy.'' And it wasn't the defeat of racism that helped him 
     to turn his life around.
       He's not sure precisely what it was. But he does know that 
     once he made the decision to get himself together, to make 
     something of himself, he had lots of help and advice from 
     people who had it to give. There is something deeply 
     inspirational about his journey from irresponsible street bum 
     to respected leader who, by the way, took the trouble to 
     build a relationship with his sons.
       Which experience should guide his efforts to reach out to 
     young blacks, as he has vowed to do: the humiliations of 
     racism or the power of decision? They may be equally 
     authentic, but, as his own life teaches, they are not equally 
     effective at producing.
                                                                    ____


                [From the New York Times, Dec. 11, 1995]

             Mfume: Not Just Leader, a Savior to N.A.A.C.P.

                         (By Steven A. Holmes)

       Washington, December 10.--When Representative Kweisi Mfume 
     walked into a hotel conference room here to interview with 
     the board of directors of the National Association for the 
     Advancement of Colored People on Saturday, the group broke 
     out into spontaneous applause. It was perhaps the first time 
     in more than two years the full board had found anything to 
     cheer about.
       For an organization mired in debt and increasingly accused 
     of being archaic and out of touch, Mr. Mfume, who was named 
     on Saturday as the N.A.A.C.P.'s president and chief executive 
     officer, is viewed by many within the civil rights group as a 
     savior. So much so that the descriptions of him that flow 
     from some quarters lapse effortlessly into hyperbole.
       ``In our new president we have the brilliance of Dubois, 
     the eloquence of Martin Luther King, the toughness of 
     Thurgood Marshall, the caring of Ms. Bethune and Harriet 
     Tubman and Sojourner Truth,'' A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., a 
     retired Federal Judge said, comparing Mr. Mfume to a pantheon 
     of icons of the anti-slavery and civil rights movements.
       While neither Mr. Mfume nor anyone else could be such a 
     giant, he clearly provides skills, outlook, visibility and a 
     personal story that could help revive the ailing 
     organization.
       Born Frizzell Gray in Baltimore in 1948, Mr. Mfume spent 
     his early years under the hand of an abusive stepfather who, 
     until Mr. Mfume's mother divorced him, beat his wife and 
     belittled his stepson. When Mr. Mfume was 16, his mother died 
     of cancer, leaving him feeling alone and abandoned.
       For several years, Mr. Mfume went through what he later 
     called his ``lost years,'' dropping out of high school, 
     hanging out on the tough streets of the city's west side, 
     where he was known by his nickname of Pee Wee, and fathering 
     five children out of wedlock by four different women.
       ``I came out of a disjointed family structure,'' Mr. Mfume 
     said in a speech last year. ``I grew up in the worst possible 
     conditions. I became homeless after my mother's death, hit 
     the streets and dropped out of school, flirted with every 
     temptation that was around, became a teen parent before my 
     time, felt left out and victimized.''
       But Mr. Mfume grabbed hold of his life. He earned a high 
     school equivalency diploma, attended Morgan State University, 
     a historically black college in Baltimore, and later gained a 
     reputation as a disk jockey and radio talk show host. Along 
     the way he took a new name (pronounced Kwah-EEE-see Oom-FOO-
     may), which in a Ghanaian dialect means ``conquerer of 
     kings.''
       ``It's different,'' Mr. Mfume once said of his name. ``So 
     is Zbigniew Brzezinski.''
       After seven years as a member of the Baltimore City 
     Council, Mr. Mfume was the surprise victor of a 1986 
     Democratic Primary to replace retiring Representative Parren 
     J. Mitchell. In the heavily Democratic district, the win 
     virtually guaranteed election to Congress. He has been 
     reelected four times, often gaining more than 80 percent of 
     the vote in the general election.
     
[[Page S70]]

       As a Representative, Mr. Mfume made his mark as Chairman of 
     the Congressional Black Caucus from 1992 to 1994, a time when 
     the number of blacks in the House shot up to 40 from 26.
       With new-found strength because of its increased size, the 
     caucus under Mr. Mfume flexed its muscles as never before. It 
     pointedly chastized President Clinton for bowing to criticism 
     and withdrawing Lani Guinier, a professor at the University 
     of Pennsylvania Law School, as his nominee for Assistant 
     Attorney General for Civil Rights.
       The caucus also pressed Mr. Clinton to use American troops 
     to restore ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to 
     power, one of the few groups to do so publicly for what was 
     considered by many to be a hopeless cause.
       Mr. Mfume's tenure as head of the caucus was not without 
     its missteps. In 1992, he angered Jews and some members of 
     the Caucus when he declared that the group had entered into a 
     ``sacred covenant'' with the Nation of Islam.
       In the face of criticism and in the wake of an anti-
     Semitic, anti-Catholic and anti-white speech by one of Mr. 
     Farrakhan's aides, Khalid Abdul Mohammed, Mr. Mfume disavowed 
     any association with the group and spent much time mending 
     fences with Jewish leaders in Baltimore.
       As a five-term Representative from Baltimore, where the 
     N.A.A.C.P. is based, Mr. Mfume brings political acumen to the 
     civil rights group, the country's oldest but one whose 
     political relevancy has been questioned in recent years. He 
     has shown an ability to raise money, a skill badly needed for 
     a group saddled with a $3.2 million debt. As a former 
     Baltimore street tough who turned his life around, he also 
     lends credibility to a message of personal responsibility for 
     black youths.
       ``The time is now--right now--to restore the financial, 
     spiritual and political health of this historic, American 
     institution,'' Mr. Mfume said at a news conference following 
     the board's decision. He added, ``And my job is to provide 
     the leadership that will make that happen.''
       His career has been free of scandal, a stark contrast to 
     the recent history of the N.A.A.C.P. In the last two years, 
     the organization has fired its executive director amid 
     charges of sexual discrimination and harassment and replaced 
     a board chairmen who was accused of financial improprieties.
       With his handsome looks, smooth manner and current 
     girlfriend--an actress, Lynn Whitfield, who won an Emmy Award 
     in 1991 for her portrayal of Josephine Baker in a cable 
     television movie--he brings a measure of glamour to an 
     organization sometimes seen as frumpy.
       At his news conference on Saturday, Mr. Mfume spoke of the 
     need for the N.A.A.C.P. to maintain a commitment to coalition 
     politics with whites and others. In doing so, he appeared to 
     be trying to assuage the concerns of some whites and blacks 
     who had been put off by the attempts by Benjamin F. Chavis 
     Jr., the former executive director, to align the organization 
     with Mr. Farrakhan, who preaches a black separatist ideology.
       ``It is easier to accomplish things when you maximize the 
     number of people who you have working with you and working 
     for you,'' he said in an interview.
       As a condition of taking the job, Mr. Mfume wrested 
     concessions from the N.A.A.C.P. board, which since the mid-
     1980's has taken much power and control from the 
     organization's chief executive but has fallen short in 
     raising money and in debating and formulating policy.
       Rather than report to a 64-member board, Mr.. Mfume will 
     deal with a smaller executive committee and have the 
     authority to hire and fire staff, a power that had been 
     stripped from the top executive. And to denote who will be in 
     charge, his title will be president and chief executive 
     officer, not executive director.
       The need to symbolically change the position back to 
     president--something, although small--was powerful in terms 
     of what is said about the position,'' he said in an 
     interview.
       One unknown question, however, is Mr. Mfume's 
     administrative skills. As member of Congress, and before 
     that, the Baltimore City Council, Mr. Mfume has never had to 
     run an organization as large as the N.A.A.C.P. But officials 
     of the organization say they are not overly concerned.
       ``If that becomes a problem, we could get him a manager,'' 
     said one board member who spoke on condition of anonymity. 
     ``Because he brings so much else, if he's weak there, we 
     could prop him up.''
                                                                    ____


                [From the Baltimore Sun, Dec. 10, 1995]

                       Mfume Transformed Himself


maturing: as he progressed from the baltimore city council to the u.s. 
   congress, kweisi mfume developed into a polished consensus builder

                    (By Tom Bowman and Karen Hosler)

       ``We are going to change,'' Rep. Kweisi Mfume declared 
     yesterday after being chosen to head the NAACP.
       He could have been talking about himself. Kweisi Mfume, 47, 
     began his political career as a dashiki-clad political 
     activist on the Baltimore City Council. But when he arrived 
     on Capitol Hill, he quickly transformed himself into a 
     polished consensus builder.
       Battling Mayor Donald Schaefer and Council President 
     Clarence H. ``Du'' Burns, he first ran in 1979 on a campaign 
     to ``beat the bosses,'' advocating for the poor and the 
     powerless.
       After two terms on the council, he decided in 1986 to make 
     a run for the seat of Rep. Parren J. Mitchell, a retiring 
     civil rights legend who served 16 years in the House. 
     Defeating a Republican, St. George I. B. Crosse III, in a 
     bitter contest for the 7th District seat, he embarked on a 
     bridge-building effort, forging a relationship with Governor 
     Schaefer.
       The dashikis gave way to finely tailored dark suits. The 
     once-angry voice took on a measured and mellifluous cadence. 
     ``I'm the same fighter, but the arena has changed,'' he 
     explained once. ``Sometimes I will do it by compromise, 
     sometimes I will do it through confrontation.''
       He reached out to all his constituencies, from Catonsville 
     to West Baltimore to Charles Village to East Baltimore and 
     Hampden. Some white areas in the district had felt snubbed by 
     Mr. Mitchell.
       The new congressman set up town meetings with his 
     neighboring Democrat, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, and followed 
     his predecessor, Mr. Mitchell, to the House Banking, Finance 
     and Urban Affairs Committee.
       But Mr. Mfume became more adept at dealing with the 
     opposition than was the often-acerbic Mr. Mitchell. ``Mfume's 
     style is, `You'll like me and respect me,' '' Daniel P. 
     Henson III, the city housing commissioner, said several years 
     ago. ``Parren's style was, `You may not like me, but you'll 
     respect me.' ''
       On the Banking Committee, Mr. Mfume matured into a skilled 
     legislative craftsman. He was instrumental in saving programs 
     that aided minority businesses. And he embraced issues 
     outside the traditional black agenda, from high-technology 
     development to business tax breaks.
       Within two years, he became a leader in the Congressional 
     Black Caucus, which elected him one of two vice chairmen.
       ``He's serious. He's thoughtful, He's a consensus 
     builder,'' Rep. Mike Espy, a Mississippi Democrat, said in 
     December 1992, when Mr. Mfume was elected chairman of the 
     Black Caucus.
       With his elevation to caucus chair and the election of a 
     Democratic president, Mr. Mfume found his profile rising in 
     Washington. President Clinton desperately needed the votes of 
     the 39-member Black Caucus to get his legislative agenda 
     through Congress.
       As head of the group, Mr. Mfume proved a tough negotiator 
     and a shrewd bargainer, often holding out for concessions 
     from Mr. Clinton on programs such as the tax credit for the 
     working poor. The man who once had a popular radio talk show 
     on Morgan State's WEAA now became a fixture on the nationally 
     televised Sunday TV talk shows.
       The Black Caucus, under Mr. Mfume, provided Mr. Clinton 
     with critical votes for his crime bill, despite deep-held 
     opposition to death penalty provisions.
       Mr. Mfume's term as caucus chairman had its stormy moments. 
     He made many of his more traditional colleagues uncomfortable 
     by reaching out to the Nation of Islam and its chairman, 
     Louis Farrakhan, who has a history of making inflammatory 
     remarks about Jews and other groups.
       But after Republicans took control of Congress this year, 
     the Black Caucus members were mere voices in the wilderness. 
     Because the caucus members are among the most liberal in 
     Congress, few found any common ground with the ruling 
     Republicans.
       Mr. Mfume found himself in an unhappy eclipse. Once 
     surrounded by reporters every time he left the House floor, 
     the Baltimore Democrat could recently be seen ambling alone 
     past the press-mobbed Republican leaders.
       No longer in the majority party, he would become the 20th 
     House Democrat to leave or announce plans to do so. Five 
     others have switched to join the GOP.
       When Mr. Mfume assumed the leadership role in the Black 
     Caucus three years ago, Mr. Espy offered words that would 
     apply today as Mr. Mfume assumes the leadership of the NAACP.
       ``He has a professional style, which we need,'' Mr. Espy 
     said in 1992. ``It will be difficult. I know he's up to the 
     job.'' 

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