[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 17 (Tuesday, February 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H444-H445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SALUTE TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to join with my 
colleagues to salute Black History Month in the United States.
  Just recently, Mr. Speaker, the Nation held a dual celebration, the 
inauguration of the President of the United States and the birthday of 
the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Speaker, this was a leader 
who inspired a generation to dream of a society where prejudice has no 
place and intolerance is without a foothold.

                              {time}  1730

  Now as we stand on the threshold of a new century, we must reevaluate 
how we have held to the principles espoused by Dr. King. His message, 
in fact his very life, was a call to arms for millions of Americans. 
During his all too brief life, he raised the conscience of America and, 
in doing so, made the greatest Nation on Earth even greater. At times 
it seems as though his dream has been forgotten, it seems as though the 
differences of race cannot be overcome.
  I was shocked and saddened last year, as many of my colleagues were 
and the citizens across the country, when depraved arsonists burned 
down black churches throughout the South. This throwback to a dark era 
hinted at the underlying and unresolved issue of racism in America. But 
once again America did not allow darkness to reign. Instead, Americans 
of all faiths and colors came together to rebuild those churches and as 
the walls rose, so did the promise of America.
  Mr. Speaker, the promise of this Nation was born in the belief that 
we were all created equal and entitled to certain inalienable rights. 
That promise grew as our Nation grew until we realized that some were 
excluded from the promise of freedom and justice. Black Americans 
suffered greatly, not just in the South but also in northern States, 
where poverty and hopelessness were the norm for free blacks. But it

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seems that in our darkest hours, Americans always rise to a new level 
of decency and honor.
  During the American Civil War, it was Abraham Lincoln who gave voice 
to the truth that America cannot truly be free as long as we excluded 
men and women based on the color of their skin. As the civil rights 
movement in the 1960s grew, a new voice was heard, the voice of a 
preacher who reminded all Americans that only God could determine what 
was in a person's heart and a colorblind system of justice could 
establish equality in America.
  Now at the dawn of the 21st century, Mr. Speaker, only a free and 
equal society can shape the future of this great Nation. Only by 
working together as a unified nation can we truly realize the potential 
of all of our citizens and the beauty of our more perfect union. Even 
today we have not reached a place where all minorities share equally in 
the American dream. President Clinton in his inaugural address issued a 
challenge to the Nation to reshape our society by creating a new 
government for a new century, a government humble enough not to try to 
solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools 
to solve our problems for ourselves.
  I agree with his challenge, but I add that all Americans must have 
access to the tools necessary to solve those problems. And so here in 
Black History Month, Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues from the House 
on both sides of the aisle and the Senate as well and join with the 
executive branch and all Americans across the United States to make 
sure that we rededicate ourselves to the principles of Abraham Lincoln, 
the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to make sure that we 
correct the inequities and to make sure that opportunity for all, 
whether it be in education, housing, jobs, in training, access to 
public accommodation, is equal to all, and we will rededicate ourselves 
to that purpose and to those goals.

                          ____________________