[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 82 (Thursday, June 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             REPORT TO MEMBERSHIP ON FLOOD AID NEGOTIATIONS

  (Mr. GINGRICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GINGRICH. I want to report to the House on the negotiations on 
flood aid, but before I do, I must report that I just learned to my 
great delight that Reverend Baggott was in fact a high school student 
of mine at Newnan where I taught a class. I was teaching in west 
Georgia and I taught a class in the afternoons for high school 
students. And it is probably a sign of how long I have been hanging out 
that he is now a pastor. But we are glad to have his son and daughter 
with us. That was an additional delight here this morning.
  I want to say to all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we 
are making progress. I have been deeply committed to getting flood aid 
to the victims I visited in Minnesota and North Dakota. I know how 
important it is to get them the aid.
  I was very disappointed when the President vetoed the flood aid on 
Monday. We believe we are very close to having it worked out and hope 
in the next few hours to announce and then move a supplemental 
appropriations bill to provide the flood aid.
  But I would say for the country and for all my colleagues that 
insisting that the Government stay open is not a small thing; that if 
Senator Daschle will give his word today and get a unanimous consent 
agreement in the other body to bring up at an appropriate time a 
continuing resolution to keep open the Government, that he will have 
guaranteed that the aid will go through much more rapidly, and he has 
it in his power to do so; and that, frankly, ensuring that Americans 
are counted in the census by enumeration as the Constitution requires 
is not a small thing.
  I believe that we will have language worked out this morning with the 
administration to require the census to develop a track of being able 
to enumerate every citizen, not just have somebody make an estimate, 
which can easily be politically manipulated. That is a constitutional 
requirement that goes back to 1790, and we have an obligation.
  These are not minor issues, these are not political games. Keeping 
open the American Government and ensuring that every citizen is counted 
are important to the people of this country. We believe we have an 
agreement. We hope to be able to bring this bill to the floor sometime 
late today.
       CONGRESS SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR SLAVERY

  (Mr. HALL of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, generations have passed since the end 
of slavery. In that time, Congress has done much to undo the effects of 
that horrible wrong, but we have never apologized. And I was stunned to 
learn that fact from the Congressional Research Service.
  Today I will introduce a resolution apologizing to the African-
Americans whose ancestors suffered as slaves. My resolution will not 
fix the lingering injustice resulting from slavery, but reconciliation 
begins with an apology. I hope this apology will be a start of a new 
healing between the races.
  Though no one alive today is responsible for slavery, all Americans 
share our shameful heritage and we all suffer from the consequences of 
a divided Nation. Therefore, it is fitting for the Congress, as the 
representatives of the American people, to offer this apology. This 
apology is long overdue, but it is never too late to admit we were 
wrong and ask for forgiveness.

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