[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 18, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3890-H3891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RESOLUTION APOLOGIZING FOR SLAVERY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, last week, I introduced House 
Concurrent Resolution 96. This is a resolution that apologizes for 
slavery in the United States. It is rather simple. It is only one 
sentence long. Let me read it:

       Resolved by the House of Representatives that the Congress 
     apologizes to African-

[[Page H3891]]

     Americans whose ancestors suffered as slaves under the 
     Constitution and the laws of the United States until 1865.

  That is simply what it says. It is a very simple idea. The Congress 
apologizes. It is a powerful message.
  When a brother wrongs a brother, he apologizes. That is the 
foundation for beginning again. That is the price for restoring lost 
trust. This is the only way to start over. It is a simple gesture. It 
carries deep meaning. And it is the right thing to do.
  When an institution wrongs a people, so it is again the right thing 
to do. In the name of all Catholics, Pope John Paul II apologized for 
violence during the 16th century Counter-Reformation and he asked for 
forgiveness.
  Forty years after the Holocaust, the legislature of East Germany 
apologized for the atrocities committed against the Jews.
  Just last month, British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized for the 
failure of his country to fully respond to the thousands of deaths 
during the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.
  It has been 134 years since slavery ended. Since that time, Congress 
has taken proud strides forward, done some wonderful things, including 
civil rights laws. But it is not enough.
  Look around. The effects still linger today. Through my work as 
chairman of the former House Select Committee on Hunger and through my 
efforts to improve the lives of America's poor, I have seen the effects 
firsthand. We as a nation must do more. This is not a political 
gesture, it is not a partisan gesture, it is a very simple gesture and 
it certainly is the right thing.
  The slaves and slave holders are long gone. No one alive today is 
responsible for slavery. No one alive today was shackled by the chains 
of slavery in America. Indeed, most Americans are the descendants of 
people who came to the United States after slavery ended.
  All of us today, white and black, live in the shadow of our past. 
African-Americans today still suffer from the lingering effects. We all 
pay the price of slavery.
  The hatred and racial divisions springing from slavery are very much 
alive. Let us take this step to bury that hatred with the bones of the 
slaves and the slave holders.
  No Member of Congress today voted on measures to perpetuate slavery. 
But the Congress as an institution does bear responsibility. The laws 
we passed ignored, even encouraged slavery. Our Constitution, the 
foundation for the Congress, and our Government even declared at one 
time that a black man was only three-fifths of a person.
  Congress is a great institution. It is the most respected 
deliberative body in the world. At least three times in recent years, 
Congress formally apologized.
  In 1988, it apologized to the Japanese-Americans who were interned in 
the United States during World War II.
  In 1993, Congress offered a formal apology to native Hawaiians for 
the role the United States and U.S. citizens played in the overthrow of 
the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii 100 years earlier.
  In 1990, Congress apologized to uranium miners, people affected by 
nuclear tests in Nevada, and their families.
  An apology by Congress is rare, it is special, but it is not without 
precedence. Apologizing is symbolic, but it has a great meaning for 
those who are apologizing and it has power for those who are wronged.
  Why apologize to just African-Americans for slavery? What about all 
the other people who have been wronged by laws passed by the Congress? 
The wrongs against African-Americans are clear to everyone. The 
consequences are severe. Maybe we have wronged others. Maybe an apology 
to them is due. I do not know. That is another issue. I do know that we 
need to apologize to African-Americans.
  Many people have told me that apologizing is an empty, meaningless 
gesture. If it was so meaningless, why has the resolution erupted a 
fire storm of controversy throughout this Nation? If apologizing were 
so easy, then why is this resolution so difficult?
  No, it is not easy to apologize. It is the right thing to do. Today 
134 years later, it is not too late, but let us wait no longer. We are 
a nation of immigrants. Those who came as free men went in one 
direction. Those who came from slave ships, another. If we are to 
travel towards a common future, we owe it to our children to clearly 
mark that the early fork in the road was the wrong way.
  This is a simple resolution. It simply reads:

       Resolved by the House of Representatives that the Congress 
     apologizes to African-Americans whose ancestors suffered as 
     slaves under the Constitution and laws of the United States 
     until 1865.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, there is only one thing worse than committing 
an injustice. There is perhaps only one thing that makes a mistake last 
forever, and that Mr. Speaker is the failure to offer an apology and to 
ask for forgiveness. We cannot make amends to our ancestors who were 
slaves. We cannot right all the wrongs of the past which have 
contributed to racism and economic injustice. But, we can say that this 
Nation is very sorry for the saddest chapter in its history.
  One of the most profound changes in the history of this society 
occurred more than 100 years ago. The Civil War rocked the roots of 
this Nation. The war tested the resolve of the American people to form 
a more perfect union. It brought an end to slavery--the curse that 
robbed thousands of Americans of their basic human rights and sabotaged 
the fundamental premise of equality to which every person is entitled.
  The end of slavery in the 19th century and the establishment of the 
Civil Rights Act in the 20th century were turning points in the history 
of this Nation. Now, as we approach the 21st century it is time to move 
further ahead in our quest for a truly democratic society.
  On Saturday, President Clinton gave a major address on the race 
problem that plagues our Nation. In this spirit we embrace the 
Resolution to Apologize for Slavery. May we begin now to chart the next 
course toward the achievement of a truly equal, truly color-blind 
society.
  Mr. Speaker, I join other colleagues in cosponsoring the House 
concurrent resolution to apologize to all African-Americans whose 
ancestors suffered as slaves. This apology is long overdue, but it is 
never too late to do what is right.

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