[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7761-H7764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MEMORIAL TO HONOR MAHATMA GANDHI

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4284) to authorize the Government of India to establish a 
memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi in the District of Columbia.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4284

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH MEMORIAL.

       (a) In General.--The Government of India may establish a 
     memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi on the Federal land in the 
     District of Columbia.
       (b) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary of the Interior 
     or any other head of a Federal agency may enter into 
     cooperative agreements with the Government of India to 
     maintain features associated with the memorial.
       (c) Compliance With Standards for Commemorative Works.--The 
     establishment of the memorial shall be in accordance with the 
     Commemorative Works Act (40 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), except that 
     sections 2(c) and 6(b) of that Act shall not apply with 
     respect to the memorial.
       (d) Limitation on Payment of Expenses.--The Government of 
     the United States shall not pay any expense of the 
     establishment of the memorial or its maintenance.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
H.R. 4284 is a bill introduced by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
McCollum). The gentleman from Florida is to be commended for working 
very hard to craft a bill that will recognize and memorialize one of 
the great world leaders of our time. H.R. 4284 would authorize the 
Government of India to establish a memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi on 
Federal property in the District of Columbia and would be in basic 
accordance with the Commemorative Works Act. The memorial is to be a 
gift to the people of the United States as a part of the celebration of 
India's 50 years of freedom.
  Mahatma Gandhi was born in India in 1869. He was best known for his 
civil disobedience that took shape in nonviolence and passive 
resistance and was instrumental in helping India achieve its 
independence from England. He is revered by millions throughout the 
world for his unending fight for personal freedom and human rights. 
H.R. 4284 would allow the country of India to create the Mahatma's 
memorial within the District of Columbia to

[[Page H7762]]

honor this great man. Furthermore, this bill will also authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with the 
Government of India in order to maintain features associated with the 
memorial. Of note, the Federal Government shall not pay any expenses 
for the establishment or maintenance of this memorial.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4284 is a worthy bill which will recognize an 
important and great world leader within the boundaries of Washington, 
D.C.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4284.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4284 is a companion measure to 
H.R. 1390 as it was introduced by my colleague the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone). I also want to thank the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. McCollum) in providing for this joint measure.
  The legislation authorizes the Government of India to establish a 
memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi on Federal lands across the street 
from the embassy of India here in Washington, D.C.
  Mr. Speaker, Mahatma Gandhi, as everyone knows, is internationally 
renowned as a great leader and for his teachings of passive resistance 
and noncooperation in his native India. Perhaps this may be noted as 
one of the dark pages of the British colonial rule at the time, the 
fact that they were very reluctant to grant independence and freedom to 
the people of India. As some of my colleagues and perhaps even the 
American public may have seen, one of the great movies ever done on the 
history of this great man, Mahatma Gandhi, a graduate of Oxford 
University, started his early practice in South Africa, and an attorney 
by profession turned, the fact that here was this man who paid a first-
class ticket on a train and with this British officer noted that here 
was an Indian sitting in a first-class cabin was insulting to this 
British officer. The rest is history, Mr. Speaker, given the fact that 
Mahatma Gandhi was not only beaten by these British officers, but it 
changed his entire life and seeing that his people were certainly under 
suppression by British colonial rule.
  This movement of nonviolence, Mr. Speaker, as noted also by my 
colleagues, had tremendous influence even on the civil rights movement 
here in America. The fact that the great American Martin Luther King, 
Jr. was tremendously influenced not only by the teaching but by the 
example that Mahatma Gandhi had lived for in his life in trying to set 
the people of India free from British colonial rule.
  Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege months ago with the chairman of the 
Committee on International Relations when we visited New Delhi, India 
to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the independence of India and to 
again not only remind the Indian people among the leaders but to see 
the tremendous contributions that this Indian leader had given not only 
to his own country but certainly to the world. And the fact that as a 
result of what Mahatma Gandhi has done, Mr. Speaker, we have 980 
million people living in India, the largest or the most populous 
democracy in the world, is a demonstration of not only the commitment 
of Mr. Gandhi to see that his people be let free from British colonial 
rule is an example; and even more so in the fact that our own country 
was tremendously influenced not only by this man who happens to be an 
Indian but the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s own writings, own 
example in the civil rights movement was greatly influenced by this.
  Mr. Speaker, I think this legislation is most proper and appropriate 
and we see that there should be a memorial built here, in the premises 
here in Washington, D.C.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), the sponsor of this legislation.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time. I 
really appreciate very much the chairman of this subcommittee who has 
brought this bill to the floor through the urging of several of us and 
done it in a fine form and fashion.
  I rise today specifically to express my support for the passage of 
H.R. 4284, a bill, as I think all of us know, to allow India to 
establish a memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi here in Washington, D.C.
  I am joined also in this effort by my good friend and colleague the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone). The gentleman from New Jersey 
and I cochair the India Congressional Caucus, a bipartisan group that 
is designed to promote understanding between the United States and 
India.
  As all of us know, India is the world's largest democracy. It has 
shared our commitment to freedom of speech, democratic values and the 
rule of law since its inception in 1947. This memorial is a positive 
reminder of the growing relationship between the world's oldest 
democracy and the world's largest democracy. The memorial is a gift to 
the people of the United States from the people of India in celebration 
of India's 50 years of freedom. It will symbolize not only the strong 
friendship between the U.S. and India but also the impact that Gandhi 
had in the United States and in particular on the civil rights 
movement.
  Mahatma Gandhi was known for his acts of civil disobedience which 
took the form of nonviolence and passive resistance. His efforts were 
key in helping India to achieve its independence from England and 
inspired leaders in the United States and throughout the world. His 
actions prevented unnecessary bloodshed and served as the foundation 
for peaceful resolution of conflict.
  It is fitting that we take on this bill which commemorates the father 
of the nation of India during the anniversary of India's independence. 
We have had a growing and strong relationship with India in recent 
years. In the coming years it appears to me that the need for our 
alliance will be even greater. We are confronted with so many troubling 
matters in the world today, including terrorism, including the 
possibility of threats of chemical, nuclear and biological 
proliferation, and while we have some disputes with India always, and 
that will inevitably be the case, for the most part we are on exactly 
the same track. As a strong ally in the future, India will be a partner 
of the United States in so many ways in foreign policy that I see. In 
addition to that, India is an increasingly extremely important trading 
partner for economic interests with this country and their country. 
Indian Americans are very strong citizens of the United States who 
believe deeply in democratic values, values that are shared both in 
their native country and in their adopted country of the United States.

  This particular legislation with this particular memorial that we are 
setting forth today gives us a way of saying to each other, as nations 
and as peoples, we have shared values and commitments. We know there 
are times when we will have disagreements, but those are comparatively 
very minor to the major agreements that we have and the shared values 
that we have. It is terribly important that we go forward with this 
bill and with our continued building of a strong relationship between 
India and the United States.
  The government of India strongly supports the legislation. The 
memorial will not cost, as has been said, the taxpayers a cent. I do 
not know of any objections to its construction whatsoever.
  Mr. Speaker, for all of the above reasons aforesaid, I urge the 
adoption of this bill.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding time. I also want to commend and to congratulate the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) who is chairman of the India Caucus for 
his sponsorship of this legislation as well as for the effort that he 
puts to increase the relationship between the United States and India.
  A memorial to Mahatma Gandhi is very easy to support. As a matter of 
fact, as has already been indicated, he led the greatest resistance 
movement

[[Page H7763]]

in a nonviolent way that the world had ever seen at that moment. And 
then, of course, as has already been indicated, he was an inspiration 
to Dr. Martin Luther King who in our modern era led the most effective 
nonviolent resistance movement that we have ever seen during 
contemporary times.
  Most importantly, though, this memorial will signal even greater 
relationships between the two countries, the two democracies, the 
largest, I believe, as someone said, and the oldest. I think that that 
in and of itself is a tribute to all of us. And so I very greatly 
endorse and support this legislation and again commend the sponsor for 
its initiation.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Maryland (Mrs. Morella).
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this 
time to me. I am just so very pleased to rise in full support for this 
resolution H.R. 4284 that is going to allow the country of India to 
create the Gandhi memorial within the District of Columbia to honor 
this very great person.
  It is true we celebrated the 50th anniversary of India. It is true, 
as has been stated, that it is one of the greatest democracies along 
with the United States. It is true that its constitution begins with 
``we the people,'' just as our Constitution does. It is true that we 
have a very active Indian-American caucus here, and I can see the 
chairman of the caucus is over there.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) of the full 
committee, the chairman, for this legislation as well as the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Miller), the ranking member; indeed the gentleman 
from Utah (Mr. Hansen), who is the chairman of the subcommittee, and 
the gentleman from American Samoa, (Mr. Faleomavaega) for this.
  As my colleagues know, I used to teach English and American 
literature, and it was Henry David Thoreau who wrote Walden and also 
wrote On Civil Disobedience. And in writing Walden, he talked about the 
mystical waters of India, of the Ganges, and what the spiritualism 
implied and what it meant. And in Civil Disobedience, where he spent 
that night in jail because he resisted peacefully something that he 
believed was wrong, he indicated that he attributed that this was 
something that was a way that we should resolve conflict.
  Mr. Speaker, we know that Mahatma Gandhi looked to Henry David 
Thoreau when he was involved in civil disobedience in terms of peaceful 
resistance to what was wrong. We then know that it was Martin Luther 
King, Jr., who then looked to Gandhi for that continuation of that. So 
it all comes together in terms of the importance of Mahatma Gandhi in 
terms of our relationship and friendship with India, in terms of what 
we believe in in America and what our Indian Americans adhere to as a 
part of this great country.
  So I commend all of the people who have been involved, I thank them 
very much for this resolution coming out today, and I urge the entire 
House to support it.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Maryland 
(Mrs. Morella) for her fine comments, and certainly very appropriate on 
the occasion of deliberating on this piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), not only the chairman of the India Caucus, 
but certainly a great leader on this issue.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of the 
subcommittee and, as the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) 
mentioned, the other members of the Committee on Resources for pushing 
this bill so we could bring it to the floor this day and get it passed 
and sent over to the Senate.
  As my colleagues know, the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum) co-chairs the India Caucus with me, and this is 
a bipartisan effort. We have over a hundred Members in our India 
Caucus, and this is one of the bills that we have been trying to push 
on a bipartisan basis throughout most of this year. We are very pleased 
that it is coming to the floor today.
  There is a companion bill offered by Senator Moynihan, who is a 
former U.S. Ambassador to India, that is being sponsored in the Senate, 
again on a bipartisan basis, so if we can get it over to the Senate, we 
will undoubtedly get it signed by the President before the end of this 
year.
  As was mentioned last month, India celebrated actually the 51st 
anniversary of her independence, and of course the individual most 
closely identified with the historic and successful effort by the 
people of India to secure the independence from British colonialism and 
establish a democracy was Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi's contributions to the 
causes of democracy, freedom, and human rights are felt to this day not 
only in India but throughout the world, including here in the United 
States. And that is why I think it is particularly important that we 
have a memorial or a monument to him here in Washington, D.C., which of 
course is our capital and the place where we celebrate democracy and 
the freedoms that we enjoy as the leader of the free world.
  I just wanted to say very briefly, Mr. Speaker, when I was in India a 
couple times, I had the opportunity to go to the Gandhi ashram in 
Ahmadabad and also to a place where Gandhi spent a number of years in 
Bombay, and I was incredibly impressed with the way he organized this 
movement in India. There is really nothing quite like it in terms of 
the way he took an intellectual idea and was able to expand it to the 
masses of the people in India and have success in throwing off the yoke 
of colonialism.
  From a practical standpoint, though, I wanted to say that this 
memorial will be entirely not only an appropriate addition to this 
city, but it will not cost the Federal Government anything. The 
legislation specifies that American taxpayers will not have to bear the 
cost of construction and maintenance. The Embassy of India will bear 
all costs. The National Capital Memorial Commission and the National 
Park Service will both have very active consultative roles, ensuring 
that it will add to the beauty of our capital and blend in well with 
the surrounding area.
  The location of the tract of land where the memorial will be erected 
is close to the Embassy of India. It has been selected because the 
location would be in keeping with the Commemorative Works Act for 
location of commemorative works as subjects of lasting historical 
significance to the American people, and I wanted to point out that the 
proposed monument was approved last June by the National Capital 
Memorial Commission.
  So, Mr. Speaker, this city is a city of great monuments and 
memorials, and we are just very happy on behalf of the India Caucus to 
have this addition added to those commemorative monuments.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to make another note of the fact that in 
our Nation we have over 1 million Indian Americans living in our 
country that make tremendous contributions to their local communities 
and to the several States, and the fact that the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. McCollum) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) are both 
co-chairs of the India Caucus. I think it is a tribute to the over 1 
million Indian Americans that live in our own Nation that show such 
diversity that we provide to our community and the citizens here.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4284, a 
bill to authorize the establishment of a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi 
here in the nation's capital.
  Born October 2, 1869 in Probandar, western India, Mahatma Gandhi was 
the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism and advocate of nonviolence 
in the 20th century. Appealing to reason, justice, and tolerance, 
Gandhi served as a powerful and effective force in bringing about 
Indian independence through his teaching of nonviolent civil 
disobedience.
  In many ways, India's independence and strength today owes much to 
the conviction and courage of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi's leadership in 
promoting peaceful social and political change has inspired many around 
the world and sustained efforts for the improvement of civil and human 
rights worldwide. He has won the affection of so many, including

[[Page H7764]]

revered American leaders like civil rights advocate Martin Luther King, 
for his tireless efforts to improve social equality. In addition to 
playing a pivotal role in creating modern India, Gandhi's work provides 
a model for generations to come.
  Today's measure builds on earlier Congressional efforts to honor 
Gandhi. In 1994, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Gandhi's 
birth, I authored a resolution to honor Gandhi's unwavering dedication 
to India's people and a man whose name has come to symbolize freedom 
and justice around the world.
  On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its India's independence, 
it is both fitting and appropriate that we honor Gandhi's legacy with 
the establishment of a memorial in the nation's capital, where people 
from all around the world can gather to commemorate and reflect on 
Gandhi's life and vision. I am proud to join my colleagues in voting 
for this important measure.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4284.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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