[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 87 (Friday, June 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              NORTH AMERICAN SLAVERY MEMORIAL COUNCIL ACT

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I believe that a quote by Papa Dallas 
Stewart, a former slave, captures the essence of the bill that I have 
introduced today when he said, ``Promise me that you are going to tell 
all the children my story.''
  As a child, Stewart had his eyes burned out when an overseer caught 
him studying the alphabet. He spent his life encouraging others to 
never forget about the horrors of slavery. He understood that we must 
share the painful past in order to protect our future.
  Today, I introduce the North American Slavery Memorial, which is 
patterned after the Holocaust Museum and pays tribute to those who 
suffered and perished under slavery in North America. This bill will 
ensure that future generations grasp the injustice that occurred in 
North America's past so that we may never repeat it.
  For the sake of Papa Stewart and countless others, we must never 
forget the past. I encourage my colleagues to join the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and myself in cosponsoring the North American 
Slavery Museum bill.

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