[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 21, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1149-H1154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A COMMEMORATION OF FAITH AND POLITICS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 1999, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to commemorate and to 
recall an extraordinary weekend that I and many of my colleagues had 
the opportunity to spend with our colleague, one of the historic 
Members of this House. He is probably, I suppose, the most historic 
Member of this House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).
  The event that we participated in just a couple of weeks ago was 
under the aegis of the Faith & Politics Institute, headed up by the 
Reverend Doug Tanner. Reverend Tanner delivered the prayer, Mr. 
Speaker, at the opening of this session of the House, and he is here 
with us on the floor. It was an extraordinary opportunity for many of 
us to relive with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and with 
others the courage and commitment shown by some Americans so that all 
Americans would have the right to avail themselves fully of their 
constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
  We went to Birmingham, Alabama, then to Montgomery, then to Selma, 
and back to Montgomery. Montgomery, Alabama, is, of course, the capital 
of Alabama. Birmingham, as I will say briefly, was the site of a 
confrontation between freedom and evil, between those who would deny 
other human beings basic rights because of the color of their skin. We 
see in today's world across the globe that happening too often, where 
nationalism and racism and other ethnic divisions drive people to 
commit heinous acts against others.
  It is appropriate that we remember what has happened in the past so 
that we can hopefully avoid it happening in the future and sensitize 
ourselves to the pain of others when they are inadvertently shut out, 
even if we are not consciously setting them aside and denying their 
rights.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. Speaker, as we stand at the dawn of a new century and join the 
strongest economy in 50 years, we sometimes overlook what brought us to 
this point. Two weeks ago, as I said, we were again reminded, reminded 
that the book of American history includes chapters that are both 
repugnant and, thankfully, triumphant.
  We were reminded that the courage to confront injustice and 
inhumanity is an indelible part of our national character. And we were 
reminded, Mr. Speaker, in the words of abolitionist and journalist 
Frederick Douglass, if there is no struggle, there is no progress.
  On Sunday, March 5, we witnessed dramatically this progress, and we 
honored the courageous and continuing struggle for social justice. Two 
Sundays ago, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), who is here 
with me on the floor, cochaired with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Lewis) this effort and the congressional participation in the Institute 
on Faith and Politics.
  We were joined by nearly 20 other Members of Congress, by President 
Clinton, leaders of the civil rights movement and thousands of others 
in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate a seminal moment in American history, 
Bloody Sunday. That phrase entered the American lexicon on March 7, 
1965, 35 years ago, when Alabama state troopers and the posse of 
sheriffs, so-called deputies, attacked 600 men, women and children who 
had marched peacefully across the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma, 
Alabama.
  Those brave marchers who were lead by our colleague, the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), and Reverend Josiah William had committed no 
crime or offense. In short, there was no reason that they would be 
attacked by those who were sworn to uphold the law, protect the 
citizens of Alabama, and honor the Constitution of this great Nation.
  Those marchers had simply demanded the most basic of American rights, 
the most basic right in any democracy, the right of a citizen to 
express their opinion to participate in the decision-making process of 
their Nation, by voting. In Selma, in 1965 less than 1 percent of 
eligible black residents were registered to vote. Not, Mr. Speaker, 
because they did not desire to vote, not because they did not think 
that voting was important, but because they were being precluded by 
various devices. Literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation were the 
weapons used to disenfranchise and discourage those from participating 
in their democracy.
  The marchers sought to change that, but their rightful demand was met 
with nightsticks, bullwhips, tear gas, ignorance, and hatred. The 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) who has now joined us on the floor, 
was one of the first to fall, Mr. Speaker. The gentleman led this march 
through the courage of his convictions, not just for African Americans, 
but for all Americans, knowing full well that if justice was not 
accorded to African Americans, it would not be accorded to any American 
ultimately.
  The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) when ordered to do so by the 
state troopers stopped in his place as he crossed the Edmond Pettus 
Bridge. They told him to retreat. Rather than retreat, however, he 
bowed his head and began to pray; and the response of the Alabama state 
troopers on that March 7, 1965, was to assault the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and those with whom he marched.
  They fractured his skull with a nightstick, injuring him seriously. 
That event was a dramatic historic event in the history of this 
country. A few days later, President Lyndon Johnson put these horrific 
events into context, declaring to a joint session of

[[Page H1150]]

Congress, and I quote, ``At times, history and fate meet at a single 
time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending 
search for freedom.'' ``So it was,'' he said, ``at Lexington and 
Concord, so it was a century ago at Appomatox, and so it was,'' Lyndon 
Johnson concluded, ``last week in Selma, Alabama.''

  Tonight, Mr. Speaker, I want to especially thank the Faith and 
Politics Institute for organizing this recent pilgrimage to Alabama and 
for allowing me and so many of my colleagues to attend. As we walked by 
the statues of snarling dogs in Birmingham's Kelly Ingram Park and 
toured the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little innocent 
unknown beautiful girls who happened to be black died in a murderous 
explosion in 1963.
  I was struck, Mr. Speaker, again, by the depth of the gentleman from 
Georgia's (Mr. Lewis) courage and commitment to justice for all and how 
that same courage and commitment was shared by so many men, women, and 
children that we will never know.
  Mr. Speaker, we rise to commemorate their courage tonight and their 
perseverance too; for on this night, March 21, 1965, began the Selma to 
Montgomery march that successfully concluded on the steps of the 
Alabama State Capitol 4 days later.
  The marchers who were brutalized on Bloody Sunday and the marchers 
who made it to Montgomery 2 weeks later reminded us that nightsticks 
are no match for reason; that bullwhips stand no chance against 
courage; and that ignorance and hatred have no place in the land of the 
free and the home of the brave.
  A little more than a year later, a year after Bloody Sunday, Robert 
Kennedy summed it far more eloquently than I can hope to do; and I 
repeated those words as we met at the end of that incredible weekend. 
He was speaking in Capetown, South Africa, to a group of African 
students; and he said this, that ``each time a man stands up for an 
ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or speaks out against 
injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and crossing each other 
from a million different centers of energy and daring, they build a 
tide that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and 
resistance.''
  There were 600 people who left the AME Church, the Brown AME Church 
in Selma, walked the few blocks to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, who were 
standing up for an ideal, were speaking out against injustice, were 
acting to improve the lot of others. And as the attack on them appeared 
on television that night, they, through their courage and commitment, 
built a tide that did, in fact, sweep down the mightiest walls of 
oppression and resistance.
  What a debt of gratitude, Mr. Speaker, this Nation owes to those 
brave souls.
  So it was in Selma in 1965. And what 1965 tells to us most clearly is 
that it is that way today. We have made much progress. But all of us 
know there is a far way to go.
  There is a great song, Mr. Speaker, that ends with this refrain in 
the first verse, ``Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us 
march on til victory is won.''
  History tells us that full victory is never won. There are victories 
in battles. But, unfortunately, man's inclination to discriminate 
against his fellow man always seems to crop its head above the surface.
  And so, I say to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), he teaches 
us a lesson and all those with whom he marched; he honored us by 
allowing us to help commemorate that day with him and others who 
marched on that day. Let us all pray that, when the next time comes, we 
too will have the courage that he displayed to stand up, to speak out, 
to act against oppression, to, with him, knock down those mighty walls 
of oppression and resistance.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Lewis), as I said, a historic figure who has contributed beyond perhaps 
all of us collectively to the realization of what this great democracy 
means not just to the American people but to the peoples of this world.

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and my 
colleague, who is really my friend and my brother, for yielding and for 
hosting this special order tonight, along with my friend, my colleague, 
and my brother, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood).
  I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for those 
wonderful words and for being part of this journey, this dialogue, this 
trip, this privilege to Alabama.
  In my position here in the Congress, but as an individual, as co-
chair of an organization, Faith and Politics, with my good friend and 
brother the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), this was our third 
trip to Alabama. We felt it was necessary for us to travel as Members 
of Congress with our spouses, with our staff members, and with our 
friends to go, to see, to feel, to travel the roads where other 
travelers 35 years ago and more to go back to Birmingham, as my 
colleague stated, to visit the church, to visit the park where the dogs 
and the fire hoses were used, to visit the city of Montgomery, visit 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s church, to visit the memorial to the 
civil rights martyrs, to travel to Selma and to visit the Brown Chapel 
AME Church, to walk across that bridge across the Alabama River one 
more time.
  I think it was not just a trip, but it was an opportunity for us to 
bond, to become brothers and sisters, to become, yes, a band of 
brothers and sisters to engage in a meaningful discussion, a meaningful 
dialogue about race.
  Because I think what the struggle was all about 35 years ago, and 
still today under the leadership of Doug Tanner and the good people of 
Faith and Politics, to bring us together to that point where we can lay 
down the burden of race and build a truly beloved community, to build a 
truly interracial democracy in America, where committee can forget 
about race and color and see people as people, as human beings.
  I think that is what is so meaningful about a group of us coming 
together not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Americans, as men 
and women, who believe somehow and some way that we can find a way to 
create a sense of community, to create one house, one family, the 
American house, the American community.
  So I am so thankful and grateful tonight to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for taking the time out to have this special order 
to share with our colleagues and share with our friends this journey to 
Alabama, this journey of reconciliation, this journey on understanding.

                              {time}  2115

  Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend for giving us all that opportunity and 
for his comments which are as compelling tonight as he always is, 
because they are real, heartfelt, and live sentiments. I thank my 
colleague. We are all honored to be his friend. I now want to yield to 
another extraordinary American. In the context of cochair of the Faith 
& Politics Institute, an American who comes from an extraordinarily 
different background from the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), who 
superficially people would say is much different than the gentleman 
from Georgia but they look on the outward manifestation of the color of 
skin which is just a superficial difference because he is, as the 
gentleman from Georgia referred to him, very much a brother, very much 
someone whose heart and head tells him that we are all in this together 
and we need to respect one another and lift one another up. We are all 
honored to serve with him in the Congress of the United States, my 
friend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton).
  Mr. HOUGHTON. I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), I 
thank the Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and 
thank so many of my associates here. I want to particularly thank the 
gentleman from Maryland for putting this together. It is the right and 
it is the decent thing to do. It is timely. And frankly what we are 
trying to do is to encourage others to be more involved in this 
enormous experience which we had down in Selma. As a matter of fact, we 
have had for several years now. The person, of course, that has driven 
it is a fellow called Doug Tanner who is the head of the Faith & 
Politics Institute.
  The gentleman from Georgia and I originally said that we would join 
the Faith & Politics Institute so long as we

[[Page H1151]]

had no work to do because we were busy enough as it is, and all of a 
sudden we find ourselves doing more and more and more and more for Mr. 
Tanner, this Christlike figure who stands up there and feels, well, it 
is only because you want to do it, that is what is happening. I think 
the gentleman from Georgia would agree, we are doing far more than we 
originally bought into, but it has been enormously satisfying.
  I think one of the things that struck me in this extraordinary 
experience in going to Selma and going there with the gentleman from 
Georgia was just the gentleman from Georgia himself. I know this is 
embarrassing for the gentleman from Georgia to hear all this, but it is 
true. Martin Luther King is no longer with us. It is tragic. Here was a 
man who was born 3 years after I was born and has been dead over 30 
years.
  But the younger members of that group, the SNCC, the Student 
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee were there and when you see not only 
our friend the gentleman from Georgia who is an associate of ours and 
works here and legislates with us and has been with us all along, and 
then to associate with Betty Fykes and Bernard Lafayette and Jose 
Williams and people like that, they are all alive, and they were the 
people that drove this whole thing, the younger people. I think one of 
the things that comes along is that the younger people really are the 
ones that say damn the torpedoes and go ahead and do the things which 
are right and the others are a little more conservative. As a result, 
we owe the gentleman from Georgia not only as our friend but also this 
enormous leader a tremendous debt of gratitude.
  I hope those people who are listening will recognize this; I think we 
all do around here. I will always remember when John came to Corning, 
we had a continuation of the days of dialogue in upstate New York, in 
the district in which I live. It was extraordinary to see him at work 
there, because all of a sudden people said, here is the man that did 
all this, here is the man that led it. We had not realized what he 
stood for and what he was doing, what he represented. And then, of 
course, he had this wonderful associate, Sheila Sisulu, who is the 
South African ambassador here. Sheila Sisulu as many Members I am sure 
realize is the daughter-in-law of Walter Sisulu who was one of the two 
other partners of Nelson Mandela and stayed in South Africa and went to 
Robben Island, was there with him for over 20 years while Oliver Tambo 
went to Lesotho to keep the African National Congress going. She is the 
daughter-in-law.

  But there was the gentleman from Georgia talking about the oppression 
that he was fighting, that he was literally willing to lay down his 
life for. I am sure there were times that he never thought that he 
would live another day. And here was Sheila Sisulu talking about the 
institutionalized apartheid in South Africa, what they had gone 
through. It made me realize how lucky we are to be Americans and to 
live in this particular time. It was just extraordinary.
  There were other things that came along. Just the singing, the music. 
I know the singing of Betty Fykes and what it did to you in 1965 but 
what it did to us. Here we were just standing there and all of a sudden 
this lovely lady burst out into song. It cheered our spirits and made 
us feel better about things. And then, of course, I take nothing away 
from the gentleman from Maryland's eloquence and he is a very eloquent 
man but I will never forget being in Brown Chapel following the pastor 
of Brown Chapel and the gentleman from Georgia and then me, this former 
glassblower from upstate New York trying to make some sense out of the 
message. It was an awe-inspiring feeling.
  Mr. HOYER. If the gentleman will yield, he notices I chose to speak 
before the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. HOUGHTON. If the gentleman will notice, he placed me after the 
gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. HOYER. I apologize for that. That was an unfair thing to do.
  Mr. HOUGHTON. When you hear those words and the emotions behind them, 
it does something to you. That is why this extraordinary experience is 
so important to be shared with everybody. This was an unusual year. It 
was the 35th anniversary of that march. It was unusual for another 
reason, because the President of the United States came down there. 
When the President of the United States comes down, it just changes the 
whole nature of it. But the crowds that were there and how they related 
to the words and the younger people that spoke. It was just a really 
extraordinary experience. It did something to me.
  Again as I mentioned earlier, I would love to be able to share that 
with others. There is one downside, if I could just mention very 
briefly, is that while we celebrated the 35th anniversary of this 
extraordinary experience and honored those people who had led us, the 
fact is that there is still tremendous racial tension. You could see it 
even in the school system in that area where most of the people in the 
old days used to be in the high schools, the official high schools were 
white. Now most of the people in the high schools are black. But where 
do the white people go? Many times they have gone into private 
education. They have not integrated the way I know that the gentleman 
from Georgia and the gentleman from Maryland and others had hoped they 
would, and how we had hoped they would.
  So the people that would say that Affirmative Action is wrong and we 
can go on automatic pilot and this thing is a thing of the past, there 
are no more Bull Conners, there is something very subtle going on here. 
It will not be erased for years and generations and generations to 
come. That is the thing that we have got to work on. It is not only 
what we do but really who we are.
  I will always remember a wonderful story about Archibald MacLeish 
giving a lecture. He was most of the way through, a student raised his 
hand and said, Mr. MacLeish, you have only got about 5 minutes to go, 
could you sort of sum up what you have to say? He said, yes, I will, I 
would sum it up like this. Don't forget the thing and the student said 
what do you mean by the thing? Mr. MacLeish says, the thing is what you 
are is just as important as what you do. That is why we so applaud and 
honor the gentleman from Georgia and all his associates. I thank the 
gentleman from Maryland again for allowing me to speak.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman from New York for the depth of his 
integrity and the quality of his leadership in this House.
  I want to yield to my very good friend, someone for whom I have a 
great deal of respect and affection, who has spent his time as a 
Member, he has been with this institution for a long period of time. I 
guess he is now in his third decade of work in this institution but a 
relatively new Member, succeeding his mentor and a great Member of this 
body, Bob Michel, but who has done as much as any Member in this body 
to try to bring us together collegially irrespective of party or 
faction or ideology, and that is a service that this institution needs. 
I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood).
  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for this hour that has been 
set aside by the gentleman from Maryland to sort of commemorate and 
share a little bit about the trip that some of us took, much of which 
has been talked about already in such great detail as the gentleman 
from Maryland has done and then the gentleman from Georgia and also the 
gentleman from New York.
  I want to add my thanks to Doug Tanner for the work that he does with 
the Faith & Politics, to the gentleman from Maryland for this hour and 
really to say that normally these hours are set aside by Members to 
talk about issues that are near and dear to their heart and in 
particular in some cases that they feel very strongly about, and so for 
us to take this hour and talk about an opportunity that all of us had 
to share an experience in Selma, Alabama, to share the experience in 
Birmingham, to share the experience in Montgomery, to share the 
experience of walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge is an opportunity 
for us to say to the American people that we do come here to make laws, 
to pass bills, but we also come here from districts where we return to 
demonstrate leadership, and not always in the bills that we pass but 
more on the other things that we do.
  Part of what some of us have done was to travel to the Deep South and 
to

[[Page H1152]]

observe in a very surreal fashion because we were there with the 
gentleman from Georgia and many of his friends and compatriots and 
colleagues that were there 35 years ago. And this opportunity was 
offered to many but only a few of us went. And so for some of us to be 
able to experience, the second year for me, I went last year, my wife 
and I went again this year, it was different. It was different this 
year because of the huge mass of people that were there, in large part 
I think because the President was there which again highlights the 
importance of the event and highlights the importance of what took 
place and highlights the importance of dialogue and race relations and 
faith and politics coming together.
  But it is important for us I think to go back to our districts and to 
share with our constituents and to meet with leaders in our districts 
and talk to them about the importance of dialogue, about the importance 
of race relations, about some things that have happened that we call 
progress but also talk about many things that we need to do to make 
further progress. I certainly intend to do that. I am hoping to invite 
the gentleman from Georgia to my hometown of Peoria, Illinois, to have 
him have a dialogue and to help conduct a dialogue and to be a part of 
a group of leaders in my community that can talk about race relations 
and the progress we have made but the long drive that we have ahead of 
us.

  Finally, let me say that we have 435 in this House. Each one brings a 
little different background, a little different dimension, a little 
different experience, but there is only one among us who has the kind 
of background and influence and standing in the civil rights movement, 
in the voting rights movement, in the race relations movement, in the 
faith and politics movement and that is the gentleman from Georgia. He 
is one unto his own when it comes to voting rights, race relations, 
civil rights, because of what he has done, because of what he has 
experienced and that he did not come here forgetting it, he came here 
to say to people, follow me, let me show you what we have been through 
and what we need to do in the future.
  So for the 434 of us who know the gentleman from Georgia and for the 
few of us who know him as a friend, as a brother, as somebody who is a 
leader, a power of one, I think if we do not take anything else away 
from our experience in the House, it will be the fact that we were a 
part of the experience of the gentleman from Georgia, and hopefully we 
will be a part of an experience of doing more and carrying on what the 
gentleman from Georgia has really begun earlier on in his life.

                              {time}  2130

  John, thank you for being a part of this wonderful institution and 
doing more than just coming here and passing bills and giving speeches 
but setting an example and saying to us, come with me and share my 
experience and then go back into your communities and provide the 
leadership. Without your leadership, without what you have done, we 
would not be doing what we are doing, and so we are grateful to you for 
being more than just a Congressman from Atlanta, Georgia, but for being 
a leader and continuing to be a leader.
  So I say thank you to you, and we look forward to continuing to work 
with you hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, to improve race relations 
in this country and we do have much work ahead of us.
  I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for devoting this 
hour to our experience and for articulating so well what we were able 
to experience in Selma and Birmingham and Montgomery. We look forward 
to working with all of the Members to carry on what we need to do here 
and back in our districts.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood) for those 
remarks. We all share his view of John's place in this House.
  I yield to my friend from the city of brotherly love. I say that not 
facetiously. We in Penn wanted that to be a State and City of Brotherly 
Love, but we know all too often in this Nation where brotherly love is 
preached and brotherly love gets a doff of the hat from time to time, 
unfortunately there are too oftentimes when it is not practiced. So I 
am pleased to recognize someone who went with us and who added 
immeasurably to our experience, a gentleman from the Philadelphia 
region and Montgomery County, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Hoeffel).
  Mr. HOEFFEL. I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 
arranging for this hour, giving us a chance to come together this 
evening to talk about our trip to Alabama.
  It was a remarkable experience for all of us who participated in this 
civil rights pilgrimage to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 
voting rights march in Selma. I want to thank the Faith & Politics 
Institute and Doug Tanner for his leadership and for bringing us 
together.
  It was remarkable to visit the civil rights movement landmarks that I 
had never seen in person before, to learn more about the history of 
this country in the 1960s. It was equally remarkable to meet so many of 
the leaders of the movement and the foot soldiers of that movement, so 
many of which are still with us today, still providing leadership.
  It was particularly remarkable to be there with John Lewis. Many 
people tonight have spoken in high praise of John, and I want to do the 
same. Someone said it was almost surreal being there with John, and it 
was. For me, the surreal moment was riding in the tour bus I think 
between Montgomery and Selma, and watching on the television screens in 
the bus parts of the documentary, Eyes on the Prize, of the civil 
rights movement, seeing a young John Lewis being interviewed, speaking 
back in the 1960s, and then looking down the aisle of the bus and 
seeing John Lewis today moving around talking to his colleagues on that 
bus.
  It certainly drove home to me the remarkable passage that this leader 
has had in the civil rights movement and how special he is to all of 
us. John embodies virtually every important moment of the civil rights 
movement in the 1960s. He helped to organize and lead the lunch counter 
sit-ins in Nashville in 1960. He was one of the 11 original freedom 
riders in 1961. He helped to organize the March on Washington and spoke 
eloquently there in 1963 and, of course, led the voting rights march at 
Selma in 1965, right at the front row.

  It was just remarkable to see that footage watching my new friend, 
John Lewis, in 1965 be run over by the police forces and beaten because 
he wanted to march for voting rights, because he had the courage to 
stand forward and the courage to do it in a nonviolent way; the courage 
to use passive resistance to reach the heart and soul of the American 
people and say there has to be a better way; there has to be a better 
way to have true freedom and equality for all Americans.
  So I would say to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), I 
certainly learned a new appreciation for the hard work and the 
sacrifices that were made by many leaders and many foot soldiers to win 
civil and voting rights for all Americans.
  I also developed, I believe, a deeper understanding of the work that 
remains to be done, to make sure that all Americans really have the 
equal justice and the full opportunities that we want them to have.
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), who provided and provides 
wonderful leadership for the Faith & Politics Institute, already talked 
about Selma of today compared to Selma of 1965, and it is an 
interesting comparison. In 1965, legal segregation was the order of the 
day and the official today, I guess, would be called high schools were 
all white and the black children went to school in segregated high 
schools. That was true throughout the Deep South.
  Well, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
changed many, many things in this country; but today, in the year 2000, 
Selma still has a form of segregation. It is de facto now. There is 
only one set of public high schools. And as the gentleman indicated 
they are almost all black; and the white students have chosen to go to 
different schools, religious schools or private schools. So there is a 
different kind of segregation.
  The work that John Lewis fought so hard for 35 years ago and that we 
commemorated a couple of weeks ago still has much to be done in the 
face of that segregation, and I do not mean to pick on Selma or Alabama 
or the South of

[[Page H1153]]

 today because that kind of segregation really occurs everywhere; in 
the North, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the suburbs of 
Philadelphia, which I represent.
  The schools are integrated and there is a great racial understanding 
in the suburban school that my daughter attended and my son currently 
attends, but there is social segregation. The blacks tend to socialize 
and congregate and eat lunch together and the whites tend to be 
together, and there is understanding and there is good relations but 
there is still that social segregation.
  There are subtle forms of segregation in the North, almost as bad 
perhaps as the legal segregation of old in the South. In the 
Philadelphia School District, because of a lack of local resources and 
indifference from our State government, Philadelphia school kids have 
$2,000 less per pupil spent on them than suburban school kids do, 
$2,000 less in the big Philadelphia School District. That is not 
strictly a racial result, but there is a subtle form of segregation 
happening there.
  As the President so eloquently said in Selma a couple of weeks ago, 
when he spoke to us all, that as long as there is de facto segregation 
in the public schools in Selma we have another bridge to cross; as long 
as there is $2,000 less available to educate school children in 
Philadelphia than school children in the suburbs of Philadelphia, we 
have another bridge to cross. As long as social injustice and 
discrimination continues to occur in this country, we all have another 
bridge to cross. As long as parents work two jobs but cannot bring home 
a living wage, there is another bridge to cross. As long as families do 
not have health care, as long as seniors cannot get the prescription 
drug coverage they need, we have another bridge to cross.

  We all agree on that. We differ on some of the ways to get across 
that bridge, and we have policy disputes down here. And that is why we 
are here, and that is the beauty of this body. But we have to recognize 
that as important as it is to remember what happened 35 years ago and 
to honor amazing Americans like John Lewis, we have to learn from John 
and take inspiration from John but be honest with ourselves about the 
problems that still exist and face those problems forthrightly, face 
them together and understand that we are all in this together.
  If we recognize that and work together, then we will truly honor what 
happened 35 years ago. If we fail to work together today, then much of 
what happened in the past will be for naught, and none of us can stand 
for that result to happen.
  So I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his 
leadership. I thank John Lewis and the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Houghton) and all of my colleagues who attended, and particularly those 
speaking here tonight. I was glad to be a part of it and will continue 
to work with you.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) for 
his comments and for his making a comment about the time between what 
was done in 1965 and that bridge being crossed, and I would comment 
that when we crossed the bridge in 2000, 35 years later, I think all of 
us were struck by the fact that there were Alabama troopers on the 
other side of that bridge but their response, when the end of the 
Edmund Pettus Bridge was reached by John Lewis and others, was to 
salute, to salute in honor of all that John had accomplished and all 
that John represented, and showed a revolutionary change in those short 
35 years.
  The governor of Alabama, rather than talking about interposition and 
other doctrines of States' rights, met John and the President at the 
bridge and Governor Siegelman welcomed John Lewis home because, of 
course, John Lewis comes from Alabama; moved to Georgia and represents 
that State very well.
  I think the gentleman from Philadelphia (Mr. Hoeffel), from 
Montgomery County as opposed to Montgomery, Alabama, made very clear 
the point that the march of 1965 continues to this date.
  Now I would like to recognize my friend who now represents Birmingham 
and surrounding areas in Alabama, a former member of the State 
legislature, a State senator who himself was involved in the struggle, 
who himself was a fighter for freedom. I am pleased to recognize and 
yield to my friend, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Hilliard).
  Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, first let me say that it was indeed a 
pleasure having all of my colleagues in the Seventh Congressional 
District in Alabama. I represent three major cities in Alabama, 
Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, and those were the cities where most 
of the civil rights activities in the Nation took place, and the 
surrounding areas, of course.
  For the last 4 years, we have been going, Members of Congress, to 
Alabama, participating in what we call a renewal demonstration; one 
that shows our commitment to the future. It also shows that we are not 
satisfied with the past, but presently every time we go, every time 
there are such activities, it highlights the wrongs of the past but it 
also shows a brightness for the future.
  The good thing about our presence there, we bring the spotlight of 
the Nation to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, and problems of the 
past.

                              {time}  2145

  But when we highlight problems of the past, we also show lingering 
problems that are still with us. This time when I crossed the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge, I said to myself that there are so many bridges in our 
lives that need to be crossed. We still have in this country the racial 
divide.
  But I would like to associate myself with the remarks of all the 
prior speakers, but especially the remarks of the last gentleman who 
spoke. We not only have problems in Selma, Birmingham, and Montgomery, 
but in this Nation. It is how we approach the problems now as compared 
to the past that is so interesting, because there is really no 
comparison.
  Even though the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and others were 
nonviolent in their approach, it was not universal. I would like to 
think that we are approaching that universality, that we are getting 
close; that every year more and more people join the cause and more and 
more people want to do good and more and more people cross the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge with us. I would like to think that in America things are 
getting better, and hopefully, with what we will do, they will continue 
to get better. But I realize in each one of our lives there are still 
Edmund Pettus Bridges that must be crossed.
  So because of our experiences in going to Selma, Montgomery, and 
Birmingham, and because of our lifetime commitment here in Congress to 
democracy and to our society, I think that it is good to go and 
participate yearly, so that we can renew our commitment, not only as 
individuals but as Members of Congress.
  If we could, by our presence continue to spotlight the evils of the 
past and the goodness of the present, I think we will continue to chip 
away at those problems that exist, and we will continue to build 
democracy. I think that is what we all should be about.
  I would like to thank Doug Tanner. Four years ago when I first heard 
about him putting together this annual civil rights tour, I thought 
that it was a great idea, even though I had some apprehensions; not 
because of the thought of violence, but I wanted to know how it would 
come off and what would be the ramifications, because just going and 
being there would only satisfy and help the few of us that had the 
experience.
  But after we came back, Members told me, you know, I saw you on TV. I 
heard some of the speeches, and I am going next year. Every year 
someone tells me that they are sorry that they did not go.
  So everywhere in America I go now people say, you know, I am coming 
down to Selma next year. I hope that is indicative of the change in how 
we think, not only about Selma, but all the problems associated with 
Selma, because, in reality, Selma is a little America. The people there 
in every respect represent America; and if we can go there and talk 
about problems that exist, that is the first step, and it is the very 
first thing we must do in America.
  We cannot hide our past, and we should never forget our past. But as 
long as we can remember, discuss, and talk about the past and the 
problems, maybe we are on our way to solving

[[Page H1154]]

them, and that is the good thing about the activities and about doing 
it and being involved.
  So, Doug, I really thank you for all your institute is doing; and I 
thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for calling us together 
tonight so that I could say thank you for coming, so that I can invite 
you back next year or the year after next, whenever the decision is 
made when we will go. Also I would like to thank the President for 
coming and thank America for being there. They were there in so many 
ways, whether it was by TV, radio, or in spirit. I would like to think 
that all of us marched this time across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
  Let me thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) for being there 
35 years ago, and let me thank the gentleman for being there this time. 
Let me thank all of you, and I invite you back.
  Remember this: Selma is America. You can come there, just as you can 
go home.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much. We 
appreciate his comments and appreciate his welcome to his district and 
appreciate his invitation back.
  I think I pointed out, and the point that was made by the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) was apt, that Selma is America, and 
America can learn lessons from Selma, as Selma needed to learn lessons 
from America.
  Doug Tanner, we all do thank you. You have made our lives richer, 
more whole, by your ministering to us, ministering to us in a variety 
of different ways, some of which some would say are religious, some 
would say secular, but surely ministering to our souls and to our 
hearts and to our heads so that we will be better persons and treat one 
another as we would want to be treated.
  As I was sitting here and listening to all of you speak, I thought to 
myself, we rise here every day as we begin this session and pledge 
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the 
republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with 
liberty and justice for all.
  The lesson of Selma is for all. Indivisible. We cannot segregate 
rights and expect any of us to long enjoy those rights. That, John, is 
the lesson I think you were teaching to the country, that Martin Luther 
King, Jr., was teaching to the country.
  If you hold truths to be self-evident and you say that all men are 
created equal and endowed not by the State, not by government, but by 
God, by their creator, with inalienable rights, then God's creatures 
mean for all, liberty and justice for all.
  John, I think you made us a little more cognizant of what that really 
means; and as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood) has pointed out, 
it teaches us better how to go home with our friends and neighbors, 
families and colleagues, and to emphasize how important it is for our 
Nation to be better than it is today. As great as it is, as just as it 
is, it can be better, if we realize that we must have it as a Nation 
with justice for all.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving us this time to commemorate an 
extraordinary experience in the lives of each one of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues. I honor and thank my brother, 
John Lewis; and I thank my friend, Doug Tanner.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today I join a number of my colleagues 
in commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Voting Rights March from 
Selma to Montgomery. I was honored to be a part of the Faith and 
Politics Institute's Congressional Civil Rights pilgrimage a couple of 
weeks ago. It was powerful to hear from those who had experienced the 
struggle first-hand. It was informative to learn about these historic 
events while actually at the sites. It was inspiring to walk in the 
same places as those who stood up for justice.
  Thirty-five years ago, our country experienced some of the lowest and 
highest points in our history. On the one hand, law enforcement agents 
and elected officials violently opposed the basic democratic right of 
voting for African Americans. On the other hand, ministers, students 
and regular citizens stood up for their most basic rights as Americans. 
Congress responded by passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the 
crowning achievements of the Civil Rights Movement.
  Unfortunately, the work of Martin Luther King and John Lewis and so 
many others is still unfinished. We have made many strides toward equal 
rights and progress toward racial equality. But the issues surrounding 
race remain among the biggest challenges facing our country. When we 
review our country's legacy around slavery, the historical record is 
still incomplete.
  One of the items on that unfinished agenda is that the U.S. 
government has never apologized for its role in slavery. A few years 
ago, I saw a television program with a Black minister and a White 
minister commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. They stated 
that there had never been an official apology for slavery. With my 
country's Civil War, all that President Abraham Lincoln achieved and 
the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, I found that hard to 
believe.
  So I went to the Library of Congress and discovered that they were 
right--no one in the Government of the United States had ever 
apologized for slavery. Therefore, I set out to correct this glaring 
omission in history. On June 12, 1997, I introduced my simple 
resolution without any fanfare.
  What happened next was a complete surprise. It exploded on the 
political scene at about the same time President Clinton was conducting 
his ``National Dialogue on Race.'' Both conservatives and liberals, 
blacks and whites dismissed it as ``a meaningless gesture'' or ``an 
avoidance of problem-solving.'' After considering it, President Clinton 
decided not to apologize because of the fear of legal ramifications.
  I received hundreds of letters and phone calls about the apology. 
Most of the people I heard from opposed the idea and some were 
blatantly racist and hateful. Very few people stood up and defended the 
idea and necessity of an apology. At times, I felt very alone in this 
struggle to do what I know is right.
  I know that my resolution will not fix the lingering injustice 
resulting from slavery. But reconciliation begins with an apology. I 
hope this apology will be the start of a new healing between the races. 
I introduced the resolution because it is the right thing to do.
  Many of the opponents to the apology argued that slavery had been 
abolished over a century ago and no one alive in the United States 
today had been a slave or a slave owner. But that ignores the fact that 
slavery's effects are still with us.
  Just one of the many examples of slavery's legacy is in terms of 
assets. Slaves, of course, were not able to earn any money or pass on 
an inheritance to their children. When African-Americans were freed 
after the Civil War, they started at a distinct disadvantage. Then they 
were shackled with Jim Crow laws and segregation that prevented them 
from truly entering into society. Only within the last two generations 
have descendants of slaves legally able to join American society. Not 
only was it not a level playing field, the game itself was stacked 
against people of color.
  Now in the 21st Century in the richest nation in the world, blacks 
control only 1.3 percent of the nation's financial assets, while they 
are around 12 percent of the population. Whites possess a staggering 95 
percent. Almost two-thirds of black households have no net financial 
assets. Blacks and whites with equal incomes possess very unequal 
shares of wealth.
  Our work is obviously not finished. I am proud to stand up with my 
colleagues and voice my support for efforts that promote racial 
reconciliation. My special thanks to John Lewis and Amo Houghton for 
organizing the pilgrimage to Alabama and the ongoing ``Congressional 
Conversations on Race.'' I look forward a time when the record is 
corrected and we can truly celebrate the accomplishments that have 
brought about ``One America.''

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