[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 106 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7391-H7393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BLACK REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOTS MEMORIAL
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4957) to amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management
Act of 1996 to extend the legislative authority for the Black Patriots
Foundation to establish a commemorative work.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4957
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. BLACK REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOTS MEMORIAL.
Section 506 of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands
Management Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1003 note; 110 Stat. 4155)
is amended by striking ``2000'' and inserting ``2005''.
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.
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Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4957 extends the legislative authority for the
Black Patriots Foundation for another 5 years, to 2005, in order to
establish a commemorative work on the Washington, D.C. mall. This
commemorative work honors the black patriots who fought for American
independence during the Revolutionary War.
In 1998, the Black Patriots Foundation was granted an extension for
the authority to design and construct the memorial on the Washington
D.C. Mall. When granted, the Black Patriots Foundation believed that
the memorial would be finalized in just 2 years. Unfortunately, the
foundation has not been successful in raising enough funds and has
asked that it be granted an extension 5 more years until 2005.
Mr. Speaker, the Black Patriots Foundation has recently hired an
exclusive director with extensive fund-raising experience and has
recommitted themselves to seeing this memorial to completion.
Therefore, I believe it is the best course of action to reauthorize
this foundation so that this very important part of our history can be
experienced by all of those who will visit this deserving memorial.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this.
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, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr.
Hansen), my good friend, the chairman of the Subcommittee on National
Parks and Public Lands for his management of this legislation. I want
to personally commend the chief author of the sponsor of this
legislation, the gentleman from New York, (Mr. Rangel), my good friend.
Mr. Speaker, the 99th Congress approved legislation reauthorizing the
Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation to establish a memorial on
Federal land in Washington, D.C. The specific purpose of the proposed
memorial is to honor the roughly 5,000 slaves and free men who fought
against Britain during the American Revolution, although its broader
theme is to honor all African Americans who have fought and died while
serving in the U.S. military.
Mr. Speaker, the proposed site for the memorial is north of the
Reflecting Pool on the Mall, between the Washington and Lincoln
Memorials, an area where more than 100,000 people once gathered in that
summer of 1963 to hear Dr. Martin Luther King's historic speech, ``I
have a Dream.''
Mr. Speaker, from the outset, the project has complied with all
aspects of Commemorative Works Act and has received all the approvals
necessary to move forward. Unfortunately, the private efforts to raise
an estimated $9 million needed for the construction of the memorial
have yet to reach their goal, and without congressional action,
authorization for the project will expire this month.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4957, as I said earlier, which was sponsored by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), my good friend, will amend the
existing law to extend an authorization for the foundation until the
year 2005. While previous extensions have been for 2 years only, it is
our hope that this 5-year extension will provide sufficient time for
this project to raise the funds necessary to move this project forward.
Again, I urge my colleagues to approve this legislation; and I urge
my friends to support this bill.
Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4957,
legislation to extend the authority of the Black Patriots Foundation to
establish a commemorative work on the national Mall.
I am delighted to be an original cosponsor of this legislation along
with Mr. Rangel, Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Payne, all of whom have worked so
long and hard--and continue to do so--to make this memorial to the
Black patriots of the Revolutionary War a reality.
My colleagues, this House has noticed an absence and therefore a very
real need for commemoration in honor of people who helped to birth this
Nation, people who actually gave the supreme sacrifice during this
Nation's defining moment.
As Harriett Beecher Stowe wrote about the black men and women who
served in the Revoluntioinary War, It was not for their own land they
fought, nor even for the land which had adopted them, but for a land
that had enslaved them and whose laws, even in freedom, more often
oppressed than protected. Bravery under such circumstances has a
peculiar beauty and merit.
The fact is, Mr. Speaker, men and women of all colors have been
involved in every aspect of this country from its founding days. We are
full partners in the history, bloodshed and tears that have made this
Nation great.
Unfortunately, not all of us know our Nation's history, where we came
from and what makes us who we are today. H.R. 4957 and the work of the
Black Revoluntionary War Patriots Foundation will move us closer to
that goal and to a lasting historical recognition on our national Mall
of these brave men and women who fought for our freedoms. I am pleased
to support this effort and encourage my colleagues to give this bill
their strong support.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of
H.R. 4957, the Black Patriots Foundation Extension, which would extend
by five years, until 2005, the authority of the Black Revolutionary War
Patriots Foundation to complete a memorial to the black men, women, and
children who fought in the Revolutionary War.
It is fitting that the Black Patriots Foundation was created and
charged with the responsibility of constructing a memorial on the
National Mall to honor the approximately 5,000 known African Americans
who fought for America's freedom during the Revolutionary War.
Unfortunately, their important work will not have been completed by the
expiration of the authority of the initiating legislation. Therefore,
it is important that H.R. 4957 be passed by the 106th Congress and
signed into law by the president because the original 1986 legislation
will expire in October 2000.
Most American school children learn of the bravery of, Crispus
Attucks, the first African American man to die in the cause of this
country's independence. However, very few school age children or adults
in this country know any other names of stories of the thousands of
African Americans who fought for this nation's independence at a time
when they themselves were slaves. It is reported that many African
American soldiers in the Revolutionary Army did not enlist, but were
offered for service by their masters so that they themselves would not
be required to serve in the cause for their nation's freedom. During
the War for Independence if a man was drafted, he was allowed to buy
his way out of the army or to send someone in his place, a mercenary.
For the wealthy property owner, the cheapest mercenary available to
them was a slave.
By the time the first battles of the war occurred at Lexington and
Concord, there were ten African American soldiers. One of these brave
Americans was named Prince Easterbrooks, who was said to be ``the first
to get into the fight.'' Later at the battle of Bunker Hill, Salem
Poor, another African American soldier acted with such valor, fourteen
officers who observed his actions in battle wrote to the legislature
requesting special recognition of Poor for his heroism.
At first Washington was hesitant about enlisting blacks. But when he
heard they had fought well at Bunker Hill, he changed his mind. This
allowed the creation of the first all-black First Rhode Island Regiment
composed of 33 freedmen and 92 slaves who were promised freedom if they
served until the end of the war--distinguished itself in the Battle of
Newport. Later, most were killed during a British attack.
The heroic actions of African American free citizens and slaves
during the American Revolutionary War extend beyond the battlefield.
Such is the case of an unnamed African American spy who was a servant
to the leader of the British Army, General Cornwallis. This patriot spy
provided valuable information to General Marquis de Lafayette, who
offered his services to the American Revolutionary Congress and fought
with General George Washington at the Battle of Brandywine and at
Valley Forge.
In the name of this American Revolutionary spy and the thousands of
other unknown African American free persons and slaves who fought
during our nation's war for freedom I urge my colleagues to support the
passage of this legislation.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. 4957.
The question was taken.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further
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proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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