[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 9 (Friday, January 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1127-S1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATURAL DISASTERS IN NORTH DAKOTA
Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I rise to talk about a matter that is of
urgent concern to the people I represent in the State of North Dakota,
where we have been hit by a series of natural disasters, both drought
and flood.
In northeastern North Dakota, we have had nearly a decade of overly
wet conditions and, as a result, very severe crop damage, a dramatic
loss in production. Ironically, in the other corner of the State, the
southwestern corner, we have had the most severe drought since the
1930s. This combination has been a devastating blow to producers in my
State, as it has been to producers in Montana, where they have suffered
from terrible drought. Right down the core of the country, State after
State has experienced overly dry conditions. On the other hand, States
to our east have experienced overly wet conditions, with dramatic crop
losses, and substantial damage to the economy as a result.
In the last farm bill, we passed in the Senate on a bipartisan basis
a disaster relief package. When we went to conference with the House of
Representatives, we were told there were two things that could not be
negotiated. One was opening up Cuba to trade. The second was disaster
assistance. We were told that both had to go to the Speaker of the
House. When the Speaker of the House was contacted, he said that the
answer on both of those questions--opening up Cuba for trade and
disaster assistance--was a firm no.
The administration, in open session in the conference committee,
indicated they would not support disaster assistance.
Madam President, we now come to this juncture, and we have another
opportunity to respond to the extraordinary natural disasters that have
been felt in various parts of the country. And the question is: What do
we do? Some have suggested in this legislation an across-the-board cut
of 1.6 percent in all domestic programs, and then to take some of that
money and give a bonus payment to all farmers, whether they have been
hit by natural disaster or not.
As much as I would like to see a bonus payment to all farmers, I
really do not think it can be justified before we provide a disaster
program for those who have been hit by natural disasters.
The hard reality is that this is something we have always done,
whether it was floods in other parts of the country--Missouri--or
hurricanes in Florida or earthquakes in California. Every year I have
been here, 16 years, we have responded to natural disasters. Last year,
for the first time ever, we failed. There was no program to respond to
natural disasters.
I do not think we are going to look very good to the American people
or very responsive to those who have suffered from natural disasters if
our answer is to cut programs across the board and give a bonus to all
farmers whether they suffered from natural disaster or not. I just do
not think that can be defended. I believe such an approach is going to
create very hard feelings, and I do not think it is fair.
The drought we are experiencing in southwestern North Dakota has now
crept across the State. We just received the latest information from
the U.S. Drought Monitor. It shows that the drought is now covering
virtually all of our State and, of course, it shows the terrible and
prolonged drought to our west in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and down
into Arizona. This is a drought that is expanding, that is growing, and
that is devastating everything in its wake. That has to be responded
to, and always before, we have had a program of natural disaster
assistance.
Some have said: Just take it out of the farm bill. There are no
provisions for disaster assistance in the farm bill. The administration
opposed it. It is not there.
Some say it is not fiscally responsible to have a program of natural
disaster assistance. We have never taken that position in the whole 16
years I have been here. We have helped every part of the country that
suffered from natural disaster. Every year, we have helped those who
have been hurt. I do not think we should do any less this year.
The fact is, I wrote the Congressional Budget Office and asked them:
What are the savings in the farm bill because of these disasters? They
wrote back to me and said: Senator, the savings, because of these
natural disasters, are approaching $6 billion this year. Why? If you
have natural disasters, you have less production; less production,
higher prices; higher prices, lower farm program payments.
The distinguished occupant of the chair is married to a gentleman
with whom I served for many years. Senator Dole, the former Republican
leader, represented Kansas in the Senate. He and I worked together many
times on disaster assistance in the Agriculture Committee and on the
floor of the Senate. Whether it was a problem in Kansas or a problem in
North Dakota or a
[[Page S1128]]
problem outside of our States, we sought to be responsive to those who
suffered from natural disaster, and I believe we should do that again.
The proposal in this appropriations bill was not done in consultation
with the Agriculture Committee members, and it borders on bizarre. I do
not know how else to say it. To cut every other domestic program by 1.6
percent and then give a bonus payment to every farmer, whether they
have suffered losses or not, whether they have had natural disaster or
not, I do not think can be justified.
We just passed a farm bill. I fought very hard for it. It is a good
farm bill. It is not perfect, but it is a good farm bill, substantially
stronger than the previous farm bill. For us to cut every other program
1.6 percent and give a bonus payment to every farmer in the country
whether they suffered from a disaster or not, I do not think can be
justified, I do not think can be supported.
Sign me up to give help to those who have suffered a natural
disaster. Whether it is in the State of Kentucky, the State of North
Carolina, the State of New Mexico, the States of North or South Dakota,
Montana, or Colorado, we ought to have a disaster package, disaster
assistance for those suffering from disaster. We should not cut
everybody else and give bonus payments to those who have had no
disaster.
How can that be justified? What are we going to do, cut law
enforcement to give bonus payments to those who had no disaster? I do
not believe that will be sustained. I do not believe that will be
carried through the process. I do not believe the President of the
United States would sign such legislation. Most of all, it is not
right.
Let's take the resources that are available, the substantial savings
that are in the farm bill because of these disasters. Because we had
natural disasters, there is less production; as a result of that, there
were higher prices; as a result of that, there were lower farm program
payments to the tune of $6 billion, maybe more. The CBO is about to
release new estimates. They may show even greater savings. I think a
portion of those savings ought to be allocated to help those who
suffered from natural disasters, and goodness knows those losses were
widespread in 2002.
I conclude by asking my colleagues to think carefully about the
precedent we are setting because always before, when others suffered
natural disaster, we responded. We ought to do no less now.
Mr. SARBANES. Madam President, it is appropriate that, on the eve of
the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, I rise today to pay tribute to a
great Marylander and civil rights leader in his own right, former
Baltimore Mayor Clarence ``Du'' Burns.
From humble beginnings in East Baltimore, Du Burns began a lifetime
of public service and great accomplishments, eventually becoming the
first African-American mayor of Baltimore. Born on September 13, 1918,
in East Baltimore, Du attended Frederick Douglas High School and the
Larry London School of Music, where he developed a love of jazz that
would stay with him through his lifetime. At the age of 21, he married
Edith Phillips, and soon thereafter joined the United States Army Air
Corps. Du served in the Air Corps for 3 years before returning to
Baltimore and embarking on a long career of service to the city.
For 20 years, Du Burns worked at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School as
a recreational and youth hygiene counselor. In 1971, he first entered
the political arena, serving as 2nd district councilman from 1971 until
1982, and later became both Vice President and the first African-
American President of the city council. Then, on January 26, 1987, Du
was sworn in to complete the term of Governor William Donald Schaefer,
becoming the 45th mayor of Baltimore and the first African-American
mayor in the history of the city.
This simple list of Du's career positions does not come close to
expressing all he accomplished and all he meant to Baltimore. Du Burns
got his nickname because he was always ``doing'' things for others. He
made his life's work the improvement of our city, particularly those
areas that others had written off as beyond help. Among his many
accomplishments were the creation of the new Dunbar High School
Complex; the East Baltimore Medical Plan, the first community-based HMO
in the Nation; and Ashland Mews, a 372 town home community for first
time homeowners. Du was one of the founding members and later a long-
time chairman of the board of the East Baltimore Corporation, a
nonprofit organization that provides substance abuse services, job
training and placement, and numerous other services to people that
desperately needed assistance in order to revitalize the community. Du
likewise was a founder and chairman of the Eastside Democratic
Organization. But most central in his life was his family and his
church. Du was an active member of the St. Francis Xavier Roman
Catholic Church for 45 years, and devoted to his wife Edith, daughter
Cheryl, granddaughter, and extended family.
Like Dr. King, Du Burns serves as an example that one person can move
mountains and change the world for the better with selfless service to
the community. I was privileged to attend the funeral mass for Du
yesterday, which was a touching celebration of his life and legacy. I
think the homily given by Father Edward Miller at that service was a
wonderful tribute to the spirit that guided his life, and which we
should all strive to emulate. In honor of Du Burns, I ask unanimous
consent that a copy of that homily now be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Eulogy for Clarence ``Du'' Burns
(By Father Edward Miller)
Extraordinary people are ordinary people, who allow Gods's
Amazing Grace to touch them and transform, them.
Extraordinary people are ordinary people, who, if you
hinted that they were extraordinary, would deny it, with all
Christian Honesty and Humility.
Extraordinary people are ordinary people, who, are graceful
in life's victories, and gracious in life's defeats, because
they know the God who makes the sun to shine on the just and
unjust, the rain to fall on the good and not so good.
Extraordinary people are ordinary people, who, when they
are `the first' to do something, simply say that somebody had
to be first, but then look out for those who come after them,
knowing that ``if I can help somebody . . .''
This morning we come in faith to commend the soul of our
brother in the Lord, and an extraordinary man, Clarence Du
Burns, to Almighty God.
I'll bet even God calls him Du.
When I went to the hospital to give him the Last Rites of
our Catholic Church, his much loved grandchild Lisa, trying
to wake him up, kept calling in his ear, ``Du - Du - Du -
wake up!''
Now, I come from the old school, and cannot ever imagine
calling either of my grandfathers John.
But I am sure that Du would have had it no other way!
He was proud of that name! And he will probably be the only
Baltimorean to ever carry it. He got it the old fashioned
way: he earned it.
When you speak it, and we had better tell his story to our
children and children's children, speak his name with
reverence, and with respect.
Du Burns embodied what was good about politics, what was
good about life, what was good about Baltimore, the city he
loved.
He loved his country, which he served for 4 years in the
army.
He loved his Catholic Faith, and as a convert to
Catholicism 45 years ago, was a member of St. Francis Xavier
Catholic Church, itself a first, the first African American
Catholic Parish in the US.
It was the only church he was a member of as an adult,
those 45 years, although he was known to sneak over to St.
Bernardine's from time to time with Cheryl and Lisa, and soon
stopped standing up when visitors stood to be recognized.
He served at St. Francis Xavier as an usher, but not in an
official, usher board capacity; he stepped in when needed,
when the ushers were short-handed.
That was Du.
The Sun editorial on Tuesday said ``when he ascended in
1987 to become the first Black mayor of Baltimore, Mr. Burns
knew a thing or two about how to make things work. He knew
how to run an organization, he knew how to look after
people.''
Cardinal Keeler, that sounds like the definition of an
effective pastor! And he might have made a great Catholic
priest and pastor, except that God called him to another
vocation, to say ``I do'' to Miss Edith 63 years ago, and to
travel through life together for these past 63 years.
Du loved his family, his wife, daughter and granddaughter,
as the family pictures that literally cover every square inch
of the living room walls attest.
Much was always made of Du's humble beginnings, of the
locker room at Dunbar. And I say, ``Tell it, tell it, tell it
some more; tell it to our children, who flippantly dismiss
flipping burgers, because it is beneath them.''
[[Page S1129]]
Our youth need to know that if you have nothing, then
nothing is below you. You can't be the CEO, if you have
Zero!!! We need to tell them that in life, you do, and you
keep doing; and if God gives you a lemon, you make the best
lemonade anyone ever drank. That was Du's way!
Tell them that if you do what is right, God will make a
way, somehow! That was Du's faith!
His being present and available back then at Dunbar, led to
so many other developments.
Du became a youth counselor--to shape and guide young
lives; a teacher--who shared his street smarts, and mentored
aspiring politicians in East Baltimore; a developer--as the
Dunbar Complex rose up; this uneducated man!; an architect--
of the East Baltimore Community Development; a builder--as
new housing rose up for first time home owners; a
negotiator--as his skills built city council coalitions; this
uneducated man!; a doctor--as the East Baltimore Medical Plan
came to be; a wise man--who knew that you don't hang your
dirty laundry out for all to see; but you clean it up in the
back room, and hang it out clean, so no one would be
embarrassed; a mathematician--who knew that ``10'' was the
magic number; 10 votes, you win! This uneducated man!
But most of all, Du Burns was a servant of God!
The First Letter of John tells us that we cannot say we
love the God we cannot see, if we do not love the sisters and
brothers we do see.
Du knew that; he saw situations, he recognized needs, and
he served. The phrase ``too busy'' was not in his vocabulary.
People were housed, fed, educated, given a chance, at his
initiative. That is not irrelevant; that is life-giving, that
is service; and to a believer, that is living the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Baltimore is better, because Du Burns, an ordinary man,
took what God gave him, used it for others' good, and became
extraordinary, and forever a piece of Baltimore history.
Too many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of
success, and when they reach the top, they find out it has
been leaning against the wrong building all the time.
Not so for Du.
Most important: Du knew what God would do.
He knew that it mattered not if your name appeared in Who's
Who at the library; it only mattered if your name was written
in the Book of Life.
Sunday afternoon, Our Father God sent an escort named
Jesus, to take Du home.
As lovingly as Lisa had called his name the Sunday before,
Jesus now called his name.
The man who rode to many city appointments in a city limo,
now had his best ride ever, as that heavenly chariot swung
down to take him to that home on the other side, to that land
where he will never grow old.
And he heard the Lord say, Du, you did! You understood
that, whatever you did to the least of your s/b, you did to
me! Now, rest in the green pasture, sit beside the cool
water, take your place at the banquet table.
On Du's tombstone will soon be inscribed his name, dates of
birth and death, and a dash in between them.
What he did in that dash through life made all the
difference.
The psalmist says that 70 is the sum of our years, or 80 if
we are strong.
So we place a strong man, tenderly, lovingly, into God's
unchanging hands.
We are better, Baltimore is better, because Du passed
through.
Thank You, Lord, for Du. Give him, we pray you, the reward
that his good labors deserve.
Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord . . .
Mr. BREAUX. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to a great
humanitarian and a great American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This
week, as our Nation honors Dr. King on what would have been his 74th
birthday, we have an opportunity to reflect on his courage, his legacy,
and his dream for a better and more equal America.
To honor his legacy and to more fully realize Dr. King's dream, we in
public service must support an agenda that reflects what is most
important in the lives of all Americans, policies that emphasize
economic opportunity, improved education, an enhanced healthcare
system, election reform and protection of basic civil rights.
First, as we commemorate the legacy of Dr. King and his dream for our
Nation I would like to take an opportunity to recognize the brave
contribution of the African-American community in my own state of
Louisiana, men and women who have been true leaders and pioneers in our
shared journey for equality, justice and human dignity for all
Americans.
Our country's first bus boycott, before Rosa Parks' courageous stand
in Montgomery, occurred in Baton Rouge. Dr. King's national civil
rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was
inaugurated and chartered in New Orleans. And the bravery exhibited by
students at Southern University was responsible for the landmark
Supreme Court case that desegregated the entire interstate commerce
facilities.
Dr. King's dream for equality and opportunity is reflected in recent
work here on the floor of this body.
Last year, Congress and President Bush worked together to improve
education for all students in our public schools with increases in
Federal incentives for the lowest performing schools. To that end, I
intend to pursue increased funding for the TRIO and GEAR UP programs,
and for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs.
Congress has passed comprehensive election reform legislation to
begin to correct the problems and prevent the abuses of the 2000
election that led to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans and
other minorities.
Our country struggles through an economic slowdown with high levels
of unemployment, particularly in the African-American community.
Congress has acted and passed an extension of unemployment benefits.
In 1996, we changed the way welfare works to help families escape the
cycle of poverty and achieve independence. This year we must
reauthorize those landmark reforms, but do so with more funding for
childcare, healthcare and transportation. Children should not be the
victims of welfare reform, and no mother should be forced to choose
between her job and the care of her child.
There is much more to do. Today there are more than 40 million
Americans without health insurance. As health care costs rise, we need
a new approach to health care in this country, an approach that aspires
to universal access for every man, woman, and child.
It is also past time to engage in a sustained and serious dialogue on
racial profiling with an eye toward more public education and
antiprofiling legislation.
Our country has come a long way in working to end the plague of
discrimination and prejudice. Are things better? Yes, but they can be
better still. We can do better, and we must.
Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, all across America preparations are being
made to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Monday, January 20, we will memorialize a man who sought to protect
the dignity of a people and awaken the conscience of a Nation.
Dr. King's death is 35 years behind us now. To some extent, deeply
felt passions and the frustration, anguish, and bitterness with which
the Nation was consumed during the tragic year of 1968 have cooled. But
what remains with us and what is indelibly woven into the fabric and
history of our Nation is the vision which Dr. King lived for and the
dream for which he died. Dr. King embraced all Americans in his quest
to make a living reality of equality of opportunity and economic and
social justice for all humankind, those fundamental principles in our
Constitution.
This great warrior, whose battlefield was the hearts and minds of
those who did not feel that justice and dignity were meant for all
people, whose shield and armor was a strong determination and an
unassailable character and whose ammunition was moral conviction and
self-sacrifice, continues to deserve the fullest honor of this Nation.
Dr. King gave a number of famous speeches during his time, most
notably in Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, Chicago, Detroit, and several
other cities. He came to Detroit on June 23, 1963, the day after his
first meeting with President Kennedy. Introduced as ``America's beloved
freedom fighter,'' he called the ``Freedom Walk'' that day in Detroit
``the largest and greatest demonstration for freedom ever held in the
United States.'' Dr. King went on to say, `` . . . I can assure you
that what has been done here today will serve as a source of
inspiration for freedom-loving people of this nation.''
Dr. King spoke about Birmingham and the vision that had been
broadcast to the entire world just two months earlier, when dogs and
fire hoses were turned against peaceful marchers. He said, and I quote,
``Birmingham tells us something in glaring terms--it says that the
Negro is no longer willing to accept racial segregation in any of its
dimensions.'' It is said that the Freedom Walk in Detroit was in many
respects a rehearsal for the upcoming March on Washington and Dr.
King's I Have a Dream speech, two months
[[Page S1130]]
later on August 28, in our Nation's Capital.
Dr. King gave the people of this Nation an ethical and moral way to
engage in activities designed to perfect social change without
bloodshed and violence; and when violence did erupt it was that which
is potential in any protest which aims to uproot deeply entrenched
wrongs. Dr. King preached, ``Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.''
He believed in a united America. He believed that the walls of
separation brought on by legal and de facto segregation and
discrimination based on race and color, could be eradicated. His quest
was to make a living reality our fundamental principles, that ``all men
are created equal,'' and with a right to ``life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.''
Few have dedicated their life so tirelessly in the struggle for
equality as Dr. King. From the bus boycott in Montgomery to the
sanitation workers in Memphis, his unyielding commitment to improve the
lot of all Americans was demonstrated--he achieved significant goals by
peaceful and nonviolent actions. To Dr. King, those means were
beneficial to those in the struggle as the ends they were seeking.
With reference to the 11-month long successful Montgomery bus
boycott, he said:
Nonviolence had tremendous psychological importance to the
Negro . . . This method was grasped by the Negro masses
because it embodied the dignity of struggle, of moral
conviction and self-sacrifice. The Negro was able to face his
adversary, to concede to him a physical advantage and to
defeat him because the superior force of the oppressor had
become powerless . . . I am convinced that the courage and
discipline with which Negro thousands had accepted non-
violence healed the internal wounds of Negro millions who did
not themselves march in the street or sit in the jails of the
South. One need not participate directly in order to be
involved . . . to have pride in those who were the principals
. . . to restore to them some of the pride and honor which
had been stripped from them over the centuries. We have come
a long way toward achieving justice and equality for all.
When the Supreme Court order to end segregation on buses was
delivered to Montgomery, Dr. King proudly told an overflow crowd at a
local church:
We came to see that, in the long run, it is more honorable
to walk in dignity than ride in humiliation. So in a quiet
dignified manner, we decided to substitute tired feet for
tired souls, and walk the streets of Montgomery until the
sagging walls of injustice have been crushed.
We have come a good distance in fulfilling Dr. King's dream, but
there is still a ways to go. Let us rededicate ourselves today, in his
name, to continuing the struggle for human rights for all, for which he
lived and died.
Mr. SMITH. Madam President, I rise today to celebrate the life and
remarkable work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In remembering Dr. King,
I think we should all hold close to our hearts these words, spoken by
Dr. King in May 1944:
So as we gird ourselves to defend democracy from foreign
attack, let us see to it that increasingly at home we give
fair play and free opportunity for all people.
Even as we continue to fight the war on terrorism abroad, we are
reminded of the injustice that still exists here, and we must be
equally diligent to root out violence and discrimination at home.
The racial profiling and hate crimes that have occurred in the wake
of September 11 are a blight on our Nation; but, we know that hate
crimes are not new. June will mark the 5th anniversary of the murder of
James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, TX. James Byrd was dragged to his death for
no other reason than hatred of the color of his skin. This is shameful,
and our government must do more to protect all its citizens regardless
of skin color, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual
orientation.
As all of my colleagues know, I have been working to pass hate crimes
legislation that will eliminate the bureaucratic jurisdictional hurdles
that hinder our efforts to prosecute hate crimes, and give federal
prosecutors new resources for cases involving race. I know that this
will be the year to finally pass this legislation in the U.S. Senate.
It is high time that we act to end the specter of hate across our
Nation.
So as we pause to remember Dr. King next week, let us continue to
look for opportunities to try to create change. We can all work a
little bit harder to create the kind of world he dreamed about, a world
in which things are the way they ``ought'' to be rather than the way
they are.
I thank the Chair. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that
the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, on the occasion of the day that
honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I offer a couple of thoughts. I
will share with the Senate a couple of stories.
I think of what Dr. King and his band of brothers and sisters meant
to this Nation and their extraordinary success under extremely
difficult circumstances and under a great deal of duress. One of his
young lieutenants is a member of this Congress, Congressman John Lewis
of Atlanta. He was one of the youngest of Dr. King's lieutenants,
having been a very young preacher from Alabama who had joined Dr. King,
a young preacher who, by the way, has regaled so many in this Congress
with the stories of how he learned to preach in a rural area of
Alabama, on a dirt farm, where John Lewis as a child would go out to
the henhouse, and there, with an audience of hens perched on their
perch in the henhouse, John Lewis would start to practice his oratory
that ultimately brought him to be such a great preacher, to be such a
great lieutenant of Dr. King's, or now, as we know, a great public
servant, having been a Member of the House of Representatives for a
number of years.
But the story I wanted to share about John Lewis, I asked him one
day, there was something very special about what you and Dr. King and
the rest of Dr. King's group would do because you were always together
and there was not a lot of discord. How was it, in the face of all of
that physical threat and at times physical brutality, you were able to
be so successful and so single-minded of purpose that you ultimately
achieved your goal?
He said: Bill, we always met together as a covenant group in prayer
and we always prayed together that divine providence would watch over
us, and that gave us the strength.
That was an insight for me into that extraordinary part of American
history where they were so very successful. So, on this eve of Dr.
Martin Luther King's holiday, I not only give the reverence and the
respect to Dr. King, but to those who were with him, like our friend,
our colleague here in the Congress, Congressman John Lewis.
But there is another story I wanted to tell you about. It is
illustrative of some of the obstacles that have had to be overcome,
particularly by minorities and people of color, for whom Dr. King
fought so successfully. I want to tell you the story about Charlie
Bolden from Columbia, SC.
One day I was down in my State and a very distinguished retired
gentleman approached me. He said, You don't know me, but we know
someone in common and that's Charlie Bolden. He knew that the
relationship I had with Charlie Bolden was that Charlie was my pilot on
the 24th flight of the space shuttle. Both of us were rookies. That is
the same Charlie Bolden who went on to command two more flights,
ultimately retired from the astronaut office, went back in the active
duty Marines, and has just recently retired with a second star--General
Charlie Bolden.
But the story this gentleman wanted to tell me was the extraordinary
success story of Charlie Bolden from Columbia, SC, whose father was a
football coach, whose mother was a librarian who had always taught him
the value of an education and the value of hard work. Yet when this
outstanding high school student applied to the Naval Academy, his
representative from the South Carolina congressional delegation would
not nominate him because of the color of his skin. So this gentleman I
met in Florida wanted to tell me the story.
He was an Assistant Secretary of Defense under the administration of
President Johnson, and one of his specific duties, in addition to his
Department of Defense duties, was to go
[[Page S1131]]
around the country and find promising minority students and try to get
them married up with a sponsor who would nominate them to the service
academies. This gentleman found Charlie Bolden, who could not get a
nomination from his congressional representative in his home State. But
Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota nominated Charlie.
Charlie went to Annapolis. He was promptly elected president of the
freshman class and continued as class president, interestingly,
alternating as class president in that Annapolis class with another
very distinguished American, the just retired Adm. Blaire, the
Commander in Chief of the Pacific for the United States. Charlie, at
the end of graduation, chose the Marines. He chose aviation, he became
a marine test pilot, and then he applied for the astronaut office. Fate
brought the two of us together on the flight that had to be scrubbed
four times on the pad, delayed over the better part of a month. On the
fifth try, almost a month later, we were launched into an almost
flawless 6-day mission, with Charlie having to correct a helium leak
immediately after launch, only to return to Earth from a very
successful mission and, 10 days later, Challenger launches and blows up
10 miles high in the Florida sky.
An extraordinary success story about a fellow, an African American,
who wanted to achieve, who obviously had the right stuff, who could not
get in because of the color of his skin in a nomination process, who
was given a break and who soared in his personal achievement and his
contributions to our society. This is another example of the principles
for which Dr. King fought.
I want to tell one more story. This is a story that has nothing to do
with American history, but it is one of my favorite political heroes in
history. A British parliamentarian by the name of William Wilburforce
came to the Parliament in the 1790s and served there for almost 4
decades. He came to the Parliament at age 21. He came at the same time
as his good friend, William Pitt the younger, who, 3 years later, at
age 24, was elected Prime Minister and, of course, William Wilburforce,
one of Pitt's best friends, could have been a part of the government.
But he had an experience and he decided to devote his life to the
elimination of the established economic order of the day in England at
that time, the English slave trade.
Just to give you an idea of the enormous economic power of the slave
trade at that time, in the 1790s and early 1800s, it would be as if you
would take half of the American Fortune 500 companies, combining all of
that economic power, and that was the power that invaded the whole
country of England at that time. That was how much money was being made
by the shipping companies, by the captains, by the seamen, by the
insurance companies. They would go under the flag of truce, down off
the African coast--sometimes with the complicity of some of the tribal
chieftains and sometimes not--taking natives as slaves against their
will and forcing them into the holds of ships, separating them from
families and shipping them to the new world where they would be sold.
Wilburforce, at age 24, and a Parliamentarian, said this is wrong; it
is against God's law, and he devoted himself to the abolition of the
English slave trade. Time after time, again he was beaten in vote after
vote, but he persevered. He overcame, and 20 years later his bill
passed the Parliament. As a matter of law, the English slave trade was
abolished. Some 20 years later--literally 3 days before William
Wilburforce died, news was brought to him on his deathbed that the
Parliament had abolished slavery, a full 2 or 3 decades before slavery
was abolished in the United States.
He also had as one of his great crusades not only the English slave
trade, but what he called ``The Reformation of Manners''--what we term
today a moral and spiritual revitalization of the country. He did that
for England in that day and was exceptionally successful, particularly
after he wrote a book, which would be at the top of the New York Times
best seller list today, called ``A Practical View''--written by William
Wilburforce.
On this eve of Dr. King's birthday I wanted to reflect on these
giants--John Lewis, a contemporary among us, a lieutenant of Dr. King;
Charlie Bolden, a contemporary today, a just retired Marine two-star
general, former astronaut; and William Wilburforce, one of the great
leaders who single-handedly as a single member of Parliament--not in
the government--changed the course of history of the world by his
persistence in establishing a law to abolish the English slave trade.
What do those three people have in common, John Lewis, Charlie
Bolden, and William Wilburforce? What they had in common was clearly
they were courageous, clearly they were persistent, and clearly they
were talented. But they also were ``overcomers''--to overcome the
established order of the day, to make things different, and to make
things more right.
This is my testimony to Dr. King.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Florida for a
moving and insightful tribute to William Wilburforce, someone I never
heard of before I came to the Senate. Now many of our colleagues have
talked about him in the same vein as the Senator from Florida has.
Picking up from the theme he has established, I would like to talk
briefly about the legacy of Martin Luther King. I was in Washington
when the great march took place that led to Dr. Martin Luther King's
moving address ``I Have a Dream'' occurred.
One of the interesting things about that address from which I take
some comfort is Dr. King left his established transcript in the speech.
He started out sticking to the transcript, and as the speech built he
became overcome with the spirit of what he was doing, and
extemporaneously launched into the soaring phrases that he outlined of
``I Have a Dream,'' and he described to America what he saw.
One of the interesting ironies of today's debate about civil rights
is the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. saw in the eyes of many is being
turned on its head. He saw a country where color would make no
difference, where it would make no difference in employment, where it
would make no difference in academic admission, where people would be
judged on the basis of anything but their skin color. He had a dream
that that time would come.
I will not go into detail about the current fight that is going on
with respect to the University of Michigan, but I do wonder aloud how
you can square what has been going on at the University of Michigan
with Dr. King's dream. If at the time he had given that speech the
University of Michigan had a rating system for all of its applicants
and said if you are white we will give you an automatic 20 points on
our rating system, but we will deny those points to anyone who is
Hispanic, Asian, or African in heritage, I think Dr. King would have
had a few things to say about the inequities of that. I think clearly
he would have condemned that, and he should have condemned that.
Now some of those who claim to be his spiritual heirs are applauding
that when it is applied in reverse. I will leave that matter to the
courts. I will let that play itself out however it happens.
But I want to make this one further observation.
What does that tell us about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? That tells
us he had parents who were married to each other, who were stable in
their family, who loved him, and who raised him in a family
circumstance.
The African-American woman who has achieved perhaps the highest
degree of success in contemporary society is Condoleeza Rice. What do
we know about Condoleeza Rice and her rise in this struggle? We know
that she was born in Birmingham, AL where Dr. King wrote the letters
from a Birmingham jail. We know at the time Birmingham, AL was regarded
as the most heavily segregated city in the United States. We know that
is where the riots were. That is where Dr. King was arrested. That is
where he wrote his letters from that jail. That is where Condoleeza
Rice grew up.
We know this about Condoleeza Rice. She had parents who were married
to each other, who loved each other, and who provided her with a home
in which she learned.
One of the things she learned, as outlined in her biography, was
because she
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was black and female she would have to be twice as good and work twice
as hard in order to make it in the white world. Instead of protesting
that, instead of taking to the streets and complaining about that
inequity, Condoleeza Rice determined she would indeed be twice as good
and work twice as hard as any of her contemporaries.
The story is told that when she was at school at the college level,
one of her professors began to lay out the case that blacks are
inherently inferior to whites. Condoleeza Rice as a young student spoke
up and said, We are the ones who play Beethoven and speak French. What
about you? She is an accomplished concert pianist. She went on to a
Ph.D. and she became the youngest and first female provost at Stanford
University with an outstanding career as she worked twice as hard to be
twice as good as anybody else.
Some would argue that the most successful black African-American of
our time is Secretary Colin Powell. I have read his biography. I find,
among other things, that what he talks about, in his experience dealing
with segregation and discrimination in America and growing up following
the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, is his family. He had
parents who were married to each other and who provided him with a
loving and nurturing home situation. He describes that in his
biography.
I suggest this because I think there is a clear thread here. Martin
Luther King, Jr., came from a stable family. Condoleezza Rice came from
a stable family. Colin Powell came from a stable family. And in the
same period that Martin Luther King, Jr., was making his contribution,
a young staffer in the Johnson administration named Daniel Patrick
Moynihan wrote prophetically of the breakup of Black families in
America and talked about what would happen to the African-American
community if the family cohesion that had been there before was somehow
not preserved.
The predictions and implications of former Senator Moynihan's work
have come true, tragically. Today, over two-thirds of the children born
to African-American mothers are born outside of a formal marriage,
outside of a stable family, outside of that one constant that provided
the launching pad for the careers of those who have been successful
among us.
Of course, the lack of a family, the lack of loving parents who are
married to each other and provide a nurturing circumstance--the
devastation of that lack knows no racial boundaries. White students,
Asian students, Hispanic students--whoever it might be--who come out of
a circumstance where they do not have a stable family relationship are
statistically at far greater risk educationally, economically,
socially--every other way--than those who come from a family
background.
So as we celebrate rightly Dr. Martin Luther King and his
contribution to this country, we should also recognize the importance
of sustaining traditional family values in this country for everyone,
regardless of race. And I would think that adding to Dr. Martin Luther
King's dream, we should have a dream of a time when no child is reared
in a circumstance where there is not a loving support system.
Now, it need not always be blood relatives. Clarence Thomas, who sits
on the Supreme Court, has written movingly of his family, but his
family was a family of Catholic nuns who gathered around him and
provided surrogate parenthood and gave him the kind of nurturing
opportunity as a young man that he needed if he was going to succeed.
We should understand that there is no substitute in Government
programs for that kind of nurturing background. And we should look
around us at the role models who have overcome discrimination and
segregation and achieved greatness and recognize that the common thread
throughout most of their lives is some kind of family background,
family stability; nurturing, supporting activities when they were in
their formative years.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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