[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

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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

[[Page S1132]]

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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