[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PEACE FOR AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, there is not a time that I 
come to the floor during this time of war that I do not feel burdened 
to speak to the issue of peace and some sense of recognition by the 
administration that all is not well with the position that the United 
States is taking with respect to the United Nations Security Council.
  At any time we discuss war, we are reminded of the families that are 
mourning and the families that are also praying for their loved ones. 
And so it is important to acknowledge our respect and admiration and 
support for the success of the United States troops.

                              {time}  1930

  At the same, too, we are policymakers and our dissent is not against 
the troops. It is against the policies.
  I am concerned that there is no focus and thought on the aftermath of 
this Iraqi war, the ability to govern this Nation without government, 
the inability of one country to be able to occupy another. I believe it 
is misdirected for this administration to believe that the United 
States military can occupy this Nation, Iraq, without coalition 
efforts.
  I believe it is misdirected to think that Congress should not be 
involved, and I hope that we will be working seriously on the question 
of peace. It is interesting to try and fight the war, but can we keep 
and hold the peace?
  As I think about those thoughts, Madam Speaker, I also think about 
the fact that when our troops go abroad, they are fighting for the 
values of this Nation. They are fighting for our freedom, our freedom 
of dissent, but also our freedom of equality and justice.
  Is it not interesting, Madam Speaker, and it is sobering that 
tomorrow, April 1, 2003, one of the more historic arguments before the 
Supreme Court will be held, and that is, the challenge of whether or 
not affirmative action is unconstitutional. I might imagine that there 
are some troops in Iraq that will ultimately be impacted by this 
decision.
  I think the greater tragedy is that this government, this 
administration decided to weigh in in opposition to the University of 
Michigan plan, a plan that has already been established as a non-quota 
plan. It is an outreach. It provides a point system, Madam Speaker, for 
athletes, people living in northern Michigan, individuals who happen to 
come from different ethnic groups. It is not a quota system, but yet 
our government has decided to go into the Supreme Court with my tax 
dollars and allow the Solicitor General to argue against the rights of 
millions and millions of Americans. Young people who have not had 
opportunity, young people who started in this life behind the finish 
line.
  President Lyndon Johnson said that one cannot expect a person to 
finish a race until we take the strings off of their hands and feet, 
and that is what affirmative action is about.
  I am a product of affirmative action, Madam Speaker, going to Yale 
University; but I did not graduate on affirmative action. In fact, Yale 
University affirmatively created women because it became coed during 
the time I was in college. What a tragedy that in this Nation we could 
not find the kind of balance in the administration to argue on behalf 
of an effective plan.
  Let me thank the Congressional Black Caucus for having the courage 
even in these times to stand up against the attack on civil rights and 
affirmative action, and I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Cummings), the chairman, and thank many of the Members who participated 
in an affirmative action summit in Houston: the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Watson), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), and the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson).
  I believe, Madam Speaker, that we cannot stand silent while our 
rights are being denied, and I hope that we will continue to stand for 
what is right. There will be thousands tomorrow who will petition the 
United States Supreme Court in order for them to know that this impacts 
lives. It denies opportunity.
  I close, Madam Speaker, to say that the University of Texas and the 
Texas system are real examples of what a court decision can do because, 
after the Hopwood decision, we saw hundreds of minority students leave 
the State of Texas to try and get an education because they could not 
get into the grad school which their parents had paid taxes for. This 
is a shame and this is a sham.
  I hope that in the wisdom of the Supreme Court that they will have 
the opportunity to hear the arguments and realize that the program 
before us, the University of Michigan plan, is an excellent plan; and I 
hope that the Nation's values will be upheld by the Supreme Court, the 
values of equality for all and justice for all.

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