[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H2928-H2935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WHY WE NEED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kline). Under the Speaker's announced

[[Page H2929]]

policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of the 
Special Order today.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, every week the Congressional Black 
Caucus comes together here for an hour on the floor to not only speak 
of events that took place in the Congress but also in our Nation. And 
this week we are coming together as a caucus and to be able to share 
with Americans and those that came to Washington, DC, on April 1 of 
this month to march in front of the Supreme Court on the march on 
Washington.
  We rise today to commend the courage of these college students and 
young adults that participated in the march, held forums and also held 
workshops on affirmative action and the positive benefits of it.
  While the marchers were assembled in front of the Supreme Court, men 
and women of every color, every nationality stood together in front of 
the Supreme Court, whether it be in front of the bench as proponents or 
opponents of affirmative action or behind the bench with the 
responsibility to uphold the Constitution.
  Students came from far and wide, from as far as California, as close 
as here, right here in Washington, DC, to be able to speak on behalf of 
those who did not have the opportunity to speak for themselves on that 
day. 250 colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, and 
other community organizations mobilized themselves for this national 
march on Washington with thousands attending.
  Today we commend them, today we commend them for fighting for our 
children. I commend them personally for standing for my 5-year-old and 
8-year-old son and daughter. These students participated for equal 
justice. They marched for equal opportunities. They stood for equal 
protections side by side, men and women alike. So they have come 
without any reservations. Some stayed out overnight in front of the 
Supreme Court just to hear, just for a moment or two the arguments that 
were argued on that day.
  Some did not get an opportunity to go in. Some traveled all night. 
Some students missed class and had to go back and make those classes up 
or exams. Some had to ask their loved ones to take other loved ones to 
the doctor, to feed their children, to be able to do things that they 
would ordinarily be doing if they did not have to come to Washington. 
But that is all part of our democracy that we cherish and that we love.
  Tonight you will be hearing from members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus commending these students and other Americans for participating 
in this democracy, standing on behalf of equal opportunity, standing on 
behalf of fair play for all that makes America great.
  We want to make sure that organizers and those individuals that came 
to march here on Washington know that not only are Members of the 
Congress but members of the military are supporting them 110 percent 
for standing for what they believe in. And tonight, Mr. Speaker, I 
would like to recognize some Members to be able to speak before us and 
share some comments as we go to not only commend but also talk a little 
bit about the importance of affirmative action.
  Our chairman, the distinguished Member from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), 
Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize at this points.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for 
yielding, and I also will take a moment to thank him for organizing 
this Special Order on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud the young Americans of our time who by 
the tens of thousands are standing up for what Dr. King dreamed about. 
They stood on the streets of our Nation's capital as my colleague, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) said, many of them sleeping in the 
cold of night, trying simply to make a difference.
  Last week, lawyers argued in the Supreme Court debating the merits of 
the University of Michigan admissions case. As the justices pondered 
the constitutionality of policies of inclusion in America's great 
public universities, young Americans of every racial background marched 
for justice on the streets of Washington, D.C. These young people 
filled my heart with hope and pride, Mr. Speaker. They fully 
understand, as Dr. King often declared, that to change America for the 
better we must be prepared to exercise the full measure of our 
citizenship. And they also understand that their acts of citizenship 
are inextricably intertwined with universal educational opportunities.
  I should also note, Mr. Speaker, that last week America marked the 
anniversary of that tragic moment in 1968 when Dr. King was killed 
while standing up for what is simply right. A growing number of young 
Americans are honoring that sacrifice in our time. They are determined, 
as members of the Congressional Black Caucus are, to realize Dr. King's 
dream for America now, not in some distant time. They understand that a 
dream deferred is indeed a dream denied. They care about somebody other 
than themselves. But more than caring, they were willing to share their 
time, their convenience, and their efforts to speak out.
  It has often been said that so many people measure their responses to 
a crisis by the level of their inconvenience. In other words, if they 
are going to be inconvenienced, they do not do anything. And it is so 
pleasing to see these young people know that they were going to be 
inconvenienced but still stand up.
  Mr. Speaker, those who cite Dr. King's dream to support their 
assertion that this Nation must be color blind to the racial exclusion 
that continues to plague America should take the time to read what Dr. 
King actually had to say. I recall for you and for this House that Dr. 
King once wrote a book entitled ``Why We Can't Wait.''
  Anyone who reads his words will understand that the unwaivering focus 
of Dr. King's life was his unrelenting struggle for universal justice 
and inclusion in every important area of American life.
  Mr. Speaker, the peaceful demonstrators out there on the Capital's 
streets last week were advancing a simple, eloquent, and peaceful 
demand for more justice and opportunities in their lives and, yes, for 
generations yet unborn. They were marching in the footsteps of heroes 
like our good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Lewis), and the recently departed Reverend Josiah Williams.

                              {time}  2045

  John Lewis' contribution to America reminds us that the men and women 
who led that 1965 ``Bloody Sunday'' march for voting rights across 
Selma, Alabama's Edmund Pettus Bridge were also young and brave.
  So I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to declare that the young Americans of 
today are determined to change our future for the better. They have the 
seed of greatness within them. They believe that they too can change 
the course of history and change the course of destiny. They are 
justified in this faith. Principled acts of citizenship convinced 
Virginia Tech's Board of Regents just last week to restore that 
university's policy of inclusion.
  Mr. Speaker, from their college dormitories and homes throughout the 
United States, the young people of America are watching what we say and 
do in this great chamber of democracy tonight. They have sent us a 
powerful message and they are waiting to see how we respond. Their 
message is the same challenge Dr. King delivered in the years of my 
youth when he said, ``Now is the time for all of us to move forward, 
not retreat, on the road toward a more just society.'' Dr. King 
declared, ``Now is our time. We cannot wait.''
  Today, our young people are reminding us that their lives are moving 
forward in time. They are telling us that they deserve justice and 
opportunity now. And we who hold national positions of trust should be 
listening to what these young Americans are saying, Mr. Speaker. We 
must listen and we must act accordingly and we must synchronize our 
conscience with our conduct.

[[Page H2930]]

  As I bring these brief remarks to a close, permit me to recall for 
you what Dr. King declared during a freedom rally in St. Louis back in 
1957. He said, ``The destiny of our Nation is involved. We can't afford 
to slow up. The motor is now cranked up,'' Dr. King went on to say, 
``we are moving up the highway of freedom toward the city of equality. 
We can't afford to slow up because our Nation has a date with 
destiny.''
  I was a small child when Dr. King spoke in St. Louis about our 
national date with destiny, Mr. Speaker. Now our own children's shared 
destiny is at stake, whatever the color of their skin may be. And we 
are the ones to whom they are looking for a renewed America of 
universal opportunity.
  We must do what is required, Mr. Speaker. America's young people 
cannot wait, and we thank them for being impatient.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I just want to, number one, commend 
the gentleman from Maryland as not only chairman of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, but being a part of this, how should I say, coalition of 
not only Members of Congress, not only black Members of Congress or 
women of Congress, but Members of Congress that commend the organizers 
for bringing forth a march to be in support of affirmative action. Even 
though it was being argued in the courts, as we know, and as I 
mentioned that the retired military generals filed a brief in this 
case, I am looking forward to talking a little more about this tonight 
and also about the U.S. corporations as it relates to the diversity of 
what Dr. King talked about so long ago which has made America what it 
is.
  But I just want to congratulate the gentleman on behalf of myself, 
this Member from the 17th Congressional District in Florida, with 
regard to what the Congressional Black Caucus is doing in relation to 
sticking with this issue in the halls of Congress and also encouraging 
those to do what they are doing now.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Well, I thank the gentleman for his comments, Mr. 
Speaker. As we engage in this dialogue this evening, I cannot help but 
think about the mayor of Detroit. I shall never forget when he won, a 
young man who had been prepared for that. He had had an opportunity to 
get the kind of education that he needed to run a city, and a major 
city. It is just amazing to me that so often our young people are at 
the point of taking and grabbing ahold of opportunity, but they have to 
be equipped to do it.
  So this is what this is all about. These young people were not out 
there partying, they were out there trying to cut a path and say, look, 
we are going to make sure in our time and in our space we make a 
difference for those future mayors of Detroit, so that people so often 
overlooked will have opportunities to lead and inspire others.
  So I think this is one of the greatest things that our caucus could 
do to lift up our young people and salute them for all that they are.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield now to a 
distinguished gentlewoman who is a member of the Committee on 
Appropriations, the gentlewoman from the 13th Congressional District of 
Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick).
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, to our fine colleague, the former State 
Senator and now Congressman from Florida, for coming in and taking the 
mantle of leadership by the hand and helping to move our country 
forward, I want him to know he is to be admired. He is certainly a fine 
symbol for young people all over this world to know that when we speak 
up and have a conscience about what we believe, our families are 
better, our people are better, and our countries are better. So I thank 
the gentleman for coming here. He really had big shoes to fill, but I 
want Mrs. Carrie Meek to know that he is doing a wonderful job and we 
are very proud of him.
  I am honored and privileged to be here with my colleagues tonight for 
what I consider to be one of the most important issues we will ever 
consider during my stay here in this United States Congress. The young 
people of America and the citizens across this country by the tens of 
thousands came to Washington, D.C. last Tuesday, April 1, to speak out 
and to demonstrate, to assemble, as our Constitution allows, to say to 
the world that we do not want our country to go back. We want to go 
forward. We are the sons and daughters of this civilization, and we 
believe that if we can go to war, we can also go to the universities, 
and that the doors of the American universities funded by public 
dollars must stay open.
  It was wonderful to see all the people there. And I want to 
particularly talk about the young people, the young faces that were 
there last week. I am a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann 
Arbor, Michigan. I was born and raised in Michigan all my life. I think 
it is not coincidental that this case being heard is from the 
University of Michigan. This university of over 35,000 students for 
many years has produced leaders for this country, and has produced fine 
scientists and teachers and engineers and other kinds of people, like 
so many other universities around this country.
  This is not the time to wipe out opportunity. It is a time to expand 
opportunity so that all God's children can have a higher education 
experience. I believe that education is the key to a person's life. The 
more of it that one gets, the more interaction one has with people like 
oneself, but also people who are different than we are, who come from 
different backgrounds, this prepares us to be the kind of citizen who 
can lead anything, who can make this country move forward, and can 
even, yes, serve in this United States Congress.
  So the young people who came, my colleagues, and I know we all saw 
them from all walks of life, from universities all over this country, 
they came to say to this Supreme Court, please do not shut the door of 
opportunity now. We are ready. We have been raised, we have excelled, 
and we need you to keep the doors of our public universities open.
  Now, this case at the University of Michigan not only affects that 
university, as my colleagues know, but educational institutions all 
over America. Over 100 businesses have filed amicus briefs with the 
court. General Motors, headquartered in my district; Microsoft, and 
many other corporations in this country have filed briefs to say that a 
diverse workforce not only strengthens our companies and helps to 
increase the bottom line, but allows our workers to have the mix and 
experiences of not only their own ethnicity but those of others. So 
this is not the time, the corporations are saying, to turn the clocks 
back.
  As my colleague mentioned earlier, General Schwarzkopf and others, 
the highest elements in our military commands, have supported the 
university's admission policy. They are saying do not go back. The 
beauty of our Armed Forces, yes, as we fight today in two foreign 
lands, in Afghanistan and also in Iraq, keep the doors of opportunity 
open. These are generals, former generals in our armed services, who 
know that a diverse military is what best serves our country and they 
are supporting the University of Michigan's policy.
  We all need to be aware, too, that not only the young people who were 
here from all over the country, but the young students at the 
University of Michigan raised $50,000 themselves, sent 12 buses of 
their children, young people, to this Capitol of our United States. 
After the march, at noon, they had another rally where thousands of 
young people came and said, Congresswoman, we are here because we want 
the court to hear us. We want the court to know that we will do 
whatever is necessary to be the best that we can be, and we want the 
court to keep the opportunity for doors to be open so that we can raise 
our children to have the best opportunities in life, so they can be the 
best citizens they can be, and we believe an education is the key to 
that.
  As was mentioned, I am a graduate of the University of Michigan. The 
two cases before the Supreme Court, one for the undergraduate school, 
talks about a point system. There is a base of 150 points that can be 
had. A student needs 100 points to be considered for admission. At 
least 80 of those points they get from scholastic ability, from middle 
school right through high school, with the SAT scores. So 80 points of 
that 150 can come from the academic achievements from middle school 
right through the high school experience. Then there are about 15

[[Page H2931]]

other categories, my colleagues, where other points can be had. For 
instance, if someone had a father or a grandfather go to the 
university, they get what is called legacy points. If a student is from 
Michigan and they live in the upper peninsula, they get a certain 
number of points. If they are from a socioeconomic background that is 
low and they need help, they get points. If they are an athlete, they 
can also get points to add to that. If they are from a minority class, 
African American, Asian American, Latino American, or Native American, 
they can get points.
  It is amazing to me, with those few that I mentioned and at least 10 
others, why are we singling out the ethnicity of that category? Why not 
the legacy points? Why not if a student lives in an underrepresented 
county, like the upper peninsula? This is not the time now to put the 
race card in American society. We have our hands full just keeping the 
doors of opportunity open for all our institutions of higher learning. 
This is not a time to confuse our young people by telling them, yes, 
you can go fight on the front line, but, no, you cannot go to the 
university. Something is inherently wrong with that.
  And what those beautiful students and young people said last Tuesday 
was, no, America, no, Supreme Court, do not take our country back. Let 
us move forward in the greatness that this country is.
  I had an opportunity to sit in the Court last Tuesday. It was a 
wonderful experience. The young people were also there in the Court, 
those who could get in, and we heard the arguments on both sides. We 
know now that the Supreme Court will be deliberating, some say June, 
some say right through the end of this session, which will be later on 
in October-November when the Court is finished before we get our 
decision. What we need people to do now, who believe that America 
should be open for its citizens, for all citizens, that the public 
universities of this country should not be closed, that the military 
opportunities should not be shut down, that corporate America continues 
to grow and expand and create work environments that all people from 
all backgrounds can participate in, if they believe in a just and open 
America, we need them to fax, to e-mail, to write and to call the nine 
justices of the Supreme Court.
  Those nine justices will be determining in the next several months 
whether the admissions policy should be upheld or if it should not be. 
So those who are listening tonight, and we are happy that we are able 
as the Congressional Black Caucus to bring the information to them, 
they should let their voices be heard. They need to speak out through 
fax, e-mail, writing or calling and let the justices know. This is the 
greatest country in the world. We want to maintain that. Education is 
the key to that.
  Young people have stood up to say that we are here on the steps of 
the Supreme Court to ask our Court, our justices, to keep justice in 
America. Keep the doors open. I am very proud of the young people. I 
want them to know that many years ago, during the 1960s civil rights 
movement, I was one of those students.

                              {time}  2100

  Speak out against injustice. Our Constitution allows us to 
demonstrate and to assemble when we think something is wrong. Some 
countries do not have that opportunity. The University of Michigan is a 
fine university, as are universities all over the country. What happens 
with this decision in the Supreme Court will determine what kind of 
country we live in in the next 10, 20, 30 years of this country. Stand 
up America. I thank the young people, and continue the struggle because 
it is young people who must keep America strong, and it is you who must 
have the opportunity to raise, defend, and build your families. God 
bless you. We are so proud of you.
  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honor and privilege to address the floor 
this evening and acknowledge the efforts of the young people from 
throughout our Nation who mobilized to travel to Washington, DC to 
demonstrate in support of the ideals associated with affirmative action 
and the historic cases being considered by the Supreme Court regarding 
the University of Michigan admission policies for the law school and 
the undergraduate program.
  I am especially pleased to commend the efforts of the students who 
traveled from Michigan to demonstrate their support for, and commitment 
to the University's affirmative action policies. The efforts of U of M 
were particularly gratifying to me. I am an alumnus of the University. 
I am a witness to the virtues of affirmative action policies enacted by 
U of M.
  On April 1, on the steps of the Supreme Court, I was also a witness 
to the assemblage of people from around the country, but especially 
from the great State of Michigan who braved the elements and other 
obstacles to form a coalition believers and supports of affirmative 
action.
  I am personally aware of the sacrifices the students made to come to 
Washington, DC. The students were responsible for raising over $50,000 
and bringing 12 buses of students. The shining faces and fervent voices 
of the students were a sight to behold. Their efforts were a testament 
to the importance of preserving affirmative action, and a message to 
the Supreme Court Justices to do the right thing. I salute the students 
and pledge to them I will continue to fight on behalf of affirmative 
action. Finally, I offer my heartfelt thanks to each and everyone of 
them for joining the coalition of black, brown, yellow, red and white 
supporters of affirmative action.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
assisting in the organizing and assisting young people coming to 
Washington, and also the pride and energy that I hear in her voice of 
this generation and generations after this particular generation to be 
stimulated and motivated to continue to struggle in the fight for equal 
opportunity. We appreciate the entire State of Michigan, the Motor City 
for what they did, and the corporations for standing for what is right 
in this country.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, let me add that the mayor of the city of 
Detroit was here representing the young people. He is 32 years old and 
attended a historically black college; he is now a lawyer. It just 
demonstrates we can be anything that we want to be if we just rise up 
and speak out and be the very best that God asked us to be.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), who has appeared before the Supreme 
Court as a lawyer many times.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership 
this evening. I want to say to the gentleman that his leadership is 
especially appropriate because this Special Order is devoted to actions 
inspired by young people, many of the age or close to the age of the 
gentleman who leads this Special Order. He well may be the youngest 
member of the Congressional Black Caucus, one of the youngest Members 
of Congress; and what we are here to talk about tonight has everything 
to do with young people and what they themselves initiated on April 1, 
first by some of them staying up all night in order to prepare for the 
rally and to get into the Court, others coming to go to a town meeting 
at Howard University convened by the Chair of the Congressional Black 
Caucus at a wind-up rally.
  Now April 1 is April Fool's Day. That is not why we are going to 
remember it this year. We are not even going to remember it first and 
foremost because the University of Michigan case was argued on that 
day. The University of Michigan case is largely to be remembered by the 
date it is decided, not the date it is argued. That is how we remember 
Supreme Court cases; but even that is not how we are going to remember 
April 1, 2003.
  I think we are going to remember April 1, 2003, as the day that gave 
birth to a new American civil rights movement, a second American civil 
rights movement. This is not my characterization. This is how these 
young people title themselves, and if I may say what their long title 
is, Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Fight for 
Equality by Any Means Necessary, which they have boiled down to the 
acronym BAMN. They came from everywhere. They came from every college 
and university in the District of Columbia, and they came from as far 
west and as far north as we can go. It is amazing that these students 
poured in from all over the country. Why were the students here?
  There is the stereotype the courts read the newspapers, and the 
courts read the election returns. We all know that courts are 
independent and that even rallies cannot and must not decide how courts 
rule. Black people know that most of all because if rallies

[[Page H2932]]

or public opinion could have decided how courts rule, we would never 
have gotten Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 when the majority of 
American people in the South were not for integration of public 
schools. Courts are independent branches of government which must rule 
by the rule of law.
  So why were the students here? The students are very sophisticated. 
That is why they did not call themselves the students to influence the 
University of Michigan case before the Supreme Court of the United 
States. They have called themselves the second civil rights movement. 
They knew they were bigger than this case, and they knew that the Court 
when it raises its hand must rule on the law as they see the law. I 
think this Court has been real wrong on the law, but they knew that 
they were not going to essentially affect this Court, even those who 
argued the Court are trying to affect one justice in a closely divided 
Court where frankly we have lost most of these cases 5-4, not won them. 
They knew by what they called themselves, which did not even have 
``Supreme Court'' in the title that what they were doing on April 1 was 
much bigger and more important than any single case in 25 years since 
the Bakke case was decided. They knew that they could be in worse shape 
than their parents were because many of their parents were like the 
Member, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), who went to the 
University of Michigan, and here she is with grandchildren who may not 
be able to enter the University of Michigan on that same basis.
  It took 100 years after the Civil War to get to the enforcement of 
the Civil War amendment, so the notion of getting as far as we have 
gotten, which is not even halfway home, is not what this generation is 
about. This generation has been touched finally by this issue, 
affirmative action, as they have not been touched by any other issue.
  I am not critical that they have not been touched by any other issue 
because these are the beneficiaries of the civil rights movement. They 
mean to see that they continue to be beneficiaries of the civil rights 
movement and that they are not the generation that lost the benefit of 
the civil rights movement.
  My generation, and I see the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), who 
I know from the Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and back then the 
entire spectrum of discrimination and segregation was here. I went to 
segregated schools in the District of Columbia. Black people in the 
South could not vote, equal opportunity and employment was not 
available north, south, east or west, and housing discrimination was 
the order of the day. Inside of 15 years, a combination of court suits 
and Federal laws changed that, at least as a matter of law. As we know 
today, not entirely as a matter of practice, but as a matter of law.
  Brown v. Board of Education began it all, and then there was the 1964 
Civil Rights Act, and it was my great privilege to enforce title 7 and 
a number of other statutes under that act. Then there was the 1965 
Voting Rights Act, the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Here is the work of one 
generation, the so-called civil rights generation. Over. Done. Even we 
were not naive enough to believe that, but we did think that we would 
continue to move forward and would not be pushed back. But the only way 
not to be pushed back is to produce a new generation of freedom 
fighters, to produce what these young people tell us they are, a new 
civil rights movement; and that is who came to Washington on April 1.

  These folks came to Washington. They did not go to where the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) went to Alabama or Selma, or to 
where I went, to the delta in Mississippi. They came to Washington. We 
went South because that is where we saw the threat to be. They came to 
Washington because they know that it is here that the threat is now. 
They know it because they see a President of the United States who has 
filed on the wrong side of a civil rights case, and that has not 
happened in a very long time. That has not happened in my lifetime. 
That President has placed himself on the wrong side of history, and 
they saw it and saw what kind of act it was.
  They saw the threat at the Supreme Court which has already taken down 
affirmative action as far as it could go. Interestingly, and I want to 
praise and thank my colleagues, my colleagues have not passed a single 
bill that has taken down affirmative action. All of the problems have 
come from the Supreme Court, the 5-4 Supreme Court with us on the 4 end 
and they on the 5 end, and a lot of it has been in areas like 
contracting with implications for affirmative action and every other 
area as well.
  These students from every college and university in the metropolitan 
region and in the country saw that the threat could well be in this 
Congress if the Congressional Black Caucus and its allies on both sides 
of the aisle did not continue to stand fast and say look, do not even 
go there. My colleagues know that we have had to say that. In the 
1990s, we had to say do not even go to the floor with an amendment to 
take back affirmative action. We are going to close down this House if 
that is what you are going to do.
  I will not say that is the reason that it did not happen; there were 
Members on the other side of the aisle who believed that was the wrong 
thing to do. I want to go on record right now paying tribute to my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle that have kept that from 
happening.
  Nevertheless, the threat is here. It is not where it was for the last 
civil rights generation. The threat is here that can carry us back to 
Brown v. Board of Education. Yes, they say that because that is the 
effect and could carry us back to where most higher education in the 
United States of America was for whites only, and that is what it was 
for when I went to college.
  Mr. Speaker, these students from colleges and universities around the 
United States simply put America on notice. They say, Court, do what 
you will and we hope you do the right thing; but whether you do or not, 
America be on notice there is a new civil rights movement in this 
country, and we are determined to finish the job that the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and his colleagues in the civil rights 
movement began. We are determined to finish the work begun with the 
march on Washington, and we are determined to finish the work still 
unfinished. And as long as we need affirmative action and affirmative 
action is a remedy, it is temporary, it goes away when the job is done, 
the numbers are built in the system, they are there so long as it takes 
to get and keep a critical mass of the excluded coming in.
  They say we are there as long as we see other indications of inroads 
into the work of the last generation, such as the judges that this 
President has continuously put forward. As long as he puts forward a 
Priscilla Owens, this generation says we will be there. Or as long as 
he puts forward a Charles Pickering, we will be there because the 
courts are the last great hope of any excluded people, or of any people 
treated unjustly.
  They say, look, we see a whole new species of intentional segregation 
with racial profiling which largely affects the younger generation, 
young black people on the streets subject to being stopped because of 
their race, color, or ethnicity. As long as that is there, this 
generation has stepped up and said I do not know where my parents are, 
but I have not gone away. We are still here.
  We come to simply thank these young people tonight and to encourage 
them to continue to take up the mantle and to say that we are going to 
do whatever we can to be with them and behind them. We have asked only 
one thing of this generation. We noted that they are underregistered, 
and we know if you are underregistered and if you do not vote, the 
powers that be will walk all over you because people pay attention to 
people who vote. We have asked them to make sure that their movement 
begins by getting every young person at their university registered to 
vote and out to the polls.

                              {time}  2115

  We recognize that the incentives that their parents had to vote, the 
New Deal generation, the World War II generation, the civil rights 
generation, the Vietnam War generation, are not there for this 
generation, but they have found their incentive in the University of 
Michigan's case. We applaud them for using that case as the catalyst to 
move forward with a new civil rights movement. We applaud them for 
making April 1 a memorable and historic

[[Page H2933]]

date for the people of the United States of America.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for her outstanding comments, and I 
want to thank those institutions of higher learning in the D.C. area 
that took just such a vital part in playing host to so many of these 
marchers.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila 
Jackson-Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished 
gentleman for his kindness for yielding, and I likewise, Mr. Speaker, 
want to thank you for your leadership because you are presiding over, I 
believe, one of the more instructive hours that we have engaged in in 
terms of speaking to our colleagues and providing a history for this 
House, a history that has been painful, but I would admit a history 
that has seen bipartisan collaboration and recognition that this Nation 
is a much better place for correcting its ills.
  Mr. Speaker, I serve on the House Committee on the Judiciary, and the 
experience has been both good and bad. I view it as one of the nobler 
committees in this House because it is a committee that cherishes the 
Constitution. But we have had our moments, and we have even had a 
moment when discussions of eliminating the desegregation orders to 
remove orders from districts that were engaged in busing was discussed 
prematurely. We even had amendments proposed to eliminate affirmative 
action. It was the wisdom of this House and the other body that saw fit 
to join with those of us to recognize that the time was not yet that we 
then were able to turn those amendments back.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to chronicle the history of 
African Americans in this Nation. Obviously slavery is well known, but 
out of slavery came emancipation. Those of us in Texas heard of it 2 
years later, reconstruction that was short-lived in this Nation, and 
then the ugly head of Jim Crowism raised its head in the early 1900s. 
In fact, Mr. Speaker, George White stood in the well of the House after 
he was drawn out of this august body by segregationist legislators who 
drew out the last African American and said that the Negro would rise 
like the phoenix. I can see him right now, with a little suitcase and 
rope tied around it, in his eloquent voice suggesting that it may not 
be now but that the Negro would rise as a phoenix.
  We went through the 1900s experiencing the tragedies of the deep 
South, the hanging trees as known to many of us. We saw our young men 
go off to both World War I and World War II but come back to a 
segregated America. Members of my family fought in World War II but, 
Mr. Speaker, came back to a segregated America. Korean War. Vietnam 
War. We began to see changes when Thurgood Marshall argued before the 
Supreme Court. Then we moved with Rosa Parks who refused to stand up on 
a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and a young man named Martin 
Luther King took her cause. We came through that era, Mr. Speaker, and 
we had the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
We might be able to call that the second reconstruction. And it 
continued, Mr. Speaker, to the executive signing by Richard Nixon, 
bipartisan, a Republican, of affirmative action.
  As we moved through the second reconstruction, many of us, the doors 
being opened, going into white institutions, thought for a moment that 
we would be able to lay our burdens down, that we would be able to find 
a resting place in this Nation where all of us could be treated 
equally. The Declaration of Independence says with certain inalienable 
rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  But lo and behold, Mr. Speaker, we come to the 21st century, the age 
of technology, the age of promoting young people for all that they can 
be, and find ourselves in the Supreme Court. And might I just say today 
that all might hear, Mr. Speaker, I want all or nothing. I do not want 
a bifurcated hybrid decision. I will not accept it. I will not 
recognize it. My pronouncement will be, whatever the Supreme Court says 
in a hybrid decision, that this United States of America has denied me 
and the young people of America their civil rights. Frankly, Mr. 
Speaker, I believe that we have a unique chance in the world to show 
that America is better than that.
  So let me thank the wonderful thousands of bright stars, by any means 
necessary, who I had the pleasure of speaking before them at the 
Lincoln monument. What an enormously powerful scene. I did not organize 
it. School presidents did not organize it. Congress people, Senators 
did not organize it. They organized it. And I want to thank them, and 
they will go down in history.
  I would like to acknowledge, likewise from Houston, Texas, the Shrine 
of the Black Madonna and Reverend Fana; the NAACP, local chapter, the 
regional chapter; the Houston Area Urban League. I would like to 
acknowledge Reverend James Dixon, Community of Faith Church, as well as 
Carmen Watkins with Sunday Morning Live. All of this in Houston, by the 
way; 95.7 Power Radio and the Box 97.9, Ada Edwards. All of these were 
local people who were promoting the idea that we are Americans, too. 
Texas Southern University, holding a very unique Sunday town hall 
meeting, very difficult to do that, Mr. Speaker.
  But what I would say is that our work is not done. For if the Supreme 
Court rules that affirmative action is unconstitutional, Mr. Speaker, 
all of what we built up in openness of contracting, in openness of 
creating opportunities to small and minority businesses and women-owned 
businesses and opportunities for education will be null and void, and 
we will be back in the history of the beginning of the 20th century 
when the ugly head of Jim Crowism raised its head. What a tragedy to be 
here in the 21st century when the ugly head of Jim Crowism will raise 
its head again.

  Allow me to close, Mr. Speaker, with a slight bit of history. Right 
now the State of Texas is making noises about redrawing these voter 
rights districts. Here I go again. I believe I have run about six or 
eight times in the course of being elected to this Congress, because 
someone believes that the opportunity for many of us to select the 
person of our choosing is discriminatory, protected by the Voter Rights 
Act of 1965. It was in our State that the Solicitor General first came, 
not as a Solicitor General, to argue the Hopwood case and slashed the 
coattails of equal opportunity in the State of Texas. For the last 5 
years or so, we have seen droves of our young people leave the State 
because of the inability to get into State institutions that they have 
paid taxes for.
  The tragedy is, to the distinguished gentleman from Florida, who I 
join in his courageous effort to turn back the Jim Crowism in the State 
of Florida when 25,000 people marched against eliminating affirmative 
action, and we can claim victory in their presence, but the Solicitor 
General was the lawyer who argued Hopwood. Gratefully, that case went 
only to the Fifth Circuit, but it destroyed the institutions of higher 
learning in Texas for a number of years when they sent Hispanics and 
African Americans fleeing from the State. The tragedy is that this same 
gentleman became the Solicitor General, and rather than recusing 
himself because of the potential of bias, engaged in the discussion at 
the White House, creating, I think, a bias to go and have the United 
States of America, my tax dollars, the young men and women of years 
past, who served in wars past, who never reached their full promise 
because they came back to a segregated America, never reaching their 
dream, this United States of America went into the courthouse, Supreme 
Court on April 1, 2003, and argued against our interests. The first 
time, I think, in the last 50 years of civil rights litigation that the 
United States did that.
  So, Mr. Speaker, as I close let me say, because I see such warriors 
on the floor like the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson), my good friend who was with 
me in Texas, many of us had the pleasure of being in some way 
affiliated with these civil rights movements, obviously some more at 
the forefront, but our histories are intertwined with the visions of 
these outstanding individuals and their leadership and their power. I 
simply say that I stand here broken-hearted but

[[Page H2934]]

not without strength, broken-hearted because my Nation failed me on 
April 1.
  And so that is why, Mr. Speaker, in saying to these young people and 
encouraging them for providing this kind of leadership, applauding them 
and joining with them and suggesting that we will never go back, never 
turn the clock back, it is my pronouncement today that I will accept 
nothing but a full vindication of affirmative action in this Nation to 
the Supreme Court. Whatever hybrid they decide to give would be 
unacceptable and we will march on to victory and we shall overcome.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas 
(Ms. Jackson-Lee), and I want to commend her not only on behalf of 
Americans but also on behalf of myself and members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus for the workshop that she had in her district dealing with 
affirmative action prior to the Supreme Court hearing and commitment of 
those universities and individuals that she mentioned and those that 
went yet unmentioned, their contributions. So we thank her.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I can say that this is one of these moments 
that I am glad that God allowed me to live long enough for this moment 
to be able to have such a soldier on behalf of fair opportunity, equal 
treatment for all, someone that had marks on his body on behalf of this 
country, with many other patriots that are here and that have gone on.
  I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), Member from the 
Fifth District, distinguished member of the Committee on the Budget and 
the Committee on Ways and Means.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Meek), my friend and colleague, for holding this Special 
Order, and I want to thank all of the members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus for participating in this order tonight.
  I want to be very brief. I had gone home and I turn on C-SPAN, and 
supper was happening, and I was deeply moved to come to the House floor 
and to say something. So I want to thank him again for doing what he is 
doing because I think it is important that we take time to salute and 
pay tribute to the young people who came here on April 1. By coming 
here and standing at the steps of the Supreme Court, they were standing 
up for what is right, for what is fair, for what is just. They were 
standing up for the very best in America.
  I remember when I first came to Washington many, many years ago in 
1961, I was 21 years old, had all of my hair, and I was a few pounds 
lighter, to go on something called the Freedom Ride during those days 
in Washington, but throughout the American South, segregation was the 
order of the day. We saw those signs that said white waiting, colored 
waiting, white men, colored men, white women, colored women. There was 
so much violence, so much fear, so much hate, and it was the students 
following in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr., in the tradition 
of Gandhi. So sitting in, going on the Freedom Ride, marching all over 
the country, and by marching, by sitting in or sitting down, really 
they have created the climate, the environment, to get the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

                              {time}  2130

  Nothing but nothing, I tell you, nothing moved me more in the last 50 
years, or maybe in the last 40 years, than to see these hundreds and 
thousands of students really marching, protesting, exercising their 
constitutional right. In America we have a right to protest, as Dr. 
King would say, protest for what is right. This type of protest helped 
move our country to the point to get people to say yes, when they may 
have a desire to say no.
  These young people believe in the Constitution. They believe in 
America. They, like many of us, believe in affirmative action. It is 
the affirmed inclusion, the participation of people, where they are 
left out and left behind. I like to think these young people were 
touched by the spirit of history. Sometimes there comes a time when you 
have to be moved by the spirit of history.
  In 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963 we did not have a fax machine, we did 
not have a Web site, we did not have a cellular telephone. We had the 
Constitution. We had our bodies. And that is what these young people 
had. They had ideas; they had the Constitution.
  I think when historians pick up their pens and write about this 
period, Mr. Speaker, they will have to say that these young people that 
came to Washington on April 1, not just college students, high school 
students, elementary school students, by the hundreds and thousands, 
they started, as the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton) said, a new civil rights movement.
  I say to them tonight, and to young people and students all over our 
country, we will not go back, we will not stand still. We will go 
forward. We will create a truly interracial democracy in America. We 
will create a beloved community in America. For we are one people, we 
are one Nation. I say to all of these young people, keep the faith; do 
not give up, do not give in, do not give out, keep your eyes on the 
prize.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman 
from Georgia for his contributions, not only in the past but in the 
present. We commend you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson).
  Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, we are witnessing today the best of the leadership of 
the civil rights movement, that of the past and the present, and that 
of the present and the future, in John Lewis and in Kendrick Meek, a 
young Congressman who envisioned this hour for America.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the many students that traveled all over 
the country to rally in support of affirmative action. Particularly I 
would like to acknowledge the many students from my own State, 
Louisiana, who made the journey. Students from Xavier, Southern, 
Grambling, Dillard, and throughout Louisiana, let me say I am very 
proud of you.
  Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ``Everyone can be great because 
everyone can serve.'' It is in this spirit that I have dedicated much 
of my life to public service, and I found it very encouraging that on 
April 1, 3 days before the anniversary of Dr. King's death, thousands 
of students honored him and all that he fought for by actively getting 
involved and actively serving as well.
  Mr. Speaker, it is shocking to observe that 141 years ago, virtually 
every African American in this country would be somebody else's 
property. Just think about that: unable to earn, unable to learn, 
unable to hold wealth. It is this legacy of subjugation, of 
discrimination, of denial, over 400 years of segregation, that 
justifies affirmative action today.
  If the government, and it did, took race into account to create this 
legacy of disabilities, then it is the government's responsibility 
today to take race into account to obliterate them. So it is 
particularly disappointing that 40 years later, after Dr. King's 
historic march to Washington, that we as a democratic Nation are still 
struggling to realize his dream; and 140 years after the emancipation 
of slavery, there still exists two Americas, separate and unequal, one 
black and one white. As one student's sign read: ``Surely 400 years of 
slavery is worth 20 points.''
  Without affirmative action, these disparities will likely widen, not 
only in education, but also in employment and property ownership and 
income levels. Yet, as Dr. King noted, ``Whenever the issue of 
compensatory treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends 
recoil in horror, because while they agree that the Negro,'' as he 
said, ``should be granted equality, they believe that he should ask for 
nothing more.''
  I cannot tell you how proud I am of all our young men and women who 
have worked tirelessly in participating in efforts to demonstrate 
supports of the University of Michigan. Students of all races around 
the country have worked in some capacity to protest this attack on 
equal opportunity, realizing that any successful attempt would be a 
major setback for our society as a whole.
  Numerous other students took action and demonstrated and spoke out on 
their respective college campuses, such as my daughter Akilah and other 
young people at her college who did not travel to Washington.

[[Page H2935]]

  I was especially pleased to join the Black Law Students Association 
from my alma mater, Harvard Law School, as one of several counsel on an 
amicus brief. This brief was submitted on behalf of the Harvard Black 
Law Students Association, as well as those from Yale and Stanford.
  As I stated then, I believe that we live in a country that affords us 
great liberties. However, for some Americans, the pursuit of these 
freedoms is hindered by tremendous barriers. Opportunities for some are 
limited because of America's sins of the past. Therefore, it is 
incumbent upon us to make conscious attempts to right these wrongs. 
Hence, initiatives like affirmative action.
  Affirmative action in education programs, such as the one at the 
University of Michigan, looks beyond students' limitations and sees 
their potential, potential that may be realized if presented the 
opportunity. More importantly, affirmative actions, like the one at the 
University of Michigan, benefits not just African American students, 
but all students.
  Mr. Speaker, it promotes a diverse student body, which provides an 
education that equips our future leaders, both black and white, with 
the capabilities to successfully function in a diverse society.
  Mr. Speaker, it was our hope during the civil rights movement many 
years ago that we were fighting this battle now so that our sons and 
daughters would not have to fight it later. And though I am dismayed 
that still this fight goes on, even today, I am heartened by the 
tremendous number of fresh soldiers for civil rights, eager, active and 
capable of engaging in the battle and winning the struggle. I commend 
them all.
  I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) for yielding to me.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. His comments 
were very appropriate for the moment and the time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 
commend all those who participated in last week's protest of the 
University of Michigan's admission's policies.
  Many students from institutions across this great nation traveled to 
the nation's capitol to have their voices heard on this issue. 
Thousands of students from Howard University to Harvard University, 
walked from the Supreme Court to the Lincoln Memorial chanting, 
``Saving Affirmative Action.''
  Affirmative action ensures that all people have all equal rights. 
Affirmative action is one of the most effective solutions to 
diversifying a historically unfair society.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to say ``thank you'' to 
the countless students, volunteers, and workers who believe in this 
historically significant effort. It is vital that America's higher 
education system continue the critical role in preparing our students 
to be leaders in business, law, medicine, education, and other pursuits 
that affect public interest.
  Societal discrimination has adversely affected institutions of higher 
education since the founding of this country. Affirmative action 
programs have helped to desegregate America. Racial and societal 
discrimination is not just limited to higher education. It also exists 
in voting, housing, employment, and many other sectors of modern day 
society.
  Equal rights in higher education must start somewhere. I agree that 
the University of Michigan's policy is clearly and rightfully designed 
to attempt to make up for discrepancies that do not afford minorities 
and the economically deprived access to quality education.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join me in extending my appreciation to all the students who 
participated in last week's demonstration in support of equality and 
justice at America's institutions of higher learning.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 
thousands of Americans who voiced their support for affirmative action 
admissions policies at colleges and universities on April 1, here in 
Washington, DC.
  For twenty five years the affirmative action policies at our nation's 
colleges and universities have produced a stronger and better educated 
America. We must not turn the clock back now when so much is at stake 
for the future of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that 25 Indiana University School of Law-
Indianapolis students journeyed to Washington last week to say that 
affirmative action policies strengthen not weaken this nation.
  Vanessa Villegas-Densford was one of those law students. Vanessa, the 
daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, arrived in this country when she 
was 8 years old. She didn't speak English and was placed in classes for 
learning-disabled students. She worked hard to overcome so many 
obstacles and her dream is to practice law and serve the Hispanic 
American community. Her dreams, determination and drive to serve, 
balanced an average law school test score and won her acceptance at 9 
of the 12 law schools to which she applied. She attends Indiana 
University School of Law-Indianapolis.
  Without affirmative action, the Hispanic community, Indiana and 
America may well have missed the bright promise that Vanessa offers in 
spite of her average law school test score.
  Gerald Bepko, interim President of Indiana University School of Law-
Indianapolis is quoted in a recent Indianapolis Star article saying, 
``You cannot rely on numbers (test scores and grades) alone. You need 
to know the person.''
  I'm proud that Indiana University supports an affirmative action 
admissions program.
  It's sad, Mr. Speaker, when our young people can see this nation 
embroiled in conflict in the highest court of the land, not about the 
athletic factor or the alumni factor or the legacy factor in college 
admissions, but race.
  The case against affirmative action is weak, resting, as it does so 
heavily, on myth and misunderstanding.
  One myth, ``The only way to create a color-blind society is to adopt 
color-blind policies.'' The facts show that a so-called color-blind 
system tends to favor White students because of their earlier 
educational advantages. Unless preexisting inequities are corrected or 
otherwise taken into account, color-blind policies do not correct 
racial injustice--they reinforce it.
  Another myth is ``Affirmative action may have been necessary 30 years 
ago, but the playing field is fairly level today.'' Not true, despite 
the progress that has been made, the playing field is far from level.
  Women continue to earn 76 cents for every male dollar. African 
Americans continue to have twice the unemployment rate, twice the rate 
of infant mortality, and make up just over half the population of 
people who attend four years or more of college. In fact, without 
affirmative action the percentage of African American and Hispanic 
students at many selective schools would drop to minuscule percentages 
of the student body.
  That decline would effectively choke off African American and 
Hispanic access to top universities and severely restrict progress 
toward racial equality.
  Mr. Speaker, this is America and we can do better than that. So I 
commend the advocacy and passion of those who marched last week. I have 
no doubt that they understand what could be lost if this precious 
opportunity is eliminated.

                          ____________________