[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 51 (Wednesday, May 3, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E694-E695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         A WAVE'S FIRST STRIKE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 3, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in acknowledgment of a recent 
opinion editorial in the Washington Post and an editorial in the New 
York Times which called for comprehensive immigration reform and the 
fair treatment of undocumented immigrants in this country. It is clear 
to me that this is only the beginning and that much more is coming.
  On May 1st there was a Latino national strike in which tens of 
thousands of people did not show up for work in support of their cause. 
Strikes took place in cities such as New York, Chicago, Denver, 
Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Millions are taking to the streets to make 
sure that their voices are heard.
  They want to make Americans nationwide understand that they are not 
here to harm anyone, but to work and support their families alike. 
These are people with values like our own and who also share our ethics 
of working hard to support oneself. Many in this country are not 
willing to take the necessary time to assess the struggle that 
immigrant families go through. Why is it that their contributions to 
our society are often ignored while their exploitation goes unnoticed? 
These are the people that make our meals, trim our hedges and construct 
our buildings, yet will we continue to regard them forever as second-
class citizens? We must no longer continue on this dangerous path.
  The op ed in the Washington Post noted that, ``something important is 
happening--something that goes beyond the debate on Capitol Hill about 
immigration reform'', and that statement has never been more valid than 
now. There is a serious desire of immigrants to become members of our 
community, through hard work and patriotism, fundamental principles we 
all hold close to our hearts. The goal of this government should not be 
to erect barriers that hinder people from contributing

[[Page E695]]

and achieving the American Dream, but to help those who seek our 
assistance so that they can become productive members of our society.
  We must take decisive action to ensure a fair and equitable 
immigration policy. We must make it so that no one in this country 
feels like a second-class citizen. We must make it so that everyone has 
a equal footing for advance and prosper. This movement should be a way 
to bring our minority communities together, especially the African 
American community. We should see this as an opportunity to help others 
who have experienced something we all have in common, discrimination.
  I enter into the Record, these opinion editorials by Eugene Robinson 
and the New York Times editorial for their different perspectives on 
such a controversial topic. This is truly an issue that has started to 
divide our country instead of unite it. We must come to this issue of 
immigration with a clearer view, one that does not include our cultural 
biases and hatred for those different than ourselves. The editorial 
asks if the message has sunken in yet with the American people. We are 
hearing their message and I hope that it starts to sink in.

                 [From the New York Times, May 2, 2006]

                         A Wave's First Strike

                          (By Eugene Robinson)

       The construction sites I drove past on my way to work 
     yesterday were abnormally quiet, almost tranquil, without the 
     usual bustle of organized chaos, Every once in a while, a 
     crane indolently traced its arc; every once in a while, a 
     truck arrived or departed. But the basic activity involved in 
     putting up an office building--picking stuff up and carrying 
     it from here, where the crane or the trucks left it, to 
     there, where it's needed--went largely undone.
       In Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, long a magnet 
     for Latino immigrants, it felt almost like a Sunday morning. 
     Few people were out and about, and only about half the local 
     businesses were open. On the padlocked doors of a pharmacy, a 
     dental clinic, a barbershop, a wire transfer office where 
     immigrants send money home to their families, and other 
     offices were taped identical fliers, with a notice in Spanish 
     and English: ``We will be closed on Monday May 1st in support 
     of the Latino national strike.''
       Two middle-aged women who identified themselves as Maria 
     and Sonia (neither would give a last name) strolled past, 
     pointing out all the closed businesses. ``This action is a 
     good idea, a very good idea, because we have to support all 
     the people who are here without papers,'' said Maria, who, 
     like her friend, is from El Salvador. ``We came here to work 
     hard, not to harm anyone. Salvadorans are hard workers. We're 
     not criminals.''
       All morning local Spanish-language radio hummed with urgent 
     news and advice. There would be a demonstration in the 
     afternoon at Malcolm X Park. This was to be a day of peaceful 
     solidarity. No one should jeopardize his or her job; if you 
     have to go to work, join the demonstration later.
       It's too early to judge the impact of yesterday's 
     nationwide ``Day Without Immigrants'' protest, but it's past 
     time to recognize that something important is happening--
     something that goes beyond the debate on Capitol Hill about 
     immigration reform. At this point it's harder to say just 
     what this nascent Latino movement is than to point out what 
     it is not. It's certainly not a monolith. There has been 
     spirited internal debate, for example, over ``Nuestro 
     Himno,'' the Spanish-language version of ``The Star-Spangled 
     Banner'' that was released by an all-star chorus of Latino 
     recording artists last week. Some heard a genuine expression 
     of patriotism; others heard an unnecessary and unwise 
     provocation.
       Maybe it was neither. Maybe ``Nuestro Himno'' was a step in 
     forging and tempering a stronger pan-Latino identity and 
     political consciousness. Black people have skin color as a 
     factor to unite us; Latinos, who can be of any race, have 
     Spanish.
       But let me be clear: We can also say that the movement 
     whose birth we are witnessing is not a clone or even a 
     descendant of the civil rights movement that won for African 
     Americans our place in this society. There's just no way to 
     compare a group of people whose ancestors were brought here 
     in chains, forced to work as slaves and then systematically 
     classified as second-class citizens for more than a century 
     with another group of people, however hard-working or well-
     meaning, who came to the United States voluntarily.
       That said, I am convinced that the nation's two biggest 
     minorities are natural allies, not rivals, and that a crucial 
     task over the coming months and years will be to find ways 
     for African Americans and Latinos to work together. Our 
     histories may be different, but we have at least one big 
     thing--discrimination--in common.
       For the two groups to fight over low-skilled, low-wage jobs 
     would be a tragic waste of time and effort. The issue is how 
     both African Americans and Latinos can claim a fair share of 
     this nation's vast wealth and opportunity, not how we can 
     wrestle the scraps from one another. The issue is who gets to 
     occupy the corner office during working hours, not who gets 
     to clean it at night.
       Congress may do something reasonable on immigration, giving 
     the estimated 12 million people already here without papers a 
     chance to become citizens or legal residents, but there's no 
     guarantee. It may be that there's no common ground among the 
     president, the House and the Senate--at least not in an 
     election year. But if you take the long view, I'm not sure 
     that Capitol Hill is where the real news is happening.
       Yesterday the news was happening at construction sites, 
     where it was demonstrated that steel, lumber and glass will 
     not move from here to there on their own.

                [From the Washington Post, May 2, 2006]

                            They Are America

       Warnings of a crippling immigrant boycott did not come true 
     yesterday. The economy survived. But what may not survive--we 
     hope--is people's willful misunderstanding of the nature of 
     the immigrant-rights movement.
       The worst among our citizens and politicians are eager to 
     depict illegal immigrants as criminals, potential terrorists 
     and alien invaders. But what we saw yesterday, in huge, 
     peaceful rallies in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Denver, 
     New York, Atlanta and other cities, were regular people: the 
     same types of assimilation-minded moms, dads and children we 
     wistfully romanticize on holidays devoted to, say, St. 
     Patrick and Columbus.
       If these extraordinarily positive events were a protest of 
     anything, it was the idea of the immigrant as temporary and 
     unwelcome guest worker. The marches flew in the face of 
     theories that undocumented workers want nothing but to labor 
     unnoticed and separate from the nation that employs them to 
     make its meals, trim its hedges and slaughter its beef.
       These immigrants, weary of silent servitude, are speaking 
     up and asking for something simple: a chance to work to 
     become citizens, with all the obligations and opportunities 
     that go with it.
       Our lawmakers, to their discredit, have erected barriers 
     within barriers, created legal hurdles and bureaucratic 
     hoops, and dangled the opportunity for lowly guest-worker 
     status without the citizenship to go with it. It is an 
     invitation to create a society with a permanent underclass 
     deprived of any ladder to something better. It is a path to 
     creating a different, and lower, vision of our country and 
     ourselves.
       It is not only the border-obsessed Minutemen who should be 
     shamed by yesterday's joyous outpouring. Lawmakers who have 
     stymied comprehensive immigration reform with stalemated 
     name-calling and cold electoral calculation should listen up. 
     A silent, shadow population is speaking with one voice. The 
     message, aimed at Washington but something the whole country 
     should hear, is clear: We are America. We want to join you.
       It's a simple message. It should be sinking in by now.

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