[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H3448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE RUTGERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I was only going to speak about our Rutgers 
women, but I do want to also add my voice to the condolences for the 
Virginia Tech students. Out of the number of students who were killed, 
four students came from my State of New Jersey. So our hearts are heavy 
for all of the families, but especially for our four New Jersey 
students.
  I also want to add my congratulations to Congresswoman Woolsey for 
being the persistent voice against the war. Day in and day out she has 
brought this to our attention, and I think much of what we see today in 
the movement against the war can directly be attributed to her 
tenacity.
  I want to also commend Speaker Pelosi for the groundbreaking trip she 
took to Syria. I think that the dignity and the knowledge and the 
respect that were shown to her will begin to break the ground, and I 
hope that she continues to do that.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Representative from New Jersey, I am pleased to 
rise here in the United States House of Representatives to praise the 
young women of the Rutgers basketball team, the Scarlet Knights, and 
their inspirational coach, C. Vivian Stringer. They are true champions 
not only for their academic and athletic achievements, but for the 
dignity, for the strength, for the class they have shown during this 
ordeal.
  These 10 women overcame disappointing early losses in the season to 
advance, amazingly, to the Final Four. Around the Nation fans watched 
as the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, who had lost four of their first 
seven games, defeated Duke's Blue Devils in an exciting 53-52 upset 
victory. This was after a lopsided 59-35 victory over LSU.
  When the ugly incident with Don Imus cast a shadow over their 
success, these young women showed what they were made of. In standing 
up for themselves and their school and for New Jersey, they also took a 
stand on behalf of all young women who insist on being treated with 
respect and refuse to be insulted and stereotyped.
  Don Imus and those of his ilk vastly underestimated New Jersey's 
strong and proud Scarlet Knights. He underestimated the pride we feel 
in New Jersey about our remarkable women on that team. As a matter of 
fact, during the founding of the Nation, New Jersey had a theme: 
``Don't tread on us.'' Don Imus may have had a microphone, but he was 
no match for these young women and their coach, who so eloquently spoke 
up for what is right and fair. I am so proud that through their actions 
they were able to persuade two major networks, MSNBC and CBS, as well 
as numerous advertisers, that the days of using public airways to 
ridicule and debase anyone they choose are over.
  Let me add that it is time that the FCC start doing its job by 
halting the use of racial and gender slurs over the public airways. As 
long there is weak enforcement, there will continue to be hate language 
used by the so-called ``shock jocks.'' In Rwanda it was the radio that 
urged people to kill and to go. It is hate radio that can create 
problems, serious problems, as we have seen, like I said, in Rwanda.
  History has shown us that words matter, and once society accepts ugly 
language, ugly incidents will follow. We see the indecent exposure at 
the Super Bowl, where a tremendous amount of attention was paid. 
However, we let a Don Imus go on year in, year out, year in, year out, 
and many others. Something is wrong with that picture.
  I call on the networks to examine their record of hiring minorities 
for top on-the-air and executive positions so that African Americans 
are fairly represented in the media. One reason that the networks made 
the decision to discontinue the Don Imus show was that the network 
employees let the management know how disturbed and embarrassed and 
offended they were by these demeaning commentaries and that they were a 
part of that institution, and that was the overriding factor. However, 
it was Rosa Parks, who 50 years ago decided that she would not sit at 
the back of the bus, and the people from Montgomery walked for a year, 
2 years, and broke the back of the bus company. It was once again the 
economics that had a play in this 50 years later that people said that 
if you continue to advertise on that station, we will not use your 
product. So I am proud of the American people.
  Finally, let me say that once again I am proud of these young women, 
one from my district in Newark, New Jersey, from the high school 
Shabazz that I taught at.

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