[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 22, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H370-H372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMISSION ON THE ABOLITION OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE ACT

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 3432) to establish the 
Commission on the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       On page 15, strike lines 3 through 5.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I rise as the sponsor of H.R. 3432 and 
yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to thank Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen 
for their leadership on this legislation. I would also like to thank

[[Page H371]]

my friends in the other body and the senior Senator from my home State 
of New Jersey for sponsoring and ensuring the passage of this bill. And 
finally, I would like to thank Speaker Pelosi and Representative 
Clyburn for their assistance in bringing this important and timely bill 
to the House.
  This year will mark the 200th anniversary of the act to prohibit the 
importation of slaves, which effectively ended the legal transatlantic 
slave trade.
  The bill under consideration before us, H.R. 3432, the 200th 
Anniversary Commemoration Commission of the Abolition of Transatlantic 
Slave Trade, establishes a commission to cultivate and preserve the 
memory of a grave injustice in American history, the transatlantic 
slave trade, and to mark the trade's conclusion at the hands of 
President Thomas Jefferson.
  As you know, the transatlantic slave trade was the capture and 
procurement of Africans, mostly from west and central Africa, to 
western colonies and new nations in America, including the United 
States, where they were enslaved in forced labor between the 15th and 
mid-19th centuries.
  In the early years of this Republic, the transatlantic slave trade 
constituted a thriving economic vein of the United States. By 1807, 
millions of Africans had been captured and transported to the Americas 
on notorious slave ships. That ship replica can be seen at the National 
Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
  Many individuals perished as a result of torture, including rape, 
malnutrition, and disease. Those who survived faced the miserable 
prospects of a lifetime in bondage. Few Americans are aware that 
captured slaves resisted their enslavement until the bitter end.
  During the Middle Passage, enslaved Africans defied their slave 
masters through nonviolent and violent means, including hunger strikes, 
suicide, and shipboard revolts, the most historically recognized events 
taking place on board the Don Carlos in 1732 and on board the Amistad 
in 1839.
  On March 3, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed into law the 
Transatlantic Slave Trade Act, which prohibited the importation of 
slaves from any port or any place within the jurisdiction of the United 
States. This bill was nothing short of revolutionary at that time in 
1806 when it was passed through this Congress. It single-handedly 
outlawed the long-standing and brutal slave trade of transporting 
Africans to the United States.
  As we know, even before this bill was passed, free and slave persons 
fought in the Revolutionary War, the War of Independence against 
Britain. In the Boston Massacre on March 3, 1770, Crispus Attucks was 
the first American to shed his blood at that Boston Massacre, which was 
led by Major Pitcairn, at that time a British officer. Ironically, in 
1775, at the famous Battle of Bunker Hill, Peter Salem and Salem Poor 
were two outstanding blacks who fought with the minutemen. And it was 
Peter Salem who fired the shot that killed Major Pitcairn, who led the 
Boston Massacre. So, there were blacks long before slavery was ended 
that fought heroically for this country.
  The commission will encourage civic, historical, educational, 
religious, economic and other organizations, as well as the State and 
local governments throughout the United States, to organize and 
participate in anniversary activities to expand the understanding and 
appreciation of the transatlantic slave trade.
  As we constantly admonish the prevalence of modern-day slavery 
worldwide, it would be hypocritical if we did not acknowledge the 
history of transatlantic slave trade and slavery that existed not long 
ago in our country.
  African labor was an essential feature of economic development in 
Europe and our former colonies, including the United States. All of the 
nations involved flourished economically as a result of slave labor.
  Slave trade and the legacy of slavery continues to have a profound 
impact on social and economic disparities, hatred, bias, racism and 
discrimination that continues to affect people in the Americas, 
particularly those of African descent.
  It is important, as Americans, that we extend our highest 
appreciation for the contributions and struggles of African Americans 
to create an equitable and just society from which we all benefit 
today.
  The commission created by this bill will be tasked with the mandate 
to plan, develop and execute programs and activities appropriate with 
the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slavery. 
The mission is timely and the subject is critical.
  The United States is a primary voice on trafficking issues. We are 
also the principal advocates for human rights and freedom around the 
world. Our Nation's willingness to confront its past and calmly assess 
the impact of slavery on the United States strengthens our ability to 
serve as an advocate on the international stage.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this timely legislation that 
will embrace America's history and honor its past.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3432, an act to establish a 
commission on the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
  The House passed this bill on October 2nd of last year, and today we 
take it up again as amended by the Senate, which removed three lines of 
authorizing language.
  For over 200 years, countless Africans died appalling deaths during 
the so-called ``Middle Passage,'' the inhumane overseas voyage of their 
lives to slavery. Many Africans never made it to the Americas because 
they died on the way.
  In that era, as throughout history, man's inhumanity to man had a lot 
to do with money. The Middle Passage referred to a middle portion of a 
triangular trade in cargo and people that began and ended in Europe.
  Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Dutch and other traders, 
including Americans, arrived on the West Coast of Africa where they 
sold or traded European cargo of textiles, firearms and other goods for 
Africans, who had been enslaved or kidnapped in many cases by other 
Africans. From there, they began the inhumane ``Middle'' journey to the 
Caribbean Islands and the Americas, during which many of them died. In 
the New World, which included North and South America and the Caribbean 
Islands, the slaves were sold for profit and traded for colonial goods 
that traveled mainly back to Europe, such as rum, sugar, rice and 
molasses.
  Most of the victims of the Atlantic slave trade ended up in the 
Caribbean Islands and South America. Approximately 5 percent ended up 
in North America. These humans served as cheap forced labor for 
profiteers.
  As recognized in this bill, the Transatlantic Slave Act went into 
effect 200 years ago this month, prohibiting the importation of slaves 
into the United States. President Thomas Jefferson authorized this act 
in 1808. Sadly, in spite of the formal prohibition and the act of 
Congress, this shameful institution of slavery persisted in this 
country for nearly 6 decades afterwards.
  This bill will establish a commission to ensure that this important 
anniversary is appropriately commemorated within the United States and 
abroad. It will help afford all Americans the opportunity to learn more 
about the institution of slavery and its vestiges so that we may 
understand this tragic aspect of history.
  In addition to promoting greater tolerance and understanding within 
the United States, this commission can also help shed light on the fact 
that slavery still exists in the modern world 200 years after the 
transatlantic slave trade was abolished. It exists today as it did in 
the past because of greed. It exists in the form of human trafficking. 
It exists wherever any group is systematically robbed of their 
fundamental human rights. These problems are undeniably real for the 
hundreds and thousands of women and children who are trafficked 
internationally every year.
  Madam Speaker, it is appropriate, on the day after we honor the late 
Dr. Martin Luther King, a humanitarian

[[Page H372]]

and advocate of basic human rights, that we pass this legislation.
  I want to thank the author of the bill, the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Payne) for his efforts.
  I urge all colleagues to support this measure.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PAYNE. Let me thank the gentleman from Texas for his eloquent 
statement, very well done, and thank you very much for your support of 
this legislation.
  As we conclude, there were two other Members who indicated they 
wanted to speak, but I think that our time is about expiring.
  But let me, once again, thank our chairman and ranking member for 
assisting us in bringing this bill forward. We hope that, as has been 
indicated, that we will be able to deal with modern-day slavery. We 
have problems in our country today where people are being brought in 
from eastern Europe and other areas where they are being exploited, and 
we need to really be more vigilant about wiping some of these terrible 
practices away.
  And so, we hope that this commission will focus not only on the past, 
deal with the present, but also deal with the future. And we certainly 
appreciate the support from the other body and the senior Senator from 
New Jersey.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong 
support of H.R. 3432, the 200th Anniversary Commemoration Commission of 
the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade of 2007, which I am 
proud, along with over 95 of my colleagues, to cosponsor. This 
legislation recognizes the 200th anniversary of the Transatlantic Slave 
Trade, and it establishes the rubric from which the Commission, to be 
known as the ``Transatlantic Slave Trade 200th Anniversary 
Commission,'' shall be formed.
  I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, Congressman Payne, 
for introducing this important legislation, as well as the Chairman of 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressman Lantos, for his 
leadership on this issue.
  Madam Speaker, though 200 years have passed since the abolition of 
the transatlantic slave trade, the legacy of slavery continues to have 
a profound impact on American society. The legacy of social and 
economic disparity lives on, as do hatred, bias, and discrimination. 
Despite two centuries of progress, the African American community 
continues to feel the impact of the transatlantic slave trade, and 
subsequent years of racism and persecution.
  While our Nation has pursued the ideals of liberty and equality for 
all, there still remain steps that must be taken in order to ensure 
that even such a dark piece of our Nation's history be preserved and 
its conclusion at the hand of President Thomas Jefferson be celebrated.
  Madam Speaker, the bill before us establishes a commission to 
cultivate and preserve the memory of a grave injustice in American 
history: we must recognize and in some small way try to rectify our 
past. In the early years of the Republic, the transatlantic slave trade 
constituted a thriving economic vein of the United States. By 1807, 
millions of Africans had been captured and transported to the Americas, 
many perishing as the result of torture, rape, malnutrition, and 
disease. It was not until March of 1807 that President Thomas Jefferson 
signed into law ``An Act to prohibit the importation of slaves into any 
port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States,'' a 
Congressionally approved bill intended to end the heinous practice of 
the transatlantic slave trade.
  It is in commemoration of President Jefferson's revolutionary act, 
and to explore further the impacts of the slave trade on our Nation 
that H.R. 3432 establishes the 200th Anniversary Commemoration 
Commission. This important commission will be composed of 11 
congressionally appointed members charged with the task of planning, 
developing, and executing programs and activities appropriate to 
commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic 
slave trade. Though the Senate amendments to this bill strike the 
appropriation of funds for this important legislation, I still feel 
that this is an imperative first step in the right direction. While I 
am disappointed that the Senate did not see fit to allocate the 
necessary funds to see the formation of this unprecedented commission 
to fruition, I remain supportive of the significant mission of this 
legislation and hope to see it through to its completion.
  January 1, 2008, marked the 200th anniversary of the ``Act to 
Prohibit the Importation of Slaves.'' The United States today serves as 
a moral compass for the rest of the world and as such we must provide a 
voice for human trafficking issues. Our willingness to confront our 
Nation's past and to address the impacts of the slave trade and its 
legacy on the United States strengthens our undeterred commitment to 
serving as an advocate for human rights and freedom in the 
international community.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
legislation.
  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) that the House suspend the rules 
and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 3432.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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