[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H7874-H7876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE USS ``CONSTELLATION'' IN 
                     THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1159), recognizing the historical 
significance of the United States sloop-of-war Constellation as a 
surviving witness to the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and a 
leading participant in America's effort to end the practice.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1159

       Whereas on September 17, 1787, the United States 
     Constitution was adopted and article I, section 9 of the 
     document declared that Congress could prohibit the 
     importation of slaves into the United States in the year 
     1808;
       Whereas on March 22, 1794, the United States Congress 
     passed ``An Act to prohibit the carrying on the Slave Trade 
     from the United States to any foreign place or country'', 
     thus beginning American efforts to halt the slave trade;
       Whereas on May 10, 1800, Congress enacted legislation that 
     outlawed all American participation in the international 
     trafficking of slaves and authorized the United States Navy 
     to seize American vessels engaged in the slave trade;
       Whereas on March 2, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed 
     a bill that declared the importation of slaves into the 
     United States illegal;
       Whereas on January 1, 1808, the act ``to prohibit the 
     importation of slaves into any port or place within the 
     jurisdiction of the United States'' took effect;
       Whereas on March 3, 1819, Congress authorized the Navy to 
     cruise the African coast to suppress the slave trade. The Act 
     declared that Africans on captured ships be placed under 
     Federal jurisdiction and authorized the President to appoint 
     an agent in Africa to facilitate their return to the 
     continent;
       Whereas in 1819, the Royal Navy of Great Britain 
     established the West Coast of Africa as a separate naval 
     station and actively plied the waters in pursuit of slave 
     ships. Great Britain negotiated with many other nations to 
     obtain the right to search their vessels if suspected of 
     engaging in the slave trade;
       Whereas on May 15, 1820, Congress declared the trading of 
     slaves to be an act of piracy and those convicted subject to 
     the death penalty;
       Whereas in 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty between Great 
     Britain and the United States provided that both nations 
     would maintain separate naval squadrons on the coast of 
     Africa to enforce their respective laws against the slave 
     trade. The newly formed United States African Squadron sailed 
     for Africa in 1843 and remained in operation until the Civil 
     War erupted in 1861;
       Whereas in 1859, USS Constellation, the last all-sail 
     vessel designed and built by the U.S. Navy, sailed to West 
     Africa as the flagship of the United States African Squadron, 
     consisting of eight ships, including four steam-powered 
     vessels suitable for chasing down and capturing slavers;
       Whereas on December 21, 1859, USS Constellation captured 
     the brig Delicia after a 10-hour chase. Although Delicia had 
     no human cargo on board upon capture, her crew was preparing 
     the ship to take on slaves;
       Whereas on the night of September 25, 1860, USS 
     Constellation sighted the barque Cora near the mouth of the 
     Congo River and, after a dramatic moonlit chase, captured the 
     slave ship with 705 Africans crammed into her ``slave deck''. 
     A detachment of the Constellation's crew sailed the surviving 
     Africans to Monrovia, Liberia, a colony founded for the 
     settlement of free African-Americans that became the 
     destination for all Africans freed on slave ships captured by 
     the Navy;
       Whereas on May 21, 1861, USS Constellation captured the 
     brig Triton. Though the ship did not have Africans captured 
     for slavery on board when intercepted by the Constellation, a 
     search confirmed its preparation to take on slaves. Triton, 
     registered in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of the 
     first Union naval captures of the American Civil War;
       Whereas from 1859 to 1861, USS Constellation and the 
     African Squadron captured 14 slave ships and liberated nearly 
     4,000 Africans destined for a life of servitude in the 
     Americas, a record unsurpassed by the United States African 
     squadron under previous commanders; and
       Whereas on September 25, 2008, the USS Constellation Museum 
     will hold a ceremony to commemorate the bicentennial of the 
     abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade aboard the same 
     ship that, 149 years before, forced the capitulation of the 
     slave ship Cora and freed the 705 Africans confined within: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the historical and educational significance 
     of USS Constellation, a 153-year-old American warship, 
     berthed in Baltimore, Maryland, as a reminder of both 
     American participation in the slave trade and the efforts of 
     the United States Government to suppress this inhumane 
     practice;
       (2) applauds the preservation of this historic vessel and 
     the efforts of the USS Constellation Museum to engage people 
     from all over the world with this vital part of our history; 
     and
       (3) supports USS Constellation as an appropriate site for 
     the Nation to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition 
     of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. 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 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this 
resolution and yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me first thank Congressman Elijah Cummings for introducing this 
resolution honoring the USS Constellation, a 153-year-old American 
Warship that now is restored as a museum in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

                              {time}  1315

  This historic ship serves as a reminder of the role that the United 
States Navy played in the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade.
  In 1787, our Nation began to adopt legislation to prohibit the 
importation of slaves to the United States and the transport of slaves 
from the U.S. to other parts of the Western Hemisphere. Over the next 
several decades, the U.S. Government joined with the British in 
deploying naval vessels along the African coastline to intercept slave 
ships, rescue kidnapped victims and place them under international 
jurisdiction, and return them to homelands in Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, this is sometimes little known history, and I 
congratulate my colleague from Maryland of highlighting the fact that 
the good news is, even though it took long years to end slavery in the 
United States, they began to stop the transportation and importing of 
slaves, and they vigorously used the United States military in the name 
of the United States Navy.
  The USS Constellation was the flagship of an eight-ship fleet that 
comprised the U.S. African Squadron. The Constellation captured 14 
slave ships and rescued nearly 4,000 Africans from a life of forced 
servitude in the Americas.
  Launched in 1854 from the Chesapeake Bay's Gosport Navy Yard at 
Portsmouth, Virginia, the USS Constellation served our country for 100 
years before its final decommissioning in 1955, I would venture to say, 
a long, long time. Maybe its good work of preventing the importation of 
slaves allowed it to have a long life with good health.
  After serving the anti-slavery effort, the USS Constellation was 
charged with chasing Confederate raiders during the Civil War, and 
served as a training ship for the midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy 
in Annapolis from 1871 to 1893. The ship was brought to Baltimore's 
Inner Harbor in 1955 and restored as the USS Constellation Museum.
  This is a historic year, 2008, as we watch presidential politics. 
This legislation is an appropriate testament to the history of the 
United States and doing the right thing as it relates to slavery here 
in this country. It also incorporates our recognition of the United 
States Navy and the United

[[Page H7875]]

States military as fighting for the unity of this Nation and the 
promotion of equality and justice for all Americans. Ending slavery was 
contributing to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that offered to 
say that we all are created equal.
  I thank our colleague, Congressman Cummings, and I rise in strong 
support of this resolution, because this resolution celebrates the USS 
Constellation as a historic reminder of the battle to end slavery and 
of the role and capabilities of the Navy's elite vessels of that era. 
They continue to serve us, and I strongly support the resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of H. Res. 1159, which recognizes the USS 
Constellation as a surviving witness to the horrors of the 
Transatlantic slave trade and a significant figure in United States 
efforts to end that practice.
  In this bicentennial year of the abolition of the Transatlantic slave 
trade, this body has considered a number of resolutions condemning the 
horrors of slavery and recognizing the efforts of those who sought to 
combat it. Each of these resolutions has been important, not only for 
the purpose of preserving our history, but also for calling attention 
to the fact that today, 200 years after the formal abolition of the 
Transatlantic slave trade, slavery still continues. It endures in those 
areas where traffickers are enabled to engage in their inhumane and 
cruel trade. It thrives where human rights are abused and tyrants rule 
the day.
  I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for introducing 
this later effort to renew the charge of the United States to confront 
slavery in its various forms around the world while, at the same time, 
showing the historical significance of the USS Constellation.
  On January 1, 1808, the act to ``prohibit the importation of slaves 
into any port or territory within the jurisdiction of the United 
States'' took effect. Eleven years later, the United States Congress 
authorized the Navy to cruise the coast of the African continent and 
take effective measures to suppress the slave trade. The USS 
Constellation served as the flagship in this effort from 1859 through 
1861, leading the United States African Squadron, as it was called, as 
it captured 14 slave ships and liberated an estimated 4,000 Africans 
destined to be enslaved. Today the USS Constellation continues to serve 
as a museum and a tribute to the efforts of those who sought to end the 
horrors of the slave trade.
  As such, this resolution specifically recognizes the historical and 
educational significance of the Constellation, and recommends it as an 
appropriate site for this Nation to commemorate the bicentennial of the 
abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this important resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to 
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the chairman of the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation, such time as he might consume.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding. And I also 
associate myself with her words and the words of Mr. Poe.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my appreciation to the members 
of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the leadership for bringing 
this resolution to the floor.
  Special acknowledgment and thanks also go to my friend and colleague, 
Representative Gregory Meek of New York, for acknowledging and 
appreciating the efforts and accomplishments of the Constellation's 
crew by joining me as a lead cosponsor.
  This resolution recognizes the USS Constellation for its role in 
ending the Transatlantic slave trade. The Constellation deserves to be 
recognized not only for the liberation of thousands of Africans, but 
also the liberation from oppression and ignorance.
  As a descendent of slaves, I understand the importance of the 
Constellation's role as a shining moment in one of the darkest points 
in our Nation's history. Its role in the progression of our society is 
only further amplified, given the political history that is currently 
being made today, and as Ms. Jackson-Lee alluded to.
  As the first Union Navy vessel to interdict major slave ships along 
the West African coast, the USS Constellation was a flagship for the 
United States Navy's African squadron from 1859 to 1861. During this 
time, the USS Constellation was used to capture 14 slave ships and 
liberate nearly 4,000 Africans headed towards a life deprived of 
freedom and unpaid labor. In fact, after a dramatic chase into the 
night on September 25, 1860, the USS Constellation was used to capture 
the Cora near the mouth of the Congo River. Crammed into the dark 
``slave deck'' were 705 Africans.
  A detachment of the Constellation's crew took the surviving Africans 
to Monrovia, Liberia, a colony founded for the settlement of free 
African Americans that became the destination for all Africans freed on 
slave ships captured by the United States Navy.
  In 1894, the Constellation continued its historic service as a 
training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy and ended its service as the 
flagship of the Atlantic Fleet during World War II.
  Decommissioned in 1955, the USS Constellation is berthed in my 
district and, of course, in my hometown of Baltimore at the Inner 
Harbor. This 153-year-old American warship was designated as a national 
historic landmark on May 23, 1963, and is the perfect location to 
commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the Transatlantic 
slave trade in the United States.
  On September 25, 2008, the USS Constellation Museum will hold a 
ceremony to commemorate the history of the ship and its crew. 
Additionally, there will be a special program to recognize the 
descendents of Constellation's crew who will be in attendance.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I thank those who supported H. Res. 1159 as 
cosponsors, and ask that my colleagues support the adoption of this 
resolution to ensure that this part of American history is never 
forgotten.
  Mr. POE. We have no other speakers. I support this legislation, and 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 
minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee, Congressman 
Steve Cohen, who is a member of the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. COHEN. I thank Congressperson Jackson-Lee and Congressperson 
Cummings for their work on this resolution.
  It is important that we remember our history, and we teach our 
history to our school children and our adults as well to know how far 
this country has come and where it has come from. There are things that 
have happened in history in this country and around the world that are 
not things that we are proud of. Nevertheless, we learn from them and 
we grow.
  This is not the perfect Union that we hope it to be one day, but it 
is a more perfect Union each year. And amendments to the Constitution 
and laws have changed to make this a better country.
  Earlier in this session, this Congress passed, by voice vote, an 
apology for slavery and Jim Crow, a long time in coming, but something 
that should have occurred and did occur. I hope that my colleagues in 
the Senate will pass the same resolution.
  This is in the same vein, in remembering that this country did allow 
slavery for many years, and Jim Crow laws to follow. But while we did 
allow it, there was a time that it was outlawed, and there were efforts 
to suspend it and to stop it. And this ship and the people that manned 
the ship, captained the ship and served on the ship, did their jobs in 
seeing that the slave trade was defeated off the African coast.
  It is appropriate that this ship be maintained as a museum and a 
tribute to those gentlemen and to the cause that they served, and to 
remind people of some of the horrors in our history, but the 
improvements that we have made. And I compliment Congressman Cummings 
on bringing the resolution, and the people involved in the City of 
Baltimore and elsewhere in preserving the USS Constellation.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Let me thank both Mr. Cummings, the author 
of this bill; Mr. Greg Meeks, a member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee; Mr. Cohen, and ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support 
this legislation

[[Page H7876]]

that emphasizes the importance of the United States Navy in ending the 
Transatlantic slave trade, H. Res. 1159.
  I yield back my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1159.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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