[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 89 (Thursday, June 20, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E930-E931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AGAINST THE NAME OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE'S WASHINGTON FOOTBALL 
                               FRANCHISE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 20, 2013

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the name 
of the National Football League's Washington, D.C. franchise, the 
``Redskins,'' which I will refer to as the ``R-word.'' In particular, I 
want to recognize the national media coverage of this very important 
and sensitive issue. While the media has no doubt contributed to the 
alleged normalcy of the ``R-word'' among NFL fans, it must be 
acknowledged that the tide of public opinion--as recently evidenced 
through well-known media outlets--is changing.
  Mr. Jarrett Bell, an NFL columnist for USA Today, penned an article 
stating that the Washington franchise ``[has] a history of bigotry.'' 
In Mr. Bell's words: ``[Dan Snyder] has an opportunity to make a bold 
statement in the name of social progress by discarding the racially 
offensive nickname of his team--and he won't budge an inch. Shame on 
him.'' Mr. Bell continues: ``Changing the franchise's nickname would be 
the next step after the monumental gesture of implementing the Rooney 
Rule a decade ago, and another show of corporate leadership that might 
inspire teams in other sports that trivialize Native Americans with 
their nicknames to break tradition.''
  Mr. Michael Wilbon and Mr. Tony Kornheiser, sports columnists for the 
Washington Post and co-hosts of ESPN's ``Pardon the Interruption,'' 
recently ran a segment on the controversy over the ``R-word.'' Mr. 
Wilbon stated: ``I don't have any faith in the NFL. But

[[Page E931]]

what really disappoints me is [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell, because 
now I don't have any faith in him. I know Roger Goodell, long before he 
became commissioner. He's a bright man, he's an educated man, he's a 
man of conviction. And in this instance, he has no courage. What he's 
done is gutless.''
  Mr. Wilbon continues: ``Let's not mince our words here. Roger Goodell 
sounds like a fool. He sounds like someone who doesn't have the courage 
to confront one of his own member-institutions and its owner, Dan 
Snyder. . . . In the NFL you can do what you want, when you want. 
You're accountable to nobody.''
  Mr. Kornheiser states: ``I'm surprised, because I thought he would go 
to the owner, Daniel Snyder, and force him to change the name, give him 
cover by saying `I'm making you change the name.' '' Mr. Kornheiser, in 
calling the ``R-word'' a racial epithet, continues: ``It's not even 
about being politically correct; it's being fair, it's being equitable. 
I mean, you cannot go to a reservation and say, `Hi, Redskins.' You 
cannot do this.''
  In a poignant letter directed the owner of the Washington franchise, 
sports columnist for the ESPN affiliate Grantland, Mr. David Zirin, 
states: ``You have made it crystal clear that you believe there is 
nothing wrong with the name of our region's beloved franchise and 
probably perceive Webster's dictionary to have some politically 
correct, liberal agenda when it defines redskin as `usually offensive.' 
You've never commented on its past use in this country as a term of 
derision, humiliation, and violence.''
  ``You [] have not commented on the devastating letter from 10 members 
of Congress [last] month, including Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole of the 
Chickasaw Nation, who said that the name was similar to having a team 
called `the Washington N-words' and that it `diminishes feelings of 
community and worth among the Native American tribes.' ''
  ``You say the name represents the team's history of great players, 
but I've never heard you respond to former [Washington] Pro Bowler Tre' 
Johnson, who said, `It's an ethnically insensitive moniker that offends 
an entire race of displaced people. That should be reason enough to 
change it.' ''
  ``I know you don't think the name is racist and wrong, and therefore 
I have to assume that you disagree with Suzan Shown Harjo, a woman of 
Cheyenne and Muscogee descent who is president of the Morning Star 
Institute, a national indigenous-rights organization in D.C. Harjo said 
to me, `For most Native Americans, there's no more offensive name in 
English. That non-Native folks think they get to measure or decide what 
offends us is adding insult to injury.' ''
  ``People like Suzan Harjo, Tre' Johnson, and Tom Cole talk and you 
just hear--pardon the expression--white noise. I know you're dug in. 
What I don't know is whether you realize that this change is going to 
happen, and soon.''
  Mr. Speaker, it is my hope, the hope of Native American citizens 
everywhere, and now the hope of the national media, that our fellow 
colleagues and Members of this Chamber stand up against the disparaging 
name of Washington's NFL franchise.

                          ____________________