[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 98 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H4316-H4317]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE'S 
                     WASHINGTON FOOTBALL FRANCHISE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, it's time that the National Football 
League and the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell face the reality that the 
continued use of the word ``redskin'' is unacceptable. It is a racist, 
derogatory term and patently offensive to Native Americans.
  The Native American community has spent millions of dollars over the 
past two decades trying earnestly to fight the racism that is 
perpetuated by this slur.

                              {time}  1030

  The fact that the NFL and Commissioner Goodell continue to deny this 
is a shameful testament of the mistreatment of Native Americans for so 
many years. It is quite obvious that once the American public 
understands why the word ``redskins'' is so offensive, they'll know 
that the word should never be used again.
  The origin of the term ``redskins'' is commonly attributed to the 
historical practice of trading Native American Indian scalps and body 
parts as bounties and trophies. For example, in 1749, the British 
bounty on the Mi'kmaq Nation of what is now Maine and Nova Scotia was a 
straightforward ``10 Guineas for every Indian Mi'kmaq taken or killed, 
to be paid upon producing such savage taken or his scalp.''
  Just as devastating was the Phips Proclamation, issued in 1755 by 
Spencer Phips, lieutenant governor and commander in chief of the 
Massachusetts Bay Province, who called for the wholesale extermination 
of the Penobscot Indian Nation. By vote of the General Court of the 
Province, settlers were paid out of the public treasury for killing and 
scalping the Penobscot people. The bounty for a male Penobscot Indian 
above the age of 12 years was 50 pounds, and his scalp was worth 40 
pounds. The bounty for a female Penobscot Indian of any age and for the 
males under the age of 12 was 25 pounds, while their scalps were worth 
20 pounds. These scalps, Mr. Speaker, were called ``redskins.''
  The question is quite simple. Suppose that that redskin scalp that 
was bought for payment was the scalp of your mother, the scalp of your 
wife, the scalp of your daughter, the scalp of your father, the scalp 
of your husband, or of your son. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, Native 
Americans are human beings, not animals.
  The current chairman and chief of the Penobscot Nation, Chief Kirk 
Francis, recently declared in a joint statement that ``redskins'' is 
``not just a racial slur or derogatory term'' but a painful ``reminder 
of one of the most gruesome acts of ethnic cleansing ever committed 
against the Penobscot people.'' The hunting and killing of Penobscot 
Indians, as stated by Chief Francis, was ``a most despicable and 
disgraceful act of genocide.''
  Recently, myself and nine Members of Congress explained the violent 
history and disparaging nature of the term ``redskins'' in a letter to 
Mr. Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington football franchise. Similar 
letters were sent to Mr. Frederick Smith, president and CEO of FedEx, a 
key sponsor of the franchise, and Mr. Roger Goodell, commissioner of 
the National Football League. As of today, Mr. Snyder has not yet 
responded. Mr. Smith ignored our letter as well, opting instead to have 
a staff member cite contractual obligations as FedEx's reason for its 
silence on the subject.
  Mr. Goodell, however, in a dismissive manner, declared that the 
team's name ``is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, 
pride, and respect.'' Give me a break, Mr. Speaker. In other words, the 
National Football League is telling everyone--Native Americans 
included--that they cannot be offended because the NFL means no 
offense. Essentially, Mr. Goodell attempts to wash away the stain from 
a history of persecution against Native American people by spreading 
twisted and false information concerning the use of the

[[Page H4317]]

word ``redskins'' by one of the NFL's richest franchises. It is 
absolute absurdity.
  Mr. Goodell's response is indicative of the Washington football 
franchise's own racist and bigoted beginnings. The team's founder, 
George Preston Marshall, is identified by historians as the driving 
force behind the effort to prevent African Americans from playing in 
the NFL. And once African Americans were allowed to play in 1946, 
Marshall was the last club owner to field an African American player--a 
move he reluctantly made some 14 years later in 1962. It should be 
noted that Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and U.S. Attorney 
General Robert F. Kennedy presented Marshall with an ultimatum--unless 
Marshall signed an African American player, the government would revoke 
his franchise's 30-year lease on the use of the D.C. Stadium.
  Congressman Tom Cole, the Representative from Oklahoma, Co-Chair of 
the Congressional Native American Caucus, and a member of the Chickasaw 
Nation, states: ``This is the 21st century. This is the capital of 
political correctness on the planet. It is very, very, very offensive. 
This isn't like warriors or chiefs. It's not a term of respect, and 
it's needlessly offensive to a large part of our population. They just 
don't happen to live around Washington, DC.''
  Congresswoman Betty McCollum, the Representative from Minnesota and 
Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, states that Mr. 
Goodell's letter ``is another attempt to justify a racial slur on 
behalf of [Mr.] Dan Snyder,'' owner of the Washington franchise, ``and 
other NFL owners who appear to be only concerned with earning ever 
larger profits, even if it means exploiting a racist stereotype of 
Native Americans. For the head of a multi-billion dollar sports league 
to embrace the twisted logic that `[r]edskin' actually `stands for 
strength, courage, pride, and respect' is a statement of absurdity.''
  Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Representative from the 
District of Columbia, states that Mr. Snyder ``is a man who has shown 
sensibilities based on his own ethnic identity, [yet] who refuses to 
recognize the sensibilities of American Indians.''
  Recently, in an interview with USA Today Newspaper, Mr. Snyder 
defiantly stated, ``We'll never change the name. It's that simple. 
NEVER--you can use caps.'' Mr. Snyder's statement is totally 
inconsistent with the NFL's diversity policy.
  Let me be clear on this--I love and respect Mr. Snyder's people. They 
gave to mankind the Torah, the Bible, the Koran--the prophets like 
Adam, Methuselah, Enoch, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and yes, and 
even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
  But I also want to remind Mr. Snyder that six million of his people 
were gassed, tortured, murdered, and even skinned by the Nazis to make 
lamp shades and other forms of horrifying experimentations. Time will 
not allow me to elaborate further. But let me be clear--I would be 
among the first to defend Mr. Snyder and his people against racial 
intolerance. All I ask is for Mr. Snyder to do the same for our Native 
Americans.
  Despite the Native American community's best efforts before 
administrative agencies and the courts, the term ``redskins'' remains a 
federally registered trademark. It has been well over twenty years and 
this matter is still before the courts. This injustice is the result of 
negligence and a cavalier attitude demonstrated by a federal agency 
charged with the responsibility of not allowing racist or derogatory 
terms to be registered as trademarks. Since the Federal Government made 
the mistake in registering the disparaging trademark, it is now up to 
Congress to correct it.

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