[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 17 (Monday, February 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H692-H694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SELMA TO MONTGOMERY VOTING RIGHTS MARCH
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. MacArthur). Under the Speaker's
announced policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for 30 minutes.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my other colleagues
tonight to thank Congresswoman Kelly from Illinois and Congressman
Payne from New Jersey for organizing tonight's Congressional Black
Caucus Special Order hour.
I rise to highlight a pivotal moment in America's history--the Selma
voting rights march--that 50 years ago, Mr. Speaker, brought together
Americans to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, across the now
famous Edmund Pettus Bridge. There were attacks and dogs, beatings and
deaths, but still we marched because we as a country knew that all
Americans should have the same rights. The 54-mile walk was an effort
to demonstrate the desire of Black American citizens to exercise their
constitutional right to vote and to be treated equally.
Mr. Speaker, although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally
desegregated the South, discrimination and segregation remained
throughout much of the United States. The march led to the passage of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which, today, continues to be eroded in
a threatened bill. The communities across our Nation certainly have
threats to their basic rights, and there are certainly injustices. In
the words of Dr. Martin Luther King--and they still ring true today
when I think about his words--``injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere.'' When I reflect on my recent trip to Ferguson--
where I witnessed firsthand--it seems that we are still reengaging in
our unfortunate history and ongoing challenges with voting rights,
voter registration, and injustices--and with new vitality and vigor.
Mr. Speaker, I will stand with my colleagues--those who are here,
along with Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Terri Sewell--when
we march across that bridge and when we say that we must turn our march
toward solutions. If we, Democrats and Republicans, can watch a movie
together about Selma, sharing silent moments in tears, sharing stories
of our own experiences, surely we can come together to fix voting
rights. How long must we wait, Mr. Speaker? How long will it take?
Let me end with these words: it is on all of us here in this body to
march for voting rights and to march for having voting rights.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly.
Ms. KELLY of Illinois. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from
Ohio for her important remarks.
As we come to a close, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the
Garden State--my good friend, Representative Donald Payne--for his
tremendous leadership and for leading this Congressional Black Caucus
Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, in our hour of power, we have had the opportunity to
speak directly to the American people. This is a privilege that I take
seriously and a responsibility that the CBC cherishes.
Tonight, we strengthen our future by embracing our past. 2015
represents a critical junction in the advancement of our Nation. Fifty
years after the Selma to Montgomery march there are strengthened civil
rights and improved access to the ballot. Today, we find ourselves with
equally important ground to cover in promoting civil rights, in
reducing economic and health disparities, and in strengthening voter
rights protection.
As a legislative body, we have made progress, but as Representatives
and as men and women who love this country, our work continues. As we
look back, we are comforted by the bridges we have crossed, by the
trails we have blazed, and by the future ahead of us that we envision.
I want to thank the entire Congressional Black Caucus, especially my
fellow coanchor, the gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Payne.
{time} 2030
Fifty years after Selma, the CBC remembers that it exists to promote
the public welfare through legislation that meets the needs of millions
of neglected citizens. It is that spirit that guides us and many others
in Congress.
When we see millions of men, women, and children who need help moving
forward, we march. When we see obstruction in our path to creating a
more perfect Union, we respond.
Again, I thank my colleagues.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to allow my
colleague, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke from Brooklyn, who is also the
vice president of the Congressional Black Caucus, to share her thoughts
with us.
(Ms. CLARKE of New York asked and was given permission to revise and
extend her remarks.)
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from Ohio
(Mrs. Beatty) for extending this time to me, and I want to also thank
the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Kelly) and the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Payne).
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues in the Congressional Black
Caucus for hosting this evening's Special Order and this extension this
evening.
Today I proudly rise to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
historic events of the nonviolent protests that took place in Selma,
Alabama, and to recognize their importance in igniting and fueling the
civil rights movement that brought an end to the practice of Jim Crow
racial segregation by law in America and voting rights legislation that
guaranteed every American citizen the right to vote.
It is a privilege to represent the Ninth District of New York in
offering tribute to the historic people of conscience that walked the
Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday. The
march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 included more than 600 women and
men who walked from the historic Brown Chapel AME Church to the State
capital of Alabama.
They marched for the right to vote, the freedom and human dignity
that had been denied to them. They marched to end the evil practice of
segregation and the violent terrorism to which they were subjected on
an everyday basis, to remove from our society
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the poison of racism and racial discrimination.
However, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge this peaceful protest was met
with tear gas, police batons, police dogs, and hatred and violence.
Images of this tragedy were broadcast across America, opening the eyes
of millions of citizens to the brutality and injustices that African
American communities, especially in the South, had experienced every
day.
Five months after Bloody Sunday, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was
signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson,
prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. I was 9 months at that
time. Sadly, the right to vote remains under threat in the United
States.
Just imagine, five decades later, the disparate treatment and
discrimination, the trampling of the civil rights and civil liberties
of vulnerable communities of color, black and Hispanic, Latino
Americans, continues to be a blood-soaked stain on the Star-Spangled
Banner in the minds of many Americans.
In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that section 4(b) of the Voting
Rights Act was unconstitutional, effectively undermining our ability to
protect the right to vote and ensure unfettered access to the ballot.
We, the members of the CBC, will not stand silent and allow the
partisanship in this House to reverse these gains made through the
bloodshed and the lives martyred to erase from the law books those
rights for which many fought and died.
Mr. Speaker, while we have made great progress since 1965, it is all
relative. As long as systemic racism remains in the hearts and minds of
some Americans, there is still much work to be done so that the blood,
sweat, and tears shed for the freedom and justice in 1965 and every day
since will not have been in vain.
The courage it took for our colleague Representative John Lewis and
the countless and nameless Americans to face an angry State-sponsored
mob so that we can all enjoy the freedoms of our country must never be
forgotten. We must remain vigilant and continuously fight for equal
rights for all people, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation,
or social background. Until then, Mr. Speaker, the struggle continues.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, as we talk about the struggle continuing,
it is my honor to ask my colleague and classmate, Congressman Marc
Veasey from Texas, to be our next presenter.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Beatty for yielding. I
would also like to thank my colleagues Donald Payne and Robin Kelly for
putting together something that we really need to talk about, and I am
glad that the theme here is 50 years from Selma, where we are, where we
are headed, because I think it is important that we have that
discussion.
I oftentimes hear people say in conjunction when you talk about civil
rights, you know, we need to move on, we need to get over it, it was
the past, it happened a long time ago. But we know that we can learn a
lot from the past. We know that we can learn a lot about where we are
going by studying our history.
So I am really glad that during this Black History Month that just
started in February that we are able to reconnect and take the
opportunity to talk more about our community's past and the challenges
that we face, and Selma really provides us with a great vehicle to do
that.
I think about an event that I attended several years ago when I was
in the State legislature, and I was talking to the audience and
mentioning some of the schools in the Fort Worth Independent School
District and around the State of Texas that were segregated. After I
got done talking, I was really dismayed that one of the reporters came
up to me that was younger than me but had graduated from school in Fort
Worth ISD, had graduated 9 years after I did, and she said: I was
raised in Fort Worth, and I graduated from a school in Fort Worth, but
I didn't know that the schools were ever segregated here.
You see how quickly it is that the history can disappear and fade
away if it is not kept alive; and I think that that is one of the
reasons why I am really excited about Selma and the opportunity to talk
about this more, because we really do need to make sure that we keep
our youth reconnected with the past or we know that it will fade away.
Then, also, when you start talking about where we are headed, and it
has been mentioned tonight, I would like to say that we are headed to
someplace more positive, someplace that is for the betterment of all
Americans. But we know that there are many mechanisms out there that
are being designed and implemented by State legislatures all around the
country to impede one's right to vote.
You can look no further than the State that I am very proud of, my
own State of Texas, but we have some serious issues. I mean, when you
look at redistricting in the State of Texas, when you look at the voter
ID laws that were passed in the State of Texas, I mean, right now in
the State of Texas you cannot vote with a State-issued ID, but you can
vote with a concealed handgun license.
It is just rules like that that are being implemented and put in
place that we know are designed to be a barrier to people voting, the
same types of barriers that were put in place, maybe a little bit
differently, maybe with a smile on their face, but we know that the
goal is to do exactly what was done in Selma 50 years ago, and it is to
prevent people from voting.
So, again, I want to thank the Congresswoman from Ohio and I want to
thank my colleagues from Illinois and from New Jersey for putting this
together. We need to talk about history. It is not the past. It really
is still the present, something similar to what Faulkner said.
We need to continue to have these discussions and share these stories
with our young people, but I think more importantly that we need to put
them in the perspective from today because many of these battles we
know that we are still fighting.
So I am glad that I am able to share this with everyone, and I hope
that all Members, regardless of where they are from, regardless of what
their party is, that they can think about what happened 50 years ago
when the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge happened, and this is
something we can all learn from.
I want to thank Mrs. Beatty for allowing me to have a few words.
Mrs. BEATTY. Thank you so much to my colleague.
Mr. Speaker, at this time it gives me great pleasure to ask
Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman--I am very proud to say that she is
a part of this 114th freshman class--to say a few words.
(Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN asked and was given permission to revise and
extend her remarks.)
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from
Ohio for yielding to me. I want to thank both the gentlelady from
Illinois and the gentleman from New Jersey for providing this
opportunity here to speak tonight on something that I think is very
important.
As a member of the CBC, a very proud member, I am here because we
rise to commemorate a slice of American history that speaks to the
spirit that is America. We rise to acknowledge the sacrifice and the
forethought of a generation whose risks were ultimately America's
reward. We rise to recognize the American heroes and sheroes of Selma
on the 50th anniversary of this Bloody Sunday.
From Selma, we learned that sometimes protests and objections that
are deemed un-American today may later be considered the greatest
manifestation of American democracy.
From Selma, we learned that because of a young person's protests
today, he may be called an outside agitator, a troublemaker, or even a
provocateur, but that same young person, because of that same activity,
may later be called courageous, a hero, or even a Congressman.
Yes, from Selma, we learned that ordinary people can do extraordinary
things when they are on the side of righteousness. Selma taught us, as
Dr. King suggested, that it is always the right time to do what is
right.
But at the time of that fight, the likelihood that this generation of
young dreamers would be successful in transforming an entire society
seemed slim. They persevered anyhow. In the
[[Page H694]]
face of seemingly insurmountable odds, these young people fought for
what was right no matter the consequence.
Today we must learn from their example; we must persevere in the
fight for working families, despite those that believe that there
should be no floor for the poor and no ceiling for the rich.
We must protect the precious right to vote for all people. We must
persevere despite the fact that there is little reward for fighting for
people who cannot fight for themselves, and we must fight for what is
right and not what is popular.
We must remember that it is our legacy to fight on the side of
righteousness when we debate giving access to health care, access to
education, access to the right to marry, and access to just plain old
justice. I look forward to this collective will and this collective
commitment of the CBC because I know that we can never forget Selma.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from Ohio.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, in closing remarks, let me thank you for
extending our time tonight. We have heard from voices of legends
tonight. But tonight I would like to end by giving special recognition
to two new voices, two new legends who tonight led us through something
more than a Special Order hour. They led us through a Special Order
hour in history.
To Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey, thank you for picking this
topic and partnering with my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Robin
Kelly.
Mr. Speaker, tonight they are our voices of the future. Tonight they
had the courage to come and manage time on an issue that we think, as
members not only of the Congressional Black Caucus, but of this
Congress, being the conscience of this Congress.
{time} 2045
Hopefully, it will make a difference in this Chamber as we proceed
forward.
Thank you again, Congressman Payne and Congresswoman Kelly. You are
our voices.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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