Congressional Record, Volume 162 Issue 137 (Monday, September 12, 2016)

[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 137 (Monday, September 12, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5318-H5324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.

General Leave

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today
once again to help coanchor, along with my distinguished colleague
Representative Joyce Beatty, this Congressional Black Caucus Special
Order hour where, for the next 60 minutes, we have an opportunity to
speak directly to the American people on issues of great importance to
the Congressional Black Caucus, to the House of Representatives, to the
districts that we represent collectively, as well as to the United
States of America.
It is a very special week for us, and we are going to spend some time
during the next 60 minutes discussing the trajectory of the
Congressional Black Caucus, which has been serving in this body for the
better part of the last 45 years.
The Congressional Black Caucus was formally established on March 30,
1971, by 13 pioneering Members who had a vision of making sure that,
within this great Article I institution, there was a body that could
speak directly to the hopes, the dreams, the needs, and the aspirations
of the African American people and all those underrepresented
communities throughout America. We are going to talk a bit about that
journey, about the accomplishments, and about the challenges that still
remain.
I want to yield now to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice
Johnson), one of the very distinguished members of the Congressional
Black Caucus, who happens to be the ranking member of the Science,
Space, and Technology Committee and has ably represented the 30th
Congressional District in Texas, anchored in Dallas, for almost 25
years. It has been an honor and a privilege for me and for others to
work with her, to learn from her, and to be mentored by her.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker,
I would like to congratulate the leaders of the Special Order tonight,
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.
Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I
am proud to recognize the contributions of the CBC and its members
after 45 years of service to the United States Congress and our Nation
and, really, the world.
The CBC was founded March 30, 1971, with the chief objective of
bringing awareness to the issues facing Black America and addressing
the concerns of longstanding inequality in opportunity for African
Americans.
We have an original member who is retiring this year, the Honorable
Charles B. Rangel. The most senior Member in this House is one of the
original members, the Honorable John Conyers.
Today, the Congressional Black Caucus has grown to become a
fundamental institution within Congress. From voting rights and gun
violence to poverty in America and justice reform, the CBC engages on
multiple fronts to address the plethora of issues facing our Nation and
the world.
To date, we have had a string of able leaders chair the CBC, and I am
proud to have been one of them from 2001 to 2003. Currently, as co-
chair of the CBC Technology and Infrastructure Investment Task Force
and a member of numerous other CBC task forces, I am

[[Page H5319]]

proud of the progress that we have been able to achieve through our
coordination and cooperation with the Members of the Congress,
stakeholders, and the community. History has proven that the importance
of the CBC endures even today as we face new challenges to voting
rights and experience new strife within our communities.
Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus serves as a key voice in
Congress for people of color and vulnerable communities. Together, the
CBC and its allies have paved the way for new progress as we face the
challenges of the 21st century. Our promise that was first made in 1971
to give the voiceless a voice is continually fulfilled through the
CBC's work, and I look forward to keeping up with our fight to preserve
liberty and equal justice for all. We have come from promise to
progress.
Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from the great
Lone Star State for her eloquent words and observations and, of course,
for her leadership not just in the Congress, but for her past
leadership as a distinguished former chair of the Congressional Black
Caucus.
It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to the distinguished
gentlewoman from the great State of Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), my classmate,
who is one of the most distinguished Members of the House of
Representatives. She had an incredible career before she arrived here
in the Congress as a leader in the Ohio Legislature, as a successful
small-business woman, as a university administrator at The Ohio State
University, and in so many other ways, and then, of course, has taken
the House of Representatives by storm since her arrival as part of the
class of 2012.
Mrs. BEATTY. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, to my colleague, I
am so honored to be here tonight speaking in this Chamber and to the
American people about the Congressional Black Caucus: 45 years of
leadership, from promise to progress.
You have heard my distinguished colleague and coanchor of our Special
Order hour, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, tell and share with us the
history of our beginning of the Congressional Black Caucus back on
March 30, 1971. We have heard the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas
share with us about our members who had the foresight and the vision.
What she didn't tell you was that she was the first African American
nurse to be elected and to serve in this Congress.

Somewhere along the line, Mr. Speaker, I am sure in our rich history
someone made the promise that, in the future, we would have a Shirley
Chisholm, the promise that some little girl would be able to come to
this Congress and serve, and that became a reality with Shirley
Chisholm. I am sure some mother said the promise should be that a woman
should lead us as a nurse, and then came Congresswoman Eddie Bernice
Johnson.
You see, Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus has been
committed to advancing equity and access and equal protection under the
law for Black Americans. And while we were established March 30, 1971,
it was on that day that a Congressman by the name of Charles C. Diggs,
Jr., a Democrat from the great State of Michigan, presented the
statement to the President of the United States, which included more
than 60 recommendations for executive action on issues for Black
America and set the foundation for the promise and the progress of
African Americans.
We heard my distinguished colleague talk about the hopes and the
needs and the dreams. Those were the promises. And that is why it is so
important for us to come today and talk about the progress that we have
made.
Even though you will hear us say 1971, when the Congressional Black
Caucus was established, we can trace our legislative history back
further through the civil rights efforts of the 1960s, which included
such landmark victories as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, which we still champion today. Those legislative
policy victories of the past demonstrate that when people speak with a
singular, powerful voice, Mr. Speaker, we can have a government that
works for us; we can fulfill our country's pledge and promise of
liberty and justice for all.
It was through that statement that the Congressional Black Caucus
began its history of advocacy on behalf of the African American
community. Since then, for the last 45 years, the Congressional Black
Caucus has been the voice for people of color and at-risk communities
in our different districts. We have been and remain committed to
utilizing the full constitutional power, statutory authority, and
financial resources of the government to ensure that everyone has the
opportunity to achieve the promise of the American Dream, Mr. Speaker.
From promise to progress gave us the first African American to hold
the distinction of dean of this House, the most senior Member of
Congress; and the first African American to swear in the Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives was Congressional Black Caucus
member Congressman John Conyers.
From promise to progress has given us a motivating book, ``Blessed
Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black,'' a story of
inspirational words on how an African American boy from the Jim Crow-
era South was able to beat the odds, Mr. Speaker, to achieve great
success and become, as President Barack Obama describes him, ``One of a
handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens,''
assistant Democratic leader and the third highest ranking Democrat in
the House of Representatives, Congressman James E. Clyburn.
The 21st president, national president of the largest African
American female sorority serves here with us, Congresswoman Marcia
Fudge from the 11th Congressional District of my State.

{time} 2030

From promise to progress, Mr. Speaker, has given us the first Black
woman elected to Congress from Alabama and the only Democrat in
Alabama's seven-member congressional delegation. That is Congresswoman
Terri Sewell. Her first piece of successful legislation recognized the
four little girls who tragically lost their lives during the bombing of
the 16th Street Baptist Church.
Mr. Speaker, I hope you can see why it is important for us to be here
and to talk about the many promises and, more significantly and of
greater importance, the progress that we have made. We are one of the
largest Member organizations in the United States House of
Representatives, making up 23 percent of the House Democratic Caucus
and 10 percent of the entire United States House of Representatives.
Mr. Speaker, when I think of where the Congressional Black Caucus is
today, I think of the shoulders that we stand on. Fifty-one years
later, I think of Bloody Sunday where on March 7, 1965, some 600
peaceful participants in a voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to
the State capital in Montgomery were violently attacked by Alabama
State Troopers with nightsticks, tear gas, whips, and dogs, as they
attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. These brave men and women,
Mr. Speaker, were led by civil rights champion, Congressman John Lewis
from the Fifth District of Georgia. What a great example of promise to
progress.
Last year, I had the distinct honor of joining nearly 300,000 others,
including 90 bipartisan lawmakers, distinguished guests, civil rights
activists, and former Presidents of these United States as we marched,
commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday over that Edmund
Pettus Bridge, marching ourselves from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,
from promises to progress.
Let me say or remind you again--and I want America to know--there
were 90 bipartisan Members. That means Democrats and Republicans. I
could say bicameral--Democrat and Republican Senators and Members of
this great body that we serve in. Certainly, as we marched and they
joined us, they were making a commitment to the progress from those
promises that were made 50-some years ago.
We come here tonight, my colleague and I, representing the
Congressional Black Caucus because we want you, Mr. Speaker, and
America to know that when we reflect on our history, it is our culture,
it is our passion, and it is our reason and resolve for standing here
and standing up for the issues and the legislation that we believe in,
that we write and we support. We think it is

[[Page H5320]]

important for you to have a better understanding why so often we come
here and ask that we join together.
Mr. Speaker, when I think of our history, I reflect on names like
Frederick Douglass, a historic social reformer and statesman; Shirley
Chisholm, as I mentioned earlier, the first African American woman
elected to the United States Congress; and, yes, Rosa Parks, the mother
of the modern civil rights movement.
You see, Rosa Parks embodied courage, and she inspired me as a mentor
when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a
White passenger on December 1, 1955. Some would say she was tired, but
I say to you that she was tired not from her day's work as a
seamstress, but she was tired from the injustices. I have followed her
whole career and was so inspired by her that I wrote the first
legislation when I served in the Ohio House of Representatives in this
country to honor her on that December 1. Every day since then, I go
back to the district and we honor her. You see, she sat down against
the odds for something she believed in. I have carried that with me
over the years, realizing that there could be a day, but never dreaming
that it would be here in this Congress that I, too, would be willing to
sit down for something that I believed in.
Mr. Speaker, there have been so many issues that I have done that
because I want us to have the progress from the promises that I make to
my district. The progress, whether it is gun safety, whether it is the
progress of making sure that every child has enough food when they go
to bed, whether it is making sure that there is an affordable college
education for every child that is able to go, whether it is making sure
that there is equal pay for equal work, those are just a few of the
things that I wanted to make sure that we talked about.
Mr. Speaker, it is so important for us to tell our story, our
history, and our culture. Hopefully, tonight is more than us just
talking. Hopefully, tonight will help Members and the public understand
our history and our passion.
This week, lastly, let me say how honored I am to be in Washington,
D.C., when more than 10,000 people will come to our Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference where we will talk
about the issues and we will educate emerging leaders and civil rights
leaders, not just all individuals of color. There will be individuals
of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities that will join us in our
commitment to fulfill those promises on the progress that we would like
to have.
We will open the National African American Museum. What an honor it
will be to see the great achievements and contributions for those who
have so courageously pushed the boundaries and moved our country
forward in the name of justice and equality.
When I think about moving forward, I cannot help but reflect on the
44th President of these United States. Like many of us--and, Mr.
Speaker, maybe even like you--he worked his way through school with the
help of scholarship money and a student loan. Yet, maybe it was the
progress and the promise of progress that a Martin Luther King, Jr.,
wanted when he said that he hoped his four children would not be judged
by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Maybe
that is why a young Barack Obama pushed forward, went back to his
community, and worked and gave service, which is the word that he likes
to use so much. It was the service back to the movement and to his
community in Chicago; that gave us the progress of having our first
African American President, a scholar, someone who has had many firsts.

So I say to you that it is indeed my honor that I can stand here on
this floor with my colleague as we move forward, the progress as we
move forward on the promises of our colleagues.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
Ohio for laying out both the history of the Congressional Black Caucus
as well as documenting what current membership continues to do and
breaks new ground here in the House of Representatives on behalf of the
people that they are charged to represent in this august body, as well
as on behalf of the great Nation that we are all privileged to serve.
As Representative Beatty mentioned, there were 13 individuals who had
the vision and the foresight to found the Congressional Black Caucus
back in March of 1971. The actual founding took place at a meeting
between those 13 Members and President Richard Nixon, where the
President was presented, by the newly formed Congressional Black
Caucus, a statement of requests, goals, objectives, and demands related
to the plight of African Americans here in these United States of
America. The Congressional Black Caucus was founded on the premise that
it was necessary to speak truth to power, given the unique plight of
African Americans in this country.
As was mentioned by Representative Beatty, there are two founding
members who still serve in the House of Representatives; Representative
John Conyers from Detroit, Michigan, and, of course, Charlie Rangel,
the Lion of Lenox Avenue, the first African American ever to chair the
Ways and Means Committee in this institution, a prolific legislator
here in the House who has announced earlier this year his intention to
retire.
I am proud to serve a district that was once represented in part by
the Honorable Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman ever
elected to the House of Representatives in a district in Brooklyn in
1968. She came here indicating that she was unbought and unbossed, and
that tradition has been continued by people like Maxine Waters, Marcia
Fudge, Joyce Beatty, and so many others who represent their district
with passion and with integrity.
The question has been asked: Why is there a need for a Congressional
Black Caucus? We have come a long way in America. We have made a lot of
progress. The 44th President of the United States of America happens to
be African American. Why is there a need for a Congressional Black
Caucus?
That question was asked in 1971, of course. I think it takes an
understanding of the unique journey of African Americans in this
country to understand why the Congressional Black Caucus was first
founded in 1971 and why it still remains relevant today.
This country was founded, of course, on high-minded principles of
liberty and justice for all and the notion that all men are created
equally and were endowed with certain inalienable rights by the great
democratic republic that was birthed by the Founding Fathers of this
Nation.
As many have observed, notwithstanding the tremendous nature of the
principles embedded in the birth of this country, there was also a
genetic defect on the question of race. That genetic defect first took
the form, of course, of chattel slavery, which was one of the worst
crimes ever perpetrated against humanity, resulting in the loss of tens
of millions of individuals killed during the middle passage and the
systemic oppression of African Americans, the kidnap, the rape, the
enslavement here in the United States of America. This happened at the
same time when the country was founded on these great, high-minded
principles.
Of course, the question of slavery was finally resolved with the
victory of the North in 1865. The North, of course, was fighting the
South in the Confederacy. The Confederacy has been put to rest,
although some people still want to uplift the Confederate battle flag.
That is an issue for another day.
Slavery was put to rest. Then in an effort to correct the defect in
our democracy, the 13th Amendment ending and outlawing chattel slavery
was passed and added to the Constitution; the 14th Amendment, equal
protection under the law; and the 15th Amendment related to the right
to vote for African Americans. The so-called reconstruction amendments
took place.

{time} 2045

But then, thereafter, something interesting happened. We were on the
pathway to fulfilling the great promise of a colorblind society in
America, but then the North pulled out of the South, the Reconstruction
era ended, and it was replaced systematically with a system of Jim
Crow, enforced segregation of the races, and the suppression of African
Americans largely in the Deep South, notwithstanding the high-minded
principles that were just embedded

[[Page H5321]]

in the United States Constitution related to the 14th Amendment and the
Equal Protection Clause and the 15th Amendment and the right to vote.
Those were just words on a piece of paper, as far as many people were
concerned in the Deep South who were perpetuating Jim Crow segregation.
That Jim Crow segregation, of course, was accompanied by a lynching
epidemic that claimed the lives of thousands of individuals, race riots
directed at successful African Americans and African American
communities, and so many other things that were documented in this
country.
Why is there a need for a Congressional Black Caucus? The country was
founded under these great high-minded principles, but, at the same time
on this journey, we have gone from slavery, a brief period of
Reconstruction, into the Jim Crow era.
As Representative Joyce Beatty so eloquently documented, in terms of
the legislative efforts of African American Members who were here in
partnership with people of goodwill of all races, Democrats and
Republicans, we passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act here in this Congress
endeavoring to end Jim Crow segregation, passed the 1965 Voting Rights
Act here in this Congress to try to bring to life the 15th Amendment,
largely ignored in many parts of this country, and then of course in
1968 passed the Fair Housing Act.
Then an interesting thing happened. You have a President who is
elected in the aftermath of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy,
Jr., the Senator from New York, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the
great civil rights leader on what he terms a Southern strategy of
trying to capitalize on White backlash against the progress that has
been made by African Americans.
I am trying to figure out what was the nature of the backlash? The
progress that was made was a Civil Rights Act to try to deal with the
Jim Crow segregation that some people put into place in the aftermath
of the end of slavery, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act that was put into
place in order to try to bring to life the fact that there were people
intentionally ignoring the 15th Amendment to the United States
Constitution. Why is there a need for a Congressional Black Caucus?
So we moved from slavery into Jim Crow, and that is all dealt with
for a brief period in the 1960s in terms of the Civil Rights Act and
the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, but then we enter into
this interesting period where Richard Nixon is elected on a strategy
that played to the racial fears and anxieties of some in America. I
don't want to get in trouble by putting a percentage onto it, but
played into the anxieties and fears of some in America. History often
repeats itself.
And so the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 made the decision that
they were going to place a list of demands on the table for Richard
Nixon to deal with, given this history. Little did they know--or
perhaps they suspected--that in that same year what I would call the
third defect that America has had to grapple with in terms of the
African American community as compared to its high-minded aspirations
was about to be visited on communities of color, and that was mass
incarceration.
It was in that year in 1971 where Richard Nixon declared a war on
drugs by stating that drug abuse was public enemy number one. At the
time in America, there were less than 350,000 people incarcerated in
this country. Today, there are more than 2.1 million, the overwhelming
majority of whom are Black and Latino. We know that African Americans
are consistently incarcerated at levels much higher than others in the
United States, notwithstanding a similar level of criminality as it
relates to the crime that was committed, the activity that was engaged
in, and the conduct that was prosecuted. The disparities are
objectively clear.
Mass incarceration has been devastating for African American
communities all across this country, and it is shameful that America
incarcerates more people here in the United States than any other
country in the world. We incarcerate more people than Russia and China
combined. This overcriminalization is something that I am hopeful we
can deal with in this Congress before this President leaves and then
continue to work with the next President of the United States of
America.
So people ask the question: Why do we need a Congressional Black
Caucus? We have gone from slavery, a brief interruption with the
Reconstruction Amendments into Jim Crow for another 100 years, 14th
Amendment and 15th Amendment are ignored in large parts of the country,
and then we get an interruption. Some progress was made with the 1964
Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing
Act. Then we get Richard Nixon. And the Congressional Black Caucus is
founded at the same time.
For the last 45 years, we have been dealing with mass incarceration.
But notwithstanding the intensity of the systematic issues put upon the
African American community, we have seen tremendous progress during
that same period of time because of Members like William Clay, Sr., a
founder from St. Louis, or Louis Stokes from Cleveland, Ohio, and
Augustus Hawkins from Los Angeles, people who understood that when
Abraham Lincoln asked the question, how do we create a more perfect
Union, and he asked that question in the context of the Civil War that
was raging at the time, that America is a constant work in progress.
And year after year, decade after decade, century after century, we can
improve upon who we are, but there is still a lot more that needs to be
done.
Thankfully, we have seen increases in educational attainment,
increases in employment over the last 8 years in the African American
community since the height of the Great Recession, and we have seen a
return of some of the homeownership that was lost during the recession,
but there are still a lot of things that need to be done. And so a
Congressional Black Caucus which has grown from the 13 original
founding members to 46 members today, 45 in the House of
Representatives, 1 of whom is a Republican, and a 46th member who
serves in the United States Senate.

We stand on the shoulders of these founding members, proud of what
has been accomplished like the effort led by Ron Dellums which resulted
in legislation to push back against the racist apartheid regime in
1986, a bill that was vetoed by Ronald Reagan, and then overridden by
Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate, the first
foreign policy bill overridden in the Congress passed by Ron Dellums
that led the effort related to South African apartheid.
So many issues have been championed by the founding members. John
Conyers held a series of hearings on the issue of police brutality. It
is ironic that right now, along with Chairman Bob Goodlatte, they are
leading a bipartisan task force on police community relations to deal
with what I view, at least, as an epidemic of police violence directed
at unarmed African American men across this country, but John Conyers
was involved in that effort in the early 1970s.
And so there is a lot of things that we have been able to work on
during this 45-year journey. Tremendous progress has been made, despite
the efforts to paint the community as overrun by some out there in this
country as a thriving Black middle class. A successful group of
entrepreneurs, professionals, lawyers, doctors, engineers, scientists,
and so many others have shown what can be done based on their promise
and their potential despite the obstacles that exist as we move toward
a more colorblind society. But we, of course, are not there yet.
That is why we are of the view that, despite the fact that we have
made tremendous progress in America, we still have a way to go. There
is still a need, an urgent need for a Congressional Black Caucus, which
has often stood up not just on behalf of African Americans but has
stood up on behalf of those who are the least, the lost, and the left-
behind in the United States of America, regardless of color.
That is why the Congressional Black Caucus has been known over these
four decades as the conscience of the Congress, and it has been an
honor and a privilege for me, during my two terms, to serve in this
august body.
I want to yield for a moment to my colleague, Representative Joyce
Beatty, and perhaps ask the question: What are some of the issues that
you think are pressing as it relates to the Congressional Black Caucus
moving

[[Page H5322]]

forward, and what do you say to critics who make the argument, why is
there a need for African Americans in the Congress to get together at
this point on behalf of the communities we were elected to represent?
Is there still a need for a Congressional Black Caucus in 2016?
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, let me just say thank you to Congressman
Jeffries for that question. If I think of one of my favorite quotes by
Shirley Chisholm, Mr. Speaker, she said: ``You don't make progress by
standing on the sidelines . . . you make progress by implementing
ideas.''
That is what the Congressional Black Caucus does. We don't just come
here on the floor and talk about our rich history. We meet, and we
strategize, and we go back home to our districts, and we come back, and
we write legislation, so there is definitely a need. And I think it
will be witnessed all across this country this week when the thousands
of thousands of individuals come here because they will have an
opportunity to see Congressman Charlie Rangel or Congresswoman Maxine
Waters or Congresswoman Robin Kelly because of the issues and what they
stand for, and that is why there is a need.
When I think of our commitment and conviction, Mr. Speaker, I
remember when Congresswoman Robin Kelly said: I won't stand up for
moments of silence again until we do something about the shootings and
the deaths. She had the courage to walk up to the well and say: I am
not being disrespectful, but I want us to really stand for something.
So, yes, I want us to have gun safety. I want us to have legislation
because we have bipartisan legislation. I want us to bring that to the
floor, so I can say in my district, I am standing up for families, I am
standing up for safety.

{time} 2100

You mentioned prison reform. I want us to look at how we can come
together as Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Speaker, and pass some
bipartisan legislation.
When I think of the Congressional Black Caucus and what we represent,
when you add it all up together, we cover some 21 States, the District
of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, and we represent some 31 million
people. Over half of our Congressional Black Caucus membership are
lawyers, people who have studied the laws and understand the procedures
and the rules and the regulations.
So, yes, there is a need for us to continue the journey. There is a
need for us to listen to one another. You see, Mr. Speaker, we don't
come here tonight to just talk about us as 46 members of the
Congressional Black Caucus. We come here to leave you with a message
and to speak to America to say: Just think of what we could do if we
worked together. Just think about when you go back home to your
district and you say you want us to be safe and you want us to have
equal and fair rights; you talk about wanting your children and
families to be healthy and educated.
So, you see, we have the same message, it seems, until we come to the
floor. That is why we come here tonight with strong messages--because
we want to make sure that you understand that we believe that we could
work together.
This week--again, I will say it repeatedly, because it is so
important to us--we will have brain trust sessions, Mr. Jeffries, that
will talk about how long we have been in this fight for progress for
health care, how long we have been in this fight for criminal justice.
We will also have workshops like financial literacy and financial
services. If we don't come together to educate our communities and our
people, if we don't come together to share with you, I believe that we
won't be able to understand one another.
So the answer is yes and yes: yes, there is a lot of work to continue
to be done; and yes, we need to continue to have a Congressional Black
Caucus.
Mr. JEFFRIES. I mentioned during my remarks that we have been on this
journey of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution to try
to guarantee the right to vote, regardless of race, coming out of the
oppression of chattel slavery. And then we moved, Representative
Beatty, from the 15th Amendment to this Jim Crow period and the 1965
Voting Rights Act to try to bring to life what is a fundamental tenet
of American democracy, which is the ability of the people to represent
those who will represent them in government--government of the people,
by the people, and for the people.
But yet, as a result of a recent Supreme Court decision, Shelby
County v. Holder, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, section 4 and section 5,
the preclearance provisions, have been eviscerated because of, in my
view, an inappropriate reading of that statute relative to the United
States Constitution.
So the Congressional Black Caucus continues to fight to uplift for
all Americans the ability to participate in our democracy. The shame is
that voting in this country seems to have become a partisan issue,
notwithstanding the fact that the Voting Rights Act has a great
bipartisan tradition. It was passed with the support of Democrats and
Republicans because, of course, we know at the time there were
Dixiecrats in this Congress--Democrats, by registration, in the Deep
South who fought hard against voting rights. So it took Republicans on
the other side of the aisle in both the House and the Senate in order
to get the legislation passed.
It is interesting to me that, every year, the Voting Rights Act was
reauthorized. Four times it was signed back into law by a Republican
President: in 1970, Richard Nixon; 1975, Gerald Ford; 1982, Ronald
Reagan; 2006, George W. Bush.
So when we come to the floor of the House of Representatives or when
I sit on the Judiciary Committee or we work with John Lewis and John
Conyers and Terri Sewell and Jim Clyburn and others to try to move
voting rights legislation forward, we are just saying: return to the
great bipartisan tradition of making sure that every single American in
this country has an opportunity to participate in the right to vote.
Until that happens, the Congressional Black Caucus has an urgent
issue that we need to deal with for the communities that we represent
in African American or Latino neighborhoods and for all Americans.
The other thing I will point out and ask my colleague to perhaps
react to is that what I found fascinating here in terms of common
ground, the opportunity to uplift everyone through the mission and the
work of the Congressional Black Caucus, is the fact that when you look
at persistently poor counties in America, counties that will be defined
as 20 percent or more of the population living below the poverty line
for 30 or more years, persistently poor counties, a majority of those
counties are represented by Republicans in the House of Representatives
and not by Democrats.
So when Jim Clyburn, for instance, presents things like 10-20-30, a
funding formula where 10 percent of any funding allocation will be
given to communities where 20 percent or more of that county has been
living below the poverty line for 30 or more years, it would actually
benefit Republican-represented counties more than it would Democrat-
represented counties. This is because the Congressional Black Caucus
really is interested in uplifting the plight of all Americans who have
been left behind. We are hoping that we can find some bipartisan
cooperation in that area as well.
I yield to Representative Joyce Beatty.
Mrs. BEATTY. Thank you, Congressman Jeffries, for mentioning 10-20-
30. You are absolutely right that it would benefit Republican districts
and their constituents more than many of our constituents. But I think
that is because, when we think of poverty, we think of children and
families living in poverty, not Democrats, not Republicans. Our mission
here, Mr. Speaker, is to make this place a better place through our
legislation for everyone. So I think that is just one example.
You mentioned a lot about our history and how far we have come and
the roles of other Presidents. I think it is important, Mr. Speaker,
for us to also share that we come here tonight almost with a
proposition to say to you: We want to work with you on those issues
that we have highlighted.

So often when we come here, we will hear colleagues say ``We can't
work together,'' ``We don't work together,'' or, ``Why don't you just
come and work with us?'' I don't want us to leave tonight without
leaving the message that

[[Page H5323]]

we have a lot of work that still needs to be done.
I can remember reading back in 1971, Congressman Jeffries, when
Richard Nixon was giving his first inaugural address, he refused to
meet with the members of the Congressional Black Caucus. They stood up
for something. They left the floor and did not stay for his address to
the Nation. I say that with mixed feelings, but I say that to make the
point of how strongly we believe in what we do.
You mentioned the 10-20-30 plan. We had Speaker Ryan come to the
Congressional Black Caucus and hear the plan, to get a commitment from
him. He represents all of us; and he gave us the nod, as you will
remember, on that plan.
So I say tonight, let us reflect on all the things that my colleague
and the coanchor of this Special Order hour said, because that is what
it is. It is our hour to address you, Mr. Speaker, and the Nation about
so many of the issues that we want to make sure that, when we leave
here, we are not leaving with just promises, but we are leaving with
progress.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Thank you for those very thoughtful observations.
Perhaps I will end by talking for a moment or so about the progress
that we have made under a former member of the Congressional Black
Caucus who was a Senator from Illinois and here in the Capitol for a
few years before he was elected to be the 44th President of the United
States of America. We are proud that he came through the CBC on his way
to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Upon his election, there was the view that perhaps we were entering
into a phase of a post-racial society. I think we understand that that
was probably irrationally optimistic of those who made that observation
because of the long history that we detailed here of what the African
American journey has been in America.
But I find it interesting that so many people, to this day, refuse to
give this President credit for the progress that has been made under
his watch over the last 8 years. There have been more than 75 or so
consecutive months of private sector job creation under this President.
More than 14 million private sector jobs have been created under this
President.
Parenthetically, I make the observation that, under the 8 years of
George Bush, the country lost 650,000 jobs. But we are going to talk
about a sluggish recovery. We lost 650,000 jobs under supply-side
economic policies of George W. Bush. We have gained more than 14
million jobs under progressive policies of Barack Obama.
The deficit has been reduced by over $500 million. When the President
came in, the stock market was at 6,000; now it is over 18,000. Of
course, more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have
health coverage under the Presidency of Barack Obama.
So he came in with a lot of promises, and I am proud that there has
been tremendous progress that has been made for the United States of
America as a whole, and certainly for African American communities.
As the President himself observed, the problems that we have to
confront in America won't be resolved by one President during one term
or even during an entire tenure, because we are on this long,
necessary, and majestic march toward a more perfect Union. The hope is
that, each time a President steps up and Congress is there to represent
the will of the people, working on behalf of our constituents, we can
make meaningful progress on dealing with the economic and social
justice issues of the day.
Fundamentally, that is what the Congressional Black Caucus is all
about. That was the vision that was put forth by those 13 Founders:
speaking truth to power, representing the interests of the African
American communities they were elected to serve--and everyone else--
regardless of race, who is entitled to the fiercest possible
representation in this democracy.

{time} 2115

So it is with great pride that Representative Beatty and I stand here
today, as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, standing on the
shoulders of those 13 founding members, under the current leadership of
Representative G.K. Butterfield from North Carolina, representing this
continuum of the African American journey, both here in Congress and in
this great country; confident that, despite the obstacles that will
consistently be erected that, as we have demonstrated over time during
45 years, we will make progress, we will translate promise into action,
and we will continue the journey of perfecting a more perfect union in
the United States of America.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, as a founding member of the Congressional
Black Caucus, I believe that the week of our Annual Legislative
Conference is an appropriate time to reflect on the progress we have
made as a group and the challenges we face in articulating a vision for
a more free and fair America.
When 13 of us first gathered in 1969 as a ``Democratic Select
Committee,'' we had ambitions of using our collective voices to advance
a political agenda for black America in response to expected
retrenchment from the incoming Nixon administration. Two years later,
on the motion of Rep. Charlie Rangel, we became the Congressional Black
Caucus.
In that time, the Caucus has gone from being on Nixon's ``original
enemies list'' to the conscience of the Congress. Our membership has
grown from 13 to 46 and our alumnae include numerous cabinet members
and a President of the United States.
In looking back 45 years, the Caucus can point to many victories in
the areas of voting rights, economic empowerment, education and
healthcare. These victories were not just for black Americans, but all
Americans in search of justice and equality before the law.
However, in reflecting on the history of the Caucus, we must be
honest about the uneven nature of politics. Many of the challenges we
faced in 1971 still burden the African-American community today. Black
Americans are still disproportionately poor, under-educated, unemployed
and incarcerated. Daily we confront the political challenges of how to
ensure that the rising economic tide lifts the boats in our
communities.
The more surprising challenge faced by the Caucus is mounted by those
who would turn back the clock on some of our hardest won victories:
namely those who would suppress our voting rights as a means of
defeating a progressive agenda for equality. We beware of those who
want to make ``America great again,'' harkening back to a past where
Jim Crow and discrimination ruled the day.
This politics of division is one of our main challenges as a Caucus.
Our nation once again finds itself at odds over the issue of race
relations, most clearly illustrated by the issue of police
accountability. A recent ABC poll found that a majority of Americans
surveyed believed that race relations are bad and getting worse. With
the election of the first African-American President, this is clearly
not what we hoped for in this new millennium.
As the former Chairman and now Ranking Member of the House Judiciary
Committee, I have dedicated my career to 3 goals to jobs, justice and
peace. After decades of community complaints about police brutality, I
chaired hearings in Los Angeles, New York City, and even Dallas which
built the record for passage of marquee legislation like the 1994
``Pattern and Practice'' statute, which gives the Department of Justice
the authority to investigate law enforcement discrimination and abuse
in cities like Ferguson and Baltimore.
The loss of lives in Baton Rouge, suburban St. Paul and Dallas, has
left the nation in shock, as seemingly every day the media brings us
news of violence borne of hate and intolerance. Modern technology and
the advent of social media have made us all witnesses, just like the
marches in Selma and Birmingham, making it impossible to dismiss them
as fiction or some else's problem. We live these injustices first hand.
Vivid images of police abuse galvanized our national resolve to pass
civil rights legislation, like the Voting Rights Act, and is putting
all politicians on notice that simmering community unrest with the
police has reached a turning point. Today, we represent communities
that are increasingly unified, unafraid, and unwilling to wait. We have
a growing coalition of allies. Some white, some Hispanic, some Asian,
and some who serve as police and who want their badges to mean
something more. The daily reminders of injustice have forced us to
measure the distance between Dr. Kings' Dream and our own reality--but
they also give us the resolve to close it for good.
Last year, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on 21st Century
Policing Strategies to begin addressing these issues at the Federal
level. I also re-introduced both the End Racial Profiling Act and the
Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act around the same time. The
Republican Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and I are currently
negotiating a version of the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act
and during the August recess, we joined together to form a bipartisan
Congressional

[[Page H5324]]

working group--including three Caucus members--with a focus on finding
common ground between police and the communities they are sworn to
protect and serve.
The profound support for criminal justice reform I have seen from
Members of the CBC and all sides of the political spectrum from across
our country is something we need to build upon. It's not the only
solution, but one of them.
As a Caucus, our work is far from done. We can't bring back Alton
Sterling, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, or the hundreds of
black men and women who've lost their lives to excessive force. And we
can't bring back the officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge or others
who've been killed while protecting their communities. But at a time
when we face so much that challenges our faith and tries to break our
spirit, we must dedicate ourselves in our 45th year to engaging the
difficult issues to make lasting change in our communities.
History shows that Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have
overcome great challenges. Now we have within us and beside us, an
intentionally peaceful and unified community that is now better able to
confront today's challenges than ever before.

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