[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 193 (Tuesday, November 28, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9448-H9449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
21ST CENTURY RESPECT ACT
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 995) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior to amend regulations for racial
appropriateness, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 995
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``21st Century Respect Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS REQUIRED.
(a) Secretary of Agriculture.--The Secretary of Agriculture
shall amend section 1901.202 of title 7, Code of Federal
Regulations, for purposes of--
(1) replacing the reference to the term ``Negro or Black''
with ``Black or African American'';
(2) replacing the reference to the term ``Spanish Surname''
with ``Hispanic''; and
(3) replacing the reference to the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American or Pacific Islander''.
(b) Secretary of the Interior.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall amend section 906.2 of title 36, Code of
Federal Regulations, for purposes of--
(1) replacing the references to the term ``Negro'' with
``Black or African American'';
(2) replacing the definition of ``Negro'' with the
definition of ``Black or African American'' as ``a person
having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa'';
(3) replacing the references to the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American or Pacific Islander''; and
(4) replacing the references to the terms ``Eskimo'' and
``Aleut'' with ``Alaska Native''.
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments required by this
Act, shall be construed to affect Federal law, except with
respect to the use of terms by the Secretary of Agriculture
and the Secretary of the Interior, respectively, to the
regulations affected by this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Tipton) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.
General Leave
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the United States is 241 years old. In that time, the
country has seen an immense amount of change and growth. Over the
course of history, laws and policies have been updated to be able to
reflect this growth. However, some decades-old statutes and regulations
still contain antiquated terms.
Enacted in 2016, Public Law 114-157 modernized antiquated ethnic
terms related to minorities found in the Office of Minority Economic
Impact of the Department of Energy and section 106 of the Local Public
Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 for racial
appropriateness.
H.R. 995 would make similar changes to terms found in certain
regulations of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the
Interior.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor of this bill, Mr. Jeffries, and I
urge adoption of the measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on Natural Resources,
Washington, DC, November 20, 2017.
Hon. K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: We thank you for agreeing to discharge
the Committee on Agriculture from further consideration of
H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act, that the Committee on
Natural Resources ordered favorably reported, as amended, on
November 8, 2017.
This concession in no way affects your jurisdiction over
the subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as
precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a
conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your
request to have the Committee on Agriculture represented on
the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to
include this letter and your response in the bill report and
in the Congressional Record.
Thank you for your consideration of my request and for the
extraordinary cooperation shown by you and your staff over
matters of shared jurisdiction. I look forward to further
opportunities to work with you this Congress.
Sincerely,
Rob Bishop,
Chairman,
Committee on Natural Resources.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, DC, November 20, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chariman, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for the opportunity to review
H.R. 995, 21st Century Respect Act. As you are aware, the
bill was primarily referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources, while the Agriculture Committee received an
additional referral.
I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this
legislation before the House in an expeditious manner and,
accordingly, I agree to discharge H.R. 995 from further
consideration by the Committee on Agriculture. I do so with
the understanding that by discharging the bill, the Committee
on Agriculture does not waive any future jurisdictional claim
on this or similar matters. Further, the Committee on
Agriculture reserves the right to seek the appointment of
conferees, if it should become necessary.
I ask that you insert a copy of our exchange of letters
into the Congressional Record during consideration of this
measure on the House floor.
Thank you for your courtesy in this matter and I look
forward to continued cooperation between our respective
committees.
Sincerely,
K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill could not be more straightforward. H.R. 995
would require the USDA and the Department of the Interior to change the
terminology used to describe the racial background or place of origin
of people.
These very outdated and offensive racial terms have no place in our
Federal regulations. Modernizing these terms should be a continuous
effort across all agencies. I want to thank the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Jeffries) for his leadership on this issue by pushing this
legislation forward.
Mr. Speaker, I want to include in the Record the phrases that this
bill would change: replacing the references to the term ``Negro'' with
``Black or African American;'' replacing the definition of ``Negro''
with the definition of ``African American'' as ``a person having
origins;'' replacing the references of the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American;'' and replacing the references to the terms
``Eskimo'' and ``Aleut'' with ``Alaska Native.''
I think it is only fair that we move to pass this bill and finally
address people as we should. I also want to bring attention to the
title of the bill, which is the 21st Century Respect Act.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to add that the bill was reported out of
committee by unanimous vote.
I want to read into the Record Representative Jeffries' remarks on
H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act, a bipartisan bill that will
remove outdated and offensive racial labels from the Code of Federal
Regulations:
I thank Ranking Member Grijalva and Mrs. Torres and
Chairman Bishop and Mr. LaMalfa for working with me to move
this important bill expeditiously through committee. I also
want to thank Congressman Chabot for his support and
partnership.
Words matter. They can cause great harm by making people
feel lesser or other, and when words are rooted in bigotry in
our Nation's laws, it signals that we, as a country, are
legitimizing and normalizing bigotry.
Unfortunately, there are still laws on the books that use
old offensive racial terms to refer to our fellow Americans.
These terms come from areas where intolerance was acceptable,
and they have no place in modern society.
For example, title 36 of this CFR still uses the term
``Eskimo'' to refer to certain indigenous Americans from
Alaska. People in many parts of the arctic consider
``Eskimo'' a derogatory term because it was widely used to
connote barbarism and violence. The 21st Century Respect Act
replaces ``Eskimo'' with ``Alaska Native,'' a modern term
embraced by the people that it describes.
Title 7 also includes the terms ``Oriental'' and ``Negro,''
which are terms that are disparaging today. H.R. 995 replaces
those old labels with ``Asian American'' or ``Pacific
Islander'' and ``Black'' or ``African American,''
respectively. These new terms reflect America's growth and
progress.
Now, more than ever, we need to be conscious of the signals
and messages that our
[[Page H9449]]
words and actions are sending to our fellow citizens. As
elected officials, it is our responsibility to lead by
example and make sure that our laws and institutions reflect
our best aspirations of unity and respect for Americans of
all backgrounds.
Passing the 21st Century Respect Act is a demonstration of
our commitment to ensuring that every person who pledges
allegiance to our flag feels valued and included by the
Nation it represents. I encourage all of my colleagues to
support H.R. 995.
Mr. Speaker, these are words from Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who is
on his way.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I think the legislation that we are seeing
on this floor today demonstrates addressing a variety of issues, be it
on our public lands, needing that to be able to be updated, private
property rights to be able to update it, but probably nothing is more
personal than the legislation that we are addressing at this particular
moment, to be able to be respectful of individuals and have that there
to actually be able to be addressed.
{time} 1715
This legislation is a long time coming--much like Mr. Jeffries,
coming to the floor--to be able to address this important piece of
legislation, for the House to be able to consider, as we move forward
with our business.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Mrs. Demings).
Mrs. DEMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 995, the 21st
Century Respect Act, which we all know is a bipartisan bill that will
remove outdated and offensive racial labels from the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that words matter. They matter. We all stand
and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day. Every day I take those
words very, very seriously. Words do matter.
It is time that we remove outdated and offensive language from any
code, policy, law, regulation: words like Eskimo, words like Oriental--
my God--words like Negro. They matter. As elected officials, we have a
responsibility.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time I have
remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California has 11
minutes remaining.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Jeffries).
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
California for yielding and for her leadership as well as her support,
in addition to Ranking Member Grijalva, Chairman Bishop, Chairman
LaMalfa, and the entire committee for moving this bill expeditiously to
the House floor and for their leadership and partnership in this
regard. I also want to thank my good friend and fellow Judiciary
Committee member, Congressman Chabot, for his support, leadership, and
cosponsorship of this legislation.
Words definitely matter. They can cause great harm and division,
particularly when they are embedded in Federal statute.
So this step that we are taking today, as it relates to the 21st
Century Respect Act, is important, as a symbol from this Congress, the
people's House, to the Nation that we can come together, that we are
all fellow Americans, and that outdated, antiquated, and racially
stereotypical terms like Negro and Eskimo and Oriental are not
appropriate at this time in America. They reflect a more divisive
bygone era.
Mr. Speaker, I am thankful to all of my colleagues for coming
together in this regard, a small but meaningful step in an era
otherwise characterized by great division, and perhaps an indication
that we can come together as Democrats, as Republicans, and as people
of diverse racial backgrounds to heal whatever divisions may remain in
our society.
Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues for their leadership and
support.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 995, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to
modernize terms in certain regulations.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________