[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5074-S5075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND LEGACY OF NELSON MANDELA

  Mr. COONS. Mr. President on this date a century ago, an extraordinary 
life began that would change the lives of millions of others. One 
hundred years ago today, Nelson Mandela was born in the village of 
Mvezo in a countryside of grass-covered rolling hills in the Eastern 
Cape of South Africa. That day began a 95-year journey of one man who 
led the South African people to liberation and whose legacy continues 
to reverberate through time.
  Over the course of his life, Nelson Mandela, known by his nickname 
``Madiba,'' became venerated as a global advocate for justice and 
equality by millions--arguably, more than any other political figure of 
our time. Through political activism and resistance, Madiba led a 
revolution by shepherding his people from racial division, hate, and 
subjugation to freedom, tolerance, and democracy.
  One of the most striking aspects of Nelson Mandela's leadership as 
the first President of a truly free, nonracial, nonsexist South Africa 
was his enormous capacity for forgiveness and his ability to open his 
heart to those who were once his brutal oppressors.
  Twenty years after he was released from a lifetime in prison, Nelson 
Mandela invited to dinner at his own home one of his former jailers, a 
man with whom he had become close friends, saying that their friendship 
reinforced his belief in the essential humanity of even those who had 
kept him for so long behind bars. How long? Twenty-six years, 6 months, 
and 1 week.
  Despite all of those years, months, and days of continuous 
imprisonment, Nelson Mandela never himself became a prisoner to hate. 
Madiba set the example of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation that 
ultimately allowed South Africa's rainbow nation to emerge from the 
ashes of brutal racial oppression.
  His example is particularly timely and powerful in light of the 
polarization, distrust, and division in our world and even in our own 
Nation today. History reminds us, though, that this reconciliation, 
this openness, is not a new phenomenon.
  Fifty-two years ago this summer, in June of 1966, then-U.S. Senator 
Robert F. Kennedy delivered a memorable speech at the University of 
Cape Town in South Africa. Speaking to a nation then deep in the throes 
of the cruel injustices of apartheid, Senator Bobby Kennedy began his 
speech by describing ``a land in which the native inhabitants were at 
first subdued, but relations with whom remain a problem to this day; a 
land which defined itself on a hostile frontier; a land which was once 
the importer of slaves, and must now struggle to wipe out the last 
traces of that former bondage.'' Kennedy then paused before famously 
concluding: ``I refer, of course, to the United States of America.''

[[Page S5075]]

  Then, as now, the differences between the United States and South 
Africa are significant. Yet Americans and South Africans share more 
than we might recognize or want to acknowledge. On the positive side, 
we share remarkable constitutions and inspiring foundational documents 
in South Africa's Freedom Charter and our own Declaration of 
Independence, whose fundamental principles are profound and inspiring 
but whose lived experiences have so far fallen short. We also share a 
deep commitment to democracy, societies grounded in the rule of law, a 
vibrant and free press, and capable and independent judiciaries. We are 
also multilingual, multifaith democracies, Federal republics that have 
incredible human histories and deep and rich natural resources. Both 
South Africa and the United States have demonstrated how important 
civic institutions are to sustaining democracy and preserving the 
progress of humanity.
  Today, on what would have been Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday, the 
United States is itself facing serious challenges to the very 
institutions that underpin and preserve our hard-won democracy. As we 
weather these challenges together as a nation, let us find inspiration 
in Mandela's life and legacy. Let us remember that on his long walk to 
freedom, Nelson Mandela taught the need to study not only those with 
whom we agree but also those with whom we disagree and to be willing to 
compromise and find common ground.
  In Madiba's words:

       It is easy to break down and destroy. The real heroes are 
     those who make peace and build.

  In the years to come, it is my hope that the United States and South 
Africa will look to each other as both nations continue to struggle 
against the legacy of racial injustice, reverse our growing economic 
inequality, and protect our evolving experiments in democracy.
  Nelson Mandela ventured to shape the world as it should be. He showed 
us that values such as forgiveness, respect, and tolerance are not just 
words but concrete actions we can all take.
  I am inspired by Madiba's example to keep fighting for a better, more 
just world here in the U.S. Senate, as I was first inspired in the fall 
of 1986 when I traveled to South Africa to volunteer for the South 
African Council of Churches during the anti-apartheid struggle.
  Just 2 years ago, I had a chance as a now Senator to revisit 
Johannesburg and Cape Town with a delegation that included Senator 
Kennedy's daughter, Kerry Kennedy, and a whole host of the Kennedy 
clan. Our own Congressman  John Lewis, a leader in America's civil 
rights struggle; my friend and colleague Congressman Steny Hoyer; and 
two survivors of the racially motivated shooting in a church in 
downtown Charleston, Polly Sheppard and Felicia Sanders, were there to 
serve as a living example of the challenges and the difficulties of 
reconciliation, of forgiveness, and of grace.
  We had remarkable experiences. We met with Desmond Tutu, my former 
supervisor at the Council of Churches decades ago, a winner of the 
Nobel Peace Prize and someone who helped lead the peace and 
reconciliation process in South Africa. We also heard from today's 
chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela's widow, 
Graca Machel.
  Our reflections were interrupted by student protesters demanding a 
more just dispensation in today's South Africa--a jarring reminder that 
even the greatness of the remembrance of Bobby Kennedy and Nelson 
Mandela is not enough to still the relentless yearning for more--more 
justice and more equality--by the youngest among us.
  I still today believe in Nelson Mandela's vision for the world--a 
world governed by justice and equality and peace and cooperation for 
the common good. But it is important to remember just how much we have 
to do together as a global community to hear each other, forgive each 
other, and get there.
  Nelson Mandela once famously said: ``I am not a saint, unless you 
think of a saint as a sinner who just keeps trying.'' So today let us 
remember Nelson Mandela's relentless trying, his historic contribution 
to South Africa and the world, and the example of his struggle to 
promote human rights and justice for all. Madiba's service is an 
enduring reminder of what it means to place the good of a nation's 
people above one's own narrow self-interests--a lesson from which we 
can all benefit.
  I am pleased to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of a 
giant of history and to honor Nelson Mandela's lifetime of 
extraordinary service with a bipartisan resolution submitted today. 
Today, let us rededicate ourselves to his vision for our world and 
together work tirelessly to make it a reality.
  I yield the floor.

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