[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 11, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1653-H1655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AND STILL I RISE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise, and still I
rise. And I rise as a very proud American, proud of my country, proud
to be a part of
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this great Nation. I am also proud to be a liberated Democrat,
unbought, unbossed, speak truth to power, speak truth about power, a
liberated Democrat. And I rise tonight with a very special message at
this time in the history of our country.
We find ourselves now in a state of fear. Unfortunately, too much of
what we have based our response on to the novel coronavirus has been
fear, not facts. We should act on facts, not fear. My hope is that
after I say a few words tonight, I will at least cause some persons to
rethink some of what they have already concluded.
I am a person who believes that there is a philosophy, an adage, if
you will, of live and let live. This is not my philosophy, live and let
live. It simply says: You go your way and live your life; I will go my
way and live my life.
If this philosophy prevailed, I would not be in the Congress of the
United States of America because a good many people did not embrace
live and let live. Dr. King did not embrace it.
A good many people embrace a philosophy that I now embrace, and that
is live and help live. It is because of other people who made great
sacrifices that I am able to stand here in the well of the Congress of
the United States of America. It was a live and help live philosophy
that made it possible for me to be here. There were persons who lived
and some who died so that I would have this opportunity.
I can bring Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney to your attention.
Schwerner and Goodman were not African Americans, by the way. They lost
their lives in the cause of freedom along with Goodman, who was an
African American. They were trying to help somebody. That was a live
and help live philosophy.
There was John Shillady in Austin, Texas, an NAACP fieldworker, who
was beaten by a mob. He was trying to help Black people.
In a sense, there is a debt that I owe, and whenever I have the
opportunity, I try to repay it. So tonight, with our country in this
state of fear, I would like to ask some things of people and share some
thoughts.
The first thing that I want to address is what we expect from others.
We now expect others who are sick to stay home. If you are sick and
you think that you have a virus and you are concerned, we want you to
stay home. Of course, see your physician, get an opinion from your
physician, but if you are ill and you may be contagious, we believe
that you should stay home.
That is what we are saying to people across the length and breadth of
the country. We believe that this is a patriotic thing to do, to stay
home. Do what you can from home. Work from home.
Well, that can work for a lot of people. It can work for Members of
Congress because we will be paid if we work from home. We will be paid,
and we will be appreciated for staying home because we don't want to
spread an illness from one person to another by being in the workplace.
That works quite well for Members of Congress.
But what about the person who works for minimum wage? $7.25 an hour
is still the minimum wage, the Federal minimum wage in this country. A
good many places pay more than $7.25 an hour, but it is the Federal
standard for the minimum wage.
$7.25 an hour, that is not a lot of money for most of the people who
work here, but to a good many people it is the means by which they
maintain their dignity and keep food, clothing, and shelter for
themselves and others.
A good many of them are not in jobs that will pay them if they stay
home. They are being patriotic Americans. They are doing what we are
asking, but they won't get paid. They have to make a choice: Do they
stay home and do that which we deem to be prudent and necessary, or do
they come to work so that they will be able to put food on the table,
so that they will have the shelter necessary to protect them from the
environment? Will they have the necessary clothing so that they may
continue to traverse through the elements?
But even at $7.25 an hour, there is another case to be made, because
some workers make less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. These
are the persons who work and they receive tips. They make $2.13 an
hour. We expect them to stay home if they are sick.
Many of them work in the food service industry. They will serve our
food. We want them to stay home if they are ill because we don't want
them to contaminate the food. But these persons who serve our food,
$2.13 an hour, patriotic Americans, if they stay home and they are not
paid, they have a choice: Do they stay home or do they come to work
ill?
I say to the employers: Please give consideration to your minimum
wage workers, $7.25 an hour. Perhaps it is $15 an hour. Give some
consideration to them. And especially those who are working for $2.13
an hour. Give them some consideration. Help them through this time of
crisis, because they are helping us through this time of crisis.
They are there for us by staying home. They are doing the patriotic
thing. We should do the patriotic thing and give them some
consideration.
I plan to support legislation, hopefully, that will emanate from this
House that would give persons some amount of money.
{time} 1845
I think that we are at a point in our history when people who are
going to have to stay at home are going to have to be accorded some
sort of emolument because we don't want them to come to work and
contaminate others. We don't expect them to do that which we would deem
to be unpatriotic, so we have to help them.
I heard a person this morning talk about $1,000 for persons who need
help or $1,000 to persons in general, some amount. I am not sure what
the exact amount should be, but I do know we have to give some
consideration to persons who are working for minimum wages and
especially persons who are working for $2.13 an hour, for tips.
There are those who contend that if you are working for $2.13 an
hour, you will get a lot of money in those tips, and you will be able
to do what some will say, that ``I did.'' That is not me saying the
``I,'' but I am now speaking the words of others. They will say: ``I
was able to work my way through college on tips.'' Well, good for you.
A good many others are not able to do such. A good many others are
barely getting by on $2.13 an hour.
I talk to people when I eat at these various cafeterias, and I have
spoken to people who work in cafeterias in Houston, Texas, who tell me
that they have gone home and made not more than $2.13 for each of the
hours. They didn't get any tips. There are days when they get no tips.
I would hope that they would get an abundance of tips, but the truth
is, there are days when they do not. And they deserve some help because
they are doing what we are asking when they stay at home. So, if they
stay at home and don't come to work, I would hope that we would give
them some consideration.
Live and help live. That is the philosophy I embrace. That is the
philosophy that will cause an employer to conclude that he or she, or
the company, should help people who we are asking to stay at home.
Live and help live, not live and let live: ``I am going to live my
life. You stay at home. Sorry. Can't help you.''
No, let's help those persons who have to stay at home because they
are ill and are wage earners. Live and help live.
Live and help live is a philosophy that I think we should embrace
when we speak of persons who are of different ethnicities. More
specifically, now, I am going to talk about persons of Asian ancestry.
I am standing here tonight to speak up on behalf of persons of Asian
ancestry, and I am going to speak on their behalf as it relates to the
novel coronavirus because ugly things are happening to persons of Asian
ancestry.
I am here because I want to live and help live. I want to help them
through this time of crisis when they are having to experience
xenophobia and nativism.
I have here some examples of what persons of Asian ancestry are
experiencing, and I am here to live and help them live. I believe that
somebody helped me to get where I am, and I have a debt that I owe,
that I pray that I will be able to repay.
Tonight, I would call to everybody's attention a person in New York,
a
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woman on a subway who was attacked by persons who said that she was
diseased. They used a word that I would not use--the b-word is what it
is called in this forum tonight--because she had on a face mask.
People have assumed that this is beneficial. It may not be. Many
scientists--the persons who are supposed to know, the persons who deal
with these things, who have studied these things--are saying to us that
the mask doesn't help people, in general. It does help the persons who
are aiding and assisting us, perhaps the physicians and nurses.
Be that as it may, if a person chooses to wear the mask and happens
to be of Asian ancestry, that person ought not be attacked, that person
ought not be spoken to in harsh language.
People have a right in this country to wear the type of face gear
that they choose. If they choose to wear a mask, so be it.
We ought to respect people and not assume things and say things about
them because of their ethnicity, because of their ancestry.
Another example, a person who is of the Hmong ancestry was checking
in at a hotel and was told that Asians are not welcome. That is not a
live-and-help-live philosophy. That is a form of nativism and
xenophobia that is invidious, that is harmful to our society and
harmful to this person trying to check into a hotel.
I remember a time in this country when there were certain places that
I could not check into simply because of the hue of my skin. I was not
allowed. There were signs that said: ``No coloreds allowed.'' Those
were the polite signs. There were some that had words that I will not
repeat.
But I remember this. And when I remember this, I relate to persons of
Asian ancestry told that they can't come into a given business place
simply because of who they are.
I am here because I believe in live and help live, and I want to help
them through this time of crisis.
In California, a 16-year-old high school student was sent to the
emergency room after being attacked by bullies who accused him of
having the coronavirus simply because of his ethnicity.
I have been attacked in my life, chased because of my ethnicity. I
reflect on this, and it causes me to understand the plight of this
person.
I stand here tonight to speak up, to speak on behalf of people of
Asian ancestry who are being assaulted, who are being accused, who are
being denied simply because of who they are.
I have an indication that even just looking Asian has been enough to
incite attackers, to hurl insults and accuse individuals of being
disease carriers.
Friends, this is a time for us to band together and come together as
a Nation. This is not a time for us to engage in this sort of phobia,
this xenophobia, this nativism. This is not the time.
This disease is not something that is related to any ethnicity. It is
not related to any party. It doesn't assault or attack Republicans or
Democrats because they happen to be of a certain party. It doesn't
matter what your gender is.
This disease attacks you because you are a human being and because
you have been exposed to it in such a way as to allow it to enter your
body.
We ought to see each other now as people of one race, the human race.
We ought to see each other as people who we should help live.
We should embrace the philosophy of live and help live. Help the
minimum wage worker. Help those who are not as fortunate as we are.
Help those who may not be of the same hue as you. Help those who have
been accused and attacked. This is a time for us to send a message that
we won't tolerate it.
I am here because I believe that Asian Americans, those of Asian
ancestry, should not have to defend themselves by themselves.
I think that it is important for persons who are not of Asian
ancestry to send a message that we stand with them, and we stand
against the Islamophobia that might ensue, the homophobia, all the
various invidious phobias that can ensue from persons deciding that
they are going to attack people because they are different.
I have moved on from the Asian ancestry now to persons who are
different. In this country, we ought not attack people simply because
they are different.
I believe that the differences that we have can make a difference in
the culture, and it makes us richer for having these various
differences. They are good for the country.
Please, let us send a message that we will not tolerate persons being
assaulted because of who they are, that we will not tolerate persons
being denied the opportunity to have access to various places within
our society that we ordinarily would have access to simply because we
happen to have the bill of fare. If we can pay our way in, pay for the
hotel room, then I think we ought to allow people to have access.
More important than all of these, I think that it is important for us
to treat each other with dignity and respect simply because we are
people of the same creator. That creator, I believe, expects us to
treat each other the same, regardless of our hues, regardless of our
various differences.
This is an opportunity for us to pull together. I believe that this
is a great adversity, but I also believe that it provides us a great
opportunity to come together and stand up for each other.
Let us live and help live. Let us not live and let live, simply leave
people to find their way as best they can.
Let's help people through life. I am here because somebody helped me,
and I want to be there to help others.
I promise that I will do what I can to be of service to man, to
humans, more specifically, to men and women in this society.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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