[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 114 (Monday, June 22, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Black Revolutionary War Patriots

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, as Americans, our understanding of 
history has a tremendous impact on our sense of who we are and where we 
are headed. That is why it is so important for Americans to have a good 
understanding of our history--all of our history.
  Slavery is a great stain on our country's history, and its legacy 
impacts us yet today. We must not flinch from recognizing the suffering 
inflicted on so many Americans, contrary to our highest ideals as a 
nation.
  Still, our Nation is unique in human history in that it was founded 
not on the basis of some sort of common ethnic identity but on certain 
enduring principles that are the equal heritage of all Americans. Those 
principles are best articulated in the simple but eloquent words of the 
Declaration of Independence. I don't have to put quotes around these 
because everybody knows these words: ``We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are 
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.''
  Our patriot forefathers concluded that these principles were worth 
fighting for, and, indeed, they took up arms. The odds were stacked 
against them, and they happened to know that, but they, nonetheless, 
risked everything because they believed so deeply in those fundamental 
truths that were stated in the Declaration of Independence.
  Among those who risked life and limb for our Nation's founding 
principles were between 5,000 and 10,000 Americans of African descent 
who volunteered to serve as soldiers and sailors during the American 
Revolution.
  Their patriotic sacrifices at the very beginning of our Nation 
contributed immeasurably toward laying the foundation of the freedoms 
we enjoy today.
  The civil rights movement was later able to build on that solid 
foundation by calling on America to, as Dr. King said, ``live out the 
true meaning of its creed.'' Dr. King was absolutely right in pointing 
out that Black Americans have every right to fully claim our shared 
heritage as Americans, having helped build and shape American 
institutions and society from the beginning, as shown by the very 
sacrifice they made in the Revolutionary War. This proud history is 
part of who we are as Americans, but it is too little understood and, 
hence, fully not appreciated.
  That is why I was proud to colead legislation that authorized the 
establishment of a National Liberty Memorial on the National Mall to 
honor the underappreciated contributions of Black Revolutionary War 
veterans and patriots, as they are.
  I am proud to say that Iowa can claim at least one of those patriots, 
Cato Mead, who was born in Connecticut and is listed in Revolutionary 
War pension court records as a ``free person of color'' who lived out 
his twilight years in Southeastern Iowa. He is buried in the Montrose 
Cemetery in Montrose, IA.
  The National Mall Liberty Fund is now in the process of raising money 
for an environmental assessment to complete final site selection for 
this very important memorial.
  Now, more than ever, Americans need this monument as a tangible 
reminder that despite the lingering legacy of slavery, the promise of 
liberty and equality is a shared heritage of all Americans from the 
founding generation to this very day.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered