[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H3052-H3053]
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 Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Green) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise. And I rise 
tonight to express my support for H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.
  I have supported this legislation because it is not only good for my 
congressional district, it is also good for the country.
  This legislation will allow us to do something that I think is quite 
important. I sit on the Financial Services Committee, and it allows us 
to address housing as a part of our Nation's infrastructure. The 
Honorable Maxine Waters has worked tirelessly to get housing included 
in this legislation. I believe it will benefit many people, especially 
those people who may find themselves with rent due and an inability to 
pay their bills.
  I also am proud to say that it will help our ports. We have the Port 
of Houston, and that is a port that is very significant as it relates 
not only to Houston but to the country.
  It will help with our schools, and it will help with broadband. It is 
a very good piece of legislation.
  But there is one additional thing in this legislation that I think 
would be of benefit, not only to the young people in this country but 
also to our police officers. This is H. Res. 169 which is a piece of 
legislation that emanated in my office. This would have a driver and an 
officer safety education component.
  We talk about the conversations that African American parents have 
with their children. This is a conversation that takes place because of 
a history that we too well understand. This legislation addresses that 
conversation, but it addresses it not only as it relates to the young 
person, the person who is going to be driving the car, it also 
addresses it as it relates to the officer.
  It would grant States moneys for grants such that they would be able 
to train officers about the interactions with civilians and train 
civilians, give them the education that they need so that they will 
understand how to properly interact with officers.
  Understanding can change the course of history. It can make a 
difference in the lives of people. My hope is that with this 
legislation in H.R. 2 it will cause somebody to benefit from just 
knowing how to interact with a person who happens to be a police 
officer or a police officer getting a better understanding of how to 
interact with someone from a given community.
  As important as this piece of legislation is, I do understand that if 
we are to have the kind of change that we seek, we will probably have 
to have another piece of legislation that I am proud to offer. This is 
a piece of legislation calling for a department of reconciliation. A 
lot of what is happening in our country is systemic. It is 
institutionalized. If we want to deal with systemic and 
institutionalized problems, especially as they relate to race, then we 
need to have a department so that we can approach these systemic issues 
not only in the short term but over the years and over the decades.
  This department of reconciliation will, of course, have a secretary 
of reconciliation. This secretary will have the responsibility of 
devising the strategy and implementing a strategy to eliminate racism 
and invidious discrimination in our country.

                              {time}  1845

  This department will be properly funded. We would like to see it 
funded with a minimum of 10 percent of what the Department of Justice 
receives. This would be the equivalent--the money would not come from 
the Department of Justice--but the equivalent of 10 percent of what the 
Department of Justice receives as a minimum in funding.
  This department would be one that would give us the opportunity to 
look into the future and devise a means by which we can avoid some of 
the systemic problems that we currently have.
  Madam Speaker, my hope is that this resolution will get the support 
of my colleagues. It has gained support every day, and I look forward 
to getting the continued support of my colleagues for the resolution. 
The resolution, of course, is the forerunner to a bill, a bill that 
will actually develop this department of reconciliation.
  We found that there is a Labor Department, and this Labor Department, 
of course, deals with issues associated with labor. We have other 
departments that are specialties. They specialize in dealing with 
certain issues. Well, why not a department of reconciliation so that we 
can do something that has long been needed since the Emancipation 
Proclamation?
  While we had the invidious discrimination known as segregation, 
through the years, we have not done what we need to do, and that is 
reconcile, settle our differences, come to a conclusion as to what is 
appropriate when it comes to some of the icons that we have in this 
country with reference to Civil War memorabilia and where it can be 
placed. These kinds of things can be resolved through the department of 
reconciliation.
  Madam Speaker, my hope is that we will have the department available 
to us in the near future. My hope is that this is something that 
Presidential candidates will embrace and want to talk about. I will 
surely put it before candidates when given the opportunity because the 
secretary will report directly to the President of the United States. 
This will give us the insight that we need into the Office of the 
Presidency. And the President can, of course, provide legislation by 
and through the secretary.
  It is a good piece of legislation, and my hope is that we will get it 
passed.
  Finally, this: I am honored to say that I, too, support law 
enforcement. My uncle was a deputy sheriff. He had a great amount of 
influence on my life. I believe that I am in Congress today because of 
some things that he said and urged me to do.
  Madam Speaker, I support law enforcement. I don't paint all law 
enforcement officers with the same brush, just as I don't want all 
protesters to be painted with the same brush.
  I support the right to peacefully protest. I believe that if we who 
support the protest movements and support peace officers, if we would 
actually let people know that there are some persons who are in the 
police forces that are not acceptable because of their behavior, and 
there are some people who are associating themselves with the protest 
movement who are not acceptable because of their behavior--persons who 
do things that are inappropriate, persons who would burn buildings, 
this

[[Page H3053]]

is inappropriate. I don't support that. Officers who would put their 
knees on the necks of persons, that is inappropriate. No one would 
support that, I would hope.
  Madam Speaker, I just think that, as we move forward, let's not 
conclude that there is something wrong with the protest movement 
because of some of the people who associate themselves with the 
movement, just as I don't conclude that there is something wrong with 
all police officers because of the actions and behavior of some police 
officers. There are people within both of these entities that I speak 
of who are good, and the bad ones, we, of course, should eliminate.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________