[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 206 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H6888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                END PUNISHMENT CLAUSE IN 13TH AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to share with the House that I am 
really reserving the time for Mr. Butterfield from North Carolina, but 
I will begin. I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Butterfield, for 
leading this Special Order hour this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation was founded on principles of liberty and 
justice for some, but not for all. In fact, it took 89 years after the 
Declaration of Independence and a brutal Civil War to finally end most 
forms of slavery.
  The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 
6, 1865, ending slavery but preserving involuntary servitude for some 
incarcerated persons.
  After a raging debate, former slaveholders in the Southern States 
held enough influence to preserve the practice and were able to include 
a loophole in the 13th Amendment to continue to allow slavery as 
punishment for a crime.
  Over the next 155 years, that punishment clause was used as a club to 
overincarcerate African Americans and other minorities for profit and 
in complete violation of their human dignity.
  Black Americans were immediately targeted and arrested by law 
enforcement for minor infractions, and the practice of forced prison 
labor began and still persists to this day.
  That is why I, joined by Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon, introduced 
legislation to amend the Constitution to clarify that neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude may be used as punishment for a crime.
  I am pleased that many of my colleagues, including Congressman Cedric 
Richmond, incoming Assistant Speaker Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and 
many of my colleagues in the CBC and broader Tri-Caucus, have also 
taken a leadership role on this issue in legislation.
  Confronting and rooting out the systemic racism that is still rampant 
in many facets of American life requires us to examine the painful 
truth in order to fix it. It is an indisputable historical fact that 
many local and State law enforcement practices in this country grew out 
of the legacy of racism and slavery.
  As millions of Americans are demanding criminal justice reform and a 
change in the training and culture of policing, passage of this 
constitutional amendment would send a clear signal: Bigotry and profits 
will no longer be used to deny any person their dignity.
  Our criminal justice system and laws cannot be fully respected until 
we end this injustice that allows disproportionate numbers of Black and 
Brown people to be imprisoned and enslaved.
  As I retire from Congress next month, I urge my colleagues to make 
passage of this legislation an urgent national priority. America cannot 
heal and move forward until we have real equality for all instead of 
just for some.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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