[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





               NATIONAL LIBERTY MEMORIAL PRESERVATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 26, 2022

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
6201, the ``National Liberty Memorial Preservation Act.''
  Four hundred years ago, ships set sail from the west coast of Africa 
and in the process, began one of humankind's most inhumane practices: 
human bondage and slavery. For two centuries, human beings--full of 
hopes and fears, dreams and concerns, ambition and anguish--were 
transported onto ships like chattel, and the lives of many forever 
changed.
  The reverberations from this horrific series of acts--a transatlantic 
slave trade that touched the shores of a colony that came to be known 
as America, and later a democratic republic known as the United States 
of America--are not fully recognized and remain worthy of further 
exploration. Approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants 
were enslaved from 1619 to 1865 in the American and thereafter in the 
United States.
  The institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily 
sanctioned by the Government of the United States from 1789 through 
1865. American slavery is our country's original sin and its existence 
at the birth of our nation is a permanent scar on our country's 
founding principles and documents, as well as on the venerated authors 
of those documents. It is a legacy that continued well into the last 
century.
  The framework for the Constitution and our country to which we all 
take an oath describes African Americans as three-fifths of a person. 
The infamous Dred Scott decision of the United States Supreme Court, 
issued decades later, described slaves as private property, unworthy of 
citizenship.
  And, a civil war that produced the largest death toll of American 
fighters in any conflict in our history could not prevent the 
indignities of Jim Crow, the fire hose gatherings, the beatings at 
lunch counters; and the systemic and institutional discrimination that 
would follow for a century after the end of the Civil
  ``The mythology built around the Civil War--that victory by the North 
eradicated slavery and all of its vestiges throughout our nation--has 
obscured our discussions of the impact of chattel slavery and made it 
difficult to have a national dialogue on how to fully account for its 
place in American history and public policy.
  While it is nearly impossible to determine how the lives touched by 
slavery could have flourished in the absence of bondage, we have 
certain data that permits us to examine how a subset of Americans--
African Americans--have been affected by the callousness of involuntary 
servitude.
  By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10 percent of 
the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 
served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course 
of the war--30,000 of whom died of infection or disease. Black soldiers 
served in artillery and infantry units and performed all noncombat 
support functions that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, 
chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat 
pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause.
  There were nearly 80 black commissioned officers. Black women, who 
could not formally join the Army, nonetheless served as nurses, spies, 
and scouts, the most famous being Harriet Tubman, who scouted for the 
2d South Carolina Volunteers.
  Because of prejudice against them, black units were not used in 
combat as extensively as they might have been. Nevertheless, the 
soldiers served with distinction in a number of battles. Black 
infantrymen fought gallantly at Milliken's Bend, LA; Port Hudson, LA; 
Petersburg, VA; and Nashville, TN. The July 1863 assault on Fort 
Wagner, SC, in which the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers lost 
two-thirds of their officers and half of their troops, was memorably 
dramatized in the film Glory. By war's end, 16 black soldiers had been 
awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor.
  In addition to the perils of war faced by all Civil War soldiers, 
black soldiers faced additional problems stemming from racial 
prejudice. Racial discrimination was prevalent even in the North, and 
discriminatory practices permeated the U.S. military. Segregated units 
were formed with black enlisted men and typically commanded by white 
officers and black noncommissioned officers.
  The 54th Massachusetts was commanded by Robert Shaw and the 1st South 
Carolina by Thomas Wentworth Higginson--both white. Black soldiers were 
initially paid $10 per month from which $3 was automatically deducted 
for clothing, resulting in a net pay of $7. In contrast, white soldiers 
received $13 per month from which no clothing allowance was drawn. In 
June 1864 Congress granted equal pay to the U.S. Colored Troops and 
made the action retroactive. Black soldiers received the same rations 
and supplies. In addition, they received comparable medical care.
  The black troops, however, faced greater peril than white troops when 
captured by the Confederate Army. In 1863 the Confederate Congress 
threatened to severely punish officers of black troops and to enslave 
black soldiers. As a result, President Lincoln issued General Order 
233, threatening reprisal on Confederate prisoners of war (POWs) for 
any mistreatment of black troops. Although the threat generally 
restrained the Confederates, black captives were typically treated more 
harshly than white captives.
  In perhaps the most heinous known example of abuse, Confederate 
soldiers shot to death black Union soldiers captured at the Fort 
Pillow, TN, engagement of 1864. Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest 
witnessed the massacre and did nothing to stop it.
  Madam Speaker, it is obvious that this chamber needs to pass this 
legislation to honor these soldiers' lives. Black people's labor and 
service must be amplified because it often goes intentionally 
overlooked, and this legislation is key in righting that historical 
wrong.
  I am proud to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to as 
well.

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