[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EMBRACING AMERICA'S DIVERSITY

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as we begin the month of February that 
has been designated to not only educate but to embrace and confirm the 
wonderment of America's diversity, as we would in every single 
important aspect of American life, and it is from our Native Americans 
to our immigrants of the 1800s and 1900s and even today.
  African Americans have their own special history, and so it is very 
important to rise today to speak specifically about H.R. 40, the 
Commission to Study Slavery and Develop Reparation Proposals for 
African Americans Act. That legislation should be passed. It should be 
an executive order. It connotes the trajectory of the history of those 
who fought in every war, who shed their blood for this Nation, but 
walked in a second-class citizenship, but yet come today to educate and 
to have people embrace the richness of their history so that we can 
reconcile and heal.
  That is what the Commission to Study Slavery and Develop Reparation 
Proposals is. It is about repairing. Added to that is the Emancipation 
National Historic Trail, which would create a historic pathway from 
Galveston to Houston to talk about the pathway of slaves.
  Mr. Speaker, we are one country with many voices. Let us all be 
heard.

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