[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 72 (Friday, April 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2106-H2108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE CONSCIENCE AGENDA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. And still I rise, Mr. Speaker. I rise today as a
proud descendant of the enslaved people who are the foundational
mothers and fathers of our country. They are the persons who laid the
economic foundation that we all reside upon today.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give an update on the conscience agenda.
I rise to give an update because we have had something new that we have
to add to the agenda.
Previously, we had announced that the agenda would consist of
expanding a Slavery Remembrance Day. August 20 of 1619 is a day that
will live in infamy. It was a seminal moment in time for this country
because it was on that day that persons upon a ship, the White Lion,
docked at a place called Point Comfort, near what we now call Norfolk,
Virginia.
On that ship were persons of African ancestry, the first 20 Africans.
There may be some debate as to the number, but approximately 20 is what
is recorded in most places, it seems. The first 20 Africans were traded
for goods. They became the first enslaved people in this country.
August 20 of 1619, a day that was a seminal moment then and a seminal
moment now because of the impact it has had on our country. Slavery
should be remembered.
We have a Holocaust Remembrance Day, and I completely, absolutely,
and totally support it. I was at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony
just recently where we commemorated those persons who were victims of
the holocaust. We have a 9/11 remembrance day. We have a Pearl Harbor
Remembrance Day. We must have a Slavery Remembrance Day.
I am proud to let the world know that this House of Representatives
did pass a resolution commemorating slavery remembrance. It did not
make it through the Senate, but the House did pass it.
I am also honored to say that our President, the Honorable Joe Biden,
recognized Slavery Remembrance Day with a press release. Last year, in
Houston, Texas, we had an official Slavery Remembrance Day
Commemoration Breakfast. At that breakfast, we had over a thousand
people in attendance. We will have another such breakfast on August 20
of this year. Slavery Remembrance Day is a part of the conscience
agenda.
We also have on the conscience agenda the awarding of a Congressional
Gold Medal to the enslaved Americans of African ancestry.
Why? Because in this country, we have reviled the enslaved and
revered the enslavers. In this country, we have named military bases
and schools after enslavers. We have not done such things, to any great
degree that I am aware of, for the enslaved persons. We
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revered the enslavers and reviled the enslaved.
There is something a little bit more sinister associated with this.
It is the notion that there seems to be an expectation that the
descendants of the enslaved behave as perfect victims.
Behave as perfect victims. Allow your ancestors to be dishonored,
allow them to be disrespected. Be the perfect victim. Allow schools
that you send your children to, to be named after enslavers. Allow
military bases that your young people will go to and serve, when
serving in the military--do this and don't complain. Don't complain; it
is okay. After all, they were the enslaved.
But we will salute, revere, give great honor, and lionize those who
were the enslavers. Something sinister about that, expecting the
descendants to appreciate the revering of the enslavers while reviling
the enslaved. Something sinister about it. It boggles the mind.
I refuse to be a perfect victim. I am not going to honor the
enslavers, and I think that we should honor the enslaved. This is why
we are asking this Congress to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the
enslaved. They are the people who helped construct this very facility
that we are in. They are the people who, with their humble hands,
helped to erect the White House and build it. They are the people who
built roads and bridges, planted the crops, harvested the crops, and
fed the Nation. Many of them were born into slavery. Babies were
enslaved in this country, lived as children in slavery, and died as
slaves for hundreds of years.
People expect the Al Greens of the world to be perfect victims, just
accept it. I refuse to be a perfect victim. This is why I am asking for
a Congressional Gold Medal for the enslaved persons who are the
foundational mothers and fathers of this country.
There is another reason for asking. We, in 1956, awarded a
Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers. The Confederate soldiers
were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. No such thing for the people
who built the country, whose lives were sacrificed so that we could
have this economic power that we have today.
By the way, I love my country. I sing the National Anthem. I stand
and I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I am not a person who, with some
great degree of disdain, disrespects the flag. I don't do it.
But I will say this: The greatness of America will not be measured by
whether I salute the flag or sing the National Anthem. The greatness of
America is measured by whether I will stand up for the rights of those
who choose not to salute the flag, who choose not to sing the National
Anthem. I do; I stand up for them.
I would want you to know that if we can, as we did in 1956, give a
Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers, surely we can accord a
Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved. Just as we have done it for
those who would have kept them in bondage, we can do it for those
persons whose lives were sacrificed such that we would have this
facility, such that we would have the economic engine that we have
today. So we ask for the Congressional Gold Medal.
We have also noted that Richard Russell, a self-proclaimed white
supremacist--Richard Russell's name is on the Russell Senate Office
Building, a self-proclaimed white supremacist. He fought antilynching
legislation that we just passed in the last Congress.
He was self-proclaimed, fought integration, and was one of the
authors of the Southern Manifesto. Richard Russell's name is on the
Russell Senate Office Building. That is the Richard Russell. His name
ought not be there.
These are the enslaved persons who were brought here, a depiction of
them, in 1619.
The Richard Russell Office Building is a symbol of national shame.
The Senate has been in the process of, along with this House, taking
the names of Confederate soldiers off of military bases. But that same
Senate will not remove the name of Richard Russell from a building that
it resides in, the Richard Russell Office Building, a symbol of
national shame.
I do not enter the Richard Russell Office Building. I have enough
respect for myself. I am not a perfect victim. I am a one-person
protest. It is better to stand alone on some questions than not stand
at all. I don't have any problem with standing alone when it comes to
this facility.
Richard Russell has a rotunda in this facility devoted to him, with a
statue of Richard Russell. Richard Russell, the self-proclaimed white
supremacist, the same who fought integration, the same Richard Russell
who coauthored the Southern Manifesto, a building named after a racist,
bigot, self-proclaimed white supremacist.
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His name needs to come off of that building and it should revert to
the name that it had before his name was placed on it, which was the
Old Senate Office Building. If we would like to name it something more,
we can. The Senate is participating in the shaming of the Nation by
allowing this name to stay on this building.
The Senate but only has to have the will to remove the name. The same
will that it had when it decided that we would take the names of
Confederate soldiers off of military bases. If the Senate can take the
names of Confederate soldiers off of military bases, surely it can
acquire the will to remove Richard Russell's name from a building that
the Senate has control over. It is a symbol of national shame.
Now to the update. Not only is Richard Russell's name on the Senate
Office Building, but his name is also on legislation. I am not the
perfect victim. His name is on legislation. I have a piece of
legislation in my hand that bears the name of Richard Russell. I will
not single this piece of legislation out because there are other
pieces.
The substance of the legislation, I have no quarrel with. I do take
issue with having legislation named after a person, in honor of a
person, who is a self-proclaimed white supremacist, and in honor of a
person who fought anti-lynching legislation. It is the same person who
coauthored the Southern Manifesto. I refuse to allow it. I will not
participate in it. His name should be removed from the Russell Senate
Office Building.
This piece of legislation, as I have indicated, bears his name. It is
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Program. His name
shouldn't be on a school lunch program. It shouldn't. I can think of
some other names that would be removed immediately, if not sooner, if
they were on a school lunch program. I can. His name should be removed.
I am filing legislation--this is the update--to have Richard
Russell's name removed from all legislation that happens to bear it
currently--all legislation--and to never have his name listed again. He
is a symbol of national shame. His name should be removed. I refuse to
be the perfect victim. The expectation that I don't respect myself
enough to stand up for myself.
What is so ironic about this, and it really breaks my heart, is to
know that there are people who know this. They know this. There are
people of color, African ancestry, and they know this. They still
frequent the Richard Russell Office Building, a symbol of national
shame.
At some point, my dear friends, we have to cease to be the perfect
victim and allow others to expect, and ourselves to participate, in the
shaming of our ancestors, and the treatment that African Americans have
received in this country by a Richard Russell, having a building named
in his honor. We have to remove his name.
This agenda also includes some other things. That was the update.
Let's go ahead and refresh memories now.
We have another item on the agenda, and that is enacting the
Securities and Exchange Atonement Act.
Friends, I had the honor, the singular honor, of serving as the
chairperson of the Oversight Subcommittee on the full Financial
Services Committee. I did so under the leadership of the Honorable
Maxine Waters. Under her leadership, we found that there are banks in
this country--the big banks, the major banks--these banks, through
their predecessor institutions, these banks literally made loans so
that masters, as they were called, could buy slaves--enslaved people.
They would buy them.
If the master did not make the payments, defaulted, the bank
repossessed the people and treated them as chattels. I refuse to be the
perfect victim. This behavior necessitates atonement.
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We need to do what this legislation will call for, and that is--let's
do the research, let's find out which of these banks benefited from
this institution of slavery because they made a profit when they made
these loans. They need to atone. That is what this legislation is all
about.
We also found out that the major insurance companies insured human
beings as chattels. When the master's chattel, the human being that was
enslaved, had some death that was one that would require the master to
be compensated, the master received payment for the death of an
enslaved person. This has to change. There has to be some atonement for
this. That is what this Securities and Exchange Atonement Act is all
about.
The last thing on the agenda currently is the establishing of the
department of reconciliation. To get all of these things done requires
reconciliation. Reconciliation is bigger than the institution of
slavery.
There are others who necessitate reconciliation, as well. An example
would be the indigenous population, the persons who were here when the
Europeans arrived. The indigenous population, those persons who
suffered what we call the trail of tears. Literally, they were uprooted
from their homes and forced to move across the country, simply because
others wanted their land. They just took it and forced them to move.
Many died along the way. We need to reconcile for this.
There were the persons who were placed in these camps when we were at
war with Japan. They lost their homes and property. We need to
reconcile. There is reconciliation that must be had and this department
would help us do this.
Right now we have a Department of Labor to deal with labor issues. We
have a Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Labor reports directly to
the President. We have the Department of Commerce to deal with issues
associated with commerce. The Secretary of Commerce reports to the
President.
We need a department of reconciliation with a secretary of
reconciliation and undersecretaries of reconciliation to deal with all
these various areas that need to be reconciled, and that person should
report directly to the President.
Reconciliation is not going to occur over one Presidency. It is not
going to occur in a few years. It may take decades, but we will have
the department to get it done. Just as we are going to keep a
Department of Commerce, we should have and maintain and keep, if you
will, a department of reconciliation. It is absolutely necessary for us
to do this. If we should do so, we can also deal with some other issues
that require reconciliation.
This is the way a great nation should respond. A nation that requires
liberty and justice for all. That is what is in our Pledge of
Allegiance. A nation founded on the notion that all persons are created
equal, who are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, among
them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is what this
Nation was founded on.
We have to live up to the promise and the pledge. We have to live up
to the words in the Declaration of Independence. We have a duty and a
responsibility to posterity to correct the injustices that were
perpetrated. I have a duty and a responsibility to myself to decline to
be the perfect victim.
Mr. Speaker, I rise and I stand in this, the well of the House, not
the perfect victim, but as a proud descendent of the enslaved people
who helped construct this very facility. I do so knowing that there
will be resistance to what I do, but I do so knowing that that
resistance cannot withstand the bending of the arc of the moral
universe toward justice for the enslaved people who are the
foundational mothers and fathers of this country.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a descendent of these enslaved people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for
yielding and I certainly share his commitment and I share your pride. I
know you stand for justice. I know you stand for the cause of all folks
who have been marginalized. I know of your commitment to our
servicemembers during World War II.
Mr. Speaker, I thank a member of my staff on the House Committee on
Veterans' Affairs for his valued service to veterans, this Congress,
and our country.
Miguel Salazar joined our committee as our communications director in
2019 as Democrats took back the House, and he was an integral part of
the committee's efforts to deliver meaningful change for our Nation's
veterans.
When my Honoring our PACT Act was signed into law last year, Miguel
worked tirelessly with our communications team to ensure that the 3.5
million newly eligible veterans became aware of the benefits they were
entitled to.
As a commissioned officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, Miguel has
embodied the very best of public service. He has been a true leader and
an invaluable member of my staff. The work of my committee and this
legislative body have been made better by Miguel's contributions. He
will be deeply missed.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I compliment the gentleman for
recognizing a staffer. This is what I would expect from him, to be
quite honest. He has demonstrated in his years in Congress a desire to
see that all people are treated fairly. He has not only demonstrated a
desire, but he has actually demonstrated it by way of a voting record
that evidences the will to see that it is done.
Mr. Speaker, I compliment the gentleman and it is what I would expect
from him.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I was trying to remember the gentleman's
cause, which was the merchant mariners during World War II.
I was at an event with Senator McConnell which commemorated the
service of these merchant mariners who played such a critical role
serving our Nation during World War II. They weren't in uniform, but
they died at tremendous numbers.
I share Mr. Green's concern that we need to do something for these
surviving merchant mariners before they all die. They served our
country in an incredible way.
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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
remarks. I also thank my friend for helping us to shepherd it through
the House in the last Congress. We didn't get it through the Senate,
but it got through the House because of his hands, and I appreciate it.
Mr. Speaker, before I yield the floor, following the example of my
colleague, I would like to commend an employee, actually an intern, who
has worked in our office and has been of great service to us. Because
this is an intern, I won't give the full name, but her first name is
quite similar to my name. My name is Alexander. Most people know me as
Al. Hers is Alex.
Alex is with us today. She is a person who, quite frankly, has
matured beyond her years and has rendered a great service to our
country.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Alex very much for her service to our country,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
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