[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4613-H4615]
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 9, 2023, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 
60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, very proud to be a 
Member of the House of Representatives and very proud to be a citizen 
of the United States of America.
  I love my country. I love it because of what it stands for. I love 
the words in the Pledge of Allegiance: liberty and justice for all. I 
love the words in the Declaration of Independence: all persons created 
equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, 
among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  I love my country notwithstanding the fact that my country has not 
always loved me. I am a son of the segregated South. There were times 
in my lifetime when I had to go to back doors to enter facilities, when 
I had to drink from colored water fountains, and when I literally had 
to step off the sidewalk so that others could pass.

                              {time}  1200

  Notwithstanding all of this, I love my country. Today, I rise to call 
to the attention of my country and all who are assembled the fact that 
August 20 is Slavery Remembrance Day because it was on August 20 of 
1619 that the White Lion docked in a place called Point Comfort, near 
where we now call Norfolk, Virginia.
  On the White Lion, there were 20 persons of African ancestry. These 
were the first 20 persons introduced into slavery by way of the 
colonies in what would become the United States of America.
  Notwithstanding August 20 of 1619, which was a seminal moment in time 
that has impacted the rest of time in this country, I still rise and 
say: I love my country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate for me at this time to pause. The 
minority leader has arrived, and I have a duty,

[[Page H4614]]

responsibility, and an obligation to accord him time.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Green), my good friend, for yielding and for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in a bittersweet moment to pay tribute to a 
beloved member of my team and a dedicated longtime employee of the 
House of Representatives.
  For 37 years, Rena Diamond has been a fixture in the south Brooklyn 
community, across an illustrious career in which she has worked for 
three different Members of Congress.
  She has served the last 11 years as a constituent services 
representative in my office, for 26 years before that with 
Representative Jerry Nadler and former Representative Steven Solarz.
  That is 37 years of service, 37 years of dedication, and 37 years of 
incredible commitment to the people of Brooklyn and to the community at 
large.
  None of what we do here in the House of Representatives will be 
possible without the hard work and dedication of our staff, 
particularly those who are on the front lines in the community back 
home in our districts.
  Each and every day, each and every week, each and every month, each 
and every year, Rena has engaged in such an intimate and compassionate 
way with the people of Brooklyn, helping community members with solving 
immigration challenges, resolving Social Security or Medicare issues, 
and securing veterans' benefits for countless individuals who have 
served our country.
  Hardworking, diligent, consistent, and compassionate, Rena has served 
faithfully in her role through the ups and downs of government service, 
including, most recently, a once-in-a-century pandemic, which was a 
time of incredible challenge for the people of Brooklyn and for our 
country.
  Over the years, thousands of constituents have expressed their 
gratitude and appreciation for the incredible assistance that Rena has 
so capably provided. Her excellence is widely known, having been 
recognized as an exemplary staffer by the Congressional Management 
Foundation and a recipient of numerous acknowledgements and 
accommodations.
  Rena has been the consummate example of what a public servant should 
represent. The Eighth Congressional District of New York and the 
borough of Brooklyn owe a debt of gratitude to Rena Diamond that we can 
never repay for her years of excellent service and incredible 
dedication to our community.
  On behalf of the people of the Eighth Congressional District, we 
thank Rena for her amazing service. She will be deeply missed, but we 
congratulate her and wish her nothing but the best on her retirement.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, still I rise to commemorate August 
20 as Slavery Remembrance Day because, as I have indicated many times 
on this floor and done so today, it is the date that the White Lion, a 
ship with 20 persons of African ancestry, docked at a place called 
Point Comfort near where we now call Norfolk, Virginia.
  It was a moment in time that has an impact on the rest of time in 
this country because for 246 years more than 10 million persons of 
African ancestry were brought to this country to sacrifice. They 
sacrificed such that this very building was a product of their hands. 
They sacrificed to build roads and bridges. They were the persons who 
sacrificed to plant the crops and harvest and feed the Nation. For 246 
years, they sacrificed. Yet, to this day, they have not been properly 
acknowledged for the sacrifice that they suffered. They have not been 
acknowledged.
  We have acknowledged others. We have acknowledged the Confederate 
soldiers who fought to maintain slavery. We did so in 1956. We have 
acknowledged others. I think it is time to acknowledge them because, 
truth be told, they were the economic foundational mothers and fathers 
of the country. This country's economic success was built on 246 years 
of sacrifice made by persons who were enslaved in our great country.
  Why not honor them for their sacrifice? Why not allow them to have, 
at last, the honor that they have earned by virtue of their sacrifice?
  This is what we will attempt to do on August 20. We have been doing 
so now for a number of years. On August 20, Slavery Remembrance Day, we 
plan to have a major event right here in the Capitol, right here in the 
facility, just off these grounds in the Capitol Visitor Center.
  We plan to honor them with a day of remembrance. I am honored to say 
that there are many persons who will be in attendance, including the 
men of the Masonic Order. They will come and pay tribute, as I will.
  It is about more than tribute. It is about legislation that we have 
that we will present to do what we did not do. That is not only pay 
tribute to them, but also to have those who participated in this 
enslavement by way of their predecessor institutions--I am talking 
about banks and insurance companies--we have legislation to seek 
atonement for this behavior of their predecessor institutions.
  More importantly, we will have a final opportunity on that day, as we 
will on August 20 and all future days, to ask and remind people that we 
have legislation pending to accord a Congressional Gold Medal to the 
enslaved. We are asking the President of the United States to present 
them with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Give them in death what they 
never had in life, some semblance of freedom.
  We plan to acknowledge people who have been helpful with this 
journey. Mr. Steny Hoyer, who at the time was the majority leader, was 
helpful in getting legislation through the House to acknowledge Slavery 
Remembrance Day.
  Today, I rise as a progenitor of August 20 as Slavery Remembrance 
Day. I rise today as a scion of the enslaved Africans, whose lives were 
sacrificed for 246 years to make America great. Thereafter, many of 
their lives were sacrificed in something called convict leasing to 
continue slavery under another name. Thereafter, they were treated as 
second-class citizens, my ancestors, with something called lawful 
segregation.
  Lawful segregation, which was a form of invidious discrimination, 
which was a form of racism, all of these things happened. We can't deny 
them. The truth is being told, but I am saying to you: Notwithstanding 
all of these things, I still love my country. I am saying to you: 
Notwithstanding all of these things, my country still hasn't done 
enough to acknowledge the history and acknowledge the suffering of 
those whose lives were sacrificed to make America great.
  August 20, we plan to continue the process of acknowledgement. We 
plan to continue the process of honoring and causing people to 
understand that, in this country, notwithstanding our history, we can 
atone.
  There is time to atone, which brings me to the last piece of 
legislation that we will call to the attention of persons assembled. 
This piece of legislation calls for a department of reconciliation.
  We have not reconciled. We have not. There are many things that we 
need to reconcile. Slavery is one of them. The things that happened to 
the indigenous Americans, the aboriginal Americans, who we call 
Indians, were unconscionable. They suffered injustices that no one else 
has suffered in this country.
  We ought to atone. We ought to have a department of reconciliation 
with a secretary of reconciliation, who reports directly to the 
President of the United States of America, with the sole mission of 
bringing about atonement and reconciliation for our many 
transgressions.
  If America is to be America for all Americans, we have to do this. We 
have to have the atonement.
  It has to also include the many persons of Asian ancestry, whose 
ancestors came here and built the railroads, whose ancestors were 
interned simply because there was a war going on and they happened to 
be of a certain ancestry, that their ancestors were related to the war, 
but they were not. Many of them were Americans, and they were interned 
unjustly and unlawfully, in my opinion. We have to atone for this.
  We also have to atone for what happened with Texas. I am a 
Representative from the State of Texas. I proudly wear a Texas tie when 
I am on the floor, if not a tie celebrating the United States of 
America in some way. This is my way of showing my patriotism. I also 
sing the national anthem. I stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[[Page H4615]]

  We have to atone for what happened in Texas. Texas is the only State 
in the Union to secede twice because of slavery. Texas left Mexico 
because Mexico said: No more slavery, Texas.
  Texas said: Well, if we can't have slavery, we will leave Mexico, and 
they did. Texas did, and then became a part of the United States.
  Texas then left the United States because of slavery.
  We have to atone for these things. We have to acknowledge that they 
occurred.
  On August 20, we have to bring to the attention of our country the 
fact that we will honor those whose lives have been sacrificed, and we 
should have a department of reconciliation in addition to Slavery 
Remembrance Day to honor those persons whose lives were sacrificed.
  Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to stand here in the well of the 
House. I do love my country, but my country has not always loved me.
  It is difficult sometimes to love that which does not love you, but I 
do, and I have, and I will, because, the truth be told, notwithstanding 
all of the things that have happened and many that have happened to me 
personally--I have celebrated my 25th birthday for the third time. I am 
now into my fourth 25th--all of these things, it is my belief that, if 
something bad has to happen to you now, let it happen to you in the 
United States of America.

                              {time}  1215

  If you have to go through a divorce, if your spouse is going to leave 
you, let it happen in the United States of America.
  If you have to suffer the alienation of affection from your pet, your 
dog bites you, let your dog bite you in the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding all of the things that have happened, I 
still believe that the best place to make change and to bring about 
liberty and justice for all is the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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