[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 188 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7167-S7171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROHIBITING THE USE OF AMOUNTS FROM THE UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN FUND
TO IMPLEMENT A CERTAIN RECORD OF DECISION
A bill (S. 5000) to prohibit the use of amounts from the Upper
Colorado River Basin Fund to implement a certain record of decision,
and for other purposes, which had been reported from the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources with an amendment to strike all after the
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S7167, December 18, 2024, the second column, the
following appears: A bill (S. 5000) to prohibit the use of amounts
from the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund to implement a certain
record of decision, which had been reported from the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources with an amendment to strike all after
the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
The Record has been corrected to read: A bill (S. 5000) to
prohibit the use of amounts from the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fund to implement a certain record of decision, and for other
purposes, which had been reported from the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources with an amendment to strike all after the
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
========================= END NOTE =========================
SECTION 1. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO ADDRESS POTENTIAL
IMPACTS OF A CERTAIN RECORD OF DECISION ON THE
UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN FUND.
(a) In General.--As soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Commissioner of Reclamation, and the Secretary of
Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Western Area
Power Administration, in consultation with the Glen Canyon
Dam Adaptive Management Working Group, shall enter into a
memorandum of understanding to explore and address the
potential impact that the record of decision entitled the
``Supplement to the 2016 Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term
Experimental and Management Plan Record of Decision'' and
dated July 2024 (referred to in this section as the ``record
of decision'') may have on the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fund (referred to in this section as the ``Fund'').
(b) Required Plan.--The memorandum of understanding entered
into under subsection (a) shall, using information derived
from existing contracts, include the establishment of a
plan--
(1) to explore and address the effects that the record of
decision may have on the contents of the Fund;
(2) to analyze and address the longer-term impact that the
record of decision may have on hydropower production at Glen
Canyon Dam; and
(3) to protect the Colorado River Basin and any species
listed as a threatened species or an endangered species under
section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1533) in the Colorado River Basin from the effects of
invasive species and sustained drought.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill (S. 5000), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
The committee-reported title amendment was agreed to, as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to provide for a
memorandum of understanding to address the impacts of a
certain record of decision on the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fund.''.
The title of the bill (S. 5000), as amended, was agreed to.
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Madam President, I want to talk about two of the
bills that we just passed unanimously today, and I want to thank my
colleagues for passing them through UC. They are important pieces of
legislation to Nevada. They are S. 1760, the Apex Area Technical
Corrections Act, and S. 2042, the Sloan Canyon Conservation and Horizon
Lateral Water Pipeline Act.
The first one, the Apex Area Technical Corrections Act, will
streamline the permitting process for new and existing businesses in
the Apex Industrial Park in southern Nevada, creating new, good-paying
jobs and supporting business growth in North Las Vegas.
I have been to the Apex Industrial Park, and I have seen firsthand
the incredible opportunities there. We need to cut redtape and make it
easier for new businesses to open their doors and hire hard-working
Nevadans. The passage of this legislation today in the Senate will help
get us on that path.
The second piece of legislation, which is the Sloan Canyon
Conservation and Horizon Lateral Water Pipeline Act, will upgrade the
outdated water infrastructure, protecting the water supply for more
than 1 million people in southern Nevada.
Right now, almost 40 percent of Las Vegas is served with one water
pipeline. A new, updated pipeline will improve the reliability capacity
of the existing water system without pulling any more water from Lake
Mead. This bill also expands the Sloan Canyon National Conservation
Area by more than 9,000 acres, growing this increasingly popular
recreation site by almost 20 percent of its existing size.
These necessary improvements will make Nevada's water infrastructure
more sustainable and will protect the water supply for generations to
come in southern Nevada.
Again, I thank my colleagues for joining me in passing these two
pieces of legislation by unanimous consent.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Nomination of Adeel A. Mangi
Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I rise today to give a speech that I
have never given before. It is really important that I do it on the
Senate floor, but it is like I have never done it before because I am
actually giving a speech to two young children who may not watch this
for years, but I want them to hear it from me. These are two young
boys--Azmir and Zaaran--and I write them. I give a sort of open speech
to them tonight, really out of joy and faith that is untroubled by my
hurt and my sadness.
You see, I think something about this country that so many people
have come to know who have seen the worst of America but still love
America. They know how these emotions sit side by side--that you could
hold sadness and joy next to faith in this Nation, even though there is
disappointment. And what I rise to talk to these two young boys about
is their dad.
Their dad is a man named Adeel Mangi. He is an extraordinary man. I
have met many people from New Jersey, but this man was so extraordinary
that the President of the United States of America chose him, because
of his qualifications, to be a justice on the Third Circuit Court of
Appeals. That was why he was chosen. But he also happened to be a glass
ceiling breaker; he also happened to be somebody who
[[Page S7168]]
was going to make American history as the first ever Muslim judge--a
man of Muslim faith--to be on the circuit court.
Now, this is extraordinary that it is 2024 and we have never had
someone of the Muslim faith, especially because we are a nation that
says there are no religious tests; that we are found on this ideal of
religious freedom--but somehow, with the millions of American Muslims
and with Muslims being here at our founding and all through American
history and with Muslims fighting in every war in American history, we
have never had a Muslim ascend to the circuit courts.
I would like to read from a letter that your father wrote. It is
really powerful. I wish I could read the whole thing.
I ask unanimous consent that the whole letter by Adeel A. Mangi be
printed in the official Record of the U.S. Senate.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
December 16, 2024.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
Washington, DC.
Dear President Biden: I write to thank you for nominating
me to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit. There is now no pathway to confirmation for any
appellate nominees given the deal struck in the Senate ``to
save coveted appellate [seatsl'' for the next administration.
But before I go, I have a few things to say. What I set forth
here are my individual opinions.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican,
spoke at the inauguration of a mosque in Washington, D.C. He
said: ``And I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends,
that under the American Constitution, under American
tradition, and in American hearts, this Center, this place of
worship, is just as welcome as could be a similar edifice of
any other religion. Indeed, America would fight with her
whole strength for your right to have here your own church
and worship according to your own conscience. This concept is
indeed a part of America, and without that concept we would
be something else than what we are.''
It was that vision of America that led me, 25 years ago, to
make it my home. I saw in America a country where I could
succeed based on my professional skill, hard work, and
character--regardless of my faith or background. For years,
in my work defending the civil rights of the LGBTQ+
community, or working with massive inter-faith coalitions on
amicus briefs, I celebrated an America where we stand up for
each other. And while I was successful in private practice as
a commercial trial lawyer, I had no second thoughts when
offered an opportunity to serve my adopted country. Nothing
could be a greater privilege.
When my nomination then came before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, I was prepared to answer any questions about my
qualifications, philosophy, or legal issues. I received none.
Instead, I was asked questions about Israel, whether I
supported Hamas, and whether I celebrated the anniversary of
9-11. Even more revealing, however, was the tone. The
underlying premise appeared to be that because I am Muslim,
surely I support terrorism and celebrate 9-11. When I made
clear that all these claims are false--that I condemn the
Hamas attacks and all forms of terrorism, and indeed that it
was my city that was attacked on 9-11--the next Republican
Senators up just repeated their performative outrage. There
were children in the audience.
The pretext for these questions was that I had agreed to
serve on an outside advisory panel for an academic center
that was being established at a preeminent New Jersey Law
School to combat bigotry and discrimination, including
Islamophobia. I attended four meetings over four years where
I focused on areas of academic research that could support
civil rights litigation. Yet Senators sought to attribute to
me the views of individuals that I do not know at university
speaker events that I never even heard of. Muslims in America
recognize well these sort of guilt-by-association attacks.
Thereafter, advertisements were run deeming me an antisemite,
a radical, and a terrorist sympathizer. Horrifying images
were published with the Hamas flag substituted for my eyes or
interspersing my face with footage of the twin towers on
fire. And all of this, even while major Jewish organizations
across the country condemned these attacks, ranging from the
National Council of Jewish Women to the Anti-Defamation
League, and over a dozen more. One of the largest Jewish
groups put it this way: ``Adeel Mangi, was questioned
aggressively on thin pretext about his views on Israel,
terrorism, and antisemitism, turning these serious issues
into a tool of partisan attack. . . . American Jewish
Committee (AJC) has joined several U.S. Supreme Court briefs
led by Mangi and find him to be an able jurist, a person of
integrity, champion of pluralism, and adversary of
discrimination against any group.''
These attacks nonetheless continued endlessly for a simple
reason. As Senator Whitehouse revealed on the Senate floor,
this was an organized smear campaign fueled by dark money.
But it did not end there. After Jewish groups came to my
defense, these same attackers pivoted focus to a new
absurdity, claiming that I supported the killing of police
officers--silently underpinned, in my view, by the notion
that as a Muslim I surely support violence, including against
law enforcement. What was the ostensible basis for this
ludicrous claim? I successfully litigated a landmark pro bono
lawsuit--the Karl Taylor case--on behalf of the family of a
mentally-ill incarcerated Black man who we alleged was choked
to death by corrections officers after having been
handcuffed. We secured a precedent-setting resolution that
compensated the family and ensured cameras and microphones
would be installed to make incarcerated persons and officers
safer. My colleagues and I then agreed to serve on an
advisory panel, which never met or had any responsibilities,
for the not-for-profit organization that referred that case
to my law firm, to provide legal advice on future similar pro
bono cases that might arise involving suspicious deaths in
prisons. In the event, we brought no other cases. This pro
bono legal service aimed at enforcing the law apparently was
enough for attackers to deem me an opponent of law
enforcement.
As I detailed in a letter, this twisted attack--again based
on outright lies, the actions of a person I never even met,
or speaker events that I never heard of--is shocking and
false. I am proud to have the support of a dozen police
organizations, a group of Attorneys General from around the
country, and a bipartisan group of current and former New
Jersey Attorneys-General and U.S. Attorneys. Law enforcement
groups that spoke to me before taking a position supported
me. But others repeated slander without speaking to me. Some
of those opposing police groups later did speak to me and
then openly recognized that the attacks against me were
wrong--and yet were instructed by their leadership not to get
involved. Meanwhile, history has recorded who raised a fist
of solidarity to the protestors that later attacked law
enforcement officers in our nation's capital on January 6,
2021. And which lawmakers support them still.
Amidst all of this, countless additional and spurious
online assaults were launched on a regular basis from within
the extremist ecosystem; the staff of the ranking member of
the Senate Judiciary Committee took the extraordinary step of
demanding information from my partners and my law firm;
volleys were launched against even my private sector clients;
and Senators, led by the Minority Leader himself, launched
regular attacks on me online and on the Senate floor as an
antisemite radical. I was even attacked for board service
with the New York Legal Aid Society.
What can explain all of this? One commentator recounted my
professional accomplishments and then observed: ``But he also
successfully fought efforts by two New Jersey communities to
prevent the construction of mosques. He has served on the
board of directors of the Muslim Bar Association and Muslims
for Progressive Values. Clearly, he's both an accomplished
attorney and a proud representative of his religion. That's
what his Republican critics can't tolerate. They will never
accept someone who is so prominently associated with Islam.''
Meanwhile, here is what it was not about: throughout this
entire process, I was never criticized by anyone for a
single statement that I ever uttered or a single word that
I ever wrote.
I accepted these farcical attacks with the silence demanded
of judicial nominees in service of my country. Others were
not silent. Senator Booker eviscerated these attacks in an
extraordinary and passionate address. They were condemned by
almost 50 pro bono partners and chairs at leading law firms
and legal organizations, over 125 civil rights groups, and
dozens of bar associations. They were meticulously exposed in
many newspapers, including two op-eds in the New York Times
(first and second) and in the New Yorker. A historical
parallel was drawn in The Atlantic to the attacks on Thurgood
Marshall, and the attack campaign was decried in columns by
prominent Muslim Americans, e.g., on CNN and MSNBC, and by
Jewish Americans. My home-state newspaper of record in New
Jersey, The Star Ledger, wrote five editorials: ``GOP to NJ
judge pick: Muslims need not apply''; ``Ugly lies about
antisemitism and terrorism: GOP smears NJ judge pick'';
``Cowering in the face of anti-Muslim bigotry: Shame on
Democrats,''; ``First bigotry, now lies: This judge pick
deserves better''; and ``A MAGA judge for N.J.? You can thank
Democrats.'' A highly-respected Republican-appointed former
judge of the Third Circuit wrote and spoke out in my support.
And these attacks were demolished by John Oliver who
concluded: ``As with the lslamophobic attacks on Mangi, the
evidence that he is somehow antipolice are laughably thin.
It's yet more six degree of separation nonsense.'' Yet it was
three Democratic Senators who surrendered to this campaign.
Two allied Senators from a state far from the Third Circuit
announced their opposition ostensibly based on the attacks
claiming I am against law enforcement. I will not assume the
worst possible motivation for their embrace of this attack.
But to me that leaves two possibilities: that these Senators
lack the wisdom to discern the truth, which exposes a
catastrophic lack of judgment; or they used my nomination to
court conservative voters in an election year, which exposes
a catastrophic lack of principle. One reportedly made the
decision based on fear of an attack ad--and apparently not
for the
[[Page S7169]]
first time. Meanwhile, a third Senator literally handed
control of his vote to Republicans. To fetishize
bipartisanship amidst an outrageous attack campaign is not a
virtue--it is a preening abandonment of morality. But
ultimately, none of these Senators had to reach a final
decision and vote. Resurgent efforts after the election
towards confirmation were derailed by the deal in the Senate
that denied all circuit nominees a vote. My family and I were
put through this astonishing prolonged process and yet in the
end denied even a vote requiring Senators to show who they
are. The strength of the Senate's collective commitment to
principle stands revealed.
Our country faces an incoming tsunami of bigotry, hatred,
and discrimination. It targets Muslims, Arabs, Jews, Black
people, the LGBTQ+ community, and many others. And it always
pretends to be something other than what it is. These forces
are fueled not only by their proponents, but equally by the
collaboration and silence of the spineless. They can be
defeated only by those who lead voters with courage, not
those who sacrifice principles for votes. But courage can be
found outside of politics. American Muslims are part of this
nation's fabric and will not cower. This campaign was
intended to make it intolerable for Muslims proud of their
identity to serve this nation. It will fail. Our Constitution
forbids religious tests for any Office of the United States
and American Muslims will cherish that fundamental American
value, even if others apply it only selectively. And let me
be clear: I will always be immensely proud of my faith as
well as my pro bono legal work to challenge both denials of
freedom of worship and the alleged killing of an incarcerated
Black man. I have battled for justice, even if it meant there
would be none for me.
This unfortunate fact remains: we have a fundamentally
broken process for choosing federal judges. This is no longer
a system for evaluating fitness for judicial office. It is
now a channel for the raising of money based on performative
McCarthyism before video cameras, and for the dissemination
of dark-money-funded attacks that especially target
minorities. Nominees pay the price--and so too does our
nation. Who will give up the rewards of private sector
success for public service, if the added price is character
assassination and wading though a Senatorial swamp like this
one? This process must be reinvented to protect nominees from
threats both reputational and physical in an era of
Congressional dishonor where disinformation reigns and all
decency has been abandoned. I set forth this record of my
experience and my opinions so that this playbook will be
recognized the next time a Muslim is nominated to a prominent
position of service.
Thank you for the principled and steadfast support that the
White House nominations team provided to me throughout this
process. That team is the embodiment of true and honorable
public service. Thank you also for your historic support of
exceptional judicial candidates who happen to be from
minority communities. I am grateful for the unprecedented
coalition of bar associations, lawyers, Attorneys General,
unions, mayors, religious groups, civil rights organizations,
the City Council of Jersey City, and countless individual
citizens, who demanded my confirmation. And I am deeply
appreciative of the support I received from minority law
enforcement groups around the country, including those in New
York and New Jersey, who acted with courage based on facts.
To return to President Eisenhower's words, Americans must
now look at the story of this nomination, and ask themselves:
is this who we are now? For my children, I hope America one
day lives up to President Eisenhower's promise, even if not
today. For my part, I entered this nomination process as a
proud American and a proud Muslim. I exit it the same way,
unbowed.
Respectfully Yours,
Adeel A. Mangi.
Mr. BOOKER. So, here, he writes about his nomination:
When my nomination . . . came before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, I was prepared to answer any questions about my
qualifications, philosophy, or legal issues, [but] I received
none. Instead, I was asked questions about Israel, whether I
supported Hamas, and whether I celebrated the anniversary of
9/11. Even more revealing, however, was the tone. The
underlying premise appeared to be that because I am Muslim,
surely I support terrorism and celebrate 9/11. When I made
clear that all these claims are false--that I condemn the
Hamas attacks and all forms of terrorism, and indeed that it
was my city--[my city]--that was attacked on 9/11--the next
Republican Senators up just repeated their performative
outrage. There were children in the audience.
These attacks, nonetheless, continued endlessly for a
simple reason. As Senator Whitehouse revealed on the Senate
floor, this was an organized smear campaign fueled by dark
money. But it did not end there. After Jewish groups came to
my defense, these same attackers pivoted [their] focus to a
new absurdity, claiming that I supported the killing of
police officers--silently underpinned, in my view, by the
notion that as a Muslim I surely support violence, including
against law enforcement.
Now, your father goes on to detail not only how these incredible,
outrageous smear attacks were false and that there was no basis for
them but how he has actually been someone who has stood up in his legal
career in pursuit of justice and has the support of dozens of police
organizations, attorneys general from around the country, bipartisan
groups of current and former attorneys general, law enforcement groups,
and more.
He ends his letter with the conclusion that these tactics succeeded
in stopping him from even getting a vote on the Senate floor, from
ascending to the Third Circuit, and making history.
Your father--your father--concluded his letter by saying a truth: Our
country faces an incoming tsunami of bigotry and hatred and
discrimination. It targets Muslims, Arabs, Jews, Black people, the
LGBTQ community, and many others.
And this is not in the letter, but I remind people that hate crimes
are on the rise across our country.
Azmir and Zaaran, back to your father's letter:
And it always pretends to be something other than what it
is. These forces are fueled not only by their proponents, but
equally by the collaboration and silence of the spineless.
They can be defeated only by those who lead voters with
courage, not those who sacrifice principles for votes. But
courage can be found outside of politics. American Muslims
are part of this nation's fabric and will not cower. This
campaign was intended to make it intolerable for Muslims
proud of their identity to serve this nation. It will fail.
Our Constitution forbids religious tests for any Office of
the United States and American Muslims will cherish that
fundamental American value, even if others apply it only
selectively.
Your father continues:
I have battled for justice, even if it meant there would be
none for me.
I read that line, Azmir and Zaaran, and it gave me chills because it
reminded me of my own family and stories of people who fought for
justice that they would never enjoy. It reminded me of the history in
this country when suffrage leaders fought for the vote for Black men,
the vote for suffrage for Blacks, and they would not enjoy it as women.
It reminds me of so many Americans who still stood up for principles
and ideals that our country proclaims, even when they would not enjoy
them.
Azmir and Zaaran, your father continues:
This unfortunate fact remains: We have a fundamentally
broken process for choosing federal judges. This is no longer
a system for evaluating fitness for judicial office. It is
now a channel for the raising of money based on performative
McCarthyism before video cameras, and for the dissemination
of dark-money-funded attacks that especially target
minorities. Nominees pay the price--and so . . . does our
nation. Who will give up the rewards of private sector
success for public service, if the added price is character
assassination and wading through a Senatorial swamp like this
one? This process must be reinvented to protect nominees from
threats both reputational and physical in an era of
Congressional dishonor where disinformation reigns and all
decency has been abandoned. I set forth this record of my
experience and my opinions so that this playbook will be
recognized the next time--
And there will be a next time--
a Muslim is nominated to a prominent position of service.
He ends with this:
To return to President Eisenhower's words, Americans must
now look at the story of this nomination, and ask themselves:
Is this who we are now?
To these two young boys he ends:
For my children, I hope America one day lives up to
President Eisenhower's promise, even if not today. For my
part, I entered this nomination process as a proud American
and a proud Muslim. I exit it the same way, unbowed.
Azmir and Zaaran, I remember this day and the excitement I felt when
I walked into that hearing room, this wood-paneled historic chamber. I
remember how it signaled to visitors the gravity of the business that
was about to be conducted within the walls. And you two were seated in
the front row, just behind your dad. I remember the joy that I felt
when I saw the two of you, that you were going to witness the
ascendency of your father to the highest court in the land, and you two
were going to witness the smashing of a barrier and seeing your
father--a proud American, who happens to be a Muslim--become the first.
I remember your smiles. I remember how they made my whole being
smile. Your mother sat behind you beaming with pride. I sat on the dais
so full of joy. And the hearing began.
I told your dad I didn't know why he asked you to leave the room. I
wanted you to stay for the whole hearing. But
[[Page S7170]]
your mom and dad, wise beyond me, had you leave. At your young age
then, I am glad you did not witness what then transpired. It was
shameful. Not for your family, it was shameful for us as Senators. It
was shameful for America.
You heard your father detail the remarks and the questions that were
so degrading and demeaning. They weren't successful. They couldn't
degrade or demean the character of your father, but they were degrading
and demeaning--questions that have never been asked in all of American
history to a nominee: ``Did you support 9/11, the terrorist attacks,''
that he witnessed. How insulting was that? And they were repeated over
and over, demeaning and degrading--attempting to, but your father's
character can never be demeaned, can never be degraded because he stood
tall on that day.
In the history of this country of so many women and Black men and
immigrants and Irish and Italian and Catholics and Asian Americans,
Japanese and Chinese who have been insulted and looked down upon and
faced bigotry, your father, like generations of other Americans who
were told they weren't good enough because they were different, your
father stood in the saddle and took the assaults, and he never ever,
ever backed down.
Calmly and repeatedly, he answered the inane questions, the darkness
directed toward him, and he showed his light.
I would be remiss if I didn't tell you over and over again how
brilliant your father is, how he got to that seat. Amidst thousands of
talented lawyers across the country, your father stood out to the
President of the United States as one of the best. He is a top
litigator. He is cherished by his colleagues.
His legal acumen and intellect were part of the reasons I recommended
him because all throughout my State, on both sides of the aisle, people
told me how amazing your father was, how talented your father was, how
this was a layup for the court, how he would elevate the judiciary.
And what people said about him wasn't just his legal acumen; they
also talked about your dad's character--a man who lives by his
principles, how he even stood up to the government when it was
discriminating against others because they were different, how he
represented people who had no one to stand up for their values.
He stood up for a man named Karl Taylor, who was held in prison and
beaten to death by correctional officers. Not only did your dad win
that lawsuit for Mr. Taylor's family, but he helped protect other
incarcerated people in New York by having all the prisons agree to
install video cameras to stop attacks like that one from ever happening
again to protect other lives.
Your father has this unrelenting commitment to the ideal of fairness
and justice. He has modeled his life after that. He doesn't just
believe these things, he acts in accordance with them.
New Jersey is lucky to have him on our State bar, and we would have
been lucky to have him on the Third Circuit.
My mom said something about me that I think is funny. My mom says:
Behind every successful child is an astonished parent.
But I will never be surprised by the two of you. I think you two,
knowing your parents, are going to grow up to be extraordinary
lightworkers in this Nation.
James Baldwin said:
Children are never good at listening to their elders, but
they never fail to imitate them.
I have this faith in the two of you. And the reason why I am doing
this, standing on the Senate floor talking to two New Jersey children,
teenage boys, 14 and 13, the reason why I am talking to you is because
I know who you are, with only meeting you on that day, because you were
raised by these modeled citizens, by these great Americans whose
character shines amidst the darkness of the storm that your family just
went through.
Your father was professionally attacked. For months and months and
months, he was trolled on the internet. He faced streams of hate as
people built entire million-dollar campaigns to try to discredit him.
Yet your dad and your mom never faltered and never flinched, told the
President of the United States that they would continue in the process
if the President believed that it was still possible for him to serve
his Nation.
It is these attributes of your parents that I know live in you. I
guess I want you all never to stop believing like your parents do and
not just the attributes that mark your family and distinguish it but in
those attributes of our Nation that we can never stop believing in.
This great body failed your father. It failed the American people. It
is one of the most painful chapters I have had in public life.
The American people deserve a government that just doesn't function
in accordance with fairness but upholds the ideals that are so core to
this country; that everyone is created equal, that there should be
liberty and justice for all.
That is not what happened in this episode. It is not what happened to
your dad. He was treated differently because of his faith. Bigotry was
used to attempt to demean him. Lies were used to discredit him. The
broken political system was used to dissuade and intimidate people from
standing up for him.
It was a dark moment in the Senate's history, I tell you this. But
your father, whose character I believed in before the process, has
shown a character that inspires me now more than ever.
I want to ask you two to never stop believing in the ideals of this
Nation because it is why your father is who he is. Your parents told me
their fealty to America, their love of this country, has not faltered.
It is this great tradition of people who love America so much, even
when America doesn't love them back. It is people in this country, from
McCarthyism to the bigotry and hate of slavery, who kept working to
change this country and make it better.
I ask the two of you to embrace your parents' way, to love America,
to believe in her, and to know that this Nation needs you and your
family.
I believe sometimes we have the most difficult moments to make way
for better days ahead. I believe in people and their potential and
ability to make a difference.
We are in a moment right now where too many leaders in our country
subscribe to a politics of division. We are in a moment where we are
seeing a rise of hate. I think it is an inflection point, and I think
this is the point--and perhaps yours is the generation--to take our
Nation in a better direction.
I believe, in many ways, your dad's steadfast love of country and the
fact that he is unbowed by this process, I think that that is, in many
ways, the foundation that is going to help us as a nation go forward.
I want to end with a poem my parents read me. I told your dad--and I
got emotional when I talked to him earlier today--that when I looked at
the two of you, I saw my brother and me.
Cary and I were raised by two parents, the first ever to integrate an
all-White neighborhood. My parents faced the same kind of awful
indignities as many people who are different in that they weren't
allowed to buy their house. They had to get a White couple to pose as
them--I was just a baby at that time--in order to be the first Black
family to move in.
On the day of the closing on the house, when the White couple didn't
show up and my father did, and a lawyer--like your father--the real
estate agent didn't capitulate; he actually punched the lawyer in the
face and sicced a Doberman pinscher on my dad.
We eventually got the owners of the home to sell us the house and
moved in, but my parents were conscious my entire childhood that there
is hate in this world, there is bigotry in this world. It was the
tunnel that you had to come through to be in the very house where you
lived. But they never wanted us to stop loving America and loving other
people. They wanted us to know that there were going to be times in
life when you are going to face hatred and that would never define you.
What will define you is how you respond to it.
What your father gave America is a master's class on how to respond
to lies, bigotry, and hatred--organized and financed. What your father
showed
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is, in that darkness, he could bring light.
So my parents wanted me to be like your dad in life; that if I faced
the worst bigotry and hate, that I did not stop loving, that I did not
stop loving others and loving Americans. And they would find ways to
inspire me.
So I want to read you all one of the poems my parents shared with
me--not the whole poem but a few sections. It is by a woman named Maya
Angelou, and it is a poem called ``Still I Rise.''
You may write me down in history
with your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
To two young men, growing up in a great nation, to Azmir and Zaaran,
I rise today to tell you that this is a great nation, to remind you
that your father has made it greater, and to tell you that I am full of
hope that the two of you will rise up and help our Nation redeem its
difficult past and seize for itself an even greater future.
God bless the two of you. In sha' Allah, you two will make America
even greater.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
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