[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16512]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 16512]]

    UNITED STATES DECISION TO PULL OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD 
                       CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Under a previous order of the


House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong opposition 
and disappointment with the Bush administration's decision to end the 
United States participation in the World Conference Against Racism and 
not to even send initially Secretary of State Colin Powell to represent 
our interests.
  Once again, the United States is on the wrong side of history. I 
traveled to South Africa to participate in the World Conference Against 
Racism as a congressional adviser, along with several of my colleagues 
with the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Prior to attending the conference, I joined my colleagues in urging 
the Bush administration to send a high-level delegation led by 
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
  As we all know, the decision of the United States to not participate 
in the conference was based on language in the draft document that 
would have resurrected the controversial debate of Zionism equals 
racism. Why then, on such an important issue, was the Secretary of 
State prevented from making every effort, and I mean every effort, to 
get rid of this destructive language? He should have been there doing 
that.
  I am totally convinced that the United States should have been 
represented by Secretary Powell because he is well respected, very 
bright, and probably would have been able to help the conference move 
forward by insisting that it stay focused on its purpose, the 
elimination of racism, rather than the Middle East crisis, which 
warrants our full attention in trying to get the peace process back on 
track.
  America should have asserted its leadership by fully engaging in the 
world conference against racism, not by detaching from it.
  It is an outrageous insult to millions of Americans that our first 
African American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was not allowed to 
join in this important discussion. Many Americans are equally and 
rightfully outraged by the Bush administration's decision.
  We know, I know, this House knows, that this country has a long 
history embedded in racism. Full participation in the conference would 
have sent a message that the United States was joining the world in 
efforts to discuss strategies to eliminate racism, xenophobia, sexism, 
hate crimes, religious intolerance, and other forms of intolerance. No 
other country has this tragic history as we do. Who else should be 
leading the world community in addressing this? We should.
  However, the manner in which the United States has addressed the 
World Conference Against Racism is really a disgrace. It is a slap in 
the face to millions of Americans who have been affected by past United 
States policies rooted in racist ideology and are dealing with the 
consequences each and every day in their daily lives.
  The United States is sending a message that it is indifferent to the 
issues of circumstances facing Native Americans, Latino and Hispanic 
Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, as well as African Americans. I 
firmly believe that this is a grave mistake and a missed opportunity of 
the greatest magnitude.
  The World Conference Against Racism provided an important and 
credible platform to address racism in all its forms. This platform is 
also critical to the discussion of the 10 priority action points of 
consensus presented by the Africans and African descendents at the 
conference, and should have been embraced by the conference and by the 
United States Government.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record this statement on the Ten 
Priority Action Points.
  The document referred to is as follows:

                Ten Priority Action Points of Consensus


                 african and african descendants caucus

       1. The Slave Trade, Slavery and colonialism are crimes 
     against humanity.
       2. Reparations for Africans and African Descendants.
       3. Recognition of the economic basis of racism.
       4. Adoption of corrective national (domestic) public 
     policies with emphasis on environmental racism and health 
     care.
       5. Adoption of culture-specific development policies.
       6. The adoption of mechanisms to combat the interconnection 
     of race and poverty, and the role that globalization (caused 
     by governments and the private sector) has in this 
     interconnection.
       7. Adoption of mechanisms to combat racism in the criminal 
     punishment (penal) system.
       8. Reform of the legal system including national 
     constitutional reforms and development of international and 
     regional mechanisms for dismantling racism.
       9. Adoption of policies specific to African and African 
     Descendant Women that recognize and address the intersection 
     of race and gender.
       10. Support for the adoption of policies that recognize and 
     address the intersection of race and sexual orientation.

  Mr. Speaker, the United States Government sanctioned slavery for 
hundreds of years, completely devastating the lives of generations and 
generations of Africans in America. It is long past time that this 
government formally deal with its participation in the institution of 
slavery and to begin the healing process for millions of Americans who 
are descendents of slaves.
  The United States should be leading the charge to address the lasting 
impact of the transatlantic slave trade, what to do about it, and 
specifically to discuss reparations. We cannot forget that America's 
racism is rooted in the institution of slavery. That must be dealt with 
in order to move forward as a healed and healthy country.
  As an African American woman and a Member of Congress, it is 
embarrassing that this miscalculated and callous decision to abandon 
the conference will once again leave the United States out of serious 
international dialogue.
  Racism is a fundamental question of human rights, and in the House 
Committee on International Relations and here on the floor we regularly 
question human rights practices in other countries. It is equally 
important that we apply the same scrutiny to our own society and 
examine the easily recognizable vestiges of slavery manifested in the 
current racial and economic divides that we experience today.
  The World Conference Against Racism provided our government with a 
credible platform to do this. Yet once again, as with the previous two 
conferences, we are absent.
  I want to urge my colleagues to support legislation offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), H.R. 40, which would commission 
a study to examine the effects of slavery and to begin a substantive 
discussion which I believe will move us forward toward healing our 
Nation. This legislation must move forward.
  Again, let me reiterate my deep disappointment at the decision of the 
administration to pull out of this conference. The next time this 
opportunity presents itself, the United States not only needs to attend 
this conference, but to host it.

                          ____________________