[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19620-19621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, one of the pleasures I have as a Member of 
Congress, having served in the House and the Senate, is having the 
opportunity to meet people who are special, unique. During the time 
that I have had in Congress to meet some of these individuals, I have 
in my own frame of reference chosen a number of heroes. One of those 
heroes is a Congressman from the Fifth District of Georgia by the name 
of John Lewis.
  At home last night, I read Newsweek magazine. I saw an opinion piece 
written by my hero, John Lewis. This appeared on page 52 of this week's 
Newsweek magazine, entitled ``Opinion: A Civil-rights Leader Mourns an 
African-American Population Left Behind.''

[[Page 19621]]

  I will read what John Lewis said:

       I was headed to New Orleans as a Freedom Rider in May of 
     1961. It would've been my first visit, but we were arrested 
     in Jackson, Miss., and never made it. In happier times, 
     though, I have been able to visit New Orleans over the years. 
     It's one of my favorite cities, one of the great Southern 
     cities. The people are friendly, warm, helpful. In the old 
     part of the city, there's so much history when you walk down 
     Canal Street or Royal. One of my favorite places is a shop on 
     Royal where they have lots of art posters by African-American 
     artists. After Katrina, there's a loss of the music, the 
     restaurants and the character in addition to the unbelievable 
     loss of lives. Maybe we will never know the number of people 
     who have been lost.
       It's very painful for me to watch and read about what is 
     happening. I have a sense of righteous indignation. I think 
     all Americans should rise up and speak out. It's not like 9/
     11 that just happened. We saw this in the making. The media 
     told us for days this storm was coming and for years people 
     have been telling us we need to do something to prepare. It 
     took us so many days to make the full force of the government 
     available afterwards.
       In 1957, during the crisis in Little Rock and President 
     Dwight Eisenhower--maybe he was reluctant, maybe he had some 
     reservations--but he put the full force of the government 
     behind the decision to desegregate Central High. During the 
     Freedom Rides, President John Kennedy didn't hesitate to 
     federalize the National Guard and put the whole city of 
     Montgomery under martial law. It's baffling to me that we 
     didn't have the ability or the will to do something much 
     earlier. We still haven't had the passionate statement that 
     should be made by officials in this administration.
       It's so glaring that the great majority of people crying 
     out for help are poor, they're black. There's a whole segment 
     of society that's being left behind. When you tell people to 
     evacuate, these people didn't have any way to leave. They 
     didn't have any cars, any SUVs.
       It's so strange that when we have something like this 
     happening, the president gets two ex-presidents--his father 
     and Bill Clinton--to raise money. What they propose to do is 
     good and I appreciate all the work the private sector and the 
     faith-based community are doing. But when we get ready to go 
     to war, we don't go around soliciting resources with a bucket 
     or an offering plate. We have the courage to come before 
     Congress and debate the issue, authorize money. That's what 
     we need to do here. By next year we'll have spent $400 to 500 
     billion in Afghanistan and Iraq. That money could be used to 
     help rebuild the lives of people. If we fail to act as a 
     nation, I don't think history will be kind to us.
       We've got to do more than the $10 billion that Congress 
     appropriated. We need a massive Marshall-type plan to rebuild 
     New Orleans. But in rebuilding we should see this as an 
     opportunity to rebuild urban America. New Orleans could be a 
     model. There must be a commitment of billions and billions of 
     dollars--maybe $50 to 100 billion. I think even in other 
     urban centers, there are people who are just barely existing. 
     We sing the song ``hope is on the way,'' but it's taking a 
     long time before hope arrives. It becomes very discouraging 
     where you see people dying--children, the elderly, the sick--
     the lack of food and water. I've cried a lot of tears the 
     past few days as I watched television--to see some body lying 
     dead outside the convention center. I went to Somalia in 1992 
     and I saw little babies dying before my eyes. This reminded 
     me of Somalia. But this is America. We're not a third-world 
     country. This is an embarrassment. It's a shame. It's a 
     national disgrace.
       John Lewis is the U.S. Congressman from the 5th District of 
     Georgia.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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