[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16842-16846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1500
   APOLOGIZING FOR THE ENSLAVEMENT AND RACIAL SEGREGATION OF AFRICAN-
                               AMERICANS

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 194) apologizing for the enslavement and racial 
segregation of African-Americans, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 194

       Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were 
     enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies 
     from 1619 through 1865;
       Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of 
     involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were 
     captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or 
     animals;
       Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, 
     humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of 
     being stripped of their names and heritage;
       Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been 
     sold separately from one another;
       Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism 
     against persons of African descent upon which it depended 
     became entrenched in the Nation's social fabric;
       Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the 
     passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States 
     Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War;
       Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, 
     African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, 
     and economic gains they made during Reconstruction 
     eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, 
     disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws 
     that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial 
     segregation in virtually all areas of life;
       Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as 
     ``Jim Crow,'' which arose in certain parts of the Nation 
     following the Civil War to create separate and unequal 
     societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct 
     result of the racism against persons of African descent 
     engendered by slavery;
       Whereas a century after the official end of slavery in 
     America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to 
     eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow 
     throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still 
     linger to this day;
       Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the 
     complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow--long after 
     both systems were formally abolished--through enormous damage 
     and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of 
     human dignity, the frustration of careers and professional 
     lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;
       Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure 
     segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing 
     atrocities committed against them should not be purged from 
     or minimized in the telling of American history;
       Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, 
     Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush 
     acknowledged slavery's continuing legacy in American life and 
     the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery 
     ``was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The 
     racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or 
     with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble 
     America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. 
     But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and 
     justice for all.'';
       Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-
     seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism 
     against African-Americans that began with slavery when he 
     initiated a national dialogue about race;
       Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary 
     first step in the process of racial reconciliation;
       Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization 
     and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the 
     wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation 
     and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;
       Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has 
     recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially 
     expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State 
     legislatures have adopted or are considering similar 
     resolutions; and
       Whereas it is important for this country, which legally 
     recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to 
     make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim 
     Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, 
     justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with the 
     basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of 
     Independence that all men are created equal;
       (2) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, 
     brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;
       (3) apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people 
     of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them 
     and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; 
     and
       (4) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering 
     consequences of the misdeeds committed against African 
     Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the 
     occurrence of human rights violations in the future.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 194, which 
is bipartisan legislation apologizing for the enslavement and the 
continued racial segregation of African Americans. For numerous 
Congresses past, similar resolutions have been introduced, but none 
have made it to the floor for consideration by the full House. So I 
salute my colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee, a member of the 
Judiciary Committee, the Honorable Steve Cohen, for his leadership and 
indefatigable energy in bringing us to this point in support of this 
resolution which he has created.
  While much progress has been made since the civil rights era, the 
legacy of slavery and Jim Crow is still at the root of many critical 
issues facing the African American community today; educational 
opportunities, health care access, business capital, they are still 
victimized by crime, and many other socioeconomic considerations.
  Our friend the former President, Bill Clinton, expressed his regrets 
over the Nation's role in the slave trade. The current President, 
George W. Bush, described it as ``one of the greatest crimes of 
history.'' A number of States, Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, 
Virginia and New Jersey, have made moving apologies in their own ways. 
Now, with an official United States Government apology before us, this 
measure will take us another step forward toward the national healing, 
atonement and continued progress that must be made along these lines.
  The discussion of race is a sensitive, difficult issue even today in 
our society. And, of course, the apology is not the end of the story, 
but it does reaffirm our national commitment to understanding and 
addressing, in the words of the resolution, how to rectify the 
lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African 
Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of 
human rights violations in the future.
  So I am proud to join the many Members on both sides of the aisle 
that have helped us bring this suspension forward today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.

[[Page 16843]]

  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 194 appropriately reminds us of the horrors of 
slavery. Slavery was a stain on our original Constitution. It took the 
blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans who died in the Civil War 
to erase that stain and to pave the way for passage of the Civil War 
amendments to our Constitution. We must never forget that.
  This resolution exhorts us not to repeat the mistakes of the past. I 
would like to address two of those mistakes in some of this time.
  One of the clauses of this resolution notes that after emancipation 
from 246 years of slavery, African Americans soon saw the fleeting 
political, social and economic gains they made during Reconstruction 
eviscerated by virulent racism and lynching.
  It is worth noting in that regard that the government's campaign 
against the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction Era included the use 
of military commissions approved by Congress to try those vicious 
terrorists of the day. Klan terrorists disguised in plain clothes 
embarked on a campaign of terror that included lynchings, 
assassinations and even the disemboweling of their innocent victims.
  The experience, Mr. Speaker, of that period, presaged the dangers of 
extending habeas corpus litigation rights to enemy terrorists today. 
The campaign to defeat the Klan collapsed during the Reconstruction Era 
when Klansmen asserted habeas litigation rights in Federal court 
against their captors.
  As one historian has written, the result of the required legal 
release of the Klan was that Klansmen not only escaped punishment, they 
turned the law on their erstwhile prosecutors with a series of suits 
and harassments that drove some of them from the State as fugitives. No 
sooner had Colonel George W. Kirk, the local commander, brought his 
prisoners to Raleigh, then two of them sued him for false arrest. He 
was released on bond and returned to his command, while other similar 
suits accumulated against him. In effect, he became a refugee from 
process servers and sheriffs, protected by his own soldiers.
  I fear the Supreme Court has repeated that mistake today by granting 
terrorists habeas litigation rights to challenge their detentions in 
Federal Court. Resolutions like the one we consider now help to remind 
the Nation of the mistakes of the past so they will not be repeated in 
the future.
  This resolution also expresses a commitment to rectifying the 
lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African 
Americans under slavery and Jim Crow. Those misdeeds, of course, were 
premised in the notion that people should be treated differently on 
account of their race.
  One the most significant civil rights developments out of the 2006 
elections was passage of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, an 
amendment to the Michigan State Constitution that passed by a wide 
margin, 58 percent to 42 percent. The Civil Rights Initiative in 
relevant part reads simply, and I have heard Ward Connerly make this 
statement in person and it booms from his voice and it reaches my 
heart, Mr. Speaker. It says, ``The State shall not discriminate against 
or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis 
of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of 
public employment, public education or public contracting.'' Similar 
efforts are underway in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and 
Oklahoma. This resolution reminds us all that American government 
should operate on a color-blind basis.
  As I read through this resolution, I pick out some pieces that don't 
fit my sense of history. I would add that the Civil War is often taught 
to being fought over slavery. The people on the south side of the Mason 
Dixon Line would say it was fought over States' rights. I would say 
among those States' rights was the argument that the Southern States 
could declare their policy with regard to slavery.
  Slavery has put a scar upon the United States that was a component of 
history as it arrived here, and it has been a component of most of the 
history within the continents. It has not, as it says here, imposed a 
rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually 
all areas of life. Subsequent to the Civil War and the emancipation, 
there were many areas in the North that were integrated, socially, 
economically, with a heart to do so, and I think they deserve some 
credit here as well, Mr. Speaker.
  The vestiges of Jim Crow law today, I hope we learn what they are. 
The one I can think of is the Davis-Bacon wage scale. That is a vestige 
of Jim Crow. I can't think of the others.
  I do appreciate the language that says, ``However long the journey, 
our destiny is set: Liberty and justice for all,'' and I mean that 
sincerely. And as this resolution apologizes to African Americans, I 
would correct that and say that there are many African Americans in 
this country who are immigrants from other countries, and they do very 
well here in America. They haven't felt the same sense as those who are 
descended from slaves that lived in this country. So I would say this 
resolution more speaks to the descendants of slaves and those being in 
this country exclusively African Americans.
  I would add that there are some missing components altogether. I 
brought this book because I think it puts some more perspective on this 
as well, Mr. Speaker. This is a book written by Robert Davis, 
``Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters.'' He is a professor, I believe, at 
Ohio State University.
  I have read this carefully. It grips my soul like this subject grips 
my soul. It tells the story of 1.25 million Christian slaves hijacked 
on the seas of the Mediterranean who were subjected to slavery and 
forced to build the edifices along the Barbary Coast and the northern 
coast of Africa. They don't have descendants because they were worked 
to death and dumped overboard from the corsairs, those who pulled on 
the oars instead of built the edifices. Some of the women were pushed 
into being concubines. But, for the most part, this is very 
instructive. It says many of us are descended of relatives of slaves, 
but there are no descendants from these slaves because they didn't 
survive. That is 1.25 million.
  So I think that in this context, this Nation is rising above this 
debate, and I would like to think we have put this debate behind us. I 
know that Chairman Conyers knows my head and my heart on this, and I 
have spoken about how deeply it has affected me to walk into a church 
in Port Gibson, Mississippi, and look up to the balcony and see that 
that balcony was made for African Americans, while white people went to 
church downstairs on the ground floor. It is hard for me to fathom a 
faith that would recognize a division like that, Mr. Speaker.
  I know also that Abraham Lincoln spoke to this subject matter, and 
perhaps I will come back to that.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I yield such 
time as he may consume to the author of the measure before us, the 
distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  It is with pride that I introduced this resolution with 120 
cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, and it is with pride that I 
serve as a Member of this institution and this building that was built 
with slave labor and for which the new Visitors Gallery will be known 
as Emancipation Hall. It was the gentleman from this side of the aisle, 
the party of Lincoln, Representative Zach Wamp from my State, and this 
side of the aisle, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., who eloquently 
spoke to a subcommittee of which I am a member urging the remembrance 
and recognition of the work of the slaves who helped construct this 
magnificent Capitol Building and have the entryway named Emancipation 
Hall.
  This country had an institution of slavery for 246 years and followed 
it with Jim Crow laws that denied people equal opportunities under the 
law. There was segregation in the South and other places in this 
country at least through the year 1965 when civil rights laws were 
passed.

[[Page 16844]]

  There were separate water fountains for people marked ``white'' and 
``colored''; there were separate restaurants; there were separate 
hotels; there were job opportunities that were not available to African 
Americans; there were theaters that were segregated. It is hard to 
imagine today in 2008 that such a society existed and was sanctioned by 
law, that the laws of this Nation provided for segregation and enforced 
fugitive slave laws.
  In fact, the history of slavery goes not just through the 
Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to our 
Constitution, but, as so eloquently written just yesterday in the 
Baltimore Sun in an editorial by Mr. Leonard Pitts, Jr., that slavery 
existed up until about World War II, but it was a form of slavery where 
people were bought and sold for debts. It was slavery by another name.
  In a book called ``Slavery by Another Name'' by Douglas Blackman, a 
correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, he talked about a convict 
leasing system in the South where poor black men were routinely 
snatched up and tried on false, petty or nonexistent charges by 
compliant courts, assessed some fine they could not afford, and then 
put into the servitude of an individual who bought them. This system 
continued up until World War II.
  The fact is slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest 
Nation on the face of the Earth and the greatest government ever 
conceived by man. But when we conceived this government and we said all 
men were created equal, we didn't in fact make all men equal, nor did 
we make women equal.
  We have worked to form a more perfect Union, and part of forming a 
more perfect Union is laws, and part of it is such a resolution as we 
have before us today where we face up to our mistakes and we apologize, 
as anyone should apologize for things that were done in the past that 
were wrong, and we begin a dialogue that hopefully will lead us to a 
better understanding of where we are in America today and why certain 
conditions exist.
  In 1997, President Clinton talked to the Nation about the problem 
that this country had with race, and he wanted a national dialogue. He 
considered an apology for slavery. I happened to run into President 
Clinton at that time at the Amtrak station here in Washington and 
discussed with him having an apology for Jim Crow as well as slavery. I 
encompassed that in a letter dated July 2, 1997, that as a State 
senator from Tennessee I wrote to President Clinton.

                              {time}  1515

  In that letter, I urged him to have a slavery apology and a Jim Crow 
apology, and to mark it on the 30th anniversary of the assassination of 
Dr. Martin Luther King, an event that tragically took place in April of 
1968 in my city, and that the appropriate time for President Clinton to 
have that apology would be on that 30th anniversary.
  In going through my papers as I was elected to Congress, I found this 
letter and I thought about it and I said to myself, ``You are a Member 
of Congress. You don't need to wait on a response from the President of 
the United States, which, my friend, the President's office failed to 
make a response. I can take action myself.'' So I introduced the 
resolution in February of 2007, with 120 sponsors joining me as time 
went on. It is important on this day that we admit our error, that we 
apologize.
  I have been in this body and voted with the rest of the body on a 
unanimous voice vote to encourage, this past year, the Japanese 
government to apologize for its use of Chinese women as comfort women 
during the war, and not a voice was raised questioning that resolution 
which passed unanimously on us calling on a foreign country to 
apologize for its use of comfort women.
  Twenty years ago, this Congress passed a bill apologizing for the 
internment of Japanese citizens during World War II. In fact, 
subsequent to the consideration of this resolution, the distinguished 
lady from California (Ms. Matsui) has a resolution recognizing and 
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage of that bill.
  This Congress did the right thing in apologizing for the imprisonment 
of Japanese Americans during World War II and in encouraging the 
Japanese government to apologize for the use of comfort women. But the 
fact that this government has not apologized to its own citizens, 
African Americans, for the institution of slavery and for the Jim Crow 
laws that followed, and accepted that fact and encouraged changes in 
our dialogue and understanding and the actions of this country to 
rectify that, is certainly a mistake, and today we rectify that 
mistake.
  This is a symbolic resolution, but hopefully it will begin a dialogue 
where people will open their hearts and their minds to the problems 
that face this country from racism that exists in this country on both 
sides and which must end if we are to go forward as the country that we 
were created to be and which we are destined to be.
  So it is with great honor that I speak on this resolution and urge 
the Members of this body to pass this historic resolution, recognize 
our errors, but also recognize the greatness of this country; because 
only a great country can recognize and admit its mistakes, and then 
travel forth to create indeed a more perfect union that works to bring 
people of all races, religions, and creeds together in unity as 
Americans, part of the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the time, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote unanimously to pass this resolution today.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  As I listened to this debate, Mr. Speaker, I looked back through some 
documents that I made sure that I could take a look at before I came to 
floor, and one of them is H. Res. 1237. That is a resolution that 
passed here on 18 June 2008. And that date is timely, because it 
recognizes in the House of Representatives President Lincoln's 
Emancipation Proclamation, but it recognizes especially Juneteenth, the 
date upon which the last slaves were freed. And that was roughly about 
2 years from the time that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation 
Proclamation. And it takes me to this point that I think is an 
important discussion.
  This is a piece of information that I gathered from a Washington 
historian, and I qualify it a little bit because I haven't gone back 
and Googled it, I haven't checked Wikipedia, but I like this story so 
much that I want to tell it as qualified in that fashion, from a 
respectable Washington historian, but this way:
  When President Lincoln was considering signing the Emancipation 
Proclamation, he reportedly called his cabinet together. They sat 
around the cabinet table, and President Lincoln laid out his argument 
that he wanted to emancipate the slaves. And so as he made the 
argument, the men--it would have all been men sitting around the 
cabinet table then in 1863. He turned to the first cabinet member and 
said, ``What say you?'' The first cabinet member reportedly said, ``Mr. 
President, you can't free the slaves. Those who are under your control 
and authority and jurisdiction are already free; they are north of the 
Mason-Dixon Line. Those on the other side, you can't reach because they 
are protected by the Confederate Army.''
  And Lincoln turned to the next cabinet man and said, ``What say 
you?'' The next cabinet member said, ``Mr. President, I would suggest 
that there are men fighting in Union uniforms today that aren't so 
enthusiastic about ending slavery. They really want to defend the North 
and they want to defend the colors that we have, but there are really 
some racists in the Army. So you are going to lose their support if you 
emancipate the slaves.''
  And he went to the next cabinet member and the next cabinet member, 
and each one came up with a different argument. As it came around the 
table, every single cabinet member had said to President Lincoln, ``Mr. 
President, do not sign the Emancipation Proclamation. My advice to you 
is there isn't enough upside to offset the downside.'' Or, as we say 
today, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

[[Page 16845]]

  President Lincoln reportedly said, ``Well, gentlemen, the aye has 
it,'' and signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Now whether that story is true or not, and I know there are a lot of 
urban legends around Lincoln, I really love that story, because that 
shows the character and the quality of leadership that we had in the 
White House at that time, and also a man who gave his life for the 
emancipation of the slaves. A man who believed it. A man who had such a 
strong conviction that when I stand at the Lincoln Memorial and I read 
the words of President Lincoln's second inaugural address that say, 
``Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled up by 
the bondsmen's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until 
every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn 
with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said 
`the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' ''
  Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, the central part being: 
If the price to be paid was until every drop of blood drawn by the 
bondsmen's lash be paid by another drawn with the sword, Mr. Speaker, 
that is the powerful vision that there was a sin on this Nation, and 
Abraham Lincoln understood that. And 600,000 Americans died in the 
conflict to free the slaves.
  I brought with me, this is my great, great, five times great uncle's 
Bible. This is the Bible that he carried in his shirt pocket for 3 
years during the Civil War. If I open it up, I can show you fly specs 
and verses that are written in this Bible. His sister presented to it 
to him on the eve of his departure for the war, and he returned with it 
in his shirt pocket 3 years to the day. I found his grave when I was 
trimming grass around the gravestones for Memorial Day. No one knew 
where he had been buried. This is John Richardson's Bible. My great 
grandfather five times great was killed in the Civil War. All of his 
artifacts are lost. This remains. This remains as a connection to me, 
to my family members who were strong and powerful and committed 
abolitionists, and some of them gave their lives to free the slaves.
  So as I read this resolution today, Mr. Speaker, I don't see a 
reference of gratitude for all the blood that was given by people to 
end slavery. I think that needs to be part of this record as well. The 
horrible price that was paid to pay back in blood drawn by the sword 
for every drop of blood drawn by the bondsmen's lash. That is a point, 
too, that the next generations need to learn and need to hear.
  And then with the balance of this discussion, Mr. Speaker, I just 
would emphasize that this Nation threw off the yoke of slavery. We rose 
above it because we had a strong conviction as a people, we had a 
strong religious faith that rejected slavery as a sin against this 
Nation. We can be proud of the price that was paid to free the slaves. 
And it was a struggle of 100 years to pass the Civil Rights Act that 
lifted another level. And here we are today at a point where I look 
forward to the time when we can say we are fully integrated and there 
is no vestige of slavery and no vestige of racism, and an understanding 
that we are all God's children created in his image. And because he has 
blessed us with enough distinctions that we can tell each other apart, 
it is no reason for us to discriminate for or against anyone, as Ward 
Connerly says and as the Civil Rights Initiative in Michigan says so.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
House Resolution 194, a resolution that apologizes for the enslavement 
and segregation of African-Americans.
  This is a significant moment in our nation's history when the nearly 
20-year fight to consider federal legislation that apologizes for 
slavery has at last become a reality. Indeed, it is fitting that we 
consider legislation of this content and caliber at this time. A global 
trend has emerged within the 21st Century in which governments have 
apologized for slavery and discriminatory laws and promised to work 
toward a better future.
  Within the past year, states that were once members of the former 
Confederacy and were a cesspool for racist and bigoted laws and 
practices did something that no state had done before: they apologized 
for the enslavement of black people in this country. More than 240 
years after the abolition of slavery and more than four decades after 
the abolition of Jim Crow, it is time for the federal government to do 
the same.
  In 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese-Americans for holding them 
in concentration camps during World War II. Congress expressed regret 
for its policies on Hawaii a century after the native Hawaiian kingdom 
was overthrown. And just five years ago, the Senate apologized for not 
enacting anti-lynching legislation that would have saved the lives of 
thousands of black people across the South.
  America's greatness is exemplified in part by our ability to evolve. 
Under federal and state laws and customs, African Americans were denied 
their fundamental rights from 1619 until 1965. Today, we show our 
growth by officially acknowledging the wrongful actions and policies 
that were targeted toward African-Americans during slavery and Jim 
Crow.
  Sadly, there are some who continue to oppose Congress apologizing for 
slavery and segregation. They see apologizing as a futile action that 
is too little too late. Others contend that an official apology would 
do more harm that good and would conjure painful images from the past 
that would fuel resentment. These assertions miss the point.
  Failure to pass this resolution that acknowledges the wrongness of 
slavery and segregation would send the dangerous message that America 
is unwilling to come to terms with one of the first and last great 
atrocities that it placed on its citizens through the rule of law. 
Slavery and racial segregation were permitted through federal law and 
our government must express the appropriate and long-overdue remorse 
for its tolerance of this injustice.
  As we all know, Mr. Speaker, words matter. ``All men are created 
equal,'' is perhaps one of the most famous phrases in American history. 
In our nation's infancy, this statement encompassed the principles of a 
country that promised to protect the freedom and well-being of its new 
citizens. Yet it was written when hundreds of thousands of black men, 
women and children were enslaved and counted as only \3/5\ of a person 
under the Constitution. Nevertheless, President Abraham Lincoln later 
used this phrase to argue that the institution of slavery contradicted 
our nation's most fundamental values. This statement proved that 
America had the potential and duty to become a fairer and more equal 
nation.
  The legal abolishment of slavery did not translate into the end of 
racial inequality. Equally, the legal abolishment of Jim Crow has not 
translated into the elimination of disparities. The reality is that 
although the men, women and children who were enslaved in this country 
are long gone, the wealth, culture, and even the congressional 
buildings that they helped construct remain.
  Indeed, in the years following Jim Crow, blacks have undoubtedly 
taken advantage of increased opportunities and have achieved in every 
imaginable sector. 246 years after emancipation and 43 years after the 
abolishment of legal segregation, the United States has made serious 
improvements in drafting and implementing policies that encourage 
equality. However, it would be wrong to conclude that these successes 
negate the fact that 346 years of oppression have contributed to the 
economic and health disparities that continue to affect much of the 
black community.
  On this historic day, we must recommit ourselves to bringing about an 
end to these disparities and injustices. And in passing this 
resolution, the House will send a message to the American people and 
others that the most powerful nation in the world is willing to look 
honestly at some of the most shameful parts of its history, accept 
responsibility, and apologize for its actions. Together, we will 
continue to lay the necessary foundation to build a stronger future.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 194, 
a resolution apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of 
African Americans. I thank Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Conyers, and 
Congressman Cohen for their efforts to bring this resolution to the 
floor and affording the House of Representatives the opportunity to 
apologize for America's Original Sin.
  Mr. Speaker, slavery in America resembled no other form of 
involuntary servitude known in history, as millions of Africans were 
captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals during 
the 246 years between 1619 and 1865. The Africans forced into slavery 
were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and stripped of their names, 
heritage, and dignity. Enslaved families were torn apart at the whim of 
their owners and sold as chattel.

[[Page 16846]]

  Mr. Speaker, slavery was officially abolished with the passage of the 
13th Amendment in 1865 and for the next 12 years African-Americans made 
fleeting political, social, and economic gains during Reconstruction, 
nearly all of which vanished under the system of de jure racial 
segregation known as `Jim Crow,' which thrived in certain parts of the 
Nation for nearly the next hundred years.
  Under the system of de jure segregation, African Americans could not 
vote, could not give evidence in court against a white person, were 
prohibited from marrying outside of their race, could not enter certain 
professions, could not serve on juries, and enjoyed few, if any, rights 
that whites were bound to respect. That is what the Supreme Court had 
decreed 27 years before in the Dred Scott decision in 1850.
  Mr. Speaker, the end of Reconstruction in 1877 ushered in a period of 
oppression and terror for African Americans. The withdrawal of the 
Federal Government's protection, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the 
proliferation of the ``Black Codes,'' and the Supreme Court's infamous 
decision in Plessy v. Ferguson combined to ensure that African 
Americans would treated as second-class citizens forced to lead 
separate and unequal lives for four more generations.
  Mr. Speaker, it is difficult for many today to understand just how 
oppressive it was for African Americans to live under the regime of Jim 
Crow. For those who couldn't understand why African Americans were so 
impatient to overcome segregation, Dr. King explained why ``we can't 
wait'' in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

       ``[W]hen you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging 
     signs reading ``white'' and ``colored''; when your first name 
     becomes ``nigger,'' your middle name becomes ``boy'' (however 
     old you are) and your last name becomes ``John,'' and your 
     wife and mother are never given the respected title ``Mrs.''; 
     when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact 
     that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, 
     never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with 
     inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever 
     fighting a degenerating sense of ``nobodiness'' then you will 
     understand why we find it difficult to wait.''

  America has made great strides in overcoming its Original Sin thanks 
to the modern Civil Rights Movement, which ushered in the Second 
American Revolution led by giants like Thurgood Marshall and the Rev. 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  But we still have some distance to go before we will have fully 
perfected our Union. Even today there remain the badges and vestiges of 
slavery. African-Americans continue to suffer the consequences of the 
damage they suffered, both tangible and intangible, to human dignity, 
including the loss of life, the deprivations of liberty, the long-term 
loss of income, and denial of opportunity.
  Mr. Speaker, just because we can never fully repay the debt owed to 
those enslaved and their descendants does not mean that we cannot 
acknowledge this tragic period in our nation's history and try to atone 
for it. That is the least we can do.
  The resolution before us is an excellent start and I strongly support 
it.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Res. 194, ``Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of 
African-Americans,'' introduced by my distinguished colleague from 
Tennessee, Representative Steve Cohen, of which I am a cosponsor. This 
important legislation expresses Congress's remorse for America's past 
treatment of African-Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that many would think it a non-issue to address 
the events of over 135 years ago, but the legacy of slavery and racial 
segregation continues to have a profound impact on American society. 
The social and economic disparity lives on, as do hatred, bias, and 
discrimination. The consequences of the slave trade have been profound 
and the scars that it produced still have not healed. Despite two 
centuries of progress, the African American community continues to feel 
the impact of slavery and subsequent years of racism and persecution. 
Our fight for equality and against injustice against all must continue.
  We must recognize and in some small way try to rectify our past. As 
the famous saying goes, ``those who cannot remember the past are 
condemned to repeat it.'' This Bill will serve as a testimony to the 
great injustices that African-Americans suffered at the hands of the 
United States, and subsequently allow Members of Congress to learn from 
the past in order to not repeat similar injustices in the future.
  The United States today serves as a moral compass for the rest of the 
world and as such we must provide a voice for race issues. Our 
willingness to confront our Nation's past and to address the impact 
which slavery and racial segregation have had on our society 
strengthens our undeterred commitment to serving as an advocate for 
human rights and freedom in the international community.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 194, ``Apologizing 
for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.'' This 
legislation acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, 
and inhumanity of slavery and racial segregation in the United States. 
By doing so, the United States will remember our Nation's wrongdoings 
in order to not repeat our mistakes.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
H. Res. 194, a resolution that apologizes for the enslavement and 
racial segregation of African-Americans.
  It may be unimaginable today, but for more than 240 years, until 
1865, in the 13 original colonies and the United States, there were 
men, women, and children forced to labor in bondage and bought and sold 
as property. It is a dark and shameful historic truth that this Nation 
must acknowledge and seek to remedy. Those who were enslaved and those 
who owned slaves have all passed away long ago. Yet, the historic 
legacy and pain of slavery is a reality we continue to struggle with as 
a nation.
  As slavery evolved into racial segregation, a new pain and hardship 
was inflicted upon African-Americans. While far less severe than 
slavery, it was no less degrading and demoralizing. This is also a 
painful historical legacy we have rejected as a nation. Still, this 
legacy took place in my lifetime and should be remembered, reflected 
upon, and aggressively attacked when it reemerges ``officially'' in our 
cities, neighborhoods and schools.
  This resolution is courageous and correct. I commend Mr. Cohen, its 
author, because it is meaningful for the U.S. House of Representatives 
to make this public apology. As a former social studies teacher, I 
taught my students that we cannot change history, but we must learn 
from history and use its lessons to make the future better for all 
mankind. Respect, tolerance and the elimination of prejudice and racism 
are actions we can take as individuals and as a society today.
  We have an opportunity today and everyday, as lawmakers here in 
Congress and as citizens across this country, to recommit ourselves to 
seek an end to racial inequality and injustice, and to seek greater 
unity among all Americans. To keep moving forward towards racial 
equality in America requires recognizing past injustice and to this 
end, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. I 
thank the gentlemen for their cooperation along with this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 194, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground 
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum 
is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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