[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 27981]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING THE WORKS OF JESSE JACKSON

  (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker and Members, 1984 and 1988 were the proudest 
and most productive periods of my life. Jesse Jackson ran for President 
both in 1984 and 1988, and I served as the national co-Chair and the 
Chair of the California campaign. I was so pleased to be a part of the 
Rainbow Coalition he formed that included African Americans, Hispanics, 
Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, family farmers, the 
poor and working class, homosexuals, as well as white progressives. It 
truly was a Rainbow Coalition.
  Listen to Jesse Jackson's campaign platform. Jobs. Creating a Works 
Progress Administration-style program to rebuild America's 
infrastructure; reversing Reaganomics-inspired tax cuts; cutting the 
budget of the Department of Defense by as much as 15 percent over the 
course of his administration; supporting family farmers by reviving 
many of Roosevelt's New Deal-era platforms; creating a single-payer 
system of universal health care; and applying stricter enforcement of 
the Voting Rights Act.
  Jesse Jackson, thank you for the leadership that you provided. It is 
because of you and the hope that you created that has caused Barack 
Obama to be the President today.

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