[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3428-3432]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Williams). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all of 
those associated with leadership who have allowed us to have this time 
tonight to discuss Black History Month.
  As you are aware, Black History Month has not always been a month. It 
started out as a week. The father of Black History Week, which evolved 
into Black History Month, was Mr. Carter G. Woodson. In fact, he is 
renowned for not only his having started this time and made it a part 
of the annual events that we celebrate, but he is also known for his 
writings.
  I would like to read an excerpt from his book, ``The Mis-Education of 
the Negro.'' Dr. Woodson encapsulated a significant point with this 
passage that I shall read.
  He indicates:

       When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry 
     about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here 
     or go yonder. He will find his proper place and he will stay 
     in it.
       You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go 
     without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he 
     will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it 
     necessary.

  Dr. Carter G. Woodson wrote this in 1933. In 1933, he was trying to 
call to the attention of our country the plight of the American Negro. 
The plight was one that involved the mentality of the American Negro. 
He was calling to our attention how education was appropriate for the 
American Negro to become the independent person that could do for 
himself and take care of

[[Page 3429]]

himself and live a life that was based upon his fulfilling his role in 
the American Dream. This was in 1933.
  I am honored today that we have a resolution that we have filed with 
the House, H. Res. 481. This resolution recognizes the significance of 
Black History Month.

                              {time}  1900

  This resolution has been signed onto by all of the members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, as well as other Members of Congress. This 
resolution extols the virtues of Africans who were brought to the 
Americas, a people who, under harsh circumstances, were able to not 
only survive, but also thrive.
  It really goes into much of what we call the greatest story that has 
yet to be told, a story of people who came to the Americas 
involuntarily, and who have done exceedingly well in this country. We 
still have a long way to go, but, thank God, we have come as far as we 
have.
  This year, we are celebrating the civil rights in America as a theme 
for Black History Month, civil rights in America, and we would like to 
start by talking about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  However, before you can really understand completely the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964, it is important to get some sense what the times were like 
in 1964, to get some understanding of what it was like to live in the 
United States of America in 1964.
  This is not being done to shame anyone. It is not being done to cause 
persons to have some sort of guilty reflections. This is being done so 
as to help us commemorate some things and celebrate some others. It is 
important to understand the times that we lived in.
  I lived during these times, and I would like to start with April 12, 
1963, and then I would like to walk us up through some events that will 
bring us to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  It was April 12, 1963, that Dr. King was arrested in Birmingham, 
Alabama. He was there to work with others to integrate a city that was 
deeply segregated. In so doing, he was informed by some members of the 
clergy and others that he was taking inappropriate action, he was 
acting too soon, that the time was not ripe for what he was doing in 
Birmingham, Alabama.
  As a result of being there and protesting, Dr. King was arrested. He 
was taken to jail, stayed in jail for 9 days, and while in jail, he 
wrote his famous ``Letter from Birmingham Jail'' in response to a 
statement that was published by some other members of the clergy. If 
you have not read the ``Letter from Birmingham Jail,'' I beg that you 
read it because it will help you better understand the times, and 
understand why Dr. King had to do what he was doing.
  The ``Letter from Birmingham Jail'' is one of the greatest pieces of 
American literature that I have been exposed to, and I beg you to 
please take the opportunity to read it.
  Let's move forward to June 11, 1963. This is when Governor George 
Wallace stood in the door at the University of Alabama to block the 
entry of Vivian Malone and James Hood. These were two students who were 
enrolling. In so doing, he caused the President, at that time, 
President Kennedy, to federalize the Alabama National Guard so that 
these two students could make their way into the University of Alabama.
  These were the times that I lived in. These were events that occurred 
leading up to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, also the 
Public Accommodations Act of 1964.
  June 21, 1964. Three civil rights workers were in Mississippi--
Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney. They lost their lives in Mississippi 
registering people to vote. When they died, it caused the country to 
grieve, understanding that three people who but only tried to register 
people to vote had lost their lives at the hands of the KKK.
  These were the times that I lived in.
  August 28, 1963. Dr. King called for a march on Washington, and that 
march took place. That march was one of the greatest events in the 
history of the civil rights movement. 200,000 to 300,000 people 
assembled, and this is when Dr. King gave his famous ``I Have a Dream'' 
speech.
  They also had a list of demands, a list of demands that included a 
number 8 on a list of 10. Number eight was a minimum wage of $2 an 
hour. That minimum wage of $2 an hour, adjusted for inflation, would be 
more than $13 an hour today. The minimum wage was a part of the reason 
why we had the March on Washington, and I am so proud that Dr. King 
stood his ground, so as to help us develop that minimum wage that he 
wanted to have as a living wage.
  There is before the House now H.R. 1010, a bill that would produce a 
living wage because it indexes the minimum wage to the Consumer Price 
Index. It would move the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an 
hour increments, not all at once.
  It would also help persons who are tip workers, who are making 
currently $2.13 an hour. It would raise their wages, and would also 
continue to index their wages, so that they would find themselves being 
able to, hopefully, live above the poverty line while working full 
time.
  In this, the richest country in the world, a country where 1 out of 
every 60 persons is a millionaire--and I don't begrudge anyone who is a 
millionaire, a country where 1 of every 11 households is worth $1 
million, and I salute those who are worth millions of dollars, but in 
this country, where we have so much wealth, I don't believe we ought to 
have people who work full time and live below the poverty line, and 
find that employers are subsidized so that these workers can be paid a 
wage that is at or near a poverty level and receive other subsidies 
from the government to help them make it in America.
  So I am honored that Dr. King pushed for a wage of $2 an hour at that 
time, which would be more than $13 an hour today.
  Moving forward to September 15 of 1963, a tragic occurrence at the 
16th Street Baptist Church. This is when four babies--I say they were 
babies--Addie was 14, Cynthia was 14, Carole was 14, and Denise was 11. 
They all lost their lives in church, in church, four babies, four young 
girls.
  These were the times that I lived in. These were the times that 
preceded the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965.
  November 22, 1963. A President of the United States of America 
decided to come to Texas, and while in Texas, the President was 
assassinated. The Honorable John F. Kennedy lost his life in my home 
State. I was born in Louisiana, but Texas is my home State at this 
time.
  When he lost his life, the country went into mourning. It was a sad 
day for this country to have a President assassinated, and this country 
found that it was necessary to move forward, however.
  Another person became President, and that, of course, was the 
Honorable Lyndon Johnson, who was from the State of Texas, and it was 
Lyndon Johnson who, on July 2, 1964, signed the Civil Rights Act.
  Now, this Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one that brought great benefits 
to persons of my generation because it dealt with public accommodation, 
and it integrated, or desegregated public accommodations, hotels, 
restaurants, places that we frequent now and we take for granted the 
opportunity to go into these places.
  In my lifetime, we could not enter the front door of places that we 
now take for granted, that these things have always been this way. Many 
do, not all, but those of us who are of my ilk, we remember what it was 
like.
  I can remember when we would travel across country, Mr. Speaker. We 
knew that there were certain places that we could stop, and we knew 
that there were certain places that we dare not stop under any 
circumstances at all, and we would make sure that we had enough fuel to 
make it from one stop to the next.
  We knew that there were certain places that we could eat, and there 
were places where we would have to go to the back door, and we would, 
when we arrived at these places, always be courteous and kind to the 
people that

[[Page 3430]]

greeted us, and a good many of them were courteous and kind to us, but 
there were many who were not.
  I remember once, when we were traveling across country and we wanted 
some water, and we stopped at a service station, and the operator, I 
don't know that the person was the owner so I shall use the term 
operator, said, yes, you may have water, but you will have to drink it 
out of an oil can. You can take that can and you can clean it up as 
best you can and you can drink your water from that can.
  These were the times that I lived in, the times that the 1964 Civil 
Rights Act, the Public Accommodations Act addressed.
  I can remember the ``Colored'' water fountain. Whenever we went out 
someplace near my home, and if we wanted water, we had to drink from a 
``Colored'' water fountain. That ``Colored'' water fountain was usually 
not nearly as clean as the ``White'' water fountain.
  I can remember having to sit in the back of the bus. I traveled from 
Texas to California, and I remember sitting in the back of the bus, and 
when I got to someplace near California, they allowed me to sit near 
the front of the bus. It was the first time in my life that I had 
actually had an opportunity to sit near the front of the bus.
  I remember having to sit in the balcony of the movie. We were not 
allowed, in my lifetime, to sit at the first level. We always were 
required to go into the balcony of the movie.
  Back of the bus, balcony of the movie, and then arrested and placed 
in the bottom of a jail. This is the era that I grew up in that 
preceded the signing of the Public Accommodations Act, the Voting 
Rights Act of 1964.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am sure you can understand that I have great 
appreciation for the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act means 
more to me than a simple document with words on it. This document may 
have been written in ink, but it was signed in the blood of Schwerner, 
Goodman, and Chaney; signed in the blood of those babies that lost 
their lives at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Written in ink, but 
signed in blood, and it means something to people of my generation.
  So I am proud tonight, and I am honored that the leadership has 
allowed us to have this time to talk about the Civil Rights Act in this 
country, the means by which we have integrated ourselves.
  I am proud that my country has come a long way. Make no mistake about 
it: we have come a very long way in this country, and if anybody says 
we haven't come a long way, I would challenge them. I would challenge 
them because I lived through segregation.
  I know what segregation looked like. I saw it on signs that said 
``Colored'' and ``White.''

                              {time}  1915

  I know what it smells like. I went to the back door and to bathrooms 
that were not clean. I know what it felt like because I was pushed and 
shoved and told where to go and what to do.
  These were the times that I lived in. But thank God, we have come a 
long way, and we no longer live in the times that preceded the signing 
of the Voting Rights Act of 1964.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored that I have another Member here who is 
going to say a few words about civil rights; and then I have another 
Member who has something special that he will call to our attention; 
and then I will return; and I am going to say a little bit tonight 
about the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  But before I do this, I will yield to another Member from the great 
State of Texas, a district that includes the city of El Paso, Texas' 
16th Congressional District, the Honorable Beto O'Rourke.
  Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor to join my colleague 
from the State of Texas in this Special Order hour today to recognize 
our history in this country when it comes to achieving civil rights and 
perseverance in the face of adversity and some of our shameful past 
that has been turned, through the very hard work--the blood, the sweat, 
and the tears referenced by my colleague--into victories and triumphs, 
victories that are not yet complete, victories that we are still 
working on, but victories, nonetheless.
  And I thought it might be appropriate at this time to share a little 
bit about the community that I represent, El Paso, Texas, and its role 
in this struggle to achieve civil rights, human rights, and equality 
for all men under the law.
  I will begin with one of my favorite stories about El Paso. It is the 
story of the 1949 Bowie Bears high school baseball team. This was a 
team that was made up of members who lived in the Segundo Barrio of El 
Paso, all Mexican American members, all members who lived in what would 
be seen today as extreme levels of poverty, who played baseball with 
balls that were made of scrap pieces of clothing, gloves that were 
stitched together in their own homes, and who won the city championship 
and won the regional championship.
  And as they traveled by bus in 1949 on those country highways to our 
capital in Austin, Texas, they were denied the ability to stay at 
motels. ``No Mexicans or dogs allowed.''
  They were unable to eat in restaurants. They had to eat in the 
kitchens or eat outside on the bus. The night before the championship 
game in Austin, Texas--against an Austin, Texas, high school team--they 
slept under the bleachers in the field that they were going to play on, 
instead of being able to stay in a hotel or motel in that city; and 
they went on to win the first high school State baseball championship 
in Texas.
  Not too long after that, in 1955, El Paso became the first city in 
the State of Texas to integrate its public schools; and as my colleague 
from Texas has pointed out, up until that point, there were separate 
schools for Black children, there were separate schools for White 
children, and not too long before that, separate schools for Mexican 
American children.
  So in 1955, that school board in El Paso, Texas, made a very 
important decision to integrate schools. They were the first in Texas, 
one of the first in the former Confederacy.
  In 1957, El Paso elected the first Mexican American mayor of a major 
U.S. city, Raymond Telles. And then, Mr. Speaker, on June 7, 1962, the 
El Paso City Council, under the leadership of Alderman Bert Williams, 
passed the first city ordinance of any major city in the former 
Confederacy outlawing segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants, and 
theaters; these places of public accommodation that my colleague has so 
eloquently described that were segregated and, in many cases, were 
barred to African Americans and, in some cases, in El Paso in earlier 
years, to Mexican Americans.
  President Kennedy, in a speech that following year, in 1963, a speech 
which was titled a ``Special Message to the Congress on Civil Rights 
and Job Opportunities,'' recognized this achievement in Texas, El Paso, 
where we were the first community in the former Confederacy to 
desegregate those places of public accommodation.
  And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I would draw our attention to the 1966 Texas 
Western Miners, a college basketball team that fielded the first all-
Black starting five to compete for a national title game.
  Those five young men not only won the national championship against 
some of the longest of odds versus Kentucky, but in doing so, they 
effectively ended segregation in intercollegiate athletics and did a 
lot to further end discrimination more broadly in the United States.
  So I would just join with my colleague and associate, myself, with 
his comments about the Voting Rights Act and the need to persevere in 
the face of adversity, to recognize those triumphs that we have 
achieved so far, but not to claim victory until we are assured that 
everyone is treated equally under the law, that everyone has access to 
the ballot box, and that we truly are a country that treats everyone 
equally under the Constitution.
  So I hope that, as a representative of El Paso, Texas, a community 
that has such a proud history of leading in Texas and leading in the 
former Confederacy, in leading in the U.S. on important civil rights, 
human rights, and

[[Page 3431]]

equality issues, that I will be able to join you, Mr. Green, in this 
fight and join this Congress in doing the right thing.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I thank you for your excellent recitation, and 
you have already become a part of this Congress, of course, but also of 
the fight. You have really hit the ground running.
  I want to salute you and let your constituents know that they can be 
proud of what you have accomplished in a very short time in the 
Congress of the United States of America.
  Thank you for spending time with us this evening.
  Mr. O'ROURKE. Thank you.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if I may, I would like to know 
how much time I have remaining because I would also like to yield to 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson) at the end of my commentary.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas has 35 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I assure you, Mr. Grayson, that I will have 
time for you.
  I would like to now move forward to 1965--1965 and persons who 
assembled at a church near the Edmund Pettus Bridge. If you have not 
seen the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I would beg that you take an opportunity 
to see the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
  Remember now, we are talking about civil rights in the United States 
of America. We talked about the Voting Rights Act of 1964. I am moving 
forward to 1965. I have mentioned persons assembled at a church. I have 
mentioned the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
  These persons assembled at this church because they were going to 
march from Selma to Montgomery, a peaceful march. When they approached 
the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they knew that on the other side of that 
bridge were men with clubs, some on horses.
  They knew that their fate was uncertain, but they marched on; and 
when they approached these men--I can remember the Honorable John 
Lewis, a Member of Congress from Georgia--he tells this story: He says 
that they were beating them, and he thought that he was going to die. 
They were beaten all the way back to the church where they started. 
This was in 1965, a year after the 1964 Voting Rights Act was signed.
  Well, Dr. King came to Montgomery, Alabama, to Selma, Alabama; and 
Dr. King proceeded with the march. This was after the time that we call 
``Bloody Sunday.'' Dr. King came, and they marched from Selma to 
Montgomery.
  But now, this is where the story gets interesting because there is a 
person that I have labeled ``the greatest unsung hero of the civil 
rights movement,'' barring none, the greatest unsung hero of the civil 
rights movement, a person who is known to very few people, a person who 
made it possible for Dr. King and the marchers to move from Selma to 
Montgomery without having to confront the constabulary that engaged in 
a brutal act previously and may have done a similar thing.
  This man, the greatest unsung hero of the civil rights movement, was 
a Republican. This man was not of African ancestry. He was an Anglo. 
This man was appointed to a Federal judgeship by President Eisenhower. 
This man signed the order for them to march from Selma to Montgomery.
  Now, you might say: Well, signing an order is no big deal. It was 
then. Remember the times. It was a big deal to sign that order. In 
fact, for more than a decade, he had to be protected by U.S. marshals, 
the Honorable Frank M. Johnson, a district court judge.
  But the story of Frank M. Johnson doesn't really start with the 
Edmund Pettus Bridge. It actually starts with Rosa Parks. When Rosa 
Parks took that seat and ignited the spark that started the civil 
rights movement, Rosa Parks went to jail that night.
  There is a White side to Black history. Rosa Parks' bail was posted 
by Ms. Virginia Durr and her husband. A White woman posted the bail to 
get Rosa Parks out of jail. There is a White side to Black history.
  But let's get back to Frank M. Johnson. They decided that they would 
not ride the bus; and for over a year, they provided alternative 
transportation; and they boycotted. And in so doing, in boycotting, 
they brought this to the attention of not only the United States, but 
also to the world.
  But here is the other side: The boycott was effective. It was an 
order from Frank M. Johnson, as a part of a three-judge panel, 
concluding that that segregation was unconstitutional based upon Brown 
v. Board of Education, which had been decided about a year earlier. 
Frank M. Johnson signed the order along with two other judges.
  Frank M. Johnson went on to sign orders integrating schools, voting 
rights--his history is replete with orders that he signed to change the 
face of the South. Paraphrasing Dr. King, Frank M. Johnson gave meaning 
to the word ``justice,'' a White Republican Federal judge.
  I mention these things tonight because I want people to know that 
Black history is American history and that it includes people of all 
hues and genders and persuasions; and it is a history that, quite 
frankly, we cannot forget.
  There are some aspects of it that we are not proud of, but it is a 
history that is ours, and we can never, ever ignore our history. Just 
as we cannot ignore what happened at Pearl Harbor, just as we cannot 
ignore what happened on 9/11, we cannot ignore many of the things that 
happened in the history of African Americans.
  So with Frank M. Johnson having allowed the marchers to move forward 
by signing this order, later on, the same President, Lyndon Johnson, 
signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  I am probably in Congress because of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
because it provided a means by which districts could be drawn with 
consideration given to population, as opposed to geography.
  That Voting Rights Act, section 5, is what allowed a good many people 
who are right here in this Congress today to be here, the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965 and section 5 of it.

                              {time}  1930

  As you know, section 5 has been made impotent by the evisceration of 
section 4. Section 4 was declared unconstitutional. One of the things 
that I have learned in my years on the planet is that while I don't 
always agree with the judiciary, I do respect the judiciary. I didn't 
agree with the decision to declare section 4 unconstitutional, but I 
respect the opinion, and, as a result, I will do what I can to correct 
it here in the Halls of Congress.
  I think that we have a great opportunity here to do something to 
strengthen the Voting Rights Act, the same Voting Rights Act that Mr. 
John Lewis marched to bring into being and that people lost their lives 
to bring into being. That same Voting Rights Act can be strengthened 
and be made useful and viable for a good many people.
  So I will conclude with this. But I do want one more evidence of how 
much time I have remaining.
  Mr. Speaker, can you give me one more count on the time? And I will 
come to my conclusion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas has 27 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Grayson, I assure you, you will have ample 
time.
  I want to conclude with this: I believe that this is a great country. 
Notwithstanding all that I have explained about Black history, this is 
a great country, and I love my country. I believe that this is a 
country that has allowed me privileges and opportunities that I 
probably could not have enjoyed in another place. So let me share this 
brief vignette with you.
  I was not born into riches, obviously, based upon the stories that I 
have told, but from very poor parents. My father could neither read nor 
write.
  I remember going to work with my father one day. I have no idea as to 
why I was there. My father was a mechanic's helper. He was not a 
mechanic. He was a helper. He was the person who would clean up the wet 
spot on the floor. He was the person who would fetch the tools and do 
the things that were required that many people

[[Page 3432]]

would not do. And I heard them address my father by a name that I was 
not familiar with. They called him ``Secretary.'' And as any child 
would, I suppose, I made an inquiry: Why do they call you Secretary? He 
explained to me that they were making fun of him, that they were aware 
that he could not read and that he could not write, and they were 
making fun of him.
  I said: Well, why would you do this? Why would you let them make fun 
of you like this? Why would you let them do this to you?
  It hurt as a young child to see your father being made fun of because 
he could not read and he could not write.
  By the way, it was not his choice. It wasn't his choice to be a 
person who could not read or write.
  But my father's answer is really what this story is all about. When I 
said to him: Why would you let them do this to you? He said to me, 
after having told me many more things, but he said to me: I do it, and 
I accept it because I want you to be able to read and write.
  And isn't it wonderful that the son of a secretary can now stand in 
the well of the House of Representatives in the United States of 
America and read and write laws for the United States of America?
  I thank you for the time, Mr. Speaker. I am grateful to all who made 
it possible for us to have this hour. And I believe that ours is the 
best country in the world. I believe that it really doesn't get much 
better than the United States of America. There are things that we need 
to do and things that we need to correct. But on a bad day, it is good 
to live in the USA. On a bad day, when your dog that you reared from a 
pup wants to bite you, on a bad day when your spouse wants to desert 
you, if you have to have your dog bite you and your spouse desert you, 
have it happen in the United States of America.
  God bless you, and I yield to Mr. Grayson.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, today is a sad anniversary. Twenty years 
ago today, the brilliant comedian, Bill Hicks, died of cancer at the 
age of 32. Hicks' comedy has been an inspiration to me and millions of 
others. He has been voted the fourth greatest stand-up comedian of all 
time. And if Hicks were alive to hear that, he would complain bitterly 
about losing out to Gandhi, Einstein, and Stalin.
  In honor of Bill Hicks, I would like to try to yield this platform to 
him. This is how Bill Hicks ended his own performances. He would say to 
the audience:

       You have been fantastic. I hope you have enjoyed the show. 
     There is a point to my act. Is there a point to my act? Let's 
     find a point. I would say the point of my act--and I have 
     to--but the point is this:
       The world is a ride like an amusement park. And when you 
     choose to go on it, you think it is real because that is how 
     powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down, and it 
     goes round and round. It has thrills and chills, and it is 
     very brightly colored, and it is very loud and it is fun. For 
     a while.
       Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they 
     begin to question: ``Is it real or is it a ride?'' And other 
     people, they have remembered, and they come back to us, and 
     they say: ``Hey, don't worry. Don't be afraid, ever. Because 
     it is just a ride.'' And we kill those people. We kill those 
     people.
       We tell them: ``Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this 
     ride. Shut him up. Look at the furrows of worry. Look at my 
     big bank account and my family. This has to be real.''
       This can't be just be a ride. But it is just a ride. And we 
     always kill those good guys who try to tell us that it is 
     just a ride. Have you ever noticed that? And we let the 
     demons run amok.
       But it doesn't matter because it is just a ride, and we can 
     change it any time we want. It is only a choice. No effort. 
     No worry. No job. No savings and money. It is just a ride.
       It is a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes 
     of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors and buy 
     guns and close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all 
     of us as one.
       Here is what we can do to change the world right now into a 
     better ride. Take all the money that we spend on weapons and 
     defense each year and, instead, spend it on feeding, 
     clothing, and educating the poor of this world which we could 
     do many times over--not just one human being, but all of us, 
     no one excluded. And then we can explore space together, both 
     inner and outer, forever in peace.
       Thank you very much. You have been great. I hope you 
     enjoyed it. You are fantastic. Thank you very much.

  Bill Hicks wrote his own eulogy, and that was how he ended his act. 
This is what he said in his own final words in his own eulogy:

       I left here in love, in laughter, and in truth. And 
     wherever truth, love, and laughter abide, I am there in 
     spirit.

  Rest in peace, Bill Hicks.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I yield back.

                          ____________________