[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10506-10507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            HAPPY JUNETEENTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, today is June 19, an ordinary day in 
the lives of many, many Americans. That is why it is important to come 
to the floor and wish so many in our Nation Happy Juneteenth. For some, 
that may be a foreign terminology. But we are now in the 149th year of 
the 1865 Emancipation Proclamation for several States in the Deep 
South.
  Those who know their history would say the Emancipation Proclamation 
was in 1863. They are absolutely right. But it took 2 years for States 
like Texas, Louisiana, and many others to, unfortunately, receive 
notice that the slaves were free. Two more years my fellow Texans, 
African American slaves, had to languish in the abomination of slavery 
because someone failed to think it was important enough to reach those 
boundaries and say we were free.
  So it speaks very loudly to the reason I am an advocate and a fighter 
that justice must be maintained no matter who you are in this country. 
Those in Texas that, as I speak, are commemorating and celebrating 
Juneteenth Freedom Day, are proudly acknowledging, not their fault that 
they did not know, not a joke, not humorous, but a sad statement which 
we in Texas and Southern States have turned into a joyful jubilee. We 
celebrate freedom wherever and however we can.
  This Congress needs to be a promoter of freedom and justice. I join 
my colleagues in being appalled at the fact that we have not yet 
extended unemployment insurance for hardworking Americans. Let me say 
that again: unemployment insurance. It means that it is not a handout; 
it means that these are individuals who worked for weeks, months, 
years, decades. They have given back to America. Now they have fallen 
on difficult times.
  Because of this leadership in this House of Representatives, we have 
not been able to put the extension of the unemployment insurance passed 
in the other body on the floor of the House. That means in my district 
that individuals who were rehabilitating themselves and were working 
and fell upon hard times because of the economy have no jobs and cannot 
get unemployment insurance.
  When I met with some of them. A trained welder said, I want to work, 
I am between jobs, and he was literally driven to homelessness and 
walking the streets because we could not give him unemployment 
insurance based upon the fact that he has worked--or those who are now 
losing homes or not able to pay their rent.
  Where is the mercy and justice? Are we following in the pathway of 
Juneteenth when we did not tell thousands upon thousands of slaves you 
were free? I thought America would not return to the devastation and 
dastardliness of injustice to anyone. Let us put unemployment insurance 
on the floor of the House and address the questions of Americans who 
have worked and contributed to society.
  Then, Mr. Speaker, I would argue that there is an injustice going on 
in Iraq. I traveled to Iraq many times during the raging war. I saw the 
valiant soldiers, many of whom maybe after I left were part of those 
who were casualties. I had in my office the list of casualties in the 
18th Congressional District. I would be very mindful of going back into 
that quagmire.
  What I would say is that America does stand for justice and 
democracy. We should have the position to treat Sunnis and Shiites and 
Kurds freely and justly, and that they have to come together and treat 
each other with respect. We should call upon Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, 
Jordan, and Yemen, we should give them support--the Arab League--to 
stand Iraq up and to tell this leader, who is a selfish leader, who is 
not in any way reflected on bringing people together, that he must 
bring people together. And we must say to the ISIS that the world will 
not stand for its violence and its horribleness.
  And yes, we must say to those who are in the yesteryear, who were 
part of last time's term, those who are former Vice Presidents and 
their extended relatives, that this is no time to cast dirt on 
President Obama, who has done an excellent job.
  Americans come together when there is difficulty and tragedy. I am 
very disappointed in The Wall Street Journal article that wants to cast 
blame when people are dying in Iraq. Let's stand up and be united.
  Just a few days ago, I came back from Nigeria, where the horrific 
Boko Haram is killing people and kidnapping

[[Page 10507]]

girls. I ask my colleagues to please stand with us to not let the 
kidnapping of the Nigerian girls be a side story, Mr. Speaker.
  As I close, I intend to introduce human trafficking legislation as a 
senior member of Homeland Security to address the question of the human 
trafficking of these girls, and girls and women of color, the highest 
population of those who are trafficked. We can do things together in 
America, and I ask us to stand together.

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