[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1558-1565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be 
given 5 days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by welcoming our new members 
and by thanking the gentlewoman from Ohio, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, 
for her leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 113th 
Congress. Thanks to her dedication and tireless work, this caucus is 
better positioned to address the diverse challenges of the African 
American community.
  I also want to thank the new CBC chair, the Honorable Congressman 
G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina. I am confident that he will do a 
great job leading this caucus with steadfast commitment to justice and 
to building an America that works for everyone.
  Let me also thank my counterpart, the Honorable Congresswoman Robin 
Kelly, for joining me in leading the CBC Special Orders this year. I am 
truly honored to take on this new role, and I look forward to working 
with her as we help carry out the critical mission of this caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, in the midst of the civil rights movement, 
hundreds of brave men and women gathered in Selma, Alabama, to begin a 
long, arduous march to Montgomery in support of the fundamental truth: 
that every American, regardless of what they look like, has the right 
to vote.

                              {time}  1930

  On March 7, 1965, 600 men and women set out from Selma following the 
death of 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson, a deacon from Marion, Alabama, 
who died from gunshot wounds inflicted by a State trooper at a 
nonviolent demonstration.
  Theirs was a peaceful, nonviolent march, but it was met with fierce 
brutality. It would take the marchers two more attempts to arrive at 
Montgomery; but on March 25, after a 12-day journey, they did arrive.
  Since that day, our country has made significant strides in achieving 
equality and justice for all, but significant challenges remain unmet. 
Tonight, we will examine where we have come from, where we are, and 
where we would like to go as a society. We must be ready to go.
  In 1965, Selma became the focal point of voter registration efforts 
in the South. At the time, only 2 percent of the city's eligible 
African American voters had been able to register. The impact of Selma 
to the Montgomery march was profound.
  As Dr. King said, ``Selma produced the voting rights legislation of 
1965.'' The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned discriminatory voting 
requirements that disenfranchised African American voters throughout 
this country; yet, today, the dream of full equality is still something 
many African Americans can only dream of.
  Where we are, nearly 6 years after the end of the recession, people 
still struggle to find work, and the gap between the rich and poor 
continues to grow. For African Americans, this situation is severe, 
given the disproportionate effect of unemployment on our communities.

[[Page 1559]]

  At the same time, there remains widespread poverty, a defining 
challenge of our time. This persistent economic inequality threatens to 
undercut the gains that African American communities have made, and it 
undermines the idea of economic mobility, the idea that if you work 
hard in this country and have ambition, you can get ahead. The economic 
crisis is not only facing African American communities.
  Where we are in education, education is the most important economic 
investment we can make now and for future generations; yet, across the 
country, we still have seen cuts to education at all levels and attacks 
on critical programs like Head Start and Pell grants.
  These attacks undermine the ability of African Americans to get 
ahead--that is why I strongly support President Obama's new, bold 
initiative for free access to community colleges--so, too, do efforts 
to dismantle social safety net programs which our communities depend 
on. Those efforts are irresponsible, unjust, and contrary to who we are 
as Americans.
  The Congressional Black Caucus will make criminal justice reform a 
centerpiece of our agenda. We will work to reduce the epidemic of 
poverty in this country. We will work to create educational 
opportunities for African American children, and we will support 
efforts to strengthen our 105 Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities.
  The CBC also remains committed to fighting against efforts to 
dismantle the social safety net. We are determined to restore section 5 
of the Voting Rights Act and to make sure everyone, regardless of what 
they look like or where they come from, has equal access to the polls, 
and we resolve to ensure that increasing diversity in this Nation is 
reflected in American corporations.
  Together, these policies will bring us closer as a nation where we 
are empowering the communities of African Americans, and they will 
benefit from the full equality and live the American Dream. There is no 
doubt that we are in difficult times in this Nation.
  Injustices are widespread and threaten some of our most fundamental 
rights, but we will find no answers in apathy, no comfort in 
complacency. As we always have, we will continue the march for 
progress, for freedom, for justice, and for equality for all.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and privilege now that I yield to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms. Robin Kelly.
  Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Thank you, my friend from New Jersey. It is an 
honor to host with you this year. I am excited about the work ahead for 
the CBC in the 114th Congress. I also want to acknowledge the great job 
that Congressman Horsford and Congressman Jeffries did in hosting the 
Special Order hour in the 113th Congress. I also want to honor our past 
chair, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, for all of her great work.
  Discussing 50 years from Selma, where we were, where we are, and 
where we are headed, I expect this to be very stimulating, frustrating, 
and rewarding all at the same time. It remains that we have a lot of 
work to do.
  Mr. PAYNE. I thank the gentlewoman.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my honor and privilege for the first 
time in the 114th Congress to have the chairman of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, G.K. Butterfield, address us, and I yield to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  The Congressional Black Caucus is delighted to come to the floor this 
evening to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights 
Act.
  At the end of slavery, Mr. Speaker, in 1865, which was 150 years ago, 
the State of North Carolina had a slave population of 331,000 slaves. 
After the passage of the 13th Amendment and ratification of it by 27 
States, these slaves became free. They became American citizens, and 
males 21 years old or older would soon be entitled to vote.
  Among those 331,000 slaves gaining freedom, 128,000 of them resided 
in my congressional district. In some of the counties, the Black 
population exceeded the White population.
  In 1870, African American citizens gained the right to vote by the 
enactment of the 15th Amendment. For the next 30 years, Mr. Speaker, 
African American men voted in large numbers and became a political 
force in State politics.
  Four African Americans were elected to Congress in North Carolina, 
eight in South Carolina, three in Alabama, and one each in Georgia, 
Florida, Mississippi, Virginia, and Louisiana. Many more were elected 
to State and local office.
  In 1900, after KKK violence and lynchings had not deterred Black 
political participation, most Southern States passed disfranchisement 
laws requiring a literacy test and the payment of a poll tax. These 
laws had the intent and effect of disenfranchising Black people from 
voting, and it worked. For the next half century, African Americans 
were effectively denied the right to vote with a few exceptions.
  Following his 1964 acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., approached President Lyndon Johnson about advocating 
for a strong voting rights law that would enforce the 15th Amendment. 
President Johnson was uncomfortable in advancing the idea of a voting 
rights law, which greatly disappointed Dr. King. Dr. King was motivated 
to launch the Selma voting rights movement.
  On March 7, 1965, under the leadership of Dr. King, John Lewis, and 
others, Black residents of Selma attempted to march from Brown Chapel 
Church to the Alabama State capital to demand a voting rights law.
  As they approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the marchers were 
brutalized, and they were terrorized by State police and forced to 
retreat. We now refer to this confrontation as ``Bloody Sunday.''
  Two days later, the marchers again began their journey to Montgomery, 
but as they crossed the bridge and saw the strong police presence, they 
turned around and returned to the church. At this point, President 
Johnson was outraged with Governor George Wallace for preventing the 
march. Johnson telephoned Wallace to demand that the marchers walk to 
Montgomery without incident.
  Three weeks later, on March 21, 1965, Dr. King persuaded thousands of 
Black and White to come to Selma to participate in the march. The march 
proceeded without incident. Fifty thousand participated.
  Following the March, a White marcher, Mrs. Viola Liuzzo from Detroit, 
was murdered while transporting marchers back to Selma. Jimmie Lee 
Jackson was killed by police during a Selma protest in February 1965. 
Saddened by these murders, President Johnson reconsidered his 
unwillingness to promote voting rights legislation. He went on national 
television on March 15 and announced that he would support a voting 
rights bill.
  Despite the Southern filibuster, the Voting Rights Act was enacted 
into law on August 6, 1965. This important law has changed the 
political landscape for African American communities. It bans the use 
of literacy tests. It gives minority communities the right to litigate 
discriminatory election schemes that dilute their vote.
  The act provides for a section 5 that requires certain jurisdictions 
with discriminatory histories to preclear election law changes with the 
Attorney General. To our great dismay, on June 25, 2013, the U.S. 
Supreme Court made section 5 unenforceable because the data used to 
determine covered jurisdictions is outdated, according to the Supreme 
Court. The Supreme Court has now called on Congress to modify the 
formula.
  To this day, Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues have refused to 
allow the bipartisan VRA amendment bill to be voted upon. In fact, the 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Goodlatte, announced that he 
has no intention to legislate a modification to the formula, and so the 
effect of not having section 5 is to allow jurisdictions to pass 
discriminatory election laws with impunity and without oversight.
  The Voting Rights Act has enabled African American communities to

[[Page 1560]]

elect hundreds of Black elected officials. We successfully litigated 
dozens and dozens of cases. Many of my colleagues were elected because 
enforcement of the Voting Rights Act forced--forced--States to draw 
congressional districts where Black communities are not submerged and 
their vote diluted.
  Mr. Speaker, this story must be understood by every American citizen. 
The right to vote for African Americans was obtained by blood, sweat, 
and tears; and we are determined--the Congressional Black Caucus is 
determined--to continue this fight into 2016 and beyond.
  Mr. Payne, thank you very much for yielding time.
  Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are looking forward to your 
leadership in the 114th Congress, and we will continue to strive to 
make sure that the issues that the CBC find important are relevant on 
the day-to-day basis.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Clyburn), the leader, who has probably forgotten more about the goings-
on and the rules in this Chamber than I will ever know.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Thank you so much, Mr. Payne, for yielding me time. I 
appreciate your accolades, and I promise you that my long, distant 
memory is getting very good, but I assure you that your contributions 
to this great body are very much appreciated.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I opened up Black History Month with a speech 
at Cornerstone Baptist Church on Wayne Street in Columbia, South 
Carolina. They had an interesting topic for me to develop. It was all 
about remembering our past and preparing for the future.
  Chairman Butterfield has talked a little bit about the past that many 
of us remember, but 50 years after Selma, we must turn to the question 
that Martin Luther King, Jr., asked in one of his great books: Where do 
we go from here, chaos or community?
  Statistics show that there are nearly 500 counties and thousands of 
communities in the United States that are classified by the United 
States Census Bureau as persistent poverty areas. They are so defined 
because 20 percent of their populations have lived below the poverty 
level for the past 30 years or more.

                              {time}  1945

  They are diverse, including Caucasian communities in States like West 
Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee; Native American communities in 
States like South Dakota, Alaska, and Oklahoma; Latino communities in 
States like Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas; and African American 
communities in States like South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. 
They are urban communities in States like New York and heartland 
communities in States like Missouri. 139 of these counties are 
represented in this body by Democrats; 331 of these counties are 
represented in this body by Republicans; and 18 of these counties are 
split between the two parties. Combating persistent poverty should 
matter to all of us, regardless of party, geography, or race.
  In early 2009, when we were putting together the Recovery Act, I 
proposed language to require that at least 10 percent of funds in three 
rural development accounts be directed to efforts in these persistent-
poverty counties. This requirement was enacted into law. In light of 
the definition of persistent-poverty counties as having at least 20 
percent poverty rates over 30 years, the provision became known as the 
10-20-30 initiative.
  This initiative bore dividends as economic development projects 
proliferated in persistent poverty communities across the country. 
Using the 10-20-30 formula, the Recovery Act funded a total of 4,655 
projects in persistent-poverty counties, totaling nearly $1.7 billion. 
I saw firsthand the positive effects of these projects in my district. 
We were able to undertake projects to create jobs that would have 
otherwise languished. Among those investments was a $5.8 million grant 
and a $2 million loan to construct 51 miles of water lines in the 
little community of Brittons Neck in Marion County, South Carolina. 
There are many other success stories.
  In Lowndes County, Mississippi, $17.5 million was spent to install a 
water line, elevated tank, and two wastewater pump stations, providing 
potable water to rural Mississippians and creating badly needed 
construction jobs.
  The Wellborn Special Utility District in Brazos County, Texas, 
received a $538,000 loan to construct more than 9 miles of new water 
distribution lines and connect over 60 households to a new water 
system.
  In 2011, I joined with our former Republican colleague, 
Representative Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, to introduce an amendment to 
the continuing resolution that would have continued 10-20-30 for rural 
development and expanded it to 11 additional accounts throughout the 
Federal Government affecting economic development, education, job 
training, health, justice, the environment, and more.
  I want to make one thing clear about the 10-20-30 approach. It does 
not--I repeat, it does not--add one dime to the deficit. It simply 
targets resources from funds already authorized or appropriated.
  Over the past 30 years, the national economy has risen and fallen 
multiple times. During each economic downturn, while we have been 
rightly focused on getting the economy as a whole back on track, we 
have not given adequate attention to these communities that are 
suffering from chronic distress and Depression-era levels of 
joblessness.
  As a result, they have suffered even in good economic times. The 10-
20-30 approach would provide a mechanism to address this deprivation in 
times of want and in times of plenty, in times of Federal investment 
and in times of fiscal austerity.
  Last year, I wrote an essay on 10-20-30 which was published in the 
Harvard Journal on Legislation. I discussed the history of our Nation's 
efforts to address chronic poverty and more fully laid out the case for 
broadly implementing 10-20-30 in a bipartisan fashion.
  Mr. Speaker, as we begin to put our 2016 budget together, I look 
forward to working with all Members in this body on both sides of the 
aisle irrespective of what State or county you may represent. I look 
forward to working together so that we can make a real productive 
legacy for Selma and we can move forward and answer Dr. King's question 
``Chaos or community?'' with a resounding: We are building communities.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Clyburn. As in the past, the 
Congressional Black Caucus will work to continue to reduce the epidemic 
of poverty in this country. When over 45 million Americans live below 
the poverty line, we are failing as a nation. As Congressman 
Butterfield said earlier this month, the CBC will advocate the Clyburn 
10-20-30 plan, which redirects at least 10 percent of an agency's 
grants in its discretionary budget to communities where at least 20 
percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for the past 
30 years. These are the issues that we will continue to work on as 
members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  It is now my honor to yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Rangel), one of my mentors since before I arrived in Congress, a former 
friend of my father's and a great colleague.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I wish I had a prepared statement, but I was 
so moved after listening and being a part of this great congressional 
group in this great country to be able to celebrate 50 years since the 
Voting Rights Act.
  As a kid who grew up on the streets of Lenox Avenue and dropped out 
of high school, I didn't have the benefit of having anything to attach 
a dream to that would allow me to believe that one day I could be 
sitting in the United States House of Representatives.
  But after returning from the war in Korea and after being the 
beneficiary of the GI Bill, and after graduating from law school, I was 
able to see and hear atrocities that have been committed on Black folks 
in this country the likes of which I had not seen except during 
wartime. And even though my

[[Page 1561]]

mother's family came from Virginia, in the city of New York even today 
I don't ever remember meeting any White people from the South. I don't 
know what that is. Perhaps Congressman Butterfield may be able to do 
some historical research about why they stayed in the South and didn't 
come to New York City, where racism had a sugar coating to it. They 
didn't use dogs and bombs and things of that nature. But I recall so 
vividly seeing people like Andy Young and especially our dear friend 
and colleague, John Lewis, be prepared to put their lives on the line 
for our country, not for themselves.
  In Korea and in most wars, people fight to stay alive and they don't 
voluntarily put their life on the line, as John Lewis and others have 
done. But what happened was, when they had the first Selma march, what 
we refer to as Bloody Sunday, years before our beloved Congresswoman 
was born, I saw something that really pained me as an American rather 
than as a human being. And then they had the second march from Selma to 
Montgomery and Dr. King pulled that back, and then we had the plea for 
people from all over the country to come down for the third march. I 
recalled before, I had bad feet and wasn't thinking about going to 
Selma to do 54 miles, but the inspiration to see people that had been 
prepared to put their life on the line for me and others like me could 
not allow me to return to New York.
  It is very interesting that I have to admit publicly that when I 
heard the voice of Lyndon Johnson coming across on radio and television 
saying, ``We shall overcome,'' I kind of thought, Terri, that those 
were our words. And if a White person was to say it, I never expected 
to find that accent of the very people that sounded as though they were 
part of a conspiracy to keep children of slaves from assimilating into 
the constitutional beliefs that we had since learned to live by and 
enjoy and hope for.
  What an historic moment that was. What a revolutionary period that 
was, because as we review that and look at the picture ``Selma,'' we 
wonder where did all of the people that represented this hatred go, the 
people who stood in the way of people registering voters; the people 
who took advantage of the idea that just because of their complexion 
they were superior; the people that belonged to the Ku Klux Klan; the 
people who used religion as a sword instead of a shield? Did they 
disappear? What happened to the so-called Dixiecrats?
  But then I am reminded that as a result of the Voting Rights Act and 
the Civil Rights Act that they didn't go very far, that they threw down 
their party label but they stayed in the same places, and many of them 
are doing the same thing--trying to continue to prevent people of color 
from enjoying their full constitutional voting rights.
  Then when I was honored enough to come down here in 1971 with half a 
dozen Congressional Black Caucus members, nine, who joined with four of 
us who had decided to form the Congressional Black Caucus, you could 
not believe, Congressman Payne, how it was never our dream that that 
small group would go from 13 to 26 to 40 to 46 to 47, and reach the 
historic impact on our policy and on our Nation, a group that had no 
intention of doing anything except to introduce, create, and support 
policies that could make this great country even stronger for all of 
us. And true, we have a lot of obstacles to overcome, but I don't think 
any group of people have been as successful as we have in coming from 
the pits of slavery in such a short period of time as we are now, and 
to see how much more work we have to do so that one day our children 
and our grandchildren will say: Why did they have to have a 
Congressional Black Caucus? Why wasn't it just a Democratic caucus? Why 
did we need it?

                              {time}  2000

  Well, because of the intellect, the commitment of individual members 
of the Black Caucus, like the rest of the Congress, that come from all 
walks of life and they got here to make this a better country, a more 
effective Congress, soon and very soon, we may hear those words: Why 
were we needed? Until we accomplish these lofty goals, thank God that 
we have had it.
  I think that the Democrats appreciate the work that we are trying to 
do, and one day, as so many people who got rid of their sheets, their 
children and their grandchildren would see that we only were trying to 
eliminate the pain for all people, regardless of color, to make the 
red, white, and blue, rather than just whether you are Black or White, 
become the theme that the fathers of this Constitution should have been 
striving for.
  There is no question in my mind that the things we stand for really 
and what the country is committed to do, and I am so proud of these 
last couple of years, that there is not a group of people I would 
rather spend my time with than with my friends and my colleagues in the 
Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mr. PAYNE. I thank the gentleman from New York. His kind thoughts and 
perspective is always, always needed in this House.
  Now, I have the honor and the privilege of yielding to the 
gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell), who represents the city, the 
town, that is on everybody's breath over the last couple of months.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the CBC for this 
Special Order hour, and I commend my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) and my colleague from Illinois (Ms. Kelly) for choosing such a 
great topic for tonight's Special Order hour.
  Selma, Lord, Selma. I have the great pleasure of standing before you 
not only as a Representative who represents the great city of Selma but 
as a native of Selma, Alabama, and a lifelong member of the historic 
Brown Chapel AME Church.
  I know that the journey I now take, the journey that many others who 
are here today take, was only made possible because of the courage, 
fortitude, and determination of those brave men and women on that 
bridge, Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965.
  We who have the privilege and honor of taking this journey must ask 
ourselves: What will we do to extend the legacy? What will we do to 
protect the legacy?
  Selma is the soul of America. It is the place where the struggle for 
civil rights and voting rights began, the epicenter, if you will, of 
the voting rights movement.
  It deserves to be more than just a footnote in the history books. It 
deserves to take up chapters in the history books, the tactical and 
strategic voices of Martin Luther King and those brave men and women of 
SCLC and SNCC that had the fortitude and had the intellect to see this 
as a strategy, to know that they were speaking not only for themselves 
and their children, but for future generations.
  Only a true visionary could defeat such opposition with little more 
than a dream, and Dr. King held so tightly to his that it forced our 
country to become a more equal and just nation.
  Some want to forget the painful past. I know many in my district and 
many in my city would like to forget our painful past, but we cannot 
turn the pages as if certain chapters were never written; nor can we 
celebrate how far we have come without first acknowledging where we 
have been. Bloody Sunday forced America to confront its own inhumanity. 
Our painful past has ushered in a new day.
  As I tell my constituents, out of our painful past came the birth of 
a movement that changed a nation, and from that movement came a human 
rights movement that changed a world. If we don't write our own 
history, others will tell it for us, and they may not be so kind, they 
may not tell our history the way we would tell our history.
  My father grew up in Selma, as did I, and the Selma of my childhood 
was very, very different than the Selma of my father's childhood. There 
has been progress. My father went to segregated schools in Selma. My 
father drank from ``colored only'' fountains in Selma. My father's 
mother never got the chance to vote, though she tried to register 
several times.
  The Selma that I grew up in had an integrated public high school, a 
public

[[Page 1562]]

high school that was 55 percent African American and 45 percent White. 
Yes, across town, there was an all-White private school.
  I want you to know that the Selma I grew up in, in the seventies and 
eighties, it produced me as its first Black valedictorian of Selma High 
School. I know that Selma and the journey that we all take now because 
of Selma was only made possible because of the bravery of others.
  As I stood to give my speech as a valedictorian in 1982 at Selma High 
School, I remember standing up and saying:

       Maybe one day I could join the likes of a Charlie Rangel, 
     of a John Lewis, in the House of Congress.

  I said it as a pious, overly confident teenager probably, but I said 
it with every vigor because I believed in my heart that I could be and 
do anything. Why? Because the people of that community nurtured me, 
Black and White, my teachers, my Girl Scout troop leaders, my Sunday 
school teachers.
  Yes, I had proud parents who were educators, educated at Alabama 
State University, and because of their education at this wonderful 
quality institution of higher learning, I had a chance to go to 
Princeton--but I had more than that. I had an obligation to give back, 
to make sure that others had an opportunity to walk through those same 
doors. It wasn't enough to be the first.
  In fact, I was most proud 5 years after I graduated from Princeton 
that April Williams from Selma High School got to go to Princeton. I 
must have done something right.
  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 would have never been possible had it 
not been for the intellect, the mind of these wonderful leaders, some 
known. All of us know about the contributions of our colleague, John 
Lewis; all of us know about the contributions of the SCLC, Andy Young, 
and Martin Luther King.
  Some unknown, like my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Richie Jean Jackson, 
she was featured in the movie ``Selma'' because it was her home, the 
home that she shared with Dr. Jackson, the first Black dentist in 
Selma, that housed Martin Luther King and Andrew Young and all those 
leaders every time they came to Selma because they couldn't stay at the 
all-White hotel.
  Mrs. Jackson was my sixth grade teacher. Mrs. Jackson did not live to 
see the movie ``Selma,'' but I am proud that this body is seeking to 
provide a Congressional Gold Medal to the foot soldiers of the 
movement, so that the Richie Jacksons, Mrs. Jacksons of the world, who 
had the bravery to go and be on that bridge Bloody Sunday or Turnaround 
Tuesday or the ultimate final march from Selma to Montgomery, that they 
are acknowledged by this Nation for the sacrifices that they made.
  In closing, I want to remind my colleagues of my guest at the State 
of the Union, January 20, 2015. My special guest was the 103-year-old 
Amelia Boynton.
  Amelia Boynton was characterized in the movie ``Selma'' as the proud 
African American woman who told Coretta Scott King:

       You are prepared. You are the descendants of kings and 
     queens. Your heritage is one and your bloodline is one that 
     survived slave ships. You are prepared.

  Amelia Boynton is known for her bravery that Bloody Sunday when she 
was bludgeoned, but she came back 2 days later on Turnaround Tuesday 
and continued to fight in Selma long after this march from Selma to 
Montgomery.
  She honored us with her presence, and as person after person came up 
to her and kissed her on the cheek and said, ``Miss Boynton, I stand on 
your shoulders today, thank you,'' Miss Boynton said something very 
poignant. She said, ``Everybody keeps talking about being on my 
shoulders. I tell them, Get off my shoulders, do your own work, there 
is plenty of work to be done.'' I want to remind my colleagues that 
there is plenty of work for us still to do.
  I want to honor the legacy of Amelia Boynton, F.D. Reese, John Lewis, 
and so many; but we cannot honor their legacy without acknowledging 
that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, major sections of it, have been 
invalidated.
  We owe it to that legacy, the legacy and memory of those who fought 
so valiantly, that this body should once again work together to make 
sure that Federal protections are there because, as we know, progress 
is always elusive, all battles become new again, and there is a renewed 
assault on voting.
  It may not be counting how many jelly beans are in a jar or how many 
county judges there are in the State of Alabama; but, nevertheless, we 
still have modern-day barriers to voting that we must overcome.
  I hope that we have the courage of our own convictions to see the 
movie ``Selma'' as a beginning of a national conversation about how we 
can continue to recommit ourselves to the ideals that were fought on 
that Bloody Sunday. I know that if we combined our hearts and our 
minds, both sides of the aisle will see that it is in everyone's best 
interest that all Americans have the right to vote.
  I thank my colleagues of the CBC for having this Special Order hour. 
I invite all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to come to 
Selma, to experience the living history, and I hope that we will all 
come away from the 50th commemoration of the march from Selma to 
Montgomery with a renewed vigor to once again provide Federal 
protection for all Americans to exercise that sacred right to vote.
  Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

                              {time}  2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this is a very important evening. I 
thank my colleagues, both Mr. Payne of New Jersey and Ms. Kelly, for, 
first of all, taking up a very important challenge of being able to 
lead the members of the Congressional Black Caucus through this period 
of challenge to America.
  I am reflective of the number of Members who have had the chance to 
convey their thoughts, and each one I thank personally: our chairman, 
Mr. G.K. Butterfield, for his leadership and his internal knowledge 
from his walk in life of the civil rights journey; Mr. Clyburn for 
living and understanding the civil rights journey and conveying it in 
his legislative journey; Mr. Rangel for his service to this Nation as a 
Korean war vet and then coming home to be a vet of the civil rights 
effort; then, of course, the holder of the seat who represents Selma 
for her life story.
  Today, I rise to ask the question, What is our moral standard? And, 
following the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, why we can't wait.
  This is a clarion call to my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--
that, in fact, this year--of all years--calls for us to act. It calls 
for us to be able to understand why the Nation cannot wait and who is 
going to lift up the moral standard.
  The walk from Selma to Montgomery turned into Bloody Sunday. It was 
where a young man by the name of John Lewis stood bravely alongside 
names like Hosea Williams. It was, of course, a place where the world 
watched, and it became the stair steps on which the Voting Rights Act 
was passed.
  Today, we realize that, on the shoulders of that tragic time, 
violence claimed the life of Jimmie Lee Jackson, beaten by State 
troopers as he was attempting to protect his mother and others, and 
that violence claimed the lives of Reverend James Reeb of Boston and of 
Viola Liuzzo of Detroit at that time as she returned from the Selma 
march--a time when 25,000 strong or more marched across the Montgomery 
bridge.
  We understand that our job is yet not done. In the wake of the 
decision by the Supreme Court that crippled the Voting Rights Act, we 
as members of the Judiciary Committee, led by our colleagues Mr. 
Clyburn and John Conyers, sought to correct that crippling.
  Today, I stand and ask my chairman and the Speaker of the House to 
have us put that fix with the new Members, Republicans and Democrats--
the same body of individuals who President Johnson convened--to be able 
to ensure

[[Page 1563]]

that that Voting Rights Act of 1965 could be done. It is important to 
note that we not allow the efforts to go unnoted.
  Mr. Speaker, the voter ID law in Texas needs to be corrected by 
passing the Voting Rights Amendment Act. The terrible oppression of 
individuals in their walks to the polls has to be corrected by this 
amendment. Of course, we must ensure against the horrors of wealth 
inequality. The median income of Black households is $33,764--a mere 60 
percent of the median income for White households.
  Then, of course, we must move to criminal justice reform. I am 
privileged, Mr. Speaker, to serve as the ranking member on the Crime 
Subcommittee, and I join my colleagues in the commitment to ensure that 
we, in fact, answer the call of the mothers of so many, such as those 
of Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Bobby Tolan, 
Jordan Baker, and many others, that we have grand jury reform, special 
prosecutor reform, prison reform--the transitioning of nonviolent 
offenders to productive lives--law enforcement training and best 
practices.
  Yes, the bill that I introduced, the Build TRUST Act, will not give 
incentives to towns that rely upon racial profiling and on stopping 
African Americans and other minorities to build their revenue.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight, I have the opportunity to remind us that our 
walk is not done in wealth inequality, in criminal justice reform and, 
as I know that my colleague Mr. Green will mention, in the body 
cameras. All of these--closing the wealth gap and passing the Voting 
Rights Act--are challenges not to Democrats, not to minorities; they 
are to the Nation, to our Republicans and our Democrats.
  So I answer the question why we cannot wait: because Dr. King left us 
a prophetic message and a mountain to climb to get to the promised 
land.
  Tonight, as I close, I call upon all aspects of the beloved community 
that John Lewis so often speaks of--the youth who continue to persist 
in the streets of America, indicating that Black lives and all lives 
matter; women, the impoverished, the faith community, workers, and many 
others whose names I have left out. Today, I ask for them to join hands 
and march in the month of March in your own cities and hamlets and 
counties on an agenda of healing, justice, and equality in 
commemoration of the march of those who crossed on that bloody day but 
of those who crossed as well successfully from Selma to Montgomery.
  Do not sit in your seats. Do not sit in your homes. March in the 
month of March. Let me hear your voices. Let us see you. Let us join 
you. You call us, and we will join you in those marches to make a 
difference in this Nation. I ask for that to all of my colleagues 
tonight.
  Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Payne.
  Mr. Speaker, because time is of the essence, please allow me to get 
right to my message.
  Where were we in 1965? I will relate this to Congress. In 1965, when 
they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, there were five African American 
Members of Congress. Now there are 48. In 1965, there were four Latino 
Members of Congress. Now there are 38. There were three Asian Americans 
in Congress. Now we have a total of 14. There were 14 women in 
Congress. We now have 104.
  Where were we? We were at a point in our history when it was turning 
for us, but it was a bloody point in our history because, when 
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, he signed it in ink, 
but it was written in blood. It was written in the blood of the people 
who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in the blood of the people who 
lived and died so that some of us could have these opportunities to 
serve in the Congress of the United States of America. That is where we 
were.
  We have progressed. We have more Members of Congress, but in a true 
sense, it is back to the future because we have seen the evisceration 
of section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which emasculated section 5 of 
the Voting Rights Act, meaning you don't have any States or any 
territories under section 4 so you cannot preclear them under section 
5. We are now back to a point wherein we have to find a way to 
revitalize and to reinstate section 4 of the Voting Rights Act.
  I am sorry that the time has run out, but I do want to say this: if 
we with only five Members of Congress could get a Voting Rights Act 
passed, one would think that with 48 we can get it reinstated.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along 
with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus, to recognize the 
lasting legacy of the Selma marches. 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Stokely Carmichael, Congressman John Lewis, and a number of other 
fearless fighters, led the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery, 
Alabama in protest of discriminatory voting laws.
  In the years prior to the Selma marches, less than 1% of the black 
voting age population was registered to vote in Dallas County, where 
Selma is located. However, more than 80% of Dallas County blacks lived 
below the poverty line. Various efforts to get blacks in Dallas County 
registered to vote were met physical violence and economic 
intimidation. But with the local leadership of the Dallas County Voters 
League, and the help of two national organizations, the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolence 
Coordinating Committee, the Selma marches were born.
  During the first march from Selma to Montgomery, in what would become 
known as ``Bloody Sunday,'' the nation watched in horror as African 
Americans were brutally beaten by police officers, attacked by dogs, 
and sprayed by fire hoses. Their courage, in the face of dehumanizing 
treatment from law enforcement, thrust the issue of segregation and 
race relations in the Deep South into the national consciousness. It 
led to President Lyndon B. Johnson presenting to a joint session of 
Congress what would become the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the most 
important piece of civil rights legislation in the history of this 
country.
  50 years later, the images of ``Bloody Sunday'' are permanently 
etched into our Nation's history as a deep and painful reminder of the 
struggles we triumphantly conquered to get to where we are today. And 
yet, the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, at the hands of law 
enforcement, serve as tragic reminders that we still have so far to go.
  The work of Selma is not finished. The work of Dr. King, Stokely 
Carmichael, and Congressman Lewis is not finished. But we must remain 
encouraged and faithful for the progress still left to achieve. While 
the discriminatory voting laws of the 1960s are no more, we have 
encountered a new brand of voter disenfranchisement in 2015 that poses 
a serious threat to the electoral process. And once again, the great 
citizens of this nation must fight to protect their constitutional 
right to vote. It is with the painful lessons learned from the marches 
on Selma, and with the same tenacity and fearlessness that we will 
continue to fight this battle today.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Congressman Donald Payne, 
Jr. and Congresswoman Robin Kelly for hosting this evening's Special 
Order. I appreciate your leadership in organizing this important 
discussion.
  Today we ask: where we were, where we are, and where we are headed. 
This year, we celebrate 50 years from the March in Selma. 50 years from 
the signing of the pivotal Voting Rights Act. Over that last 50 years, 
much has changed. But the work remains unfinished.
  Fifty years ago, civil rights leaders and concerned citizens marched 
in Selma for freedom. The freedom to vote, to assemble, to petition 
their government--the Constitutional protections enshrined in our 
nation's Constitution.
  It was a fight to end legal, Jim Crow segregation in the South that 
actively and systemically suppressed African Americans. But it was also 
a fight to protect all Americans--as Dr. King wrote in his famous 
letter from the Birmingham Jail: ``injustice anywhere is a threat to 
justice everywhere.''
  We are still fighting to end injustice in our nation--we are fighting 
for economic justice and justice under the law.
  Nearly 50 years ago, Dr. King outlined the two Americas that still 
exist today.
  In a speech on April 14th, 1967 at Stanford University, Dr. King 
explained: ``there are literally two Americas. One America is beautiful 
for situation. And, in a sense, this America is overflowing with the 
milk of prosperity and the

[[Page 1564]]

honey of opportunity. . . . tragically and unfortunately, there is 
another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that 
constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of 
despair.''
  Ladies and gentlemen--tragically, there are still two Americas.
  Systemic and institutional disparities and inequality are endemic at 
every level of our society--a legacy born in the suffering of the 
Middle Passage, nurtured through slavery and preserved with Jim Crow.
  Today, we see this legacy in African American unemployment that is 
more than twice the unemployment rate of whites.
  We see it in poverty rates for African Americans that are nearly 
three times the rate of white Americans.
  We see it in the faces of the 1 in 3 black men who will have spent 
some time of their life in jail.
  Mr. Speaker--In many ways, we are still living in two Americas. One 
of poverty, unemployment and injustice.
  Mr. Speaker--too many are being left behind.
  Sadly, Congressional leadership has decided to pursue partisan 
gridlock instead of acting for the millions of struggling Americans.
  Tragically, many of the rights we fought for 50 years ago we are 
still fighting today. Congress has reauthorized the Voting Rights Act 
four times, with large bipartisan support. However, there has been no 
Congressional action since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights 
Act. Not one hearing, not one vote and the Chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee has made clear, on this floor, that he has no intentions of 
taking up this matter.
  Likewise, the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Oscar 
Grant--one of my constituents--and many others illustrate that there 
are still two Americas.
  Recent events forced us to ask ourselves do Black lives matter? Yes--
black lives matter. Brown lives matter. White lives matter--all lives 
matter.
  Our institutions must reflect this core value that all lives matters. 
We in Congress have a duty to get serious about reforming our broken 
criminal justice system. We need to repeal unfair sentencing laws, 
increase police force diversity, improve racial sensitivity training, 
end the school-to-prison pipeline and work to re-integrate ex-offenders 
back into society.
  The Black Lives Matter movement parallels the Civil Rights Movement's 
call to action, a movement to that calls us to end economic despair, 
drives out hate and fear and embrace love, and unseats the unjust 
status quo.
  While Americans from all walks of life continue to protest and demand 
for change, Congress must hear their call and work to enact real 
change.
  Like Congress acted 50 years ago after Selma, we were sent to 
Washington to address the issues facing our nation--let's start working 
on the structural and racial biases that pervades and poisons our 
institutions.
  That is why I am a proud cosponsor of the Grand Jury Reform Act, 
which authorizes an appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct an 
investigation and present the results to a judge in a probable cause 
hearing, open to the public, whenever a police officer kills an 
individual while acting in the line of duty.
  Mr. Speaker--We must pass this bill.
  I have also introduced the Half in Ten Act to create a national 
strategy to cut the poverty rate in half over the next decade and lift 
22 million Americans into the middle class.
  Mr. Speaker--We must also pass this bill.
  As a nation, we have made progress against racism and injustice. But 
we are backsliding.
  We cannot lose the prize that our forefathers and mothers fought, 
bled and died to obtain and preserve. The soul of our nation is at 
stake.
  Today, we carry the banner of Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and Medgar Evers. 
We have a duty to continue the fight for freedom, equality and justice.
  This means Congress working together--Republican and Democrat--to 
pass important legislation to address unemployment and poverty and 
protect the voting rights of all.
  The American dream of equality, freedom, liberty, justice and life 
must be more than just words. It must be a promise to all Americans, 
regardless of race, gender, place of birth, disability, sexual 
orientation or gender identity, nationality or religion.
  Together, we can continue the unfinished work of creating a more 
perfect union.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, 
Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., and the gentlewoman from Illinois, 
Congresswoman Robin Kelly, for organizing this important Special Order 
on the legacy of the events at Selma, Alabama.
  As Ava DuVarney's Oscar-nominated film ``Selma'' continues to foster 
discussion about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and bring the 
horrific events of ``Bloody Sunday'' to life for a new generation, I 
believe there is no better time to reflect on our journey, both past 
and ahead.
  The march from Selma to Montgomery stands out as one of the defining 
moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. The images 
are seared into the minds of Americans, and serve as a constant 
reminder of the violence and injustice that our predecessors faced as 
they strove for equal representation.
  Violence that claimed the life of Jimmy Lee Jackson, beaten by state 
troopers as he tried to protect his mother and grandmother. His death 
was a catalyst that ignited the community and inspired the march.
  Violence that claimed the lives of Reverend James Reeb of Boston and 
Viola Liuzzo of Detroit, who had journeyed to Selma to join the 
protests after the events at Edmund Pettus Bridge on ``Bloody Sunday'' 
had been broadcast across America.
  In spite of all the violence, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his 
fellow protestors held their heads high and remained committed to their 
cause, a cause which touched people across the nation, so that when 
they reached Montgomery the crowd had swelled to 25,000 strong.
  The actions of those brave men and women were a shout to the world 
that injustice and oppression would no longer be tolerated. Their 
struggles ensured that the blood that was shed, the lives that were 
lost were not in vain.
  The very next week, President Lyndon Johnson announced to the nation 
that he would put legislation before Congress to eliminate barriers to 
the right to vote.
  We have made great strides towards equality and towards justice since 
those tumultuous events in Selma, Alabama.
  We are honored today to serve alongside Rep. John Lewis, who 
experienced firsthand that fight for rights and representation.
  This congress counts 44 black members among its number, and thanks to 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, millions of African-Americans can 
proudly cast their votes and make their voices heard.
  But our work is far from done. The dreams of Dr. King and of all 
those who gave their lives in the struggle for civil rights are not 
behind us. They are ahead.
  In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling which severely crippled the 
Voting Rights Act, states across our nation enacted legislation 
designed to limit the ability of women, the elderly, African-Americans 
to exercise their right to vote.
  In Texas alone, new voter ID laws are estimated to have prevented or 
deterred as many as 600,000 citizens from registering to vote in 2014.
  Such an act is a direct affront to all those who participated in the 
march to Montgomery, as well as anyone who values the principles of 
true democracy.
  It was exactly these principles that motivated 13 students from Texas 
Southern University to stage a sit-in in Houston 55 years ago in 
pursuit of desegregation.
  Their actions remind us of that guiding ideal that no action is too 
small, too local to affect change in our society.
  The Voting Rights Act is one of the most important pieces of 
legislation in American history, and it represents not only the hope, 
but also the blood and tears of millions of Americans.
  We must work, through legislation like the Voting Rights Amendments 
Act of 2014, to strengthen it and protect the achievements of Dr. King, 
Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, and all those who made 
securing the right to vote for African-Americans their life's work.
  The freedom to vote is not the only freedom for which we must 
continue to fight. Across America, our communities struggle for their 
economic freedom, for the right to opportunity and to financial 
security.
  In 2014, black unemployment was twice that of white Americans, and 
they are more than twice as likely to live in poverty.
  Median income for a black household was $33,764, a mere 60% of median 
income for a white household.
  For these reasons, I will continue to advocate for legislation to 
benefit the working class, to benefit those members of our community 
who continue to struggle with unemployment and underemployment.
  We need legislation that creates new jobs, and legislation that 
provides our citizens with the training that they need to break the 
cycle of unemployment.
  We must understand that the minimum wage is not a living wage, and 
that, without action, we are condemning those with minimum wage jobs to 
a lifetime of hardship.
  Thank you again for this opportunity to speak, and for bringing these 
issues to the forefront of the conversation.

[[Page 1565]]

  As we move forward with our work, let us remember the lessons of 
Selma, of the past. Let them serve as our inspiration and strengthen 
our resolve as we look to the future and continue our efforts to 
protect the freedoms and opportunities of the American people.
  Tonight I call upon all people of good will, those who Dr. King 
called the Beloved Community, to join hands and march toward an agenda 
of healing, justice and equality in commemoration of those historic 
events.
  We march to preserve equality at the voting booth. We march to bring 
an end to systemic poverty and disenfranchisement. We march because we 
believe that all lives matter, and that this truth makes our country 
great.

                          ____________________