[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14669]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            FIRST PRINCIPLES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Jeffries) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, on the question of race, we clearly have 
come a long way in America, but we still have a long way to go.
  There are some in this country who want to sugarcoat the African-
American experience in the great United States of America, but the 
facts are the facts. In this country, the African-American community 
has been forced to endure slavery, rape, kidnapping, lynchings, Jim 
Crow, segregation, mass incarceration, and a police brutality epidemic 
that continues to this very day. It was in this context that athletes 
like Colin Kaepernick bravely chose to kneel down so that others may 
have the courage to stand up.
  There are some who have criticized these athletes as unpatriotic, but 
their actions are uniquely American. Liberty and justice for all is an 
American value. Equal protection under the law is an American value. 
Freedom of speech and expression as embedded in the First Amendment is 
an American value.
  Yet there is criticism coming even from folks in the White House. I 
find this ironic because this is the same group of people at 1600 
Pennsylvania Avenue who regularly refuse to criticize Vladimir Putin 
and defend Russia's interference with our election, undermining 
American democracy for the first time in our Nation's history.
  How dare you lecture us about what is patriotic.
  So I just came to the House floor to make it clear to all of the 
athletes across this great country who have chosen to stand up and 
confront injustice in our society that there are Members of the United 
States Congress who have your back.
  Steph Curry, we have your back.
  LeBron James, we have your back.
  Coach Mike Tomlin, we have your back.
  You stand on the shoulders of giants like Joe Louis, Wilma Rudolph, 
Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, and so many 
others who throughout the annals of time chose to confront injustice in 
America to make us a better place.
  Now you have taken the baton, and, thankfully, you are doing the same 
exact thing. We should be grateful.
  God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

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