[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16337]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                    IN DEFENSE OF AN HONORABLE WOMAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to stand in 
the well of the House, and I am honored to do so today.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to defend the Honorable Frederica Wilson. 
Mr. Speaker, I rise to defend her not because of her color. She is a 
person of African ancestry, but, Mr. Speaker, I don't rise to defend 
her color. I believe that it is not the color of skin but rather the 
character within that determines the worth of men and women, so I rise 
to defend her worth. I rise to defend who she is. I rise to defend her 
integrity, her honor, and her dignity. I rise to defend an honorable 
woman.
  Mr. Speaker, I do so because, in this country, we have allowed public 
discourse to be degraded to the extent that the President of the United 
States of America would call a Member of Congress, an honorable woman, 
wacky. Mr. Speaker, this is not a wacky person. This is a person of 
honor and integrity and of intellect.
  Mr. Speaker, she is a former principal. She didn't just show up in 
the Congress one day. She was a State representative and a State 
senator before coming to Congress.
  I rise to defend her. I rise to defend her because, Mr. Speaker, it 
has been said that she is an empty barrel. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to 
believe that one who has served the country as well and as capable and 
as able that the maker of that statement would do so. But it says 
something about the influence that this President is having on people 
of honor and integrity. It says something about the influence that he 
is having on society. This is not an empty barrel. She is a person of 
intellect.
  It has been said that she is all hat and no cattle. That is an 
insult. That is an insult because somehow someone is trying to send a 
signal that others will receive as a person who is an airhead. She is 
not an airhead. She is not a person who is all hat and no cattle. She 
has sponsored meaningful legislation. She has been in a fight to free 
many young women who have been taken captive. She is tenacious. She 
doesn't give out, she doesn't give up, she doesn't give in. She is a 
fighter, and I stand and I rise to defend her.
  I do this, Mr. Speaker, because I believe that Carlyle is right: ``No 
lie can live forever.'' She has been lied on, Mr. Speaker.
  I do so because I believe that William Cullen Bryant is right: 
``Truth, crushed to Earth, shall rise again.'' There are people who 
have tried to bury the truth about this good woman in an earthly grave 
of lies.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to defend her because I believe that if we allow 
one person to go undefended in a circumstance like this, every person 
is at risk of being treated in a similar fashion. We are in some very 
difficult times, and many of us don't realize it. We have a person who 
is at the top who is setting a tone and tenor for the country who is 
demeaning the dignity and respect that his office commands.
  Mr. Speaker, this has to stop. There are those who say wait until the 
next election. I am not one of them. I believe that the remedy for this 
kind of behavior and the impact that it is having on society is 
impeachment.

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