A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should designate the week beginning September 12, 2004, as "National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week".

Mr. President, America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities have served as precious portals of opportunity for African-Americans since the first, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, was founded 167 years ago. I join all Americans in commemorating these proud institutions of higher learning this week, which the President has proclaimed ``National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.''

Mary McLeod Bethune once said, ``We firmly believe education has the irresistible power to dissolve the shackles of slavery.'' It was this moral commitment to education for African-Americans that inspired Ms. Bethune to found her famous day school in Daytona, FL--now known as Bethune Cookman College--100 years ago. It was also this ideal that inspired the establishment of 130 other Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide. And the ``irresistible power'' of these institutions for the African-American community is clear. Fully 42 percent of all the PhDs earned each year by African-Americans are earned by graduates of HBCUs.

But despite playing a central role in our Nation's economic, cultural, social and spiritual life, HBCUs have been physically eroding, victims of chronic neglect and underfunding. A 1990 General Accounting Office study concluded that 712 properties on 103 HBCU campuses nationwide were in need of repair or renovation, at an estimated cost of $755 million.

That is why 2 years ago I joined with Congressman Jim Clyburn in the cause of repairing, restoring, rebuilding, and revitalizing HBCUs. With the support of Senators Landrieu, Miller, and others, our legislation to authorize $50 million in new funding for HBCUs passed the Senate in January 2003, and was signed into law by the President in February of that year. We appropriated $3 million for the program last year, and hope to continue such robust funding this appropriations cycle.

I saw firsthand the effect that this legislation can have. When I visited Allen University in South Carolina in 2002, I went to Arnett Hall--a building that had been transformed from an eyesore into a beautiful and stately facility with the help of Federal funds. In the past, students and faculty who walked into the dilapidated hall would be left with the clear impression that we are neglecting these historic treasures. Now, they visit the restored hall and are left with the impression that we consider Historically Black Colleges and Universities central to our history and to our future.

Our HBCU legislation was an important step to fulfilling the dream, as Dr. Martin Luther King famously captured it, of an America true to its creed that we are all created equal. Each of these 130 institutions of higher learning, educating 300,000 African-American students, is a living memorial to the dream of equal educational opportunity for all-- living memorials we are morally bound to preserve. This week, let us recall the proud heritage and valuable contribution Historically Black Colleges and Universities make to our Nation, and redouble our efforts to keep their doors open for future generations.

Mr. President, today I rise to honor the Historically Black Colleges and Universities around the country that serve over 215,000 of our finest African-American students.

Since the first HBCU was founded in 1837, HBCUs have played an important role in our higher education system. They have educated some of our most prominent African-American leaders, such as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, educator Booker T. Washington, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, and Louisiana native and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, Jr., to just name a few. Today, 65 percent of all African-American physicians, 50 percent of African-American engineers, and 35 percent of African-American lawyers are graduates of an HBCU. It is clear that HBCUs have and continue to play a vital role in our higher education system, and for that, I honor them today.

I would specifically like to praise the six HBCUs in my home state of Louisiana that produce exceptionally fine graduates: Dillard University in New Orleans, Grambling State University in Grambling, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, Southern University in New Orleans, Southern University in Shreveport, and Xavier University in New Orleans. These schools serve roughly 30,000 Louisiana higher education students and prepare them to be tomorrow's leaders. For that, I say thank you.

Recognizing the importance of HBCUs, I am proud to lend my support to S. Res. 422, designating this week as ``National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.'' And, I am proud to support the College Quality, Affordability, and Diversity Improvement Act, S. 1793, which extends and increases the Title V, Part B programs under the Higher Education Act that strengthen HBCUs. As we enter the final weeks of the 108th Congress, I look forward to discussing, debating, and passing this important piece of legislation, and as we move through the appropriations process, I urge my colleagues to ensure that adequate funding is given to HBCUs.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have given a great amount to our higher education system through the years, and today I give them my thanks and praise.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 422, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, this resolution relates to historically black colleges and universities and the designation of a period of time to express appreciation for the tremendous function and job they carry out in this great country of ours.

In my own city of Nashville, my hometown, and where I live now, we have two wonderful historically black institutions of learning. One is a medical center, Meharry Medical College; and the another is Fisk University. The contributions those two institutions of learning have made to our community, and indeed to the global community, and in the sense of Meharry to the national community of physicians, has been just tremendous.

I know both sides of the aisle take great pleasure in once again recognizing this period of time that we can celebrate the great work that is done.