Urging the United States Government to initiate a diplomatic surge to foster security and stability in the Middle East by engaging international stakeholders and governments throughout the region to curtail destabilizing influences, help prevent the spread of violence, address humanitarian concerns, and enhance prospects for security, political, and economic progress in Iraq.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 272) commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I would like to first commend our distinguished colleague and former member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Lee of California, for introducing this very important resolution.

I am honored and humbled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slave trade with this resolution, for its legacy continues to reflect the racial biases and socioeconomic disparities that still exist in this country and throughout the Americas.

As we consistently admonish the prevalence of modern-day slavery worldwide, because it still exists in some parts of the world, it would be hypocritical if we did not acknowledge the history of transatlantic slave trade which existed for so long in this country, and therefore it is appropriate that we speak about it at this time, its 200th anniversary.

For over 300 years the United Kingdom and other European countries kidnapped and sold millions of Africans into slavery. The transatlantic slave trade is known as the largest forced migration in the history of the world. Estimates range from 25 to 50 million Africans were forcibly brought to the United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America and to Europe. Sharks migratory patterns were changed because these predators followed the ships in the Middle Passage because when a slave died they were thrown overboard, or if they were killed because they were protesting, or if they committed suicide, the sharks knew that they could follow the ships, and it changed the migratory patterns of sharks during this period of time.

African labor was an essential feature of economic development in Europe and her former colonies, including the United States. All of the nations involved flourished economically as a result of slave labor.

The fact that slavery was not abolished in the United States until Abraham Lincoln declared to end slavery in the Confederacy in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation. However, slavery was really not abolished in the Union.

Interestingly enough, in my State of New Jersey, slavery continued until 1866. In New Jersey, a mother, a woman could become free at the age of 21, and a man at the age of 25, but their children had to continue in slavery. And so

the emancipation only freed slaves in the Confederacy, and did not free slaves in the Union. And so, as I have indicated in New Jersey, there were still slaves a year after the end of the Civil War in 1866.

The dignity of our Nation demands our recognition of this tragic part of American history. I extend my highest respect and appreciation for the contributions and struggles of African Americans to create an equitable and just society from which we all benefit today.

I strongly support this resolution, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her generosity.

Madam Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 7 minutes to the sponsor of the resolution, Representative Barbara Lee from the Ninth District of California, member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina, Representative G. K. Butterfield, the vice chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the 11th District of New York, Representative Yvette Clarke, a member of the Commerce and Small Business Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from the Seventh District of Illinois, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia, Representative Danny K. Davis.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the Representative from the Sixth District of California, Representative Lynn Woolsey.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from the 18th District of Texas, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation, Security and Infrastructure Protection.

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Solis), a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from the 13th District of Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), the chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus and a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentlelady from California once again. As she said, we hope that the history will be integrated into our textbooks. In New Jersey, I am proud to say, William Payne, assemblyman, passed Amistad legislation that will integrate the history of African Americans in the history of New Jersey. Our current Member of Congress, Albio Sires, was the Speaker of the Assembly when that great legislation was brought through with his assistance.

When we read about Patrick Henry, who said, ``Give me liberty or give me death,'' or Nathan Hale, who said ``I regret that I only have one life to give for my country,'' we will read about Crispus Attucks, the first person killed in the Revolutionary War on March 3, 1770. We will read about Peter Salem and Salem Poor at the Battle of Bunker Hill, that fired the shot. They said, ``Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.'' They killed Major Pitcairn, who led the Boston Massacre.

When we hear about the Civil War, 50 percent of the Navy were African Americans, once Frederick Douglass convinced President Lincoln to allow them.

In the Spanish-American War, as I conclude, we hear about the Rough Riders of Teddy Roosevelt, but it was the Buffalo Soldiers at the Battle of San Juan Hill that saved the Rough Riders of Teddy Roosevelt from annihilation, which has been kept from our history.

I could go on and on, but since the time has expired, at another time I will hope to be able to get through World War I and World War II and to the present time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Let me thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, the chairman of the Africa Subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I thank the author and sponsor of this legislation, it is historic. And certainly, I thank the ranking member of the full committee for her leadership and presence here on the floor today and our full committee Chair.

This is a day that really emphasizes the long and diverse history of this Nation. It is a day that I hope that members of this body will unanimously pass this legislation, H. Res. 272.

Certainly, the historic aspect of it has already been noted, some 10 million to 15 million Africans were transported as slaves across the Atlantic. It does not, however, add all of the history when you look at the broadness of this question of slavery and America. What it really did to America was carve out this issue of race. And Judge Higgenbotham made it very clear as he rendered decisions on segregation and separation, that in this Nation, race matters. This historical perspective now puts all of this horrible legacy in place, and it does so as America. It does so, it speaks to America about the horribleness of the slave trade. It adds that this was not a very positive part of America's history, but it is part of America's history. It does so in the backdrop of the commemoration of the 400th year of Jamestown, 1607. And the first slaves that came over were actually from Angola. The person who fought against the slaves who were being taken was a woman warrior of the tribes in that part.

Just a few weeks ago, I saw the reenactment or the refilming, if you will,

or the reshowing of Roots, the Alex Haley Roots, on TV1, interestingly enough, a station and a company owned by an African American woman. And it brought home again the fierceness of slavery, the violence of slavery, and in fact, that these slaves were taken and violated and abused. And those that came over and made it here were infected with disease, they were suffering from rape and they had been brutalized.

This is an important statement. But a more important statement is the vestiges of slavery, and I am glad to have joined the Honorable Congresswoman Barbara Lee and a number of others who went to South Africa to the Conference on Racism, organized by the United Nations in 2001. That was a very, very important effort, and I am glad that Members of Congress did not accept the administration's rejection of going to that conference. It was vital for us to be there. It was a vital part of the healing process, because it had to do with racism around the world. In fact, we know today that slavery still exists around the world.

So as we stand here today, we acknowledge the horribleness of the slave history of this country, but we also condemn slavery that exists today around the world, in parts of Asia, in parts of Africa, in parts of South and Central America, in parts of all aspects of the world, possibly even in Europe, where people are held against their will.

But the United Nations conference was to speak to the issue of stamping out the vestiges of slavery, so that we could do it in unity, so that we could respect each other for our dignity and for where we have come from, our religious difference, our racial difference, even our regional and country differences.

That is why this resolution is so important, because it says to the world that the United States House of Representatives accepts and acknowledges the wrongness of slavery, but we are going forward. We also recognize the vestiges of slavery, and we must go forward to end that separation on the basis of race. We must be able to say that race matters in a positive way.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 272, commemorating the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

When slavery was introduced into the European colonies in 1619, the dark days that followed ignited the faith and hope of our ancestors that one day their descendants would live in freedom and helped them bear the unbearable burden of bondage. For over 300 years, the United Kingdom and other European countries kidnapped and sold millions of Africans into slavery; contemporary historians estimate that between 9.4 and 12 million Africans arrived in the new world. Although on March 25, 1807, the United Kingdom outlawed the African Slave trade by passing the Slave Trade Abolition Act, the road to freedom was a perilous one, and without Abolitionist movements, protests, and opposition, would not have been realized.

Madam Speaker, it is important to commemorate this occasion so that the world will not quickly forget the incorrigible injustices African- Americans suffered as slaves and the humiliation and degradation they bore when they were taken and adjudged to be real estate, the same category as livestock, household furniture, wagons and goods.

Although slavery was long, vicious and arduous, African slaves were instrumental in the economic development of this Nation and allowed Europe and the United States of America to be built. Slaves were the foundation of the country--today we recognize the end of this heinous trade of human cargo. It was from the institutional slave trade of Africans that the strong African-American people who have survived despite racism and second class citizenship emerged in the United States.

As we condemn the atrocities, human rights abuses, and modern-day slavery worldwide, it would be hypocritical if we did not acknowledge the history of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery that existed not long ago in our country.

The end of slavery did not come to pass until 1865, when the United States ratified the 13th amendment to the constitution. But the fight for equality against injustices, though easier today, still carries on. The consequences of the slave trade have been profound and the scars that it produced still have not healed. The most serious legacy is the endurance of racism in various forms that keep changing, but do not seem to dissipate.

Madam Speaker, we are committed to overcoming this legacy and assuring a just world society. The dignity of African-Americans demands recognition of the tragic history of the slavery era. It is for that reason that I rise in strong support of H. Res. 272, commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. I urge all members to do likewise.

Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding and for your leadership, Mr. Payne, in making sure that this resolution came to the floor today in a bipartisan way and also for making sure that the history of African Americans, which, of course, started during the Middle Passages, is told not only here on the floor of Congress but in our public schools. So thank you very much.

Let me thank our ranking member, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and also Mr. Lantos for their leadership and for their assistance.

And let me take a moment to acknowledge our staff, because they have worked very diligently. And not only do they work for us. They really do believe in what we are doing, Madam Speaker: Kristin Wells, Pearl Alice Marsh, Joan Condon, Genora Reed, and Ven Neralla from my office. They have done remarkable work in a bipartisan fashion to get this resolution to the floor.

This resolution, Madam Speaker, H. Res. 272, commemorates a very somber and very serious occasion, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade by the United Kingdom. Two hundred years ago on March 25 in 1807, Great Britain abolished the transatlantic slave trade in England and its colonies. This act began a worldwide revolt against the trade of human beings by other European nations.

This is a very important milestone because it represents the beginning of the end of one of the most deplorable, deplorable chapters in human history.

Madam Speaker, on several occasions, like many of my colleagues, I have had the overwhelmingly heart-wrenching, and I mean heart- wrenching, experience of traveling to the areas from where slaves were captured and put on ships for that deadly passage to America from Africa. And this is called, of course, the Middle Passage. One of my most distinct memories was standing on several occasions at the ``doors of no return'' in Ghana and in Senegal. Every slave castle has such a door. This door represents so many things to me. At this door my ancestors stood on the shores of their homeland for the last time in their lives. At this door a fate awaited them that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. And over 400 years later, there I was standing in the doors as one of their descendants who survived and returned.

Standing in front of those doors, it is really impossible for me to ignore the fact that those who walked chained through those doors laid the foundation of many modern nations that have a colonial past, including the United States of America.

The slave trade was vital to England and other European colonial powers. It provided the basis for modern capitalism to take root, generating immense wealth for business enterprises in colonial America and Europe. In many ways the industrial strength of our Nation was built on the blood, sweat, and tears of African American free labor. Free labor. Today, this great country of ours, the United States of America, reaps the fruits of labor of these enslaved Africans, and we cannot forget that.

However, in spite of the considerable riches enslaved Africans created for others, what the slave trade also represented was really the lowest expression of humanity, and I mean the lowest expression. Captured Africans were subjected to the worst forms of cruelty and inhumanity. Millions were crammed in the hulls of slave ships like sardines in a can. The stench of filth and death reeked from the ships. Disease ran rampant through the ships. Traders used any means of violence to subdue insurrection, including torture, mutilations, and rape. The death rate during transport would reach as high as 50 percent. The world will never know really the exact number of enslaved Africans transported to America, but it is estimated that between 10 to 15 million were brought here to the United States, making it the largest forced migration in history.

Given its immense significance, it is unfortunate that the transatlantic slave trade is a subject only briefly discussed in our Nation's classrooms, and

the study of the transatlantic slave trade really, if you ask me, should be a requirement for all of our public schools. It is essential that we acknowledge how slavery created attitudes of racism that persist in our society today.

Sadly, the legacy of the slave trade and slavery are with us to this day. Just consider these facts: nearly one quarter of African Americans in the United States live in poverty. African Americans have one of the highest unemployment rates at 9.6 percent, and of the 46 million who lack health insurance, about 20 percent are African American and many of these are children.

Slavery may be over, at least legalized slavery may be over, but in many ways the vestiges remain. That is why, Madam Speaker, it is important that we are considering this resolution today. We must honor the memory and the legacy and the courage of those who died in slavery and those who worked to end it. But at the same time, we must use this occasion to recommit ourselves to eliminating the disparities that exist in our society. We must not let their sacrifices be in vain.

Madam Speaker, I stand before you today in support of H. Res. 272, drafted by my colleague Representative Barbara Lee from California. I would like to thank her for her leadership on this issue in recognition of this important part of our shared history.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade. In 1807 the United Kingdom outlawed slavery recognizing that the African slave trade and all manner of dealing and trading in the purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves from any part of the coast or countries of Africa was unlawful and thereby abolished.

The transatlantic slave trade conducted the capture of Africans, mostly from West Africa, for the purpose of enslavement in the colonies that would become the United States, during the 15th and late 19th centuries.

The Middle Passage was the forced migration through overseas transport of millions of Africans to the Americas, many of whom suffered abuses of rape and perished as a result of torture, malnutrition, disease and resistance in transit. Those who survived this perilous journey were sold into slavery.

More than 12,000,000 Africans were transported in bondage from their African homelands to the Americas, and an estimated 1,200,000 men, women, and children born in the Americas were displaced in the forced migration that was the domestic slave trade.

It is important to acknowledge that as a result of the slave trade approximately 80,000,000 to 150,000,000 persons of African descent live in Latin America and the Caribbean, making them the largest population of persons of African descent outside of Africa.

The transatlantic slave trade is characterized as the largest forced migration in world history.

The institution of slavery which enslaved Africans, their progeny and later generations for life was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the Government of the United States from 1789 through 1865.

Slavery in the United States during and after British colonial rule included the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce. However their presence in southern states posed a problem for representation when the Union solidified. The Great Compromise of 1787 declared that the enslaved Africans would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of representation in the House of Representatives as not to give undue representation to southern states.

The slavery that flourished in the United States constituted an immoral and inhumane dispossession of Africans' life, liberty, and citizenship rights and denied them the fruits of their own labor. The enslaved Africans in the colonies and the United States suffered psychological and physical abuse, destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families.

I am disappointed that this body has been slow to act on the resolution denouncing slavery and offering an official apology to the descendants of slaves and the African American community. The 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, declared the slave trade and slavery a crime against humanity. The world recognizes the magnitude of this atrocity so why can't we make this simple step towards reconciliation?

The slave trade and the legacy of slavery continue to have a profound impact on social and economic disparity, hatred, bias, racism and discrimination in the United States.

I urge my colleagues to support this and other legislation that serves to educate and increase awareness of the history of the slave trade and its impact on American culture.

Madam Speaker, thank you for bringing up this important resolution to this floor today. And I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 272, which recognizes the historical significance of the abolition of transatlantic slave trade. It respects the memory of those who perished as a result of slavery. It supports preservation of related historical documents, and it urges greater education about this sad period in history for both current and future generations.

While addressing the Community of Democracies' opening plenary in Chile on April 29, 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated: ``We at the Community of Democracies must use the power of our shared ideals to accelerate democracy's movement to ever more places around the globe. We must usher in an era of democracy that thinks of tyranny as we thought of slavery today: a moral abomination that could not withstand the natural desire of every human being for a life of liberty and of dignity.''

While Secretary Rice's remarks were specifically on the promotion of democracy around the world, she reminded us of a very unsettling fact. Even 200 years after the abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom and nearly 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation in our United States, slavery still exists in the modern world. It exists through tyranny. It exists through oppression. It exists where human rights and freedom are systematically repressed.

Secretary Rice's statement serves as a call to action for those of us who would seek to break the shackles of tyranny and promote human dignity around the world.

I appreciate the bipartisan fashion by which we have sought to heed the Secretary's call and to recognize the significance of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, as evidenced by our consideration today of both this resolution by the Congresswoman from California (Ms. Lee) and House Resolution 158, offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts). Collectively, these resolutions remind us of the courage and the fortitude of those who came before us to fight the scourge of slavery, while helping us come to terms with our own shameful past.

I believe that there would be no better way to respect the memory of those forced to suffer under the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, or to honor those who dedicated themselves to its abolition, than to stand together today in a bipartisan fashion and publicly recommit ourselves to the eradication of slavery and the promotion of human rights around the world.

Madam Speaker, I again thank you for bringing this important resolution to the floor.

Madam Speaker, because I know that the gentleman from New Jersey and the gentlewoman from California have many speakers on their side, except for the 2 minutes that I would like to yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) to comment on this important resolution, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.