To remove the African National Congress from treatment as a terrorist organization for certain acts or events, provide relief for certain members of the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 5690) to remove the African National Congress from treatment as a terrorist organization for certain acts or events, provide relief for certain members of the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.

Will the gentleman yield?

First, let me thank the gentleman from California for yielding and for his leadership and for his commitment and his assistance in helping

to bring this bill to the floor tonight, or back to the floor tonight.

Mr. Royce and I have traveled to Africa. We have actually been to Darfur in the Sudan and witnessed the horrific genocide taking place, and because of your leadership and because of the bipartisan way in which we have worked, we have put, again, the United States on the right side of history on leading the charge for divestment against the Sudanese government.

Here we are tonight, really a remarkable evening. It's 9:40 and we are here on the floor doing what we should do. We probably should have done it a long time. We are here. Thank you, Mr. Royce, very much.

Despite his legacy as a hero of the antiapartheid movement, Nelson Mandela's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and his election as President of South Africa in 1994, Nelson Mandela continues to be included on the United States terrorist watch list due to his leadership and participation with the African National Congress. As a result, former President Mandela and countless men and women like him, who fought for decades, for decades, mind you, a war of liberation against the apartheid government of South Africa, are required to obtain a visa waiver under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to enter the United States.

This continuing indignity should not be allowed to persist any longer. This year, President Mandela will turn 90 years old. I believe his birthday is July 17. And so as a fitting tribute to his legacy and to the many others who fought against apartheid, all of us tonight believe that we should promptly pass this bill so that the African National Congress and President Mandela can be removed from the terrorist watch list.

Like many, I was very involved in the antiapartheid movement. I remember having to travel to Switzerland and to Austria and to other countries in Europe just to meet with members of the ANC, African National Congress, to determine how the antiapartheid movement in the United States could support their courageous efforts to shatter the dehumanizing, racist system of apartheid.

We could not meet, unfortunately, in our own country here in the United States because they would have been put in jail. It's no telling what would have happened to me and to others who were committed to support the African National Congress and to end apartheid.

I tell you, this has been a remarkable 18 years. President Mandela was released from prison 18 years ago. And so it's amazing that to this day, despite his legacy as a hero of the antiapartheid movement, that he still needs a visa waiver to enter the United States. This is just plain wrong.

Last December, I traveled to South Africa for World AIDS Day with our colleague, Congresswoman Donna Christensen. We met with many, many people in South Africa, and were specifically asked that Congress take action and pass some legislation to remove President Mandela from this terrorist list, and the ANC. Many of us either had forgotten or really did not know that. And so we came back and started working on this bill.

I have to thank Congressman Berman, our Chair of our Foreign Relations Committee, and Congressman Conyers and Congressman Payne and Congressman Bennie Thompson and Senator Reid and others for really helping to help move this bill forward.

Let me just say, I come from California and I do have to remind tonight the rest of the country that it was my predecessor, Congressman Ron Dellums, now Mayor Ron Dellums, who put our country on the right side of history. I had the privilege to work for Ron for 11 years. For 12 years, he introduced a sanctions bill, and finally, in the eighties, this Congress overturned President Reagan's veto and put America on the right side of history and began the divestment movement.

Our colleague, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, was in the State legislature and she work tirelessly on divestment legislation. Her leadership put the State of California on the right side of history. Actually, I believe that California was the first State to move forward with sanctions against the racist regime of South Africa.

Recently, Congresswoman Waters and Mayor Dellums received one of the highest honors presented to them by the South African government. So we are very proud of them and thankful for their leadership.

In the Bay area and for those who may be listening, if you remember, we really started the antiapartheid movement with the labor unions, the ILWU. Many of us were actually arrested. We refused to unload the ships. The ILWU, great and courageous men and women. They refused to allow any items to come into the Bay area.

And so we were arrested. We fought. We did so much to try to raise the level of awareness and attention as to what was taking place in South Africa. I can remember us carrying little black passbooks, because coming in from the townships, black South Africans had to have IDs, passbooks. And we had a burning-our-passbook ceremony on the steps of city hall to let people understand that the black majority of South Africa could not live in major towns and had to live in squalor and could only come in to work and had to leave with their passbooks.

So I could go on and on. I am saying this tonight because I want those who are listening to say, This is a really significant moment. This has been, again, a long time coming. But I think this is one of those moments where we have seen the Secretary of State, Republicans, Democrats, all of us working together to end this terrible, terrible policy that we have with regard to the ANC and Nelson Mandela.

I have to salute our speaker, Speaker Pelosi; our minority leader, Mr. Boehner; Mr. Hoyer. Also, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and those who, when we started talking about this, first of all, couldn't believe that this was still the case but said we have got to do something. We have got to fix it.

So, again, to our staffs. I have to say to Perl Alice Marsh of the Foreign Affairs staff, to Christos Tsentas on my staff, and to all of the staff on both sides of the aisle who have worked so diligently, tonight is long overdue. It's taken a heck of a lot to get here, but we hope that tonight we will be able to say to President Mandela: Happy Birthday, Mr. Mandela.

Mr. Royce, hopefully you will be able to take a signed copy of the bill by the President to Mr. Mandela and wish him God speed, happy birthday, and thank goodness we were finally, finally, finally able to take the ANC and President Mandela off of the terrorist watch list.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5690) to exempt the African National Congress from treatment as a terrorist organization for certain acts or events, provide relief for certain members of the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

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

Members of the House, the African National Congress is a rare example of an oppressed people fighting for their freedom and then leading a successful and peaceful transition to a modern nation. The fight went on for years, underground and in exile, against the morally bankrupt apartheid system in South Africa. And once they prevailed, their response to gaining political power was not retribution and reprisals, but truth and reconciliation.

Notwithstanding this peaceful transition, the United States had not gotten around to giving ANC leaders the opportunity to enter this country because certain provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act currently require us to consider them still as terrorists.

After the attacks on 9/11, Congress sought to exclude and remove terrorists from the United States by strengthening the terrorism bars in our immigration laws. In doing so, however, we inadvertently covered groups and individuals whom we did not intend to, including allies and even victims of terrorism. These bars have been used against the brave men and women who fought side by side with United States forces in Southeast Asia. They've been used against those who used armed resistance to defend themselves against brutal and repressive regimes, such as those in Cuba and Burma. They've even been used against women who were raped and enslaved by armed militia in Liberia. And as we recognize today, they've been used against members of the African National Congress, including the great leader, Nelson Mandela. This has had profound effects, preventing us from protecting vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers and resulting in embarrassing denials of visas for Nelson Mandela himself and other foreign heads of state.

We all know how Mr. Mandela and other ANC leaders suffered unjust incarceration for decades at the hands of the apartheid regime. We know how the apartheid regime labeled its opponents as terrorists, as communists, and anything else they could invent to accuse them of that was negative in an attempt to deflect criticism of their own institutions of repression and racial separation. And yet these people who steadfastly fought for freedom and chose a path for peace once they came to power are now blocked from entry to the United States. And so that's where this measure comes in.

Congress has begun to take corrective action, and last year were removed a number of freedom-fighting groups from treatment as terrorist organizations. Today, we do the same for the ANC and its members. In addition to specifying that the ANC is not on the list of terrorist organizations under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the bill would also give discretionary authority to Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to admit individuals regardless of activities undertaken in opposition to apartheid rule in South Africa.

Finally, the bill would require the Secretary of State, in coordination with other agencies, to ensure that government databases are updated so that they are consistent with the exemptions provided in the bill.

I'd like to thank committee chairman of the Judiciary, Howard Berman, but also in his capacity as the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, and in memoriam, I'd like to remember the chairman that preceded Mr. Berman, Tom Lantos, for their work on this bill. I would like to insert into the Record at this point an exchange of letters between our two committees.

And thanks again to the ranking member from Texas, Lamar Smith, whose bipartisan discussions have enabled us to reach this point. This is a noncontroversial bill that repairs something that should have been taken care of earlier. It closes the books on the evils of apartheid. And so I'm very proud to bring this to the floor with the Members that I have mentioned.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC, May 5, 2008.

Hon. John Conyers, Jr.,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you concerning the bill,

H.R. 5690, legislation to exempt the African National

Congress from treatment as a terrorist organization for

certain acts or events, provide relief for certain members of

the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and

for other purposes, which I introduced earlier this year. The

bill contains provisions within the Rule X jurisdiction of

the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and was referred to the

Committee when introduced.

In the interest of permitting your Committee to proceed

expeditiously to floor consideration of this important

legislation and clear it for the President, I am willing to

waive this Committee's right mark up this bill. I do so with

the understanding that by waiving consideration of the bill,

the Committee on Foreign Affairs does not waive any future

jurisdictional claim over the subject matters contained in

the bill which fall within its Rule X jurisdiction.

I would ask that you place this letter into the

Congressional Record when the Committee has H.R. 5690 under

consideration.

Sincerely,

Howard L. Berman,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud now to recognize the subcommittee chairman from whence this bill came, and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman, for as much time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), who has worked with Steve King. And I suggest that there may be a codel going to this part of the globe, and I would certainly like to invite the distinguished gentleman Mr. King to consider joining us on such a codel.

I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) 3\1/2\ minutes.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the gentlewoman from Oakland, California (Ms. Lee), who for many years worked as chief of staff with our former colleague Ron Dellums on this subject. So in her capacity as a Member of Congress and former staffer, she has stayed on the course for all of these years, and I yield her such time as she may consume.

I thank the gentlelady, Barbara Lee, of Oakland, California, for closing our statement.

I thank the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee; the distinguished chairman on the Foreign Affairs Committee; and our distinguished ranking member, who has joined us in a very important and historic step that is being made on the floor of the House today. And I appreciate my good friend from Iowa, who has given us a global overview.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my colleagues that this is a pointed and focused legislative initiative, along with the leadership of Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, that we have gotten to a point that is long overdue. My good friend, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Congressman Don Payne are part of those who initiated this effort. And it is pointedly to focus on really what we would call heroes, fighters against apartheid in South Africa, who shed their blood so that South Africa could be the reconciled nation that it is today. President Mbeki; former President Mandela, ``Father Mandela,'' as he is called; and many of the seniors who are now in their retiring years, who, when they come to the United States, are detained, interrogated, and embarrassed by our own treatment of these heroes, this goes to the very point of the expanded use in the United States of the word ``terrorism'' and the utilization of it by preventing innocent people, people who have been heroes, to come into this country. This is not necessarily a strict immigration bill. It is people who are coming into the country legally, but because they have been freedom fighters, somewhat the way that Dr. Martin Luther King stood nonviolently for rights here in this country, these individuals had to be in the midst of an encounter, if you will, to provide the safety and security for their people.

This particular legislation is an important step forward. But I might suggest to my colleagues that I hope that on the floor today we are making a legislative statement and providing legislative history so that the Department of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State or the State Department will not dillydally around, because, unlike the previous legislation, this does not order it to be done; it gives those departments the discretion for it to be done, as they have requested. So we are entrusting to them this noble responsibility to do well by Father Mandela, to do well by former President Mbeki, and we need to ensure that we do the right thing. And as we look to give this country a different face on terrorism, let us likewise be assured that we recognize that there are other groups that are similarly situated that we should take a look at.

So I rise to support this legislation, Mr. Speaker, because it is an important step forward. It does give the ability to admit these individuals but also to renew the stigma, if you will, of the name of ``terrorists'' because they were freedom fighters to save and preserve and to free South Africans so that they too might live in a democracy. That is what this legislation does, and I appreciate all of the hard work that has gone on.

I close by simply saying, good day for the freedom fighters of South Africa and the ANC; good day for Father Mandela, who led the fight on reconciliation and peace, along with Bishop Tutu. Good day for all of them as we stand here acknowledging that they are heroes, freedom fighters fighting for democracy and equality.

To the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, act now once this bill has passed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your leadership in convening today's markup on H.R. 5690. I support this bill and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

This bill recognizes that the ANC is a nearly 100-year-old party that was created in 1912 to advocate for the rights of black South Africans. It also recognizes that the white Afrikaner government took control of South Africa

in 1948 and at the same time instituted its system of de jure apartheid, which had the effect of disenfranchising millions of non- white Africans. The ANC joined with other groups to engage in civil disobedience and it was banned in 1960 by the South African Government. Although the ANC was banned, it led the resistance effort against apartheid in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Between 1990 and 1994, the ANC negotiated with the South African Government for the end of apartheid and the enfranchisement of black South Africans. In 1994, the ANC became a registered political party and Nelson Mandela was elected to be the first black president.

Since the recognition of the ANC as a legitimate political party, several prominent black South Africans have been denied visas to enter the United States on the basis that they were considered to be inadmissible under the INA because they were members of a terrorist group. Nelson Mandela were considered inadmissible under this same law. In the past the Department of State has provided waivers to ANC leaders to enter the United States.

H.R. 5690 would remove certain affected persons from certain U.S. databases. The bill provides that the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the FBI, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall take steps to update the database concerning admissible persons. The bill provides that the ANC is not treated as a terrorist organization for any act occurring on or before the enactment of the act. The bill still leaves the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security with the discretion to deny people entry. Importantly, the bill does not deny present and former members of the ANC admission to the U.S. on the basis of their membership in or affiliation with the ANC or for any apartheid activities occurring from 1948 to 1990.

This bill is long overdue. The ANC has been recognized as a legitimate political party since 1994. There is no reason to treat members of that organization as a terrorist threat. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. My only concern is that the bill singles out the ANC but does not go further in clearing other political parties that were outlawed during the apartheid era from treatment as terrorist organizations.

I thank Mr. Smith, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, for yielding, and I appreciate the privilege to address this issue before this Congress.

First, I want to point out that I believe there has been a constructive compromise that has been reached across this aisle that has not necessarily closed loopholes but made some clarifications that help protect this country from kind of a blanket waiver, so to speak, with any of those formerly potentially violent members of the ANC.

And for me, I come to this debate with more concern than many because I still maintain vivid memories of what went on in the streets of South Africa during those anti-apartheid riots and demonstrations and strategic actions that took place, black against white, white against black. I also have vivid memories, Mr. Speaker, of actions taken in this country and positions taken politically and the divesting of investments within South Africa by many American companies as an incentive to end apartheid, which was, I believe, a sin against humanity to have a policy that identified some people as

being more equal than others, and I believe it's a sin against humanity to maintain those policies, whether they are in the United States or South Africa or anywhere else.

I offered an amendment to the Judiciary Committee before this bill, and the purpose of it was to send a message because I have traveled to South Africa and I have met with people there who expressed to me some concerns, and because of that, I've also dug a little deeper into the readings in the current events. It will not be a surprise to the members of the committee that I'm concerned about the land transfer that is part of the federal policy of South Africa, to transfer a significant portion of land from, right now, under the deeds held by white South Africans into the deeds of black South Africans. I made it clear in the committee that I do not compare this to the things we see going on in Zimbabwe. That is far different and that is without benefit of the rule of law. But there still remains a concern.

I also want to point out, and I promised Ambassador Welile Nhlapo, who is the Ambassador to the United States from South Africa, that I would make this statement. And he came to my office yesterday. We sat down in my office for a good, strong hour and discussed these issues. And he assured me that there are constitutional protections that exist and statutory protections that exist to protect all property owners in South Africa and that there will not be a transfer of real estate property into the hands of black South Africans at the expense of white South Africans without due process of law and constitutional protections. I voiced my concern about that. He reassured me that that would be the case.

And I pointed out to him that it's difficult for us in this country to reach an objective position on these issues that are racially charged because it's so much wrapped up in who we are. And I would point out, Mr. Speaker, for the observation of the body, to listen to an analysis of the political campaigns that are going on now and, in fact, today to listen to an analysis of the predictions of those going to the polls in the Democrat primary in places like Indiana and North Carolina, which are taking place right now, you cannot hear a political pundit/talking-head analysis without race and gender coming into that debate.

So I challenged Ambassador Nhlapo that that's a very difficult standard, that we can't meet it here in this country. As old as our traditions are for freedom, as much sweat and toil and blood has been spilled to make people free and keep them free, we still can't extricate ourselves from being wrapped up in that debate and have our public policy identified by whom we might side with rather than how we might analyze the Constitution or the law. It's difficult here in the United States with our traditions; it's far more difficult in South Africa. We had that discussion. It was a constructive discussion.

And I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to support this bill and to encourage open dialogue globally and continuing communication and interchange with the people of South Africa and people of all nations on the Earth.

I would remind, also, the body that the record of post-colonial Africa is not a stellar record. There are many problems in the continent, many of those in the southern part of the continent of Africa. And as I travel and visit there and go into the AIDS orphanages in particular and can step into the villages where there isn't a single adult of reproductive age unless they are a missionary, it has been devastating to the continent. We need to have an open dialogue and be frank about our problems and be open in our discussion. Hiding our dialogue because we're afraid we might hurt someone's feelings only pushes the problem further downward instead of letting it surface so that we can all address it together with open eyes, open ears, and open dialogue.

That's what we did yesterday in my meeting, which I so gratefully received Ambassador Nhlapo into my office. And in that engaging conversation, I'm confident that we have opened up communications for a continued dialogue, and I trust that this bill will open communications for further dialogue, and I certainly support this.

Mr. Speaker, it's an honor to be part of the debate on a bill being managed by the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who perhaps is one of the first Members of Congress to speak out and lead the effort against the old apartheid regime, going way back into the late sixties and early 1970s, and who, along with Congressman Ron Dellums and many others, led the effort in 1986, I believe it was, to override the veto and provide the first really tough sanctions against investment that helped play a part in the ultimate downfall of that apartheid regime.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is a long overdue one, and it's the direct result of a stunning and, frankly, embarrassing story for the United States. The United States, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, had a much too cozy relationship with the apartheid Government of South Africa which had labeled the ANC as a terrorist organization. The apartheid government banned membership and political activity in the ANC and forced its leaders underground or into exile. A direct result of that ban was that under U.S. law individuals convicted of crimes, including the Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, were deemed inadmissible for entry to the United States, along with individuals labeled as terrorists by the former South African government.

Much has changed for South Africa since those dark times. President de Klerk and Nelson Mandela negotiated an end to the conflict and an end to the apartheid system on behalf of the National Party and the African National Congress. In 1994, the country held its first democratic elections in which full enfranchisement was granted.

Today, the ANC serves as the majority party in a diverse ruling coalition. Yet, astonishingly, while South Africa completed its monumental political transition, the U.S. position regarding entry for ANC's leaders remained frozen in time. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki, the father of President Thabo Mbeki, were continually barred from entry to the U.S. and had to apply for special waivers to gain entry.

Even more embarrassing than the original U.S. embrace of apartheid policies was the fact that few of those who opposed apartheid in the United States Government, including many of us in Congress, were even aware of the residual terrorist designations against ANC members.

Despite recognizing two decades ago that America's place was on the side of those oppressed by apartheid, Congress has never resolved the inconsistency in our immigration code that treats many of those who actively opposed apartheid in South Africa as terrorists and criminals, in part because the apartheid regime labeled them as such.

Increasingly, stringent security measures passed by Congress since 2001 have further ensnared ANC members. Because the ANC used armed force as part of its campaign against the repressive apartheid regime in South Africa, current law continues to regard the ANC as a terrorist organization and to deny entry to members based on their affiliation with the ANC.

The intent of H.R. 5690 is to purge the United States of any residual effect of its former policies with regard to the South African Government and to update U.S. law with regard to the ANC. The bill, as amended, specifically removes the ANC from treatment as a terrorist organization and grants the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretionary authority to determine that certain criminal- and security-related grounds of inadmissibility do not apply to an alien with respect to activities undertaken in opposition to apartheid rule in South Africa.

I want to take a moment just to compliment again the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, who has very strong and passionate views on the issues of immigration and, obviously, also, as we all do in this Chamber, on the issue of terrorist organizations and inadmissibility for those organizations. He has truly understood and internalized the historic transition here and the unfairness of the present situation.

And I do want to affirm one point that he raised. This bill does not have anyone close their eyes to acts committed by the ANC or by the apartheid government, and nothing here would preclude the Secretary, as she exercises her discretion, from considering whether or not civilians were targeted by an individual actor, civilians. We should, also, I think, take into account, as we decide what to do on this, the very powerful and legally binding truth and reconciliation process in South Africa which provided a restorative justice process that salved many of the wounds of the apartheid era.

Once enacted, the ANC will be removed from terrorist watch lists, and the ANC will receive treatment befitting its status as a leading party and a close ally of the United States. I encourage my colleagues to support the legislation.