Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 559, I call up the bill (H.R. 2918), making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include tabular and extraneous material on H.R. 2918.

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

Madam Speaker and Members, I am very proud to present the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill to the House.

The jurisdiction of this bill is incredibly important. We, as Members, have responsibility not just for the institution, but for the staff that work for this institution, and to preserve the facilities that help support this institution. We have endeavored to do that responsibly, and I believe we have accomplished that goal.

It has been an incredible privilege and pleasure to work with my colleague, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt). We have crafted a bipartisan bill and worked together every step of the way. And I just wanted to acknowledge him at the very outset to thank him for all of his good work and tell him what a pleasure he has been to work with.

Madam Speaker, I also want to thank, on behalf of, if I may, the House of Representatives, all of the staff that work not just for the House of Representatives, but for every legislative

branch agency because this bill is designed to support them. This bill is designed to make sure that they can do the work they need to do in order for us to be able to serve our constituents in the most effective way possible. So on behalf of the House of Representatives, if I may, both myself and Mr. Aderholt, we owe a tremendous debt to the true public servants that work here every single day on our behalf.

We, as Members of the House of Representatives, get quite a bit of the glory and the attention and the focus, but it is our staff, both the ones that work for us in our own Member offices, but also throughout this Chamber and across every legislative branch agency, that are toiling in the wilderness, so to speak, and are the unsung heroes that make the wheels of the legislative process turn, and we just can't thank them enough.

This is a bill that attempts to fulfill our responsibilities at two different levels. We really focused on two main tasks in the legislative branch bill. First, we have tried to provide the right balance of funding in a prudent way for each existing office, agency, and program so that we can support the day-to-day operations of the Congress.

The bill provides a total of $3.68 billion, which is an increase of $37 million, 6.8 percent above 2009 levels. A majority of those funds go to two of our greatest priorities within the bill: life safety issues, because, quite frankly, if we don't address the backlog of life safety and deferred maintenance that exist in all of our facilities, at some point we are not going to have the facilities to be able to work in. And the treasures of the facilities that we work in every single day is what our role is in the legislative branch. We must preserve them through the generations as they have been preserved for us to be able to work in today.

In addition, the bill, as is tradition, reserves funds, $1.025 million, for later action by the Senate on their issues to operate the Senate, and that is customary.

We have been able to provide for all mandatory cost increases and a limited number of program enhancements as well. In spite of the fact that we were able to do that, there were a number of things that we were unable to do because our focus during the markup of this bill was to fund the ``gotta haves,'' not the ``nice to haves.'' There are so many ``nice to haves'' that we could fund and that make sense and that would be appropriate, but we wanted to make sure that we crafted a frugal and fiscally responsible piece of legislation, which is why the bill, as written, is $281 million below the amount requested, which is a source of pride for all of the members of the committee.

Let me just summarize a few of the key amounts in the bill, Madam Speaker. The bill includes $1.4 billion for the operations of the House. This is an increase of $75 million, or 5.8 percent, over the 2009 enacted level, but $120 million below the amount requested. We have appropriated $660 million of this amount for the MRA.

Of interest to Members, and as was discussed during the rule, we also include within the budget an allocation for the Clerk of the House of $4.6 million to finally replace the antiquated 33-year-old voting system that we use here electronically in the Chamber so that we no longer have to have it held together by the duck tape that its inner workings are actually held together by.

$325.1 million is provided for the Capitol Police. That is sufficient to maintain their current officer strength. There was a request that we did not fund to increase the number of officers, the number or FTEs that they carry. It was felt that although the Capitol Police is working diligently towards getting their fiscal house in order--and Chief Morse is to be commended for that--they are not quite there yet. And adding to the strength of their force did not make sense, we felt, until they can make sure that they can get a handle on their overtime and get a handle on who is where in the Capitol Police structure.

$647.4 million is included for the Library of Congress. That is a 6.6 percent increase over the fiscal year 2009 enacted level. The amount provided includes $22 million for the Library to fund their high- priority initiatives, which also includes $15 million for technology upgrades.

It also includes the full amount, Members will be interested to know, that was requested for the Copyright Office. There is a tremendous backlog in the Copyright Office, which the committee has added report language to address. We are very concerned about that backlog and are going to be pushing the Copyright Office to get a handle on it, as well as full funding for the Books for the Blind program.

The bill also includes $146.2 million for the Government Printing Office, which is a 4 percent increase.

Finally, the bill includes $558.8 million for the GAO. Obviously, they have some tremendously increased responsibilities. That is a 5.2 percent increase. We need to make sure that GAO has the ability to conduct the accountability responsibilities that they have and that they do such a good job doing.

Beyond the core funding for the day-to-day operations, Madam Speaker, of the Congress, we have largely focused on two long-term priorities as well. We are first taking a more aggressive approach to dealing with the backlog of deferred maintenance needs of our aging Capitol complex. As we have said, and I risk saying this on the House floor, this is not the sexiest of committees of the 12 Appropriations Committees, but it is one that is incredibly important in order for us to be able to preserve the institution and the facilities in the institution that we serve in. The bill includes funding for 23 high-priority projects that are requested by the Architect of the Capitol.

Beyond these immediate needs, however, the bill includes--and this is something that is a great source of pride for the members of the committee, and we want to thank Chairman Obey for his leadership on this--$60 million to establish a new Historic Buildings Revitalization Trust Fund. We have a number of major facilities projects coming up over the next few years, including the renewable of the Cannon House Office Building, which is 100 years old, as well as the restoration of the Capitol dome, which will cost in the range of $100 million. And that is not a hit that this budget can take on a year-to-year basis, so we are going to begin to bank funds that are in that trust fund and only allow the appropriation for those projects out of that trust fund.

In addition, we have tried to deal, most importantly, I think, with the challenge of retaining the best and brightest that have come to work for us in the House of Representatives. We are so fortunate to have young people who are brilliant and who put aside a lot of other opportunities to devote themselves to public service and come to work for us. But what happens is that, inevitably, because we are often not competitive in the benefits that we provide or the pay that we give them, we end up losing them. We train them, we get them ready, and we end up losing them down the road to other career alternatives.

We are committed to dealing with this retention problem in the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, and we did several different things in order to be able to do that. We increased funding for the MRA accounts so that we can grow salaries. It is important that we be able to pay, not astronomical sums to our staff, but an appropriate amount of salary so that we can make sure we can hold on to the best and brightest that we are already able to attract.

It includes two additional benefits that are not currently provided that we felt were very important. We have been trying to get a sense from our employees what their needs are, and this bill anticipates two of those needs. We fund $3.5 million for a tuition reimbursement program for all House employees, and $1 million in child care benefits for our lower-income employees because making sure that we can take away the angst of not having quality child care or being able to afford quality child care is an important thing for us to be able to do for our valuable staff.

Again, I want to thank Mr. Aderholt, and Mr. Lewis, the ranking member of the full committee, for your incredible cooperation. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with them. And I also want to thank both of our staffs, who really work so hard every day to make us look good. These bills are not crafted over night, Madam

Speaker, and there is painstaking effort and detail that goes into them, and so I want to thank Mike Stephens, the majority clerk, Dave Marroni, Matt Glassman, Liz Dawson, the minority clerk, Jenny Kisiah, Megan Medley, and Ian Rayder on my personal staff, each of whom have put in very long hours in support of this bill.

I urge all Members to support this fiscally responsible bill, which I again will remind you is millions of dollars below the request.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois.

I would not only be happy to work with you, I could not agree with either of you more on this very worthwhile endeavor. You are both to be commended for your effort to recognize that slave labor and their hands constructed the great building that we work in every single day, and subject to the authorization of the House Administration Committee, I look forward to working with you towards this goal.

I would be happy to yield an additional 30 seconds.

I would be happy to yield.

Thank you very much.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time I yield 3 minutes to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).

Will the gentleman yield?

I'm very familiar with the outstanding human rights work undertaken by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and his colleagues on the commission. Last year I had the opportunity to participate in a commission hearing on combating sexual exploitation of children and strengthening international law enforcement cooperation. The commission is providing important leadership on this and many other issues at home and abroad, including among parliamentarians, through engagement by Mr. Hastings, a past president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Senator Cardin, a vice president of the assembly and current Chair of the commission.

I can appreciate the dilemma faced by my colleagues on the commission and the difficulty of securing suitable space for such events and meetings. I am committed to working with the gentleman from Florida in finding a durable solution to this persistent problem. My understanding is that he has identified space in the CVC that might meet the commission's needs.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes just to agree wholeheartedly with the gentleman from Illinois. I am so glad that he raised the issue of staff-led tours during debate on this legislation. It is incredibly important, and it was an incredible source of frustration for me as we moved towards opening the CVC to note that it was possible that constituents of ours could come to the Capitol, take a tour, walk through this whole building, watch our proceedings in the gallery, and leave to go home, never having known or been able to identify who it is that represents them in the United States Congress.

Preserving staff-led tours is an incredibly important way for us to be able to do that. And quite frankly, just to promote staff-led tours to anyone who is interested in getting one, you can get a more unique and less homogenized tour. As good as the guide-led tours are, you can get a more tailored-to-your-State oriented tour from your Member of Congress. And I would encourage people who are interested in doing that to go through their own Member of Congress to book their reservation and get a tour of the Capitol from the person that represents you in Washington.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time I have no additional speakers, but I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, it was a great privilege to work with the gentleman from Alabama and his staff. I look forward to continuing to work as we move the legislative branch appropriations bill through the conference process.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentlelady from New York for yielding and for her very appropriate amendment.

It is really wonderful to see the progress that has been made on the Civil Rights Oral History Project. We did have language in our bill, preserving the possibility for providing the funding. I'm glad that we've been able to fast forward that opportunity. I look forward to continuing to work with her. I'm happy to accept the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the motion to recommit; although I am not opposed to it.

Madam Speaker, I do first think it is important to point out that technically the language in the motion to recommit does not specifically reduce the funding for any program at all. It simply reduces funding by $100,000 in this section of the bill. So I do think it is important to point out that the Wheels for Wellness program has not been specifically named in the motion to recommit for reduction.

That having been said, it is also important to point out that included in the report that accompanies the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, we did express our concern about the effectiveness of the program as it is currently constructed. There are very few bikes that have been checked out, and we do believe that there needs to be a more effective plan brought forward by the CAO to ensure that if the program is going to continue to exist into the future, that more bikes be checked out and that they have an effective plan for doing that.

We are looking forward to getting that report language back and to working towards the possibility of reestablishing the funds in this section of the bill, which is all that has occurred.

But with that understanding and in anticipation of receiving that report, and recognizing the good work of our colleague, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) and his passionate commitment to ensuring that we get out of our cars and on to our bikes, because obviously that would reduce our carbon footprint and the carbon emissions, that is a worthwhile goal that the American people would greatly benefit from, with that, I would be glad to accept the motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the instructions of the House in the motion to recommit, I report the bill, H.R. 2918, back to the House with an amendment.

I have an amendment at the desk.

I thank you, Madam Speaker.

I certainly want to thank Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz and Ranking Member Aderholt for letting this amendment come through today. I appreciate all the work that has been done, and I am not going to speak long on this to save time.

I want to thank my lead cosponsor of the Civil Rights Oral History Project, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, himself a civil rights hero, for all of his help in developing and generating support for this program.

All I'm going to say is that I thank everyone for working together to make sure that this amendment comes through. What has happened was--it has passed in the House before. Money had been appropriated for it. But unfortunately by a technical change, there was a delay until the year 2011. We have so many people around this country that are advancing in age who have the history of the civil rights movement, and obviously in the last few years, we have seen some of the great civil rights leaders, unfortunately, die; but it's also those that were the housewives, just the ordinary citizens that really also made a difference.

I would like to thank Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz and Ranking Member Aderholt for their help in moving this amendmendment forward and congratulate them for their hard work on crafting the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill.

I also want to thank my lead cosponsor of the Civil Rights Oral History Project, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, himself a civil rights hero, for all of his help in developing and generating support for this program.

Mr. Lewis was at the forefront of the battle to end segregation and his contribution to ensuring equality in our country cannot be overstated.

I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that we are honored to serve with him and grateful for all that he has done and continues to do for all Americans as a steward of justice and equal rights.

We are fortunate to serve in Congress with several other influential civil rights leaders and I would like to extend a heartfelt ``thank you'' for their sacrifices and commitment to the cause of freedom.

The fight for civil rights was one of the most significant social and cultural movements in our nation's history.

H.R. 586, the Civil Rights Oral History Project Act of 2009, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on May 12th.

It would permit the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Museum to jointly create a comprehensive compilation of audio and video recordings of personal histories and testimonials of individuals who participated in the Civil Rights movement.

It is important that we begin to fund this project now, so we can document the stories of those brave men and women who fought in so many ways to ensure equal rights to all Americans.

Another year is too long to wait.

Unfortunately, with each passing year, our nation loses more and more of the people that played major roles in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Over the last few years, we lost Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Mrs. Rosa Parks, and we will continue to lose more courageous Civil Rights pioneers.

Thankfully, their stories have been well documented in the historic record, but there are many others who have already passed or whose memories are fading.

While we know so much about the lives of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, our colleague, Congressman John Lewis, and Thurgood Marshall, it is important that we learn about the everyday people of all races who took a stand during a pivotal time in our nation's history.

Many leaders from all walks of life put their lives on the line to make it possible for all people to live freely and have the same fundamental rights.

The workers in Memphis that went on strike and marched in protest with Dr. King, the students that held sit-ins at lunch counters in the south, the thousands of people that marched on Washington and witnessed the ``I Have a Dream Speech'' and the millions of Americans that stood up and worked in their own ways to make our country a better place for all people.

In my Congressional District, there are many important leaders who fought to ensure equal rights for all Long Islanders.

Brave Americans like Irving C. McKnight from Roosevelt, Mr. McNeil from Hempstead, Mrs. Iris Johnson from Freeport, Fred Brewington from Malverne and so many others.

These people are the heroes of the civil rights movement and we need to make sure that their stories are woven into the fabric of the American story.

Without their efforts many of the freedoms we take for granted everyday would not have come to pass.

It is vital that future generations know and understand the struggles and challenges of those that paved the way for us to live in a free nation.

This legislation stresses the importance of capturing the memories and deeds of the Civil Rights generation and will give us a unique insight into the experiences of the people that were really on the frontlines of the civil rights movement.

This bill is based on the successful Veterans History Project and will create a joint effort between the future National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress to collect oral histories of the people that were involved in the civil rights movement and preserve their stories for future generations.

The legislation authorized $500,000 for fiscal year 2010, for the purpose of carrying out the project, jointly between the two agencies.

I know that the bill was signed into law late and I appreciate the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee including language in the bill indicating funding can be used for ``activities for the Civil Rights Oral History Project.'' However, it does not appropriate an actual amount.

My amendment simply specifies that $250,000 would be directed from the salaries and expenses account to begin implementing the project in fiscal year 2010.

The amendment would guarantee a specified amount be used by the Library of Congress for this project.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and take the time to acknowledge the contributions of those great Americans who fought to make our nation a more fair and just place.

With that, I yield to the gentlelady from Florida.

Thank you.

I yield to the gentleman from Alabama.

Thank you.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, this is my first appropriation bill to help manage on the floor, and I have very much enjoyed the process and consider it a real privilege to have this honor to do it.

I do want to commend the Chair, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, for her professional and her courteous manner in the way that she has conducted the process over the last several months for producing the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill. We have worked closely and very much in the spirit of bipartisanship to meet the funding needs of the legislative branch agencies. In addition, the Chair operated under an open process and was responsive to the concerns and input of all the members of this committee.

Madam Speaker, I will say it is unfortunate that the bipartisan approach taken by our committee stopped at the doors of the Rules Committee. I understand that the rule accompanying this bill, the Legislative Branch Appropriation bill, has historically been a structured rule. Traditionally, while not all amendments filed with the Rules Committee have been made in order, a much more balanced approach has been taken than what we are seeing today. Twenty amendments were filed with the Rules Committee and only one was made in order. While I may not have personally supported some of the amendments, I do feel strongly that Members should be permitted to debate the issues of concern to them. Members have once again been denied the right to offer amendments to an appropriation bill, a trend that's happening more often than not.

That being said, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, did its work and we addressed the many competing priorities and individual agency challenges.

The committee has reduced the fiscal year 2010 requested increase of 15 percent down to 6.8 percent, a reduction of $282 million. However, it is important to distinguish that nearly one-quarter of this increase, or $60 million, is for the establishment of the Historical Buildings Revitalization Trust Fund. When you take this into account, the agencies will be operating on an average of a 5.2 increase over the last year. This funding allows the committee to continue to focus on critical life safety issues surrounding the Capitol complex and to maintain adequate funding of current staff operations.

Among the highlights of the bill is $1.375 billion for the expenses of the House of Representatives. This provides an appropriate level of funding for the Members' representational allowances, the ability to address the much-needed new voting system, additional benefits for House employees, and a new House I.D. badge system. For the United States Capitol Police, $325 million will be included. This amount supports the current sworn strength at 1,799 positions and fully funds the implementation costs of the merger with the Library of Congress Police. The Architect of the Capitol, excluding Senate items, is funded at $541 million and supports the top 20 construction projects. All life safety projects, significant investment in energy and saving efforts, and almost $70 million worth of deferred maintenance projects have been funded in this bill.

And we have started a very needed new initiative, the Historic Buildings Revitalization Trust Fund, to begin to address the Capitol complex's deteriorating infrastructure. For the Library of Congress, $647 million is included, and it includes $15 million for the beginning of needed new technology investments. The Government Printing Office is to continue the development of the Federal digital system and is included at $7 million, and in order to meet the congressional demands, additional workforce is provided for the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office.

In conclusion, H.R. 2918 is a well-rounded bill and adequately addresses the needs of the legislative branch.

Again, I would like to express my thanks to the Chair for her bipartisanship and how she has conducted this subcommittee over the last several months that we've had the hearings and as we have worked together on this bill. I also do want to thank the majority staff, Mike Stephens, David Marroni, Matt Glassman, and Ian Rayder, for their help with this bill; and, of course, on my side of the aisle, on the minority's side, Liz Dawson, Jennifer Kisiah, and Megan Medley with my office to make sure that this bill goes through as it has successfully over the last several months. So, again, I thank all the people who were involved.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman, the ranking member of the full committee, from California (Mr. Lewis).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), who is a member of the subcommittee.

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) who is a member of the full committee and has worked very diligently on a lot of these issues that involve the legislative branch, even though he is not on the subcommittee. He has worked very diligently, especially regarding the Visitor Center and making sure that Members have the opportunity to bring their guests throughout the Capitol and get a quality tour from the State's perspective from where they're from.

At this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

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

Will the gentlelady yield?

Let me just say on the minority side, the Republican side, we accept the amendment as well. We look forward to working with you on that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 586, ``Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009.'' I want to thank my colleague Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York for introducing this legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support the ``Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009,'' which will require the Librarian of Congress and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (acting through the Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture) to establish an oral history project to: (1) collect video and audio recordings of, and visual and written materials relevant to the personal histories of, participants in the Civil Rights movement; and (2) make the collection available for public use through the Library of Congress and the Museum.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the progress we have made in casting out the demons of prejudice and discrimination. I rise today in recognition of the steps we have taken as a nation to get closer to the American creed that all men were created equal.

In the darkest days of slavery, the faith of our ancestors that one day their descendants would live in freedom helped them bear the unbearable burden of bondage. Through all the terrible years of Jim Crow's legalized segregation, the courage of our great-grandparents to provide for their children and maintain their dignity while enduring a hundred daily slights helped bring down the Jericho walls of de jure segregation. In the crucible of the Civil Rights Movement, the determination of our parents and grandparents to secure the full measure of equal treatment under law for themselves and their children changed America and made it better.

From the activism of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman during the abolitionist movement to the efforts of Rosa Parks, Martin King, Thurgood Marshall, and Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement, Americans have never lost faith in this country to expand democracy and provide true freedom for all Americans.

Now is the time to come together. Now is the time to reach down to our roots and call upon what is important to us. Now is the time to talk to each of our brothers and sisters and let them know that we have to come together on this issue.

The heart of what we have fought for so long is at stake now. We have fought and suffered to attain our place at the table of society, to show America and the rest of the world that diversity does work, that America will make good on its promise, that our society does accept people who are different from each other.

I am reminded of what the late Honorable Barbara Jordan said that ``America's mission was and still is to take diversity and mold it into a cohesive and coherent whole that would espouse virtues and values essential to the maintenance of civil order. There is nothing easy about that mission. But it is not mission impossible.''

Mr. Speaker, we should not now give up on this start. We must remember the struggles of those freedom fighters. I am reminded of the words of Dr. King when he was the minister at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama when he told a packed house the night before the bus boycott set off by Rosa Parks that they were in the process of making America whole. He told them, ``If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer and never came down to earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie. And we are determined to work and fight until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.''

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 586, because the most valuable tool, history, gives us is a frame of reference, a perspective, for viewing our world. This Civil Rights History Project will provide us that magnificent perspective of our tremendous successes and failures in our quest for cultural freedom and acceptance. When we cut ourselves off from the past, either intentionally or simply through an ignorance of the past, we fall prey to every twist and turn, every immediate crisis that life brings along--with no power or stability to resolve those crises. If we ignore the past or are simply ignorant of what has happened before, we may fall prey to a sense of false security, a personal or cultural pride, which blinds us to possibilities all around us, stunting our moral and intellectual growth and limiting our options in every area of life.

Mr. Speaker, this is the challenge we face today and we have to stand up and be understood. We have to be understood that civil rights in America is about opportunity and is the natural extension of Aotir Bill of Rights. It creates a place at the table, a place where we deserve to be, a place that we have earned, a place where we belong. Keep hope alive. Let's not turn out the lights on civil rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 586, the Civil Rights Oral History Project.

I want to thank Chairman Brady and the Committee on House Administration for moving the bill to the Floor.

I also want to thank my lead co-sponsor on the bill, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, himself a civil rights hero, for all of his help in developing and generating support for the bill.

Mr. Lewis was at the forefront of the battle to end segregation and his contribution to ensuring equality in our country cannot be overstated.

I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that we are honored to serve with him and grateful for all that he has done and continues to do for all Americans as a steward of justice and equal rights.

We are fortunate to serve in Congress with several other influential civil rights leaders and I would like to extend a heartfelt ``thank you'' for their sacrifices and commitment to the cause of freedom.

The fight for civil rights was one of the most significant social and cultural movements in our Nation's history.

The will of a generation to right centuries of injustice changed the world we live in forever.

The leaders of the civil rights movement displayed tremendous courage and persistence to ensure that all Americans were treated equally and with dignity regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, race or origins.

Many leaders from all walks of life put their lives on the line to make it possible for all people to live freely and have the same fundamental rights.

In my Congressional District, there are many important leaders who fought to ensure equal rights for all Long Islanders.

Brave Americans like Irving C. McKnight from Roosevelt, Mr. McNeil from Hempstead, Mrs. Iris Johnson from Freeport, Fred Brewington and Sal Zaccaro from Malverne and so many others.

We can never overstate the contributions of our Nation's civil rights leaders.

Without their efforts many of the things we take for granted every day would not have come to pass.

It is vital that future generations know and understand the struggles and challenges of those that paved the way for us to live in a free Nation.

These brave Americans' stories must continue to be told to not only inspire future generations, but to remind people of what is possible in America and how far we have come.

Unfortunately, with each passing year, our Nation loses more and more of the people that played major roles in the struggle to secure equal rights for all Americans.

In recent years, we have lost great leaders like Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Mrs. Rosa Parks.

Thankfully, their stories have been well documented in the historic record, but there are many others who have already passed or whose memories are fading.

While we know so much about the lives of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, our colleague, Congressman John Lewis, and Thurgood Marshall, it is important that we learn about the everyday people of all races who took a stand during a pivotal time in our Nation's history.

There were so many people who were crucial to the civil rights movement, but have not had as much recorded about their experiences for the public record.

These were the people in many cases that were a part of some of the most significant battles in the fight for equality.

The workers in Memphis that went on strike and marched in protest with Dr. King, the students that held sit-ins at lunch counters in the south, the thousands of people that marched on Washington and witnessed the ``I Have a Dream Speech'' and the millions of Americans that stood up and worked in their own ways to make our country a better place for all people.

These people are heroes of the civil rights movement and we need to make sure that their stories are woven into the fabric of the American story.

That's why I have introduced the Civil Rights Oral History bill.

The purpose of the Civil Rights Oral History Bill is to catalogue and preserve the stories and experiences of the people who were involved with the civil rights movement.

This legislation stresses the importance of capturing the memories and deeds of the Civil Rights generation and will give us a unique insight into the experiences of the people that were really on the frontlines of the civil rights movement.

This bill will create a joint effort between the future National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress to collect oral histories of the people that were involved in the civil rights movement and preserve their stories for future generations.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill and take the time to acknowledge the contributions of those great Americans who fought to make our Nation a more fair and just place.