Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an activist, a crusader, an educator, a warrior in the fight for civil rights, and an American heroine, Ms. Patricia Hill.

For those who did not know Pat Hill, who passed away earlier this week, she was many things. She was an athlete, an educator, and a former Chicago police officer, just to name a few of her endeavors.

She was the eldest daughter of Lucille Fleming and Hercules Richardson. Pat Hill was an early track star. As a member of Chicago's Mayor Daley's Youth Foundation's track team, she was mentored by Olympians Willye White and Ira Murchison; and Pat missed making the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team by one-quarter of an inch.

Her athleticism and pioneering spirit extended beyond the track, Mr. Speaker. Pat Hill was also a trailblazer in women's professional basketball when she joined the Chicago Debs in the early 1970s.

After completing her college degree, Pat Hill shared her love and knowledge of sports by becoming a physical education teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. She held that position until she left to become a member of the Chicago Police Department, where she would rise to work with one of Chicago's other trailblazers as a bodyguard for the late Chicago mayor, Harold Washington.

Mr. Speaker, even before Pat Hill became a member of the Chicago Police Department, she had been inspired by the work of the Afro- American Patrolmen's League to uncover the truth behind the murder of my dear friend, Fred Hampton, in the late 1960s. After Pat became a member of the Chicago Police Department, she worked with the Afro- American Patrolmen's League to improve minority hiring and women's inclusion, and, ultimately, she rose as the executive director of the

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite my colleagues to join me in supporting my resolution expressing support for the establishment and designation of National Franchising Day.

Franchising is an important tool to bring jobs to communities around our country. The franchise business model, in fact, is the largest vocational training industry in America and is responsible for directly creating 7.6 million jobs and influencing the creation of 13.3 million jobs in the United States.

Franchising is an industry of entrepreneurs, many of whom are small businesses. These entrepreneurs have directly contributed $674.3 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy, and the franchise system, as a whole, has generated $1.6 trillion of economic input. In short, Mr. Speaker, it is clear how significant a role franchises and the people who operate them play in our economic landscape.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues support this bill. Franchising is one important tool to make the American Dream happen.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), a wonderful colleague and a Member who has really shown extraordinary leadership on this matter and other matters that appear before this Congress and the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Chair, I strongly oppose H.R. 2910 because it is a bill that offers a solution in search of a problem.

As FERC testified before the Energy Subcommittee just this past May, a whopping 88 percent of natural gas pipeline applications are currently processed within a year, and the number one reason for the delays in the approval process was due to applicants submitting incomplete paperwork.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 2910 does nothing to actually address the reason behind the delays, but instead will allow incomplete applications to be considered, will allow incomplete data from aerial surveys to be considered, and would minimize the input of States and agencies responsible for protecting the environment, sensitive lands, and other natural resources.

However, that said, one of the most egregious aspects of this bill is that it would actually make it easier for private pipeline companies to claim eminent domain and seize private property of hardworking American citizens.

Mr. Chair, as we have seen in the past and continue to witness today, the issue of constructing these major pipelines through aquifers, private property, cultural sites, and other sensitive lands is a topic that causes great public consternation and great public concern.

Congress should be taking into account the sensitive nature of this extremely divisive issue by listening to our own constituents, the American people, and giving them more of a voice in these very difficult decisions, rather than trying to limit their input.

Mr. Chair, to address this critical issue, both Ranking Member Pallone, as well as my colleague, Congresswoman Watson Coleman of New Jersey, and I offered amendments to deny private companies the right to claim eminent domain unless constructing a pipeline was found to be in the public interest, and not solely as a way for companies to turn a profit.

Mr. Chair, even though this amendment was brought up and voted down by my Republican colleagues in the Energy and Commerce Committee, it was ruled nongermane to today's discussion for some very odd, but also for some very obvious reason.

In other words, Mr. Chair, the majority party has determined that although they are pushing a bill that would make it easier for private companies to seize lands from private citizens for financial gain, Members of Congress are not allowed to take up an up-or-down vote on that issue on the floor here today.

This Congress is telling the American people: Hell, no, you won't have a voice in this. We are here operating solely in the interests of private companies for their private profit.

Mr. Chair, I can assure you that the American people will not agree with this decision to place the interests of private natural gas companies above the rights and interests of private landowners.

Congress should not make it easier for private companies to claim eminent domain and potentially negatively impact historical sites, reservoirs, farms, and other private properties while at the same time limiting the ability for States, Tribes, and local communities to provide input into the process.

Mr. Chair, why are we allowing these private companies to have eminent domain over the private property, over the land of American citizens, without any input from States on this particular matter?

Mr. Chair, for these reasons, I strongly oppose this bill, and I urge all my colleagues to oppose it as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2786, the Promoting Small Conduit Hydropower Facilities Act of 2017.

In 2013, our committee moved bipartisan legislation by Representative McMorris Rodgers and Representative DeGette that created an exemption from hydropower licensing for certain conduit hydropower facilities of 5 megawatts capacity or less.

Under the provision established in the McMorris Rodgers-DeGette bill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, must determine within 15 days after receipt of a notice of intent to construct a small conduit project by the developer if the project meets the qualifying criteria for exemption under the law.

If FERC makes an initial determination that the project meets that criteria, current law requires FERC to publish a public notice of that determination and provide the public 45 days for an opportunity to comment on or contest FERC's determination.

That bill went on to be signed into law by President Obama and, as of May of this year, has resulted in qualifying 83 projects being exempted from Federal licensing requirements.

The bill before us now, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2786, sponsored by Mr. Hudson and Ms. DeGette, will amend the Federal Power Act to lift the 5- megawatt cap on conduit projects that could qualify for exemption. The bill would also reduce from 45 days to 30 days the amount of time the public will have to comment on or contest FERC's determination of whether a project qualifies for exception.

There is clearly strong support on both sides of the aisle for the development of conduit hydroelectric projects and for efforts like the Hudson-DeGette bill, which cuts red tape to ensure that environmentally sound projects can move forward quickly and efficiently.

However, Mr. Speaker, the original version of this bill cut the 45- day timeframe for public comment on a proposed exemption too much, down to 15 days. That, in my view, Mr. Speaker, and that of many of my colleagues, was too short a period of time to allow for meaningful public input into the process.

Fortunately and wisely, Mr. Speaker, Chairman Upton and Chairman Walden accepted an amendment by Ranking Member Pallone that reduced the amount of time for public notification by a third, from 45 days to 30 days, rather than the 15 days that many of us felt was excessive.

As a result, we now have a bill that is good policy, that cuts down on unnecessary regulation, while properly balancing the interests of hydropower development with that of the public.

The bill was rightfully reported by the committee with the unanimous support of Members on both sides of the aisle, and I hope the full House will do the same today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the cosponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us sponsored by the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Newhouse) would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend, up to 6 years, the date by which the licensee for the Enloe Dam hydropower project, No. 12569, is required to commence construction. This is necessary because the project's licensee is not likely to commence construction by the designated deadline.

Under the Federal Power Act, Mr. Speaker, FERC is unable to further extend that deadline administratively, so action by the Congress is required. In the event the license expires before this legislation is enacted, the bill contains language reinstating the license as of its date of expiration.

FERC has no objection, Mr. Speaker, to this piece of legislation, and neither do I, and I hope that my colleagues will support the passage of

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to also commend my friend and my colleague from the great State of Michigan, the chairman of the Energy Subcommittee, my longstanding friend, Mr. Upton, for working with my office to bring H.R. 3050, the Enhancing State Energy Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2017, to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, this Upton-Rush bill represents bipartisan negotiation between Chairman Upton and myself to much-needed Federal guidance and resources to the States that are on the front lines when it comes to protecting critical energy infrastructure and responding once disaster strikes.

Members on both side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, support the State Energy Program, and this bill will help provide resources to further develop and enhance the State energy security plans.

Since their inception in the 1970s, State Energy Programs, bolstered by Federal aid, have assisted States in developing these energy security plans in order to help prevent disasters from happening and to mitigate the damage once they do occur.

Mr. Speaker, funding provided in this bill will help States to implement, revise, and to review their energy security plans while also laying out criteria for the contents of these plans. These emergency plans have been instrumental in improving States' abilities to identify potential energy disruptions, quantify the effects of the disruptions, establish response plans, and limit the risk of further disturbances, whether they be natural or manmade.

Federal funding and leadership has also been critical in helping States and local stakeholders identify the roles and responsibilities of the various agencies in times of emergencies while also supporting training and response exercises.

Mr. Speaker, as the Trump administration weakens America's leadership role globally by signaling its intentions to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it is even more vital that we provide the resources and funding needed for States to take more of a permanent role in advancing smart and sustainable energy policy.

Mr. Speaker, Federal leadership and investment must continue to play a vital role in developing State Energy Assurance Plans, and it is my hope and my expectation that this legislation will indeed bolster these State-led programs by enhancing Federal support.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, on a June summer evening in Chicago, Illinois, in my district on the south side, a young man, 23 years old, was shot down, killed, and robbed of his cell phone, which was a nonsensical killing.

Xavier Omari Joy was a teacher of our city, State, and Nation. He was given so much potential. He carried with him so much promise, and in his heart breathed so much purpose and dedication.

Mr. Speaker, he spoke these words: ``Living in Woodlawn and working at the South Side YMCA, I know the pitfalls and challenges my community faces. I strive to help the youth in my community by being a positive role model. I want to tangibly connect and aid youth to positively progress as students.''

These were the words spoken by Xavier Omari Joy, a young man whose life was ended last Thursday.

Xavier graduated from one of Chicago's premier high schools, the Whitney M. Young High School. He played football for a year at the Harvard of the African American in the south, Morehouse College.

Mr. Speaker, in the year 2014, Xavier joined City Year Chicago as a volunteer. City Year is a program of AmeriCorps, whose purpose is to send young mentors into underserved communities to be of help, to provide guidance, and most importantly of all, to provide meaningful, substantive examples.

Xavier had so much promise, potential, and so much personality. He could walk into a room and the room would just light up. Friends always knew that they could come to Xavier to get a compassionate hearing of their issues and their problems. If you were down for a moment, hey, Xavier could lift you up for the rest of the day.

He didn't get to be this kind of excellent individual by accident. He was born into a family of community-conscious people. His father, Ra Joy, is the executive director of CHANGE Illinois, a coalition leading systemic political and development action. His mother, Nykea Pippion- McGriff, is the first African-American woman president of the Women's Council of Realtors in Chicago.

Mr. Speaker, I come here today to honor and ask the Members of this Chamber to honor the life and the memory of Xavier Joy.

Xavier, our Nation, our community, and the people in the First Congressional District of Illinois will not let your death be in vain. We want to extend the promise, the potential, and the purpose of your life into the lives of all the young people in our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, ``Living in Woodlawn and working at the Southside YMCA, I know the pitfalls and challenges my community faces. I strive to help the youth in my community by being a positive role model. I want to tangibly connect and aid youth to positively progress as students.''

These were the words of Xavier Omari Joy who was murdered on the streets of Chicago on June 8th.

After graduating from one of Chicago's top high schools, Whitney Young, and playing college football for a year at Morehouse, Xavier returned home to the South Side.

In 2014, Xavier joined City Year Chicago, an AmeriCorps program that sends mentors into Chicago's most under-served schools to provide guidance and examples for youth.

Just 23 years old, Xavier envisioned a career as an elected official. He saw this as another way to directly impact his community and his city.

He was born into a family of community conscious parents. His father, Ra Joy is the executive director of CHANGE Illinois, a coalition leading systemic political and government reform. His mother, Nykea Pippion-Griff is the first elected African American woman president of the Women's Council of Realtors Chicago.

He further served his community as a tutor and mentor at the YMCA, as well as several schools in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Xavier made his life about giving back and ensuring that children had a positive male role model.

We will always remember Xavier's dedication to others, warmth, confidence, and benevolent spirit.

It is his loss of life that brought me to the House floor today. There are too many names, too many lives taken far too soon in my city, Chicago.

There is a perverse spirit rampant in our nation where life no longer carries its value.

That was demonstrated yesterday with the Alexandria shooting that wounded Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Capitol Police Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey, Congressional Staffer Zachary Barth, and lobbyist Matt Mika.

Life is valuable and we need to cherish its meaning.

As a father whose son was also killed by gun violence, I can empathize with Nykea's family and all the families across my district and the Nation who have experienced this tragedy. No parent should have to experience a loss such as this.

Xavier was the type of young man that we all want our children to grow up to be and his life was taken while doing something so many Americans take for granted every day: returning home from work.

My thoughts and prayers are with Nykea's family and the families across America who mourn those lost to senseless violence.

We deserve better. We are better.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a determined spirit that I come to the floor today to wish our friend, my friend, our colleague, Steve Scalise, a Happy Father's Day.

Mr. Speaker, we pray for Steve's full recovery as he fights for his life at a hospital near here in our Nation's Capital. We pray for Steve's family, for their strength, and for their comfort during this most difficult time.

Today, Mr. Speaker, we all join together in a spirit of family and love, to send our love to Steve. Jennifer, Harrison, Madison, you are in our prayers.

Steve, get well soon. Happy Father's Day. In spite of it all, Happy Father's Day.

Mr. Speaker, I must begin by commending Chairman Walden; Chairman Upton; Ranking Member Pallone; our friend and colleague from the great State of Colorado, Congresswoman DeGette; and the committee staff and all for working with my office to bring the 21st century workforce legislation to the House floor today.

I must also publicly acknowledge the leadership of my colleague Mr. Hudson of North Carolina and his staff, who played an instrumental and very important role in helping us to get to this point.

Mr. Speaker, the 21st century workforce bill represents hope and represents opportunity for many of our fellow citizens who feel as though they have been locked out of the American Dream. Mr. Speaker, this workforce bill also provides an example of how Congress should function and work on behalf of the American people.

This legislation enjoys the overwhelming support of Members of Congress who represent various constituencies from diverse regions of our Nation and who come with different and varying political persuasions. However, Mr. Speaker, we were able to put aside our political differences, our regional differences, and our cultural differences and focus our efforts on bringing forth a jobs bill that would benefit all communities and help lift up the American economy for all its people.

Mr. Speaker, this bill directs the Secretary of Energy to prioritize the training of underrepresented groups, including minorities, women, and veterans, as well as displaced and unemployed energy and manufacturing workers. This bill directs the Secretary of Energy to take into full recognition the hurt and the pain of the White middle class, of the White working class,

the African-American, the Black working class, and the Brown working class in order to increase the number of skilled candidates trained to work in the related fields that were brought to bear by the energy renaissance in our Nation.

This bill will strengthen and more fully engage Department of Energy programs and national laboratories in order to carry out the Department's workforce development initiatives. This legislation will help to develop a skilled labor force trained to work in a wide array of sectors, including renewables, energy efficiency, oil and gas, coal, nuclear, utility, pipeline, and alternative fuels, as well as energy- intensive and advanced manufacturing industries.

Mr. Speaker, as we know, the energy and manufacturing industries are two of the most critical and fastest growing sectors both domestically as well as internationally. The potential of these two industries can help bolster the American economy and are also vital to the growing number of people seeking middle class status--not just a change of lifestyle, but seeking more money. They are satisfied with their lifestyle; they just need more income.

It is important, Mr. Speaker, that we equip our citizens with the skills needed to meet this growing demand so that we can tap into these tremendous opportunities, and this bill, Mr. Speaker, will help us accomplish that goal.

Mr. Speaker, this 21st century workforce legislation addresses an issue that is neither partisan nor bipartisan, but, rather, it is nonpartisan. It is a nonpartisan issue that benefits communities, benefits industry, and benefits the overall American economy.

This bill brings together government agencies, including the national labs, the energy and manufacturing industries, unions, schools, community colleges and universities, among others, and promotes cooperation and collaboration to ensure that we are tapping into a wealth of underutilized talent and are training and preparing workers for the energy and manufacturing jobs of the present and also of the future.

Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges that many of my constituents--and constituents all across the land--have brought to my attention pertains to individuals participating in training programs that, in many cases, don't even lead to finding a job.

With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, this bill will help industry, schools, and community-based workforce organizations to identify candidates for enrollment into training and apprenticeship programs. The objective will be to ensure that the skills learned are immediately transferable to good-paying jobs and good-paying careers within the energy and manufacturing sectors regionally, nationally, and, indeed, internationally.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is important because it matches up the needs of industry with a willing and able workforce and, in the process, helps start new cycles of hope and opportunity for groups who have, in many cases, been overlooked and underserved: the White working class, the Black working class, and the Brown working class.

This legislation can help to open new pathways to jobs, careers, and entrepreneurial opportunities for women, minorities, our veterans, and all the different working classes that comprise the American workforce while also helping to move our overall economy forward.

Mr. Speaker, at a time when African-American and Latino unemployment rates are too high, when coal miners throughout the Rust Belt and beyond are finding themselves without work, when too many female heads of household cannot find adequate employment to take care of their families, and when veterans returning from defending our country still cannot find a job, it is a travesty--Mr. Speaker, a travesty--that eager employers still cannot locate the trained workers that they so desperately need.

This is common sense, Mr. Speaker, and this is a commonsense jobs bill that will help match up trained and qualified candidates with good-paying jobs and careers that will help lift up communities, strengthen the energy and manufacturing industries, and bolster the entire American economy as a whole.

With its focus not only on underserved communities such as minorities, women, and veterans, but also displaced and unemployed coal miners and other out-of-work energy workers, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that when this legislation ultimately becomes law, it will go a long way in helping not only communities that look like the one I represent on the south side of Chicago, but look like communities all across the Nation, including communities in West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and New Mexico--all across this country, every community and every district throughout this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a true hero in my heart and the hearts of so many in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois: Father George H. Clements.

Father Clements, yesterday, celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination into the Roman Catholic Church. His path towards divinity began early in life when he became the first Black graduate of Chicago's Quigley Academy Seminary in 1945. From there, he went on to pursue his education and earned a bachelor of arts degree in sacred theology and a master of arts degree in philosophy from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary.

Mr. Speaker, after ordination, Father Clements continued his role as a trailblazer when, in June of 1969, he became the first Black priest of Holy Angels Catholic Church, which we in the First District of Illinois are proud to claim.

Mr. Speaker, from that position, Father Clements has had a tremendous impact on lives all across the city of Chicago and all across our great Nation. One such incident of tremendous significance to me personally are his actions that he undertook in the aftermath of the assassination of my dear friend and deputy chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton.

On December 4, 1969, Fred Hampton was assassinated. December 4, 1969, is a dark day in the history of the civil rights movement and in the struggle for social justice here in our great Nation. Mr. Speaker, that is the day that Fred Hampton, as I said before, was assassinated by members of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, who worked in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Speaker, it is only by the grace of God that I escaped that same fate. Knowing that I was being pursued as a target of the FBI, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, and the Chicago Police Department, this same extraordinary priest, Father George Clements, offered me protection under the very old ecclesiastical right of sanctuary that has been honored throughout many centuries here and all across the world in a church not

only in America, but in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Mr. Speaker, if not for the heroic actions of Father Clements on that day, I would not be standing here in the well of the House on this very day.

Father Clements just didn't stop on that infamous day of December 4, 1969. Throughout the years, countless others have also benefited from Father George Clements' boundless love for humanity. In 1980, he started the Catholic church's first One Church One Child program, an effort to increase the adoption race of African-American orphans. He took this noble, gigantic step so to heart that, in 1981 he himself adopted a child; something that had been unheard of in the history of the Catholic church: a Catholic priest adopting a child.

He did not stop there, Father Clements. He has taken personal responsibility for and adopted other children. He has been an excellent father to four wonderful children: Joey, Friday, Stewart, and Saint Anthony.

Father Clements' selfless devotion to humanity did not stop there. After retiring from the Holy Angels Catholic Church in 1994, Father Clements made his way to our Nation's Capital. He came here to Washington, D.C., to establish the One Church-One Addict program beginning here in our Nation's Capital.

Mr. Speaker, as some of us more seasoned folks in this Chamber may recall, this was a time when our Nation's Capital was known as the ``murder capital'' of America. This fact did not deter Father Clements from seeking to help those in need, from trying to be a solution to a highly recognized problem. Father Clements' unboundless love was in full effect once again. Even after all of his years of selfless, sacrificial, hard work, Father Clements still had more to give.

In 1999, he established the One Church-One Inmate program, which was a shared effort to help prison inmates and their families by helping inmates transition from incarceration to a life as productive and ``spiritually healed,'' law-abiding citizens.

What a remarkable man Father George C. Clements was, and what a remarkable man he is this very day.

The Nation, Hollywood has recognized this glorious man. They made a movie after him, called, ``The Father Clements Story,'' where the award-winning actor Lou Gossett starred as Father Clements.

In short, Mr. Speaker, Father Clements has been a beacon of light during the dark days of our Nation. He has been a community leader, a selfless advocate for the downtrodden, and above all, he has been a true and loyal friend to those who are in need. He is a religious man who walks the walk just as he talks the talk.

I can speak no better words for this great American hero, Father George C. Clements, no better words than those that are taken from the Bible, from Holy Scriptures. Let me close, Mr. Speaker, with these very words taken from the Book of Proverbs at 22:9. The Bible says: ``He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.'' This is the manner, the mind of the man, Father George C. Clements.

Mr. Speaker, I honor, I love, I am grateful for, and I am indebted to the remarkable love and work, commitment and dedication of my friend Father George C. Clements.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), my colleague, my comrade, my cohort, my coconspirator, my friend from the Seventh District of Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 2 o'clock and 58 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until Monday, May 8, 2017, at 9 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, I want to recite this prayer:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Kaptur for her outstanding leadership in this Congress and past Congresses. She has been a beacon of hope for so many of my constituents and so many poor and disenfranchised Americans. She never cowered in the face of those who restrict the rights of all.

Ms. Kaptur has been my friend and someone whom I have shared so many conversations with about justice and fighting for justice, creating a nation where all people have the opportunity to have freedom, justice, and equality. I want to commend her for being such a stalwart battler for the people of America.

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 49th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of this Nation: the day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., America's drum major for justice, was assassinated.

Dr. King was murdered while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. He was there to advocate for the rights of Black sanitation workers who were fighting for their dignity: for equal pay, for equal treatment, and for racial justice in the American workplace.

In one of the dimmest hours in our history, a voice of reason, a voice of mercy, a voice of compassion, a voice for justice, a voice of the beloved community was silenced. Yet, Mr. Speaker, his work to hold the United States to its constitutional promises that are rooted in the very fabric of our Declaration of Independence remains largely incomplete.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, America remains a divided nation, even more so now. We are tremendously disconnected from the ideals set forth by Dr. King's monumental ``I Have a Dream'' speech. Today, we still live in two Americas: one white and privileged, another filled with people of color, the poor, the disabled, and those lost in the margins, where people of color--Black and Brown--continue to be judged by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character.

In the year 2017, Mr. Speaker, we find the names of countless men and women who have lost their lives at the hands of too many law enforcement officials and too many police departments all across this country. Those individuals, Mr. Speaker, are now etched in the social justice history of this Nation because they were first judged by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character.

The list is far-reaching, Mr. Speaker. I am speaking of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Rekia Boyd, Tanisha Anderson, Yvette Smith, Shereese Francis, and, lastly, 4-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones and so many, many others. I could go on and on and on, but the names of the men, women, and children victimized by errant and wayward police departments all across this Nation would keep us here for days, even months, if we were to recite them all.

These stalwart young citizens are joined also by the many martyrs who lost their lives in the struggle for American justice, just like Dr. King: Viola Liuzzo; Emmett Till; Jimmie Lee Jackson; Medgar Evers; Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner; the four little girls in Birmingham, Alabama; Fred Hampton; and many, many others who gave their lives during the fifties and sixties.

In my hometown of Chicago, Mr. Speaker, the killing of Laquan McDonald rocked our city and the Nation by pulling the scab off a festering wound of police relations and the Black community.

McDonald's death by 16 shots from a single police weapon fired by a police officer led to multiple investigations of previous police- involved shootings and also sparked the investigation by the United States Department of Justice under then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. That investigation concluded that the Chicago Police Department officers engage ``in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force,'' that is a unreasonable. This report also found the Chicago Police Department has failed to hold officers accountable when they use force contrary to Department policy or otherwise commit misconduct.

To put it bluntly, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice found and reported that the Chicago Police Department engages in force in violation of the United States Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today because I am just beside myself. I am angry. I am so fed up, Mr. Speaker, because I learned recently that Attorney General Jefferson Sessions has issued a memorandum ordering officials at the Justice Department to review police reform consent agreements all across the country, including the agreement that is being negotiated with the City of Chicago.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation has fallen so very, very far. Dr. King's dream has not been realized in this Nation. The day before his assassination--this Attorney General has retreated so very, very far from the high ideals of American justice.

It is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that police agencies--not all police officers, not all agencies, not all departments--but there are too many police departments, too many law enforcement officials, too many police officers who have wantonly killed innocent young men of color in this Nation, and it did not just begin in this year. It has been going on for decades. We are now at a point where some departments have been placed under a consent decree. The U.S. Attorney is now trying to retreat from that pattern.

I am here, Mr. Speaker, to ask--to demand--that Attorney General Sessions retreat from his position, that he stop this memorandum from circulating in the department, and that he see the light of day that many innocent American citizens are being killed because of the wayward actions of those police officers who think that they are above the law. They can't just continue to kill wantonly and think that they are above the American law and the American Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, on March 7 through March 10, 2017, circumstances beyond my control necessitated my absence from the House and I, therefore, am requesting a leave of absence.

Mr. Speaker, on February 27 through March 2, 2017, circumstances beyond my control necessitated my absence from the House and I, therefore, am requesting a leave of absence.