Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of the Special Order.

Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to coanchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour along with my distinguished colleague, the Honorable Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

For the next 60 minutes, Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on women's history, an issue of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents that we represent, and all America.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo).

Madam Speaker, I thank the Honorable Gabe Amo from the great State of Rhode Island for his remarks.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from Florida, the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick from the great State of Florida for her remarks.

Madam Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio, the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.

Madam Speaker, I thank the former Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman, the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty from the great State of Ohio for her remarks.

Madam Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey, the Honorable Congressman Payne.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. from the great State of New Jersey. It has been a pleasure of mine to have worked with his father and to see his honorable son continue on in his tradition.

Tonight, in this great Chamber, we gather to honor and remember the contributions of women to the indispensable future of the American experiment with democracy. In particular, I rise to give special commendation to the role that Black women have played in the formation of American possibilities.

It is not such a stretch to suggest that America would be unlivable for a great many of its citizens were it not for the indelible work and prophetic imagination of women in this country.

Where would this country be without Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Diane Nash, Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi, the Honorable Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee?

Black women, and all women really, are the fabric that holds this Nation together because when men have followed their egos and ambition into war and repression, it was the women of this country who stood up to the madness, demanding ever more forcefully that the center must hold.

On this side of the aisle, we still believe that every woman should have the right to vote, the right to equal pay for equal work, the right for every opportunity and resources available to any man.

We believe that when at all possible no woman should ever lose her life giving birth to a child in the United States of America.

We believe that the maternal mortality rates of Black women are a moral indictment against the persistence of bigotry and discrimination in America.

On this side of the aisle, we believe in the right of every woman to control what happens to her body as a matter of reproductive justice, personal autonomy, and self-determination. How dare any man tell a woman what she can do with her body? How dare any government come in between a woman and her medical decisions? How dare any political party use a woman's body as an opportunity to get elected rather than respecting the fact that every woman is made in the image of God?

That is the difference between this side of the aisle and, I must say, the other side of the aisle. This side of the aisle gave the Nation Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first African-American woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

The other side of the aisle has spent the last 50 years trying to destroy Roe v. Wade. Even after they facilitated that disaster, they even are now trying to undermine in vitro fertilization, because that is the difference between this side of the aisle and the other side when it comes to issues that matter.

This side of the aisle produced the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, who was principally responsible for passing the Affordable Care Act that has allowed millions of people to come out of the suffering shadows and receive the healthcare coverage they deserve.

On the other side of the aisle, leaders of that party facilitated a racist lie regarding the birth certificate of the former President of the United States, President Barack Obama.

This side of the aisle facilitated the passage of Title IX. Many people are excited to see women playing basketball now, but that was part of the civil rights legislation that we hold dear. Title IX is a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools or any educational programs. Some have said that this law has single-handedly been the reason little girls all over America enjoy opportunities that their grandmothers never had.

On this side of the aisle, we believe that every child is precious and that every little girl is a gift from God, and on this side of the aisle we don't want our sons to have any more opportunities than our daughters get to enjoy.

On this side of the aisle, we fight to expand freedom, opportunity, and the securities of justice to every American regardless of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation.

I can't speak for anyone else, but on this side of the aisle, we believe the Bible when it says your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

Let me remind you today that, as a son of the civil rights movement, I am keenly aware of the fact that the movement that made my election possible would have been improbable were it not for Black women. I stand on the shoulders of many of these remarkable Black women who through their insight, their grit and generosity support the weight of generations yet unborn.

I see them all over my home district in Chicago and the greater part of Illinois. I have encountered them in the churches on the south side. They raised me. My mother is one of them, as are my sisters. They say hi to me in the supermarket. They meet me all over the district to talk to me about our Nation, their needs, and their lives. They are the daughters of thunder and the children of light.

Today, I am honored to recognize them. Today, I proverbially tip my hat and genuflect in the presence of such unusual greatness.

I am grateful today for the women in this Chamber who are my colleagues. I am grateful for what they do and for what they represent. Let us never forget that at the founding of this great institution, at the founding of this great country in 1776, and at the ratification of our Constitution in 1787, it was never in the imagination of the Founders that a woman would sit in these Chambers or cast votes as a Member of this body. However, look at what determination and faith can do. Look at what hard work and love for justice can do. I celebrate each of the honorable women who serve in this Congress, and I pray that this country will continue to provide greater room and greater opportunities for the genius of this Nation's women so that they can flourish and we can live up to our highest potential.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).

Madam Speaker, you have heard from my distinguished colleagues about women's history and the many great contributions they have made.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the Congressional Black Caucus chairman.

Madam Speaker, I thank the tireless fighter, our leader, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairman Steven Horsford, from the great State of Nevada. I also thank my coanchor, the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, from the great State of Florida.

Madam Speaker, you have heard from my distinguished colleagues about African-American contributions to American history and Women's History Month, all issues of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, our constituents, Congress, and all Americans tonight.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to discuss why this body needs to pass the JUST Act of 2023. This bill will strengthen civil rights accountability at the United States Department of Agriculture.

Some may question why this bill is necessary. The USDA has a long and checkered history of racial policies and discrimination against Black and other minority farmers.

In the 20th century, the USDA farm lending programs undermined African-American farmers' ability to continue their operations, and the numbers don't lie.

At the beginning of the 1900s, there were more than 925,000 Black farm operators who owned more than 16 million acres of land.

The most recent numbers from 2017 paint a bleak picture. There are only 48,000 Black family farm operators left. So let's strengthen civil rights accountability at the USDA by passing the JUST Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation that would posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to honor Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor and would finally recognize him as America's first international sports champion.

Marshall Taylor was affectionately known as Major Taylor, and he remains in death as he was in life; namely, America's first sports superhero, a feat that took place in the late 1800s and makes what he accomplished all the more extraordinary and astounding.

Consider, if you will, the fact that here is an African-American man born in 1878 amid the sound and fury of post-Civil War America.

For those who missed the significance of this, it means that Major Taylor came into being at a time when the old resentments of the defeated Confederacy were beginning to push the Nation back into the clutches of a desperate and cynical racial antipathy.

Major Taylor did not come of age at a moment in American history when it was easy to be African American. In fact, he dared to be great at a time when the color of his skin was a crime; that is to suggest a punishable offense for which millions of Black people were persecuted without justification or cause. Yet, in spite of the indignities assigned to him because of his race, in 1899, Mr. Taylor went on to become the fastest man in the world on a bike and an international world champion in the sport of cycling.

Yet oddly, Mr. Speaker, very few people in this country know anything about him. Very few people know the biggest sport in the latter half of the 19th century was cycling and that an African American was the first great international champion in this country and in this sport.

One wonders today: How is such a thing even possible that Mr. Taylor can be forgotten? Why has it taken so long to honor a man who never should have been forgotten in the first place? How can it be the case that most people know little or nothing about the extraordinary contributions of this man to the American experience, to say nothing of his quantifiable greatness with respect to American sports?

Let me put a final point on this. Before there was a Jack Johnson, before there was a Jackie Robinson, before there was a Joe Louis, before there was a Jesse Owens, there was a Marshall Taylor, the son of an enslaved family, the son of a veteran of the American Civil War, our first international superstar, the first Black athlete to have a corporate sponsorship, the fastest man in the world at his time.

He was a man so committed to his faith that he would not race on Sundays, so subsequently the governing body of the international cycling community changed racing day to Saturday in order to accommodate the discipline and dedication of his faith.

Major Taylor was the first African-American world champion of any sport, and yet most people don't even know who he is because he has been conveniently erased. That is to say, he has been rendered invisible and, therefore, condemned to exist on the peripheries and in the margins of the historical memories of what he was and soon to be forgotten and was not of any note. He had no value in our history, tragically insignificant and unimportant, but nothing could be further from the truth.

With the heel of an entire nation pressing down upon his neck, after 280 years of enslavement in America, here arose Mr. Marshall ``Major'' Taylor. He had no one to look up to. He had to set a precedent. He had to exemplify greatness and carry that great burden of the race on his shoulders, and he did so magnificently.

The recriminations of an entire culture withholding him from the support he deserved, when he won in America, they played ``Dixie.'' When he won abroad, internationally, they played ``The Star-Spangled Banner.'' Marshall ``Major'' Taylor said that made him so proud to be an American.

Marshall Taylor strived in spite of it all. He didn't just win. He won in spite of the facts. He didn't just succeed. He succeeded against the odds. He didn't just achieve, but impressively, he achieved with one hand tied behind his back, and he would not be stopped.

Frederick Douglass said that a man should not be judged by how high he climbs but rather he should be judged by the depths from which he has had to climb from.

Marshall ``Major'' Taylor is a quintessential example of the American spirit and African American capacity for resistance and excellence in the midst of it all.

I rise today in support of legislation that would posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to Marshall Walter ``Major'' Taylor.

And would finally recognize him as the first American international champion.

Marshall Taylor was affectionately known as Major Taylor, and he remains in death as he was in life, namely, America's first sports hero--a feat that took place in the late 1800s and makes what he accomplished all the more extraordinary and astounding.

Consider, if you will, the fact that here is an African-American man born in 1878 amid the sound and fury of post-Civil War America.

And for those who miss the significance of this, it means that Major Taylor came into being at a time when the old resentments of the defeated Confederacy were beginning to push the nation back into the clutches of a desperate and cynical racial antipathy.

Major Taylor did not come of age at a moment in American history when it was easy to be black.

In fact, he dared to be great at a time when the color of his skin was a crime.

That is to suggest a punishable offense for which millions of black people were persecuted without justification or cause.

And yet, in spite of the indignities assigned to him because of his race, in 1899, Mr. Taylor went on to become the fastest man on a bike and an international world champion in the sport of cycling.

And yet, oddly, Mr. Speaker, very few people in this country know anything about him.

Very few people know that the biggest sport in the latter half of the 19th century was cycling, and that an African-American man was the first great international champion in that sport.

One wonders today: how is such a thing even possible?

Why has it taken so long to honor a man who should've never been forgotten in the first place.

How can it be the case that most people know little to nothing about the extraordinary contribution of this man to the American experience-- to say nothing of his quantifiable greatness with respect to American sports?

Let me put a finer point on it . . .

Before there was Jack Johnson,

Before there was Joe Louis,

Before there was Jesse Owens,

Before there was Jackie Robinson,

There was Marshall Taylor.

The Son of an enslaved family

The son of a veteran of the civil war.

The first international superstar.

The first black athlete to have a corporate sponsorship . . .

The fastest man in the world . . .

A man so committed to his faith that he would not race on Sundays, so subsequently, the governing body of the international cycling community changed racing day to Saturday in order to accommodate the discipline and dedication of his faith.

Major Taylor was the first African-American world champion of any sport.

And yet most people don't even know who he is because he has been conveniently erased.

That is to say, rendered invisible,

And therefore, condemned to exist on the peripheries and in the margins of historical memory as if what he accomplished was not of any note.

Not valuable.

Tragically insignificant and unimportant.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

With the heel of an entire nation pressing down upon his neck--and with the recriminations of an entire culture withholding from him the support he deserved . . . Marshal Major Taylor did it anyway.

He didn't just win; rather, he won in spite of the facts.

He didn't just succeed; he succeeded against the odds.

He didn't just achieve, but impressively, he achieved with one hand tied behind his back.

And he would not be stopped.

Frederick Douglass said that a man should not be judged by how high he climbs, but should rather be judged by the depths from which she has had to climb from.

Marshall Major Taylor is the quintessential example of the American spirit, and the African-American capacity for resistance and excellence in the midst of it all.

I rise today in support of this legislation because the awarding of this medal is an act long over due.

To bestow this honor is the least a grateful nation can do for someone denied the recognition and respect he deserved.

And so . . . . it is all together fitting that we memorialize the achievements and legacy of this extraordinary American.

And each of us should take pride in knowing that the time has finally come for this nation to honor one of its most accomplished sons.

A Trailblazer,

A Pioneer,

A man of dignity,

An American,

An African-American,

A Champion.

And perhaps most of all, a man of remarkable faith.

The first great African-American world champion in any sport should not be relegated to the ash-heap of history--and today, with this legislation, we endeavor to put Major Taylor back where he belongs.

In the winner circle.

And alongside the best of what this nation has to offer. I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give special recognition to the members of the Democratic Caucus who have been able to accomplish many things in spite of the sound and fury of the dysfunctional politics in a small and vocal part of the House Republican Conference. As I stand here in the people's House I am struck by how much congressional leadership matters and how divided the 118th Congress has been.

We have been here, without question, living in perilous times. In times like these what we do in this Chamber matters in the lives of American people.

The people of our district did not send us here to perform theatrical acts. They did not send us here to posture for the cameras. None of us were elected here so that we could increase the status and the stature of our personal media profiles. Yet that seems to be the total measure of what this Congress has amounted to.

The 118th Congress and the year of 2023 have been unprecedented. Earlier this year, leader Hakeem Jeffries made history as the first man of African descent to be elected the leader of a major political party.

Nevertheless, almost immediately chaos erupted. The Speaker's vote was a mess. Speaker Emeritus McCarthy was elected after 15 rounds of votes, 15 rounds. It was the first time in a century that election of a House Speaker took multiple ballots to complete, and it was the longest vote in the United States' history since 1855 lasting 133 rounds just over 2 months.

I will say, though, that our honorable leader, Hakeem Jeffries, did receive 3,179 votes for Speaker across 15 rounds.

The hits just kept coming as we rolled into the spring. At the end of March, we reached a new milestone, the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump marked the first time--after four indictments against President Trump--that we have ever seen in our country's history a former President indicted on criminal charges.

As the weather got warmer, temperatures flared. Some wanted to take our national debt hostage. To be clear, this is money the Congress had already appropriated, and with a bipartisan coalition we managed to avert an economic calamity and an economic shutdown.

Fast-forward to the fall, and many of the same issues arose again. Then Speaker McCarthy was confronted with an unruly small group who were willing to shut down the government after the debt ceiling debate. For keeping the government open, Speaker McCarthy became the first Speaker in the House to ever be removed. The chaos that ensued was brutal. The House went without a Speaker for 23 days, the longest since 1961.

A marathon 10-week session that tested everyone's patience produced only frustration and anger. There is a reason we have had a record number of retirements from the Members of Congress at every level that we have not seen in a decade. Thirteen Senators and Representatives have already announced they are not seeking reelection in just the month of November. This is the highest number of retirements we have seen in this body in more than a decade.

This should not surprise us because dysfunction is a bitter pill to swallow, and I say that broadly because that dysfunction is not limited to this Chamber or to the House of Representatives.

Over in the Senate, Senator Tuberville stood in the way of over 400 senior military officers that deserved promotion and the dignity of all of their ranks and their compensation. He held up 400 officers, putting our Nation's security at risk. One United States Senator thought his understanding of what was right should supersede the will of 99 other United States Senators.

More than that, this one Senator spent most of the year subjecting the United States military and members of the armed services to the detrimental effects of his personal whims and wishes. He had no regard for the families he put in jeopardy who risk their lives every day for our citizenry. He showed no concern for the hard work and dedication of these military officers who have focused their careers on protecting and serving our Nation.

Perhaps most of all, this United States Senator tried to impose his morality on 1.4 million active military personnel in the armed services without their consent and without the advice of their commanding officers.

Senator Tuberville's story is instructive of what happens when we come together and do the right thing. Just last week, he folded. As a man of faith, I pray that the second part of the 118th Congress is more productive than the first. With only 21 bills that have been passed into law at the halfway point of this Congress, it is on pace to be the most sluggish Congress since our predecessors met in 1931 and 1932, but let's stay positive and hopeful.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great State of Louisiana, Congressman Troy Carter.

Mr. Speaker, as I stand on this floor tonight, I do so as someone painfully aware of the serious times we are living in. Let the word go forth in this time and place that this Nation and, indeed, this entire world stands on the precipice of unregulated conflict.

From Civil War in the Congo, to the war in Ukraine, to Israel's war with Hamas in the Middle East, the Earth is saturated with violence and recrimination and as in the case of all wars, people are dying.

Tens of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives. People who have nothing to do with governmental policies that send men and women into battle are no less the victims of those momentous decisions. Israeli babies, Palestinian babies, Congolese babies, and Ukrainian children all deserve to live in a world where they are, not judged by the details of their religion or the color of their skin. Yet, this is not the world that they were born into.

I stand here tonight concerned about the state of our civilization. I stand here tonight concerned about the role this country plays in being promoters of peace. I come here to this well bothered by the rise and the almost unfettered proliferation of anti-Semitism.

It should never be the case that a Jewish person in this country feels like their lives are under threat because they are Jewish.

We cannot allow the children of Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to feel as if they have no place in this country. There can be no moral equivocation when it comes to anti- Semitism in the way that this could be a moral equivocation when it comes to racism. Racism and anti-Semitism travel together because they are two sides of the same coin.

History is repeat with the evidence to prove that societies that begin with one will evidently end up with the other. Where there is anti-Semitism, racism is sure to follow. Where there is racism, there will ultimately be anti-Semitism as well.

We know this is the case because hatred knows no bounds, bigotry respects no limits, and ironically prejudice does not discriminate.

The moment you release one into the universe of our consciousness, the other will invariably come knocking at the door. That is why those of us who are leaders in this country must be clear about where we stand with respect to anti-Semitism. Whatever challenges people may have with policies conducted by the government of Israel, those concerns must not be used to avoid the absolute rejection of anti- Semitism as a plausible, cultural, or political solution.

I say this as a Black man living in America who has had a multiplicity of concerns about the policies of my own government. Black people in America have had 400 years of learning how to separate policies from people. While it is intelligent to question all governments, it is not, however, acceptable to allow corrosive influences to convince us that anti-Semitism is a liberating political project because it is not, nor has it ever been, and neither will it ever be.

I don't care what anyone says: Black lives matter, Jewish lives are sacred, and Palestinian lives are important because all life comes from God.

Anti-Semitism is a vile and repulsive preoccupation with hatred that has more than once manifested itself with horrific consequences. I stand here today doubly concerned because influences and, in some cases, influencers have provided the permission and the structure for people who are themselves the object of hate to participate in the hatred of our Jewish brothers and sisters.

We simply cannot allow this to happen. We must declare in no uncertain terms that right is right and wrong is wrong, and that it is wrong to hate people. It is wrong to treat people like they are beneath you. It is wrong to act like people are outside of the human family because they pray differently. We here tonight must be highly resolved that this country is to be the oasis of tolerance amid a vast desert of discrimination.

We say no to anti-Semitism, we say no to anti-Black racism, and we say no to anything that would subject any human being to dehumanizing language in treatment.

I encourage the people of this country to hold fast to the principles of this Christmas season in which we find ourselves. Whether you are Christian or not, the principles of this season are enduring and a great degree universal.

The idea that peace should be the function of our politics is something all of us should embrace. The notion that the birth of love is the only thing that can save us is something that no

one should be willing to reject. In the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, he called us a ``beloved community,'' I submit to you tonight that it is this very thing that compels me to be a Member of this body.

I still believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men and women who are other-centered can build up again. I still believe that truth crush down to Earth can still rise again, and I still believe that if we stand up for one another, that is the only way we can have our salvation. None of us would be brutalized when we learn to love.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the honorable and distinguished Congressional Black Caucus Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I give a very special thank you to the Honorable Congressman Steven Horsford, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. I thank him for his leadership and his outstanding voice.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Marshall ``Major'' Taylor Congressional Gold Medal Act, the highest honor this body can bestow upon an American.

Major Taylor was the greatest athlete of his era, America's first sports superstar, and a world champion, but he has been left out of our history books. We need to bring him out of the shadows and recognize his greatness both on and off the track.

Not only did Taylor set world records and dominate his sport, but he did so while facing down racists and bigots in the Jim Crow era.

Race organizers would try to exclude him from events. Other cyclists would viciously insult him and even did physical harm.

Despite it all, the son of a Union soldier rose above it, setting record after record and becoming a world champion.

Even when compared to today's athletes, Major Taylor is among the greatest cyclists of all time. It is time that Congress recognizes his greatness and award him a Congressional Gold Medal.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce my first piece of legislation, the JUST Act.

When the United States Department of Agriculture was established by President Lincoln in 1862, it reflected a recognition of the strategic importance of agriculture in the Nation's development. It aimed to address the needs of farmers, promote scientific advancements in agriculture, and contribute to rural development. However, racism perpetuated by the rules and the laws of Jim Crow remained strong.

This was in the early years of the Civil War. Sixty-one years later, we remember in 1923 the massacre, the removal of Black, prosperous farmers in Rosewood, Florida, where Black farmers were taken off of their land.

In the 1920s, 30 percent of America's families lived in rural America on farmlands. The USDA was created to provide a safety net for America's farmers, ranchers, and growers, which included assistance for struggling industries, disaster assistance, crop insurance, technical assistance, access to credit, and help for producers to implement conservation practices.

For decades, the USDA has had an unfortunate and checkered history regarding civil rights, manifesting most notably in discriminatory lending practices, unequal program access, civil rights violations, land loss, and

limited representation. Reports dating back to the 1960s have found discrimination at the USDA in both program delivery and the treatment of its employees of African-American descent.

Today, USDA continues to be the subject of a number of lawsuits brought by minority farmers and ranchers alleging discrimination. This reputation is so pervasive that the USDA has been called the last plantation on numerous occasions.

When Secretary Tom Vilsack began his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture in 2009, he promised a new era of civil rights at the USDA. I applaud him for his recognition, honesty, candor, and willingness to confront a very hard truth, not fixing the blame but trying to fix the problem to make sure that America's agricultural access, resources, and industry would be open to all.

At that time, there were over 14,000 unresolved discrimination complaints in the Department of Agriculture. The discrimination perpetuated through USDA's farm lending programs, undermining Black farmers' ability to continue their operations during the 20th century, resulting in over 900,000 Black farmers losing their lands from the people who were originally the custodians of this land, African Americans who had been kidnapped, captured, and enslaved and who made cotton king. When they had the opportunity to farm, the USDA had turned their back on these family farmers.

Between 1920 and 1997, African-American farmers had declined by 98 percent because of government policy. Right here, down Pennsylvania Avenue, in 1925, we remember when the Ku Klux Klan was a mainstream organization. We remember that when President Harding died in Indiana, there was a Klan rally at the fairgrounds commemorating his death. That ghost still lingered on.

Contemporary data shows that African Americans still account for only 1.4 percent of the country's 3.4 million producers. Equity issues remain in program delivery to this very day.

An NPR analysis most recently found that, in 2022, only 36 percent of Black farmers received direct loans from USDA while their White counterparts received 72 percent loan acceptance. Perhaps some of the biggest gaps in the loan demographics can also be seen in the rejection numbers, where 16 percent of Black farmers are rejected. The highest corresponding figure for White farmers was 4 percent. Forty-eight percent of Black farmers withdrew their applications in frustration, and that number corresponds with Asian Americans, compared to only 24 percent of those identifying as Caucasian.

While efforts are underway to address this current crisis through the Inflation Reduction Act, and other measures, there must be a process in place to clarify and bolster civil rights protections at the USDA.

The Just USDA Standards and Transparency Act of 2023, 100 years after Rosewood, would correct this.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to speak on my amendment, amendment No. 12 to H.R. 5961, the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act.

My amendment is simple. It adds a 5-year sunset provision. My amendment is in line with the majority leader's floor protocols for the 118th Congress. Specifically, the majority leader's floor protocols on legislation call for sunset requirements to advance the policies ``originally outlined in the Pledge to America to adopt a requirement that programs end or `sunset' by a date certain.'' That should include new sanction authorities, as well.

It is important for Congress to maintain its Article I powers over foreign policy, and it does that by including a sunset provision. If we are going to be consistent with the floor protocols that the majority has established for new programs, if we want to reclaim our Article I powers, this act should not go into force without a sunset provision.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to coanchor this CBC Special Order hour. I thank my distinguished colleague, Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida.

For the next 60 minutes we have a chance to speak directly to the American people on issues of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, and all Americans.

Our Special Order hour today will focus on a very urgent and pressing issue for our community, and that is the recognition of November as National Diabetes Month.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown), my colleague from the city of Cleveland.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished colleague, Congresswoman Shontel Brown from Ohio's 11th Congressional District, for her leadership within the Congressional Black Caucus and for highlighting and focusing our attention and, indeed, the Nation's attention on this critical issue of diabetes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the honorable Congressman Payne from the great State of New Jersey for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the honorable chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairman Steven Horsford, for those powerful words. Again, I thank our esteemed colleague, Congresswoman Shontel Brown of Ohio, for having led this effort.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to my colleague from the great State of Louisiana, the distinguished Congressman, Mr. Troy Carter.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the great State of Louisiana, Congressman Troy Carter, for his participation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus- McCormick from the great State of Florida.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Cherfilus- McCormick for her statement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring vaunted and valuable attention to one of the greatest health challenges plaguing the American people and to declare that this body needs to do more to alleviate the pain.

The month of November has been designated as being National Diabetes Month and the goal of this designation is to highlight the disproportionate impact diabetes continues to have on the communities I represent.

Never before has one chronic disease so diabolically focused its fury on Black and Brown people, which, of course, begs the question as to whether or not the proliferation of this silent killer is connected to the quality of food and economic choices of those very same communities.

The physiology of Black and Brown people is not in any way predisposed to be more vulnerable to this disease than any other group of people, and yet diabetes continues to destroy Black and Brown lives at a rate that is more than disproportional but diabolic as well.

Since 2001, the proliferation of Type 2 diabetes among Black and Brown youth has increased at a rate of 95 percent, Mr. Speaker.

According to the National Health Institute, young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years of age have seen instances of Type 2 diabetes double among them. Two out of every 100 Black and indigenous American youth now suffer from this disease, and it is accelerating at an alarming pace.

As I stand before you here, I shudder to think about the implications associated with the level of increase, what that will mean for the quality of life of families of young people currently sinking into this chronic abyss.

Whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not, the way we currently treat, talk about, and address this disease will leave this country vulnerable to a medical tsunami the likes of which no one on this planet has ever seen.

We cannot be silent about this because if we do nothing, African Americans are twice as likely as any other group to die from this disease.

If we do nothing, African-American adults are twice as likely to be hospitalized because of diabetes and suffer long-term complications more than any other group.

If we do nothing, Black people in this country are three times more likely to be diagnosed with renal disease which, of course, is a portal that leads to a whole host of other debilitating morbidities.

If we just sit around and dither, Black people will be 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a disease that has the power to kill them. Let us not forget that African Americans currently make up 13 percent of the American population. When 95 percent of the young people that make up 13 percent of your entire population are currently slipping down the slippery slope of diabetes, someone has to sound the alarm.

This is why every American should be glad that President Biden has declared November to be National Diabetes Month, and all of us should be glad because this is a conversation we need to have. The time for us to act as if this is not a national emergency is over.

Diabetes in the American population has crossed the Rubicon. We are well beyond the point of no return, and if we do not decide that the health and healthcare of every American, particularly African Americans, is a priority equal in its importance to national security, then we will rue the day we buried our heads in the sand and preoccupied ourselves with the seasonal foolishness of partisan politics.

This is not a red State or blue State issue. The American people are dying. The American people are suffering. The American people are looking to the government they elected to do something in its power to help, help them fight and ward off the devastating effects of this debilitating disease.

Last year, millions of Americans reported hoarding insulin because of shortages. The overwhelming need is manifesting itself nationwide. Who would have thought that people who live in the world's greatest country in the history of the world would have to hoard medication? Could any of us have ever imagined that the need for insulin would be so expansive that hoarding the medication would be a necessity or even an option, but this is where we find ourselves. This is the reality millions of Americans have to live with every day.

This is the minute-to-minute struggle for countless American families trying not to lose hope amid a sea of chronic and cataclysmic medical consequences. To those of you, I say hold on and don't give up. If we are determined to do something about it here in this Congress, we can say that elections have consequences because, indeed, they do.

One of the positive outcomes of the last Presidential election is the fact that President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., is the duly elected President of the United States, and he helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act to help us deal with the runaway cost of insulin. Now insulin is $35 a month. That is very much a welcome relief in my neighborhood.

As an American, not only as a Democrat, I am glad that we have someone in the Oval Office who cares about what this disease is doing to our country. It says a lot about the character and integrity of the President that he would go out of his way to address this issue when so many other problems have been vying for his attention over the last 3 years.

However, I also say to you, we can do more. We simply cannot avoid the connection between the systemic inequities of America and the incredible racial disparities by which diabetes continues to proliferate in the Black community.

In fact, in a recent study conducted at Emory University, it was suggested, if not directly implied, that structural racism is accelerating the diabetes crisis in the United States of America. Therefore, potentially what we have here is not just a medical crisis, what we have happening in America is also a social and a cultural crisis.

When it comes to diabetes and the Black community, it would appear that our current crisis is the result of a strange confluence of issues. Nutritional opportunities, access to fruit and vegetables, and the inability to afford healthy nutritional options have all come together to make an already terrible situation worse.

More and more researchers are discovering that the race, geography, and economy of a community can be an overwhelming determining factor for understanding the impact of this debilitating and chronic disease. This is why I have been a major proponent of the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, the GusNIP. I am a major supporter of this program because it allows the Secretary of Agriculture to provide funding opportunities to conduct and evaluate projects providing incentives to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables for low- income consumers.

For many years, the other party has wanted us to believe that government is the problem, but what they forget to tell you is that sometimes national problems require national solutions; and there is a role, indeed, for government.

In this program, it is critical for us to also understand that we cannot retreat on SNAP. There are too many Americans who need the supplemental nutritional assistance. Let us be clear, the same way we incentivize big corporations and wealthy individuals with tax breaks, we should have the moral courage to incentivize healthy choices for low-income Americans.

What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. If incentives work for rich people, then let them also work to save the lives of working-class and low-income Americans.

As I stand here tonight, I am actively working to see this program is fully funded this year. This is something we must do. We owe it to the American people to do everything we can to help them save lives.

Let me simply say that it is about time we start incentivizing things that keep people alive and not just behaviors that make people more money. It is my great hope and expectation that the expansion of GusNIP will allow the program to run more efficiently and increase cooperation between recipients and the Federal Government.

I also believe that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on the Healthy Food

Financing Initiative, created back in the Obama administration to provide grants and technical assistance to empower families to have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable foods in rural and urban communities that are underserved.

Most people fail to realize that the overwhelming instances of hunger in America are not happening in American cities. It is, rather, taking place in rural communities. This is why I am pleased that the Department of Agriculture partnered with the Reinvestment Fund to invest $22.6 million to improve access to healthy foods in underserved communities.

We have an obligation to do all that we can do to empower ordinary, everyday American citizens to make choices that will sustain their lives. As a government, we cannot make the choice for them, but we can create a better set of options for them to make lifesaving decisions for themselves.

What good is balancing the budget if the American people are sick and dying from chronic disease?

What good is having a strong military or defense if the American people are withering away from diabetes and other morbidities that slowly eat away the health of the Nation?

A coherent and stringent immigration policy will mean absolutely nothing if the people who are already citizens of this country are dying from diseases that we can avoid.

Everything that America is and everything we hope it to be depends on the health and safety of our citizens. In the absence of being healthy, there is no American Dream.

I say to my colleagues, let us do everything that we can to empower people to have greater health, longer life, and what every American deserves; namely, three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and, yes, freedom and dignity for their souls.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

Mr. Speaker, these are the issues of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to stand in solidarity with our United Auto Workers brothers and sisters.

Only 2 weeks before his assassination, Reverend Martin Luther King was in Memphis and supported the city sanitation workers' strike. To the crowd, he proclaimed that ``now is the time.''

I echo Reverend Martin Luther King's words from the people's Chamber and say unto UAW auto workers: Now is the time.

Number one, now is the time for a cost-of-living adjustment. In real terms, worker wages are more than 10 percent less than they were in 2019, despite rising costs.

Now is the time for an end to tiered employment in the automotive industry. Workers are making different wages doing equal work. This is simply unacceptable. The only difference between them is which labor contract was in force on the day that they started.

Now is the time for job security. As we transition away from combustion engines, these jobs need to stay in America and remain good- paying union jobs.

Now is the time for a cost-of-living adjustment. Now is the time to end tiered employment pay. Now is the time for job security.

I stand in solidarity with the UAW.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the honorable gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath).

Madam Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman McBath from the great State of Georgia for her comments.

It is now my privilege to yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).

Madam Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congressman Carter from the great State of Louisiana for those remarks.

Madam Speaker, today I stand in solidarity with my colleagues in this Chamber and with citizens across this Nation in condemning the pervasive violence that has taken root in America.

The scourge of violence has become an epidemic. Regrettably, the depth of its impact and its implications for our society's fabric remain inadequately grasped.

We must recognize that violence is not solely defined as the act of wielding a gun. The violence that engulfs our Nation goes beyond the confines of weaponry.

By the time hands are raised in aggression, the cultural and judicial strains have already transformed fellow citizens into adversaries. The staggering reality of 400 million guns in a Nation with 300 million citizens underscores a deep-seated issue.

It is hardly shocking then, in such an environment, that individuals increasingly view one another as foes rather than fellow countrymen. The prevailing political and cultural mood of our Nation is manipulated by the insidious use of fear.

Some of the most profound acts of violence in this country have been executed not just by those with firearms but by those exploiting fear to amplify their privilege and magnify their influence.

Is it not an act of violence to belittle 400 years of African- American resilience? A battle we should never have had to fight, a battle no one should be forced to endure.

Yet, in a single afternoon, the Supreme Court chose to undercut what took 400 years for the Black community to establish, comprehensive policies that recognize and affirm our place against practices that they aimed to dismiss. Isn't this violence too?

How can it not be considered violence when Harvard University is told it cannot use race as a criterion for admission, but it sees no restriction placed on legacy or wealth?

The Supreme Court seems to suggest that being Black doesn't inherently carry merit, but being affluent certainly does.

Perhaps a fellow Member here can enlighten me. When have the wealthy ever been disadvantaged in this Nation, that they needed further benefits because of their wealth? Can anyone refer me to such a time in history?

The Supreme Court seemed to believe that in a mere 50 years, we have surpassed the need to factor in race, yet overlooked the fact that privilege has played a larger role in Ivy League admissions than race ever has.

Where in the majority decision did the Court address the inherent advantages of unearned privilege?

Where is the dedication to meritocracy in such a stance?

Yet, it is revealing that many champion the cause of equality if it does not level the playing field much in favor of true equality.

In this Nation, uniquely certain demographics perceive true equality as an affront to their status.

For countless Black and Brown individuals witnessing the impact of this flawed ruling, the past fortnight has felt like a period of systemic aggression.

When discussing violence in America, our focus shouldn't solely be on the acts committed by those who misuse firearms. Florida's Governor didn't need a firearm to ban books and dismiss the educational value of African-American history.

The Florida Board of Education didn't wield a gun when they sidelined African-American studies in their advanced placement curriculum. Recently, we were dismayed to learn that Florida's newly approved middle school syllabus had the audacity to suggest that slavery was somehow advantageous for Black individuals.

In 2023, it is disheartening to note that in Florida, an educational curriculum was sanctioned by those brazen enough to insinuate that slavery could be deemed beneficial in any manner. There has been silence by so many in this body. This silence is tantamount to violence.

Those who sanctioned this content attempted to defend their stance, asserting that slavery taught Black individuals skills like agriculture, painting, carpentry, blacksmithing, tailoring, and transportation.

This emphasizes the importance of lawmakers fully understanding the laws they create. Had they read some of the very literature they hastily sought to ban, they would have recognized the sheer absurdity of such claims.

Black civilizations were the architects behind the pyramids. The Fertile Crescent of the Nile Valley stands testament to their prowess in civil engineering and agricultural innovation.

Timbuktu houses one of the world's earliest and most renowned universities.

A full two millennia before Hippocrates, Imhotep was already pioneering medical practices and documenting them.

African civilizations were the crucible for philosophy, science, poetry, and monotheistic religions.

How could a cadre of ill-informed, unenlightened, narrow-minded, and archaic policymakers in Florida presume to suggest that Black individuals required the shackles of slavery to grasp shoemaking?

How deeply misguided must one be to suggest that absent slavery, Black artistry would be nonexistent, when Picasso drew inspiration from modernist art from African masks?

To audaciously claim that Black individuals learned about transportation through slavery, ignoring the fact that they navigated the Congo's waters well before Europeans even embarked on their maiden voyages, is pure folly.

Slavery served to starkly remind Black individuals how America often fell short of its proclaimed values. It underscored the bitter truth that one could be despised without the slightest effort to understand their history or heritage.

To anyone who cannot see the inherent harm in teaching young Black students that slavery was somehow a boon, you are sorely mistaken about the essence of institutional and educational violence. What Governor DeSantis did was educational violence.

To shed light on some historical facts, according to records, Governor Ron DeSantis' great-grandmother landed on American shores in February 1917. She arrived in New York, eager to embrace her new identity as an Italian American, and she was fully entitled to.

Regardless of her great-grandson's current disposition, she undoubtedly contributed to this Nation, and her contribution was as pivotal as anyone else's.

But let me also remind you that the first Africans came to America in 1619, landing in Jamestown, Virginia--298 years separate 1619 from 1917, 298 years.

Yet, we have a Governor in Florida, a descendent of those who arrived nearly 3 centuries after my ancestors, presuming to dictate my understanding of the African-American experience in this country.

How dare you, Governor DeSantis. You are absolutely a disgrace. No Ron-DeSantis-come-lately will tell Black people the value of our contributions to America.

That is why all of us on this side of the aisle are elated to see Madam Vice President of the United States take the fight for Black history directly to Florida.

Thank you, Madam Vice President Kamala Harris for speaking out against ridiculous claims being made by the Florida Board of Education.

Across this Nation, individuals with a sense of justice commend Vice President Harris for her unwavering stand for truth and righteousness.

Yet, this is adversity we face. Firearms merely represent the latest form of hostility directed at Black and Brown communities. Over 400 mass shootings have occurred in 2023, and this year isn't over yet.

Discussing the glaring imbalance of having 100 million more firearms than we have citizens, while not addressing 25 million American school- age children who can't read is an incomplete picture. The link is apparent. Children lacking literacy skills may become adults more prone to resort to crime, potentially involving guns.

If we are going to have a serious debate about violence in America, then we must be willing to talk about this issue at every level.

When the Supreme Court said it was legal for a website designer to deny LGBTQ people services, what kind of violence did that do to the LGBTQ community? What kind of psychological, emotional, if not spiritual violence did that decision bring to bear in the lives of Black and Brown people?

I firmly stand with those who say that we need a national solution to solve a national problem of gun violence, but I challenge all of us not to view this issue so narrowly.

Gun violence stands at the intersection of race, poverty, and class, and needs to be understood in this way.

We cannot become so enamored with the effects of the bullet that we forget the economics of the gun. The root of the violence isn't merely in the act of pulling the trigger, but in the lived experiences of those who resort to such extremes.

The Biden-Harris administration's success in enacting the first substantial gun laws in nearly three decades is commendable. With executive orders, President Biden has significantly addressed the gun crisis.

Yet, even in a scenario where guns are scarce, the ramifications of America's inherent violence will persist as it stems from prejudice and intolerance. This kind of violence, Madam Speaker, of which I speak, is the progeny of fear. It is the direct and lamentable offspring of what happens when people use revenge to play games with the resentment of White, working-class people. This kind of violence cannot be arrested and merely thrown in jail.

Regrettably, it cannot be legislated out of the hearts and minds of people who use it to make a name for themselves. Once you allow your politics to become sufficiently murderous, the kind of social evil it produces can never be truly contained.

What is today a conversation about the inequities associated with race will tomorrow become the first line of a sad eulogy written about the American Dream. This is what we have tried to get America to see.

The willingness to mistreat Black history means that there are people living among us who are more than willing to mishandle American history as a whole.

So let us ultimately deal with every form of violence in America. Systemic cruelty, like the violence in the streets, destroys the lives and tears families apart.

Judicial roughness is no less a threat to Black children than the specter of gang violence and all illegal guns being used to destroy Black bodies without justification or remorse.

Donald Trump openly taught us what political brutality can do to the moral fiber of a Nation that has slowly begun to forget its constitutional ideals. While it is altogether fitting to talk about gang violence in Chicago, murders in Memphis, and mass shootings in Texas, don't forget to talk about the kind of economic violence being visited upon Black families this country sees every day. The members of the Congressional Black Caucus will always mention it.

We will always talk about it because our country's future depends upon an honest assessment of who we are and what it is that we owe to one another. To truly end violence in our Nation, it is not enough to just regulate guns; we must also address and rectify America's deep- rooted issues with privilege, power, and hatred.

Addressing one issue without the other is tackling an issue that will not be secure. We must render our efforts as effective so that we will be a blessed Nation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and a privilege to share the podium today with my esteemed colleague, Sheila Cherfilus- McCormick, as we embark on this significant CBC Special Order hour, an hour that has come. We are going to dive deep into understanding how terms like colored people have shaped our racial conversation and histories. This isn't just an exploration of the past, it is about how we forge our future. We will be tackling the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Mr. Speaker, across every field and sector, we are seeing a retreat on this promise, and we are going to stress why it is so vital that our education system is inclusive, recognizing and celebrating our racial diversity, rather than suppressing it. We see a future where understanding our collective past enables us to shape a more equitable society.

Remember, this conversation isn't just about us or Congress. It is a conversation for every single American because together we can make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great State of New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Donald Payne, Jr. from the great State of New Jersey for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the honorable chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the honorable chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Steven Horsford, from the great State of Nevada.

It is now my privilege to yield to the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty from the great State of Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for her remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Robin Kelly from Illinois for her remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick from the great State of Florida for her remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from the great State of Texas for her comments.

I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove from the great State of California for her remarks.

I would like to take a point of privilege and speak to the Record. Mr. Speaker, may I make an inquiry about the time remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heart burdened by the weight of history and a spirit ignited by the promise of the future. We gather here in these hallowed halls of power, where words bear the weight of action, and action shapes the destiny of our Nation.

But the words uttered by our fellow Congressman--and I have waited for a sufficient response for him to apologize to the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and to other Members that seek truth and justice--but he has remained silent, and he says he has misspoken.

Misspoken means to also not have been made clear, so if he could clarify his remarks on who is a colored person--as the grandson of two soldiers that fought in U.S. wars, I would like to know what he was speaking about for colored.

When my grandparents could not go on the first-class car after returning from Europe, at the Union Station had to go sit in the second-class car for colored people, behind Nazi POWs that were allowed to go in the first-class car, we are trying to overcome a horrid racial past.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a little history. When we hear, as African Americans, our brothers and sisters referred to as colored people in the year of 2023, it doesn't just make us uncomfortable, it transports us back through centuries of struggle, resilience, and a pursuit of justice often denied.

I stand here before you today, not just as a Member of Congress, but a freedom fighter. Our fight as Americans started before the country was even born. It has been over 400 years when the first persons that were imported from Africa had been enslaved.

Nearly two centuries after, in 1787, our Nation held a Constitutional Convention. It was there that the infamous Three-Fifths Compromise was struck. Three out of five Americans that had been enslaved were counted as representation for taxation, not for votes. The humanity of a person was whittled down to a fraction.

Can you imagine the audacity, the horror?

Just 2 years later, in 1789, we stand witness to a profound paradox that happened; the same 1789 that gave birth to this illustrious institution, the United States of House Representatives, founded in 1789.

On the one hand, we celebrate the inauguration of our first President, President George Washington--his picture stands proudly in this Chamber--a milestone in our Nation's narrative.

Yet, let us not overlook the uncomfortable truth that this esteemed leader was himself a holder of Americans enslaved; a chilling reminder that our Nation's foundation was laid with the sweat and blood of those in chains.

In the years that followed, from 1740 to 1834, Southern slave States employed another insidious tool to maintain the oppressive status quo, the anti-literacy laws. I have not been able to find any other nation that had instituted or enacted anti-literacy laws.

Imagine a system so threatened by the enlightenment of its subjugated people that they made it illegal for the enslaved and free people of color to learn to read and write.

In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted, transforming ordinary citizens into accomplices for the slavery system. A free territory was no longer a sanctuary. It could transform into a hunting ground for those seeking freedom. Aiding the enslaved, a profound act of humanity was suddenly a criminal act punishable by fine and imprisonment.

This Act didn't just target the enslaved. It cast its nefarious shadow over the entire Nation, implicating all in the perpetration of this abhorrent institution.

In the wake of this Act, 7 years later, in 1857, the Supreme Court reached a decision in the Dred Scott case that shook the very foundation of freedom and human dignity.

The Court ruled that all Black people, regardless of their status as free or enslaved, were not and could never become citizens of the United States. This wasn't just a judicial ruling; it was a heartrending affirmation of the racial prejudice deeply rooted in our society, a prejudice that permeated even our Nation's highest courts.

In the year 1863, we saw a light, the Emancipation Proclamation. Freedom--after 246 years, freedom, it seemed, was finally within our grasp. A bloody Civil War, fought over the right to keep human beings in bondage, ended 2 years later, our Nation's deadliest war, and we dared to dream of a new dawn for our people.

Yet, as the sun of liberation rose, the shadows of oppression heightened. In a bitter twist of irony, freedom unveiled a new face of subjugation. The Black Codes of 1865 were enacted.

Though the iron chains of slavery had been shattered, this new set of manacles were fastened around us, chains woven with legal threads and tightened by the grip of racial bias. They were not as visible as the shackles of old, but they were no less oppressive, no less real.

A century later, in 1963, at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., gave voice to the bitter truth: ``One hundred years later, the colored American is still not free.''

A hundred years after emancipation, the struggle was far from over. We had been unshackled, yet we remained bound by the chains of systemic discrimination, segregation, and marginalization.

The term ``Jim Crow law'' surfaced in 1892. Just 4 years later, there was Plessy v. Ferguson. The verdict cemented the doctrine of ``separate but equal,'' which inherently meant being unequal.

Despite these oppressive circumstances, our ancestors fought with courage and determination. They fought for the Civil Rights Act in 1866, and fought in 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Our ancestors fought for the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. Our ancestors fought for the 14th Amendment to have equal protection under the law and guaranteeing citizenship. They fought for the 15th Amendment so that we could have the right to vote for African-American men.

These victories did not come easy. They were bought with blood, sweat, and tears of our forebears.

Today, we find ourselves in 2023, but the echoes of our past are loud. Our colleague, Mr. Crane, has evoked the ghost of a very painful past by addressing us in this Chamber as colored people.

We have served in every war, Mr. Crane. It is a term as archaic as the prejudices it represents.

In doing so, he blurs the line between past and present, reminding us of an era we have struggled to move beyond. His words are not just a singular lapse in judgment but a symptom of a much larger disease--a disease that seeped into the highest courts of our land, where the 14th Amendment--the very symbol of our freedom--has been twisted into a weapon against affirmative action.

This very amendment, a cornerstone of liberty and equality, has been misused to dismantle a policy intended to level the playing field that has been historically skewed against African Americans.

Our attention is then drawn to the targets of this regressive decision: Harvard University, founded in 1636, and the University of North Carolina founded in 1789. The Supreme Court in 2023, cited the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, in the name of Make America Great Again.

Now, we have our colleague (Mr. Crane) using the words ``colored,'' the words that my mother and father had to see growing up in South Carolina and Florida and Virginia for colored water fountains, colored schools.

Can we please move forward? Can we please demand an apology to this great body of distinguished men and women from Mr. Crane?

I ask: Is it truly a coincidence that these specific institutions have been targeted as the battlegrounds for the dismantling of affirmative action, or is it an insidious reminder of our painful history, a pointed jab at the very heart of our struggle for equality and access in opportunity?

The African American community has been in bondage longer than we have ever been free. Our exclusion has lasted longer than our inclusion. Even half a century after the Civil Rights Act of 1965, we ask ourselves: Are we truly free to meritocratically grow?

This timeline, this history is a testament to our resilience. It is a reminder of our past, a measure of our progress, and a marker of the journey ahead. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us, those who have struggled, and those who have sacrificed. We owe it to them and to ourselves to keep the flame of justice burning bright.

This journey has been long, and it is not over, but we will not falter, we will not tire, we will not rest until we can unequivocally say that we are free--until justice is not just a word in our Pledge of Allegiance but a reality in our lives.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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 8 o'clock and 48 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the echoes of our past resonating deeply in the present, echoing in a way that should give us pause, concern, and impetus to change.

Recently, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that threatens the principles of equality and justice we so ardently strive to uphold. By overturning affirmative action, they ruled that the admissions policies of Harvard University, founded in 1636, and the University of North Carolina, founded in 1789, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, ratified in this Chamber in 1868, an amendment born from the ashes of a divided nation after a Civil War.

``Born or naturalized in the United States'' is what the 14th Amendment tried to ensure that there would be equal protection under the law even for those who had been formerly enslaved.

In interpreting this amendment in the case of affirmative action of which we speak, we are brought face to face with an ominous specter of our past: The infamous decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, a case about a man seven-eighths White, one-eighth African American in Louisiana who had purchased a first-class train ticket who was then removed because of his race.

In that case, the Supreme Court decided that, indeed, separate but equal facilities satisfied the 14th Amendment. That decision left a dark legacy falsely equating enforced segregation with equality. Today, we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation, with the dismantling of affirmative action policies echoing the disheartening tones of separate but equal.

In both instances, our highest court has interpreted the noble cause of equal protection in a way that undermines the pursuit of real, substantive equality. Mr. Speaker, I assert that just as separate but equal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case was a misnomer hiding the reality of discrimination, the recent overturning of affirmative action similarly threatens to cloak and perpetuate the very disparities it sought to challenge. Affirmative action is more than a policy. It is a pledge, a commitment to an ongoing endeavor toward genuine, substantive equality and opportunity for all.

In parallel, another struggle for equality is taking place, not in our courts but in our classrooms. Across our Nation, books are being removed from shelves, banned from curricula, hidden away from young minds eager to explore the world through the written word. This chilling trend is reminiscent of the dark times in our history when we had antiliteracy laws and books were not just banned but also burned.

Consider the data: In the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, 874 unique book titles have been banned, a surge of 28 percent compared to the prior 6 months. These are not mere numbers. These are extinguished perspectives, silenced voices, curtailed visions.

What we face is a dual assault on opportunity and knowledge, an attack on the principles of equality and intellectual freedom that echo some of the most challenging times in our Nation's history. Yet, it is within these echoes that we find our call to action.

We must advocate for the continued need for policies like affirmative action that aim to level the playing field, to fight against the systemic biases that for too long have marginalized certain communities. We must stand against the banning of books, ensuring that the world of ideas remain open, vibrant, and accessible to all, that we resist the impulse to limit our collective intellectual growth.

Mr. Speaker, as we reflect on the interconnectedness of these issues, let us remember the words of our 16th President from the State of Illinois, President Abraham Lincoln: ``The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.'' Let us ensure that philosophy promotes inclusivity, celebrates diversity, fosters critical thinking, and upholds the spirit of equality that is at the heart of our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to address and express my concerns today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick from Florida for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my voice to the chorus of those who are mortified and offended by the recent and misguided Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions.

Today, I stand in unity with the thousands of Black and Brown families I represent in the First Congressional District of Illinois and the millions across this Nation who have personally endured the harsh realities of racism in America and deserve to be respectfully heard on this significant matter.

What the Supreme Court has done flies in the face of what African Americans have been working to achieve in this country for over 250 years.

Black people in America have never asked this country for special treatment, but what we have rightly asked for and demanded is that there be policies put in place that do not intentionally and unrepentantly exclude us from participating in the benefits of the American Dream.

Affirmative action was not a way for Black people to be given special privileges but was rather a very conservative solution to attempt to atone for the legacy of generational bigotry and systemic injustice.

I dare anybody to justify the logic that would compel someone to believe that giving people who have been excluded from the game an opportunity to get on the field is somehow racist or an affront to White people.

If the game were fair, we wouldn't need affirmative action in America. If the rules were transparent, we would not need affirmative action in America. And if the playing field was even, and everybody was judged by their character and merit, we would not need affirmative action in America.

But when has this ever been the case? And it is not the case today. There has never been a time in this Nation when favoritism didn't tip the scales at the expense of other equally deserving individuals.

You see, this formation of the middle class in the United States is not a tale of self-made success alone, but a story profoundly influenced by government policy.

It is a narrative indelibly marked by historical reality: The U.S. Government, through a combination of Federal programs, played a pivotal role in creating an exclusively White middle class.

Beginning with the Homestead Act, followed by the G.I. Bill, and the provisions of the Federal Housing Administration and VA loans, a triad of Federal programs was established. These programs were instrumental in allowing Whites to extricate themselves from poverty and achieve a modicum of the American Dream. It is crucial to understand that middle class White Americans did not solely pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The G.I. Bill emerged as an historic opportunity for wealth creation, unprecedented in world history.

Homeownership, once an elusive dream for many, became a reachable goal. Car financing expanded its reach. Higher education became a feasible ambition for a broader population.

The government acknowledged that empowering people to be self-reliant is not the same as bestowing unearned advantages. These programs systematically excluded African Americans from reaping the legal benefits that they had rightfully earned through their military service and their ancestors' enslavement. Thus, while these programs shaped a burgeoning White middle class, they simultaneously perpetuated an insidious racial wealth gap.

During our previous Memorial Day commemoration, I stood here and recounted the stark reality of how earlier administrations diligently undermined the legal rights of Black veterans. The number of Black individuals granted land or qualifying for the Homestead Act was woefully low, even though their ancestors were promised 40 acres and a mule--a promise explicitly made, endorsed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America, yet a promise unfulfilled.

While Black Americans descended deeper into poverty, the White middle class began to flourish.

Now the Supreme Court would like us to believe that after 50 years of trying to level the playing field, that somehow miraculously and fundamentally our Nation has been transformed. The Supreme Court would like for us to believe that what took 300 years to destroy has now been completely resurrected in 50 years.

Show me a single instance where reconstruction outpaces destruction. To make matters worse, the Supreme Court used the 14th Amendment, an amendment that was designed to ensure equality, to strike down a Federal program that permitted race as an acceptable consideration for admission opportunities.

Does anyone else perceive the irony?

The very amendment utilized to reach this flawed decision was designed to incorporate race as a lasting constitutional consideration at every level of American life.

How can one justify using a law created to safeguard a certain race as the basis for undermining fundamental aspects of their protection?

But what this decision shows us is that conservative members of the Supreme Court are not strict constructionists, as they would like us to believe. What this decision shows us is that the Supreme Court doesn't actually believe in the furtherance of a meritocracy in America. We know this because while the Court eliminated race as a viable consideration, it did not, however, do anything about legacy admissions.

According to Forbes Magazine, approximately 42 percent of the applicants accepted into Harvard University, our Nation's oldest private institution, founded in 1636, were donor-related applicants, while another 34 percent of the admissions were legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues on the other side to explain to me how this qualifies as meritocracy.

Plainly stated, it does not. If you are wealthy, if your family has a legacy of attending a certain school, you will be given favorable attention with respect to the consideration of your application.

What the Supreme Court has told us is that money and nepotism are completely acceptable for choosing who should be educated at the selective enrollment universities.

The Supreme Court would have us believe that racism has ended, and everybody is equal. However, if you are fortunate to come from wealth and your family has a tradition of attending a specific school, you can receive preferential treatment.

This was not a decision based upon precedent. This was not a decision based upon history. Nor was this decision rooted in the current realities of America. Yet, we will not be deterred by this setback. We will not quietly allow the victories of our past to fade into the obscurity of the night or let the spark of our conviction be extinguished.

We refuse to watch helplessly as the new America, the America that Dr. Martin Luther dreamed of and indeed gave his life to birth, becomes threatened.

The scales of justice have tipped in favor of those with privilege for too long. It is high time we redress this imbalance.

Mr. Speaker, I implore my colleagues: Let us rise to the occasion. It is not enough to express outrage; we must challenge it into action. Let us wield the power vested in us by the people to enact legislation that ensures liberty, justice, and equal access to education for all.

This is not an insurmountable task, but a duty we owe to our constituents, and indeed, to the generations to come after us. Let us strive to create an America that truly stands as a beacon of justice and equality, an America that fulfills its promise to all of its citizens, not just a privileged few.

Only then can we truly say that we have honored the legacy of those who fought for equality and justice before us. Only then can we ensure that their struggle was not in vain. Only then can we look into the eyes of our children and promise them a brighter and fairer future. This is about the kind of Nation we want to be and the kind of future we want to leave for those who come after us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as both a representative of the people and a humble servant in the enduring journey toward equality, justice, and civil rights.

Today, I stand in this chamber, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision on overturning affirmative action, a fundamental pillar of our relentless pursuit of racial equity.

Over a century ago, on this very day in 1905, an assembly took place near the precipice of Niagara Falls, Ontario. But it wasn't convened to marvel at the natural wonder of Niagara Falls. Instead, it was driven by the pressing issue of civil rights for all, irrespective of skin color.

This assembly was led by none other than W.E.B. Du Bois and the esteemed journalist William Monroe Trotter. The group of more than 50 African American men gathered on the Canadian side of the falls after a white hotel proprietor refused them lodging. Their meeting birthed the Niagara Movement, the precursor to the enduring organization we know today as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP.

The members of the Niagara Movement developed a Declaration of Principles. This declaration called for ``every single right that belongs to a freeborn American, political, civil and social,'' and they vowed that ``until we get these rights we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America.''

Today, the words in the Declaration of Principles resonate with even more urgency in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision on affirmative action. Three principles outlined in the declaration particularly underline the issue at hand:

First, Economic Opportunity: The Niagara Movement members decried the denial of equal opportunities, particularly in economic life. They understood as we do today, that systemic discrimination in the economic sphere can amount to a form of modern peonage, crushing the aspirations and potentials of minority communities.

Second, Education: The Niagara Movement championed universal and compulsory common school education, and access to high school training for all, and opposed the monopolization of college training by any class or race. They pushed for federal education aid, particularly in the South, and an increase in public high school facilities. They advocated for trade and technical schools for training artisans, emphasizing the necessity of higher education. These principles echo the aims of affirmative action--to level the playing field, ensuring that every American, regardless of race or, class, has access to the same opportunities.

Third, the Courts: The Niagara Movement called for upright judges in courts, the abolition of color-based jury selection, equal punishment, and equal reform efforts for both black and white offenders. Now, we find ourselves in a moment when these principles seem to reverberate with even more urgency, as our Supreme Court appears to have lost its compass with a conservative-leaning and recent scandals of corruption. This decision on affirmative action serves as a sobering reminder of our Nation's ongoing struggle for racial justice and equality, and the urgent need for our institutions to uphold the very principles our Nation was built upon.

Rather than surrender to this setback, we must draw strength from our past and press forward. We must reaffirm our commitment to equality, continue our struggle for justice, and remember that the purpose of affirmative action always has been, and must remain, to mitigate the disadvantages that systemic discrimination imposes on our citizens. The quest for equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their race, is a battle that we must not abandon.

Indeed, our fight is formidable, and the road to equality can often seem daunting. But as we stand here today, honoring our past, we must remember--we are not the first to undertake this mission, and we certainly won't be the last. The struggle for civil rights, equality, and justice, represents our collective pursuit to form a more perfect union.

Let us find fortitude in our history and the legacy of movements and individuals that fought before us. From the courageous voices of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP to pioneers like W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe Trotter, we find our inspiration. Armed with their legacy, let's continue their work, imbued with hope and resilience, to ensure our journey toward justice remains unyielding.

Mr. Speaker, today. I am privileged to rise in this esteemed chamber to speak about a man of incredible faith, resilience, and dedication, the Reverend Dr. Paulson Raj Sangala. Born on March 7, 1973, in the humble village of Bheemaram, Telangana State, India, Dr. Sangala's life is a testament to overcoming adversities and committing oneself to a life of service.

The son of a mason and a school attendant, Dr. Sangala grew up amidst financial challenges after his family lost their wealth due to his grandfather's alcohol addiction. Despite these hardships, his spiritual zeal led him to regular Bible study and prayer. His faith would be tested further when he lost his father at a young age, taking on the family burden as the eldest son. When a mysterious illness left him bedridden, Dr. Sangala found solace in his faith, and it was this faith that carried him through his healing and ultimately led him to his calling.

In 1991, Dr. Sangala began his ministry in a small hut following a vision he received during prayer and fasting. Starting with one woman receiving healing from cancer, the ministry steadily grew, bringing the Gospel and the healing power of Jesus Christ to many. This was the beginning of a remarkable journey that would see Dr. Sangala overcome opposition and adversity to serve his community and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, the culmination of Dr. Sangala's journey is the Christ Jyoti Church, inaugurated recently in a grand ceremony attended by pastors and devotees from all over the world. Built on 11 acres of land and capable of hosting an impressive 40,000 people, the Church, with its vast prayer hall and four towers named Moses, David, Peter, and Dr. Paul, is a testament to Dr. Sangala's vision, faith, and years of dedication.

Beyond the grandeur of the Church, Dr. Sangala's work in his community is truly astounding. His organization runs a Bible College and operates 500 churches in different cities and villages. It has commissioned over a thousand pastors for the ministry, prepared a thousand prayer warriors for continuous offering of prayers, and provides spiritual comfort and guidance to thousands through various prayer services, gospel meetings, and media outreach.

Dr. Sangala's life journey serves as a poignant reminder of the transformative power of faith and service. His story shines brightly as a beacon of hope and a source of inspiration, demonstrating how adversities can be converted into opportunities for serving others. His extraordinary path from a small village in India to the founding of a Church that serves thousands testifies to his unwavering faith, unyielding dedication, and his steadfast commitment to his divine calling.

As we stand here in this chamber, dedicated to service and leadership, let the story of Dr. Sangala remind us of the profound impact that unwavering faith, resilience, and dedication to service can have on our communities.

Mr. Speaker, may we carry his spirit of service, resilience, and dedication in our hearts as we continue to serve our constituents and our great Nation.