Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise as a fellow Texan to offer my deepest sympathy to my fellow congressional colleagues in the Austin area, to the local officials, and to all of those who suffered the brutality of the mass shooting in the last couple of days--14--and my deepest sympathy to the family of the deceased loved one, who mourns today.

Out of respect for his family, I will just simply say we mourn him, and we are saddened by his loss.

Madam Speaker, in Texas, the Governor just signed a permitless gun bill. All statistics suggest that this provides for a shopping spree of guns.

It is important for three things to happen for our Nation to raise its voices against gun violence and to begin to pass sensible gun safety laws, including my legislation for gun storage, universal background checks, closing the Charleston loophole, to prevent ghost guns, and banning assault weapons.

At the same time, we must raise up the specter of mental health services. But most of all, as I chair the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, we must raise our voice against violence and actually deal with it and try to cease it. I believe America must do this.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise this evening for the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour that deals with, of course, Juneteenth, a very special time that I am delighted--with the leadership of our chair, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty; and, of course, my coanchor, Congressman Torres of New York--that we stand here to provide this kind of leadership for this Congress and for this Nation.

Let me extend my heartfelt appreciation for all of the leadership that have given us this time, including Speaker Pelosi and, of course, Leader Hoyer, and to acknowledge the significance to African Americans as it relates to Juneteenth.

Coming from Texas, let me tell you that Juneteenth, a couple days from today, will be an amazing commemoration. We will be unveiling a mural in Galveston, where General Granger first came. I believe thousands will come. And if there will not be thousands, let you hear my voice: Thousands should come because what a historic moment.

What does Juneteenth mean?

It means an acknowledgment of those who were in bondage for over 200 years. The Emancipation Proclamation--which, by the way, for the 150th commemoration, because we had not finished our congressional work, I was actually here at midnight--which is when President Abraham Lincoln signed it at the National Archives. Looking at the original Emancipation Proclamation, what a sense of emotion.

But then to let you know that that did not free all of the slaves. Two years in bondage continued for those west of the Mississippi and many States until General Granger reached the shores of Galveston, still marked today in Texas, that said that you were free.

Can you imagine? Two extra years of bondage. Couldn't get out. Couldn't read a newspaper or hold up a message that had come from your relative that lived in Georgia. Couldn't do anything.

General Granger read these words of General Order Number 3, set off a joyous celebration of the freed men and women of Texas. I have no shame that it was called Jubilee. And there were a lot of picnics and what we called in the later years ``red punch.''

Don't diminish our celebration. Don't diminish that joy in the midst of sorrow.

How many died who could not see freedom?

Here are the words: ``The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with the Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.''

Now, the word was said that they were offered, the slaves: Don't worry about it, just stay on the plantations, and we will pay you.

I am grateful, but those courageous, but impoverished, without insight, without resources, without compensation, without recognition, they said in their own power: We are leaving the plantations.

And they migrated up this road called Emancipation Trail.

I am gratified that I was able to introduce such legislation where my Senate colleague, Senator Cornyn, joined me and now an Emancipation Trail has been established as law. It is now under study. It will be only the second commemoration of African-American history in this Nation. The Selma to Montgomery is the first, and now the Emancipation Trail that says: No, I was not going stay on the plantation; however, I was going to survive; whatever I had to place together, I was going to do it.

Then, of course, lo and behold, they found themselves--eight of them, freed slaves, put their money together and purchased the first park bought in the State of Texas by freed slaves or anyone. They called it Emancipation Park.

So that is why we are here to celebrate and to educate this idea of what it means to celebrate Juneteenth. I am delighted that we have introduced a resolution that is bipartisan. But the most exciting part about this is that I have introduced a bill that establishes Juneteenth as a national Federal holiday. Not removing any other holiday, but adding it to the list. Cosponsored by Senator Markey and Senator Cornyn, and bipartisan. Over 160 cosponsors in the House.

I think it is worthy to have a holiday--a Federal holiday established, and I am very proud to have been the Congressperson for Representative Al Edwards, who is called the father of Juneteenth, establishing the first paid State holiday in the State of Texas highlighting, honoring, revering Juneteenth.

You will hear many of us continue our discussions about Juneteenth, its significance in terms of freedom. And I am delighted, as I said, to be coanchoring with my colleague. It is important to express our appreciation to our chair, the Honorable Barbara Lee, a Californian but born in Texas with a grandfather born in Galveston. She knows what Juneteenth, the significance, the power of it is, and her legislative legacy speaks to freedom.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the Honorable Barbara Lee.

She would have been part of it at a later time, but that trail, since we know for sure there were no other ways of moving, she had to walk along that semi-developed trail of little cities from Galveston--walk along, drive along, in whatever capacity, and when I say ``drive along,'' horse and buggy and otherwise.

That was a trail that the freed slaves, the ex-slaves, went from Galveston all the way. There was the Reedy A.M.E., if I am correct, one of the historic A.M.E. churches where they stopped for refuge. Then they came on up, and they sought their way to freedom. They were not going to stay on the plantation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back to the gentlewoman.

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to be able to have a Californian with deep roots in Texas on the floor because what this says to our body is that this issue of slavery permeated all aspects of this Nation. We can see that from the work, the commitment, and the compassion of the Honorable Barbara Lee, followed by, of course, a native daughter of Wisconsin who saw it in a different form and is compelled to be on the floor today and who has championed for the impoverished as well and particularly championed for those who are experiencing modern-day impacts of slavery through inequities, through poverty, through welfare, and that has been treated unfairly. That is the Honorable Gwen Moore from Wisconsin.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Madam Speaker, what a rich and enriching discussion. Thank you to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin. That is why we gathered here, to say to America, we come from the Midwest, the South, the East, and we still find a common bond around the question of Juneteenth, reparations, and of course, voting rights that are so important.

But as I yield, let me be very clear, these are American values. These are values that my friends on the other side of the aisle could adopt, just like I could adopt.

Why? Because I don't know anyone that would extinguish freedom and deny that where there is bondage and where freedom comes, we should celebrate it, but we should tell the story about it, and we should respond to it.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Demings), who has a number of historical monuments in Florida that indicates her knowledge and understanding of freedom.

Madam Speaker, I can't imagine with the recounting of the story by Val Demings that we are not securing, how should I say it, multiple numbers of Members to join in the holiday pronouncement and resolution, and bill, rather, of Juneteenth, to support H.R. 40, and to recognize the value of commemorating and teaching about the history of African Americans.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), a person who has great knowledge and is a great storyteller, a fighter for justice, and a fellow member of the Judiciary Committee.

Madam Speaker, as I get ready to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Las Vegas, Nevada, I want to make sure he lets me know my pronunciation is correct, it is a very sensitive question.

But as the gentleman from Georgia leaves, let me at least acknowledge that critical race theory. Here is the question I ask: Should I not know about Italians and how they came and were treated? Should I not know about the Irish who left in the midst of the potato famine and faced discrimination? Should I not know about Native Americans?

So we are the American experiment. Does everybody realize that? No one thought that we would ever survive, and we have come together with a multitude of groups. Our strength is in the recognition of our differences, and in our unity.

This came out of Texas. This Representative is all over. He misinterprets the teaching by teachers. He has never sat in the class to know that teachers are not condemning, they are just educating. Isn't it wonderful in little babies' minds to not put condemnation but to put understanding so that we can appreciate each other's condition?

Madam Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus but sits on the Ways and Means Committee. And if he will allow me, I just want to make this point.

You are seeing Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I can tell you our agenda is as wide and varied as America, from taxation to agriculture to tech to criminal justice to the issues that American is facing, job creation.

But we also understand that we would be remiss if we did not stand on the floor to be able to give our own life experiences and to share with America what the value of our diversity is all about.

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

May I ask the Speaker the time remaining, please.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to a gentleman with a storied and layered history entrenched in one of the States that suffered the extension of slavery and faces its challenges today, of which this gentleman has been in the mix and in the gap of fighting for justice. We are excited about his presence here. I am so honored and privileged that he has chosen, with all of the work he has to do because he was elected in a special election, this moment in history to present his first speech on the floor of the House.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the State of Louisiana (Mr. Carter).

Madam Speaker, let me congratulate the gentleman for the new law in Louisiana and for his leadership and his powerful message on this floor on the freedom, really, of all people. My freedom is your freedom, your freedom is my freedom, and our freedom is America's freedom.

Let me express my appreciation to my co-anchor, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres). I thank him for his leadership. Let me be very clear that both his history and his State as well have a vested history in liberty and freedom, but, yes, no place did escape the vestiges of slavery.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres).

Madam Speaker, I say to the gentleman from New York, it is an esteemed pleasure to be able to draw upon both his knowledge and scholarship--might I stand on his shoulders--an activist Federal Government.

For some reason, as we face these trials and tribulations of 2021, there is a hesitancy to realize that the Federal Government is, in simplistic terms, an umbrella on a rainy day. It is, in fact, the concrete barrier in the time of a storm. And that is why we are on the floor today.

Let me acknowledge that an activist Federal Government, in the positive way, would be the government that would say that Italian history and Irish history, Latinx, Hispanic history, and Caribbean history, and African history, and the Pilgrim Pride history, and European history, and Asian-Pacific history, and Southeast Asian- Pacific, and any others that I have left out, is valuable to be heard by our children's ears. It is valuable to be taught.

Then they would be able to understand the gentleman's entreat, his request, which is H.R. 1320, which is bipartisan, that declares Juneteenth a national Federal holiday.

And to the wrong representation of right-wing radio, it doesn't substitute any holiday. It adds it to the list of Federal holidays. It does not subtract any holiday; does not take any holiday away. Yet it acknowledges the importance of that day and, as well, it is led by Senators Markey and Cornyn, a Republican and Democrat in the United States Senate, and it is a bipartisan bill in the House.

Is there any reason not to move this bill along as quickly as possible?

And if there is a basis for not understanding what freedom meant, look at this slave that was symbolic of the life that slave led; but that is the light of being beat.

What about those who were beaten to death or burned to death?

It is no shame for our children to be taught this history. I know no teacher who would stand in the classroom and condemn children. I know teachers who are loving, and will give understanding, and let a child come out and say, I want a better America.

Isn't that the kind of soldier and doctor and lawyer and teacher we want to build up? Isn't that the kind of citizen we want to grow?

And then, if we want to make it realistic and home for our moment, as my colleagues have said, we spent 4 days in Tulsa, Greenwood, that was burned to the ground; 300 in an unmarked grave. This is what 1921 looked like; not 1865, not 1810, not 1799, not 1724, when slavery was raging, if you will, 250 years. This is what it looked like in 1921; a black body burned on the streets of Greenwood.

So when we talk about jubilee and freedom, we do it in a way that we can, as Americans, be free. And then I want to say that matches the Emancipation Trail that is now law in the State of Texas, that march from victory, when General Granger said you are free. It matches H.R. 40, which is a non-offensive repair and reconciliation that speaks to the language that Justice Hughes said about Black Americans, the discrete and insular minority excluded from those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect them. All throughout tenure here there were denials of our freedom.

And then, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about an insufficient check; not of money, but he talked about that we have never been given justice and equality.

So when we speak of the Emancipation Trail, only the second commemoration of the history of African Americans 250 years in bondage, when we speak of Juneteenth, it is for all to celebrate, when General Granger landed on the shores of Galveston.

We will be in Galveston celebrating. We will see Naomi Carrier. We will see Eileen Lawal and Jackie Bostic, Ramon Manning and, of course, the Emancipation Conservatory. We will get to see Opal Lee, almost 100 years old, fighting for this holiday, or Al Edwards. We will get to see Senator Cornyn, a Republican who joins us in this commemoration, and all others. We will get to see the Nation be able to understand in its finality that it must be clear, it must be our birthright.

It is a reminder, this day, on Juneteenth, that liberty and freedom are precious birthrights of all Americans, which must be jealously guarded and preserved for future generations.

That is why we are on the floor today. We are not in anger. We are not in anguish. We are here, in fact, for liberation, freedom, and the empowerment of all Americans.

Let stories be told, no matter who you are. And let the story be told of those uniquely held in bondage, through H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals, which we seek to put on the floor in this great month. And, of course, the national holiday of Juneteenth, along with the historic gift that we give to America, the Emancipation Trail, that all the world will be able to come.

Madam Speaker, I am delighted to thank my chair, the Honorable Joyce Beatty, for her leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus. And because

of freedom, it is a wonderment to stand here, free, with my colleague from New York, my co-chair, the Honorable Congressman Torres, and all others.

Isn't it precious?

In God we trust that we stand here in freedom. Let us not ever lose it, and let us fight for it and let us keep it.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to anchor the Congressional Black Caucus's Special Order tonight on Juneteenth Independence Day.

I am pleased to be joined by Congresswoman Beatty, the Chair of the CBC; Congressman Torres of New York, the co-anchor for this Special Order, and so many of our CBC colleagues to commemorate a historically significant day for all Americans, but especially African Americans.

Let me extend on behalf of the CBC its heartfelt thanks to the House leadership, particularly Majority Leader Hoyer, for their support which paved the way for the House last year to pass by unanimous consent H. Res. 1001, the resolution I introduced recognizing Juneteenth Independence Day.

Madam Speaker, Juneteenth is as significant to African Americans as July 4 is to all Americans because on that day, June 19, 155 years ago, General Gordon Granger, the Commanding Officer of the District of Texas, rode into Galveston, Texas and announced the freedom of the last American slaves; belatedly freeing 250,000 slaves in Texas nearly two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

When General Granger read these words of General Order No. 3 set off joyous celebrations of the freedmen and woman of Texas:

``The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.''

Juneteenth was first celebrated in the Texas state capital in 1867 under the direction of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Juneteenth remains the oldest known celebration of slavery's demise, commemorating freedom while acknowledging the sacrifices and contributions made by courageous African Americans towards making our great nation the more conscious and accepting country that it has become.

As the nation prepares to celebrate July 4th, our national day of independence, it is a time to reflect on the accomplishments of our nation and its people.

I want to thank the Members of the House for their bipartisan support of this annual Juneteenth Resolution, which has 214 cosponsors, of which 202 are original sponsors.

General Granger's reading of General Order No. 3 ended chattel slavery, a form of perpetual servitude that held generations of Africans in bondage in the United States for two-hundred and fortyeight years and opened a new chapter in American history.

Recognizing the importance of this date, former slaves coined the word ``Juneteenth'' to mark the occasion with a celebration the first of which occurred in the Texas state capital in 1867 under the direction of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Juneteenth was and is a living symbol of freedom for people who did not have it.

Juneteenth remains the oldest known celebration of slavery's demise.

It commemorates freedom while acknowledging the sacrifices and contributions made by courageous African Americans towards making our great nation the more conscious and accepting country that it has become.

The celebration of Juneteenth followed the most devastating conflict in our country's history, in the aftermath of a civil war that pitted brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor and threatened to tear the fabric of our union apart forever that America truly became the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ``Freedom is never free,'' and African American labor leader A. Phillip Randolph often said ``Freedom is never given. It is won.''

Truer words were never spoken.

We should all recognize the power and the ironic truth of those statements, and we should pause to remember the enormous price paid by all Americans in our country's quest to realize its promise.

Juneteenth honors the end of the 400 years of suffering African Americans endured under slavery and celebrates the legacy of perseverance that has become the hallmark of the African American experience in the struggle for equality.

But Madam Speaker, as the poet Langston Hughes reminds us in his famous poem, ''Mother to Son,'' life in America for African Americans ``ain't been no crystal stair.''

The post-bellum period in America was marked by violence and terrorism against African Americans as they sought to make real the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Nowhere was the reign of terror to which they were subjected to more horrific than the 1921 Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre, which occurred a century ago this past May 31-June 1.

Tulsa's Greenwood District, was known as ``Black Wall Street,'' and was the most prosperous African American community in the United States.

The Greenwood community with a population of over 10,000 Black people had stores that sold luxury items, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, a savings and loan bank, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing stores, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, a bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school system, six private airplanes, and two black newspapers.

But on May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of Greenwood went up in flames, at least 300 Black persons were murdered and more than 800 were injured; it is estimated that not less than 9,000 were left homeless and destitute.

The message of the Tulsa Race Massacre was clear to Black America: ``Stay in your place. Do not attempt to accumulate and bequeath wealth or own property. Remember your history in America is as chattel property.''

Madam Speaker, were they still alive, the domestic terrorists of the mob in Greenwood would see their evil reenacted--and then followed by a similar attempt to cover-up it and foster collective amnesia--a century later in the siege and desecration of the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, the 'Citadel of Democracy'.

It should not be overlooked that the source of the January 6 white mob's irrational anger, hatred, and violent reaction was that Black Americans voted in overwhelming numbers in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and other enclaves to oust the most proWhite supremacy President since the Civil War.

Some might ask ``Why dwell on the past? Let us forget unpleasant things and move on into the future.''

My answer is to quote the great southern writer William Faulkner: ``The past is never dead. It is not even the past.''

The hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white supremacy that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a century ago are not dead; they are not even past.

So my message to the descendants of the survivors and victims of slavery, America's Original Sin, is to keep fighting for justice, to never be silent, to affirm the truth, and seek accountability.

In his famous Second Inaugural Address, President Lincoln spoke of the profound moral debt owed for ``all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil,'' and that the Civil War was the judgment of the Lord, which was ``true and righteous altogether.''

That debt remains to be paid, which is why African Americans have always peacefully petitioned the government for the redress of its grievances.

As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said at the 1963 March on Washington:

``In a sense, we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

``This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

``It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked `insufficient funds.' But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check--a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.''

Madam Speaker, H.R. 40, legislation I have introduced, continues this proud legacy of demanding reparative justice and accountability for injuries inflicted.

H.R. 40, which establishes a national commission to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.

Among other requirements, the commission shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery; (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants; and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.

The goal of the historical investigations H.R. 40 mandates is to bring American society to a new reckoning with how our past affects the

current conditions of African Americans and to make America a better place by helping the truly disadvantaged.

Consequently, the reparations movement does not focus on payments to individuals, but to remedies that can be created in as many forms necessary to equitably address the many kinds of injuries sustained from chattel slavery and its continuing vestiges.

To merely focus on finance is an empty gesture and betrays a lack of understanding of the depth of the unaddressed moral issues that continue to haunt this nation.

While it might be convenient to assume that we can address the current divisive racial and political climate in our nation through race neutral means, experience shows that we have not escaped our history.

Though the Civil Rights Movement challenged many of the most racist practices and structures that subjugated the African American community, it was not followed by a commitment to truth and reconciliation.

For that reason, the legacy of racial inequality has persisted, and left the nation vulnerable to a range of problems that continue to yield division, racial disparities, and injustice.

By passing H.R. 40, Congress can start a movement toward the national reckoning we need to bridge racial divides.

Reparations are ultimately about respect and reconciliation--and the hope that one day, all Americans can walk together toward a more just future.

Official slavery ended with the Civil War and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.

But unofficial slavery was continued with the new institution of share-crop farming, a criminal justice system that would press convicts into work once done by slaves, and labor policies that dictated income for work done based upon skin color.

And, of course, all of this was reinforced by the systematic disenfranchisement of black Americans, the ``discrete and insular minority'' excluded from ``those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect'' them, to quote Chief Justice Hughes' famous Footnote 4 in United States v. Carolene Products Company, 304 U.S. 144 (1938).

These are just some of the many reasons that the history of the United States is intertwined with the history of enslaved Africans in the Americas.

``There is blood and there are tears, but there is also redemption and reconciliation.

But to get there, we must have the complete truth and lay our history bare. It is the light that sheds the way to the more perfect union all Americans want.

``The Commission created and empowered by H.R. 40 is a necessary first step in that effort to get to truth and reconciliation about the 'Original Sin of American Slavery' that is necessary to light the way to the beloved community we all seek.''

So, Madam Speaker, this is where we are.

In recent years, a number of National Juneteenth Organizations have arisen to take their place alongside older organizations--all with the mission to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture.

Juneteenth celebrates African American freedom while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures .

But it must always remain a reminder to us all that liberty and freedom are precious birthrights of all Americans, which must be jealously guarded and preserved for future generations.

Press Statement

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Introduces H.R. 1320 the Bipartisan Juneteenth National Independence Day Act--Currently Has 159 Sponsors in

the House

As the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee

on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, I am committed to

affording members of this committee to uncover the facts and

shine light into darkness to reveal the threats posed by `The

Rise of Domestic Terrorism in America.' On January 6, 2021,

the nation and the world witnessed the damage caused by

divisions acerbated by lies and hate.''

Washington, DC--``Today I re-introduced in the House of

Representatives the bipartisan Juneteenth National

Independence Day Act, H.R. 1320, with 102 co-sponsors. The

House re-introduction coincides with the reintroduction of a

Senate companion bill by Senators Markey, Smith, and Booker.

Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, legislation when

enacted would make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

``Juneteenth,'' is observed on June 19, and commemorates the

end of slavery in the United States and is also known as

``Emancipation Day,'' ``Jubilee Day,'' and ``Juneteenth

Independence Day.''

``On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, Major General

Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, which announced

that, in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, ``all

slaves are free. Juneteenth is currently recognized by 47

states and the District of Columbia as an official state

holiday or observance. In 1980, Texas was the first state to

recognize Juneteenth as a paid state holiday.''

``Juneteenth honors the end of the years of suffering that

African Americans endured under slavery and celebrates the

legacy of perseverance that has become the hallmark of the

African American experience in the struggle for equality.

These values are shared by millions of Americans who over

generations have held fast to the promise of this nation

while struggling fore basic human rights.''

``Juneteenth celebrates African American freedom while

encouraging selfdevelopment and respect for all cultures. But

it must always remain a reminder to us all that liberty and

freedom are the precious birthright of all Americans which

must be jealously guarded and preserved for future

generations. As it takes on a more national and even global

perspective, the events of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten,

for all our roots tie back to this fertile soil from which a

national day of pride is growing. This is why we must

establish the Juneteenth Independence Day, as a national

holiday. And today we also pay special tribute to Opal Lee,

the Grandmother of Juneteenth!''

Madam Speaker, tomorrow, June 6, marks the 77th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied Forces' audacious amphibious landing at Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

This joint undertaking to liberate the continent of Europe from the clutches of an evil aggressor enemy was the first and most emphatic demonstration of the invincible strength of democratic nations when acting collectively.

For more than 70 years, peace in Europe has been secured and no adversary, not the old Soviet Union or the contemporary Russian Federation, has dared to risk war by attacking a European ally of the United States because every American president has made clear that the United States is committed to Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty which holds that an attack on any NATO member is regarded as an attack on all of them.

Madam Speaker, Operation Overlord, as D-Day was formally known, was the largest single amphibious assault in the history of warfare.

The success of D-Day, which was far from certain at the outset, led to the liberation of Western Europe, signaled the death knell of the German Wehrmacht, and paved the way to unconditional victory by the Allied Forces over the evils of Nazism, fascism, and Japanese imperialism.

It is no exaggeration to say that D-Day changed the course of human history.

The aim of the meticulously planned D-Day operation was to open a second front in the European war theater from which the Allied Forces could attack the German army and push east to capture Berlin.

With the Russian Army advancing from the east, coupled with the southern front opened by the Allied invasion of Italy from North Africa in 1942, the opening of a western front would set in motion the pincer movement that would catch the German Army in a trap from which there would be no escape.

The formidable German Army expected that the Allied Forces would try to launch an invasion from the western beaches of France.

They just did not know when or where.

So, in anticipation of an Allied invasion, the Nazis constructed the infamous Atlantic Wall, an extensive system of coastal fortifications built along the western coast of Europe and Scandinavia.

Under the direction of Field Marshal Rommel, the Atlantic Wall was reinforced by the addition of concrete pillboxes built along the beaches to house machine guns, antitank guns and light artillery.

Mines and antitank obstacles were planted on the beaches themselves and underwater obstacles and mines were placed in waters just offshore.

By the time of the D-Day landing, the Nazis had laid almost six million mines in northern France.

And awaiting Allied soldiers who made their way onto and away from the beaches were gun emplacements and minefields extended inland.

``War is hell,'' said General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War.

And that is an apt description of what awaited the brave Allied warriors who set sail from England to the beaches of Normandy in the early morning of June 6, 1944, at the beginning of what has rightly been called ``The Longest Day.''

But they were buoyed in their resolve by the millions of prayers from Americans and others back home, of all races, religions, and creeds, invoking the Lord's blessing, mercy, and grace.

With the outcome in doubt, President Franklin Roosevelt asked the nation to join him in this solemn prayer:

``Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have

set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our

Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to

set free a suffering humanity.

``Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms,

stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their

faith.

``They will need Thy blessings.

``For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace.

``They fight not for the lust of conquest.

``They fight to end conquest.

``They fight to liberate.

``They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill

among all Thy people.

``They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to

the haven of home.''

The prayers were needed because the cost of D-Day was high; U.S. casualties on D-Day totaled more than 2,499 dead, 3,184 wounded, 1,928 missing, and 26 captured.

Our British and Canadian allies suffered terrible losses on D-Day as well: approximately 2,700 for the British and 946 for the Canadians.

German casualties are estimated at 4,000 to 9,000.

In total, the number of combatants killed, wounded or missing in the Battle of Normandy for both sides exceeded 425,000, not including the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 French civilians killed.

But the operation was a success.

More than 156,000 troops or paratroopers came ashore on D-Day, 73,000 from the U.S., 83,000 from Great Britain and Canada.

By the end of June 11, D-Day plus 5, 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had come ashore.

And with them came the seeds for the victory in Europe that would come less than a year later, on May 8, 1945, with the fall of Berlin and the unconditional surrender of the Nazis.

On the eve of the Normandy invasion, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, addressed the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and said to them that they were about to embark upon a ``Great Crusade,'' and that the ``eyes of the world'' were upon them.

He told them that their task would not be easy because the ``enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.''

But General Eisenhower said, ``this is the year 1944. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.''

And march to victory they did, fully justifying General Eisenhower's ``confidence in their courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.''

Because of the heroism of these men who willingly risked their lives to be the tip of the spear of liberty, the war was won, and a world was saved for freedom.

Madam Speaker, D-Day was, and remains, a day like no other in the history of man's sojourn on earth.

We remember Gettysburg.

There, President Lincoln paid tribute to those ``who gave their lives so that the nation might live.''

It is equally fitting and proper that we never forget D-Day and that we continue to honor those who risked all and gave all so that the light of freedom would never be extinguished in the world.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Reba Warren, a phenomenal woman, and a soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., on her retirement after a long and distinguished career as a senior Corporate Counsel for a Fortune 500 company.

After graduating from Howard University in 1981, Reba Warren was admitted to Duke Law School, from which she graduated in 1984.

As a corporate counsel for Reynolds, Reba Warren helped pave the way for African-American women to follow in a professional sector, in which they are woefully underrepresented.

This daughter of AKA took to heart the guidance that her fellow Howard alum, Vice-President Kamala Harris, received from her mother: ``You may be the first you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last.''

For more than two decades, Reba Warren exhibited excellence in her professional duties and also mentored and encourage women, especially women of color, as they strove to create career paths in male-dominated environments.

A civic-minded community member, Reba Warren has served on several non-profit boards, is active in her church, and

Reba Warren currently serves as a member of the Second Harvest Food Bank to end food insecurity for Forsyth County, which is but the latest civic engagement in a lifetime of service to her community, which includes Big Brothers Big Sisters, Neighborhood Justice Center Board, Salvation Army Girls Club Committee, Crosby Scholars Community Partnership Board, Novant Health/Forsyth Medical Center Foundation Board, Jack & Jill of America, Winston Salem Chapter, Winston Salem Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, Girl Scouts of America, and the North Association of Black Lawyers.

Madam Speaker, I wish this phenomenal woman and mother of three sons well in her retirement, but I know that her ethic to serve her community will continue as we will all be better off for it.

Madam Speaker, I rise in sadness and heartbreak in remembrance of the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre, that occurred in the African American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31-June 1, 1921 and is perhaps the preeminent example in this nation's history of man's inhumanity to man.

I was honored to be in Tulsa this past week and take part in the Black Wall Street Legacy Fest,'' held to remember the souls lost in Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre and to mark the centennial of those days of horror and evil.

I was doubly honored to be asked, as the author and sponsor of H. Res. 398, to give the keynote address at the Black Wall Street Legacy Fest Luncheon honoring the victims and remaining survivors of this American Kristallnacht.

I include in the Record the text of my speech on that occasion.

Madam Speaker, not a single member of the invading, riotous, and murderous white mob that destroyed Greenwood in 1921 was ever sent to prison for any of the murders or arson committed against the Black residents.

Adding insult to this injustice, the 1921 Tulsa grand jury indicted 85 people, the majority of whom were African Americans, with massacre- related offenses.

Why? Because in the eyes of the grand jury, a group of armed Black residents standing up for equal rights understandably provoked the White crowd, and therefore, the entire Black community in Greenwood essentially deserved what happened.

But we know that no lie can live forever and, as the poet William Cullen Bryant prophesied, ``truth crushed to earth will rise again.''

That is why we came to Tulsa.

We came to tell the world that we know what really happened, and that we will always remember, and never stop pursuing justice for the victims and survivors of the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre and their descendants.

Whatever it takes and for how long it takes.

Some might ask'' ``Why dwell on the past? Let us forget unpleasant things and move on into the future.''

My answer is to quote the great southern writer William Faulkner: ``The past is never dead. It is not even the past.''

The hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white supremacy that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a century ago are not dead; they are not even past.

We wanted to remind the nation that in 1921, Tulsa's Greenwood I District, known as ``Black Wall Street,'' was one of the most documented prosperous African American communities in the United States.

The Greenwood community with a population of over 100,000 Black people had stores that sold luxury items, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, a savings and loan bank, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing stores, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, a bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school system, six private airplanes, and two black newspapers.

But on May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of Greenwood went up in flames, at least 300 Black persons were murdered and more than 800 were injured; it is estimated that not less than 9,000 were left homeless and destitute.

The message of the Tulsa Race Massacre was clear to Black America: ``Stay in your place. Do not attempt to accumulate and bequeath wealth or own property. Remember your history in America is as chattel property.''

Were they still alive, the domestic terrorists of the mob in I Greenwood would see their evil reenacted--and then followed by a similar attempt to cover-up it and foster collective amnesia--a century later in the siege and desecration of the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, the `Citadel of Democracy'.

It should not be overlooked that the source of the January 6 white mob's irrational anger, hatred, and violent reaction was that Black

Americans voted in overwhelming numbers in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and other enclaves to oust the most pro-White supremacy President since the Civil War.

So my message to the descendants of the survivors and victims of the Greenwood Race Massacre is to keep fighting for justice, to never be silent, to affirm the truth, and seek accountability.

To accentuate this point, I shared the story of how we were able to pass H.R. 398, the House resolution recognizing the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre when no one thought it possible because it appeared to violate a long-standing rule of the House prohibiting consideration of legislation ``commemorating'' dates, events, persons, and places.

How did we get it done? By not taking no for an answer. By marshalling our allies and demonstrating our commitment and resolve.

And by developing an alternative that was, if anything, more effective but not subject to a challenge that it violated the anticommemorative prohibition.

And in the end, we won as opponents capitulated and acquiesced to the adoption of the resolution, which now stands for all time as a rebuke and condemnation of the utter moral depravity inflicted on the Black residents of Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This would not have happened without the steely determination of two special members of my personal staff: Lillie Coney, my Director of Policy, and Gregory Berry, my Chief Counsel.

They were guided by the advice of the great Harriet Tubman, a black woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad:

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

I thank all of the Members, 99 in total, who joined me as sponsors of H. Res. 398 and the House leadership for their cooperation and assistance in ensuring that the condemnation of the 1921 Tulsa Greenwood Race Massacre is forever recorded in the annals of this body, and for their help in the work that lies ahead to bring justice to the survivors and to overcome and dismantle all remaining badges and vestiges of slavery, America's Original Sin.

Madam Speaker, I also ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and their descendants who carry the terrible memories of that horrific day and still grieve over the loss of so many loved ones and of faith in the American system of justice.

Honoring Descendants and Survivors of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Thank you for that generous introduction and to your team

for putting together this important and impressive event.

As was just said, I am Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee

representing the 18th Congressional District of Texas,

hailing from the great city of Houston.

I am also a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus

and the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the

Constitution, Civil Rights and Liberties, and the Chair of

the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Homeland Security, and

Terrorism.

So from these perches, I can tell you that there was no

way, no how, that I was going to let centennial of the one of

the greatest injustices in human history, the 1921 Tulsa Race

Massacre, be ignored or go unrecognized.

And neither was the Congressional Black Caucus.

And we were not going to let the Congress turn a deaf ear

to the cries of justice--and just compensation--to the

victims and survivors of perhaps the worst example in

American history of man's inhumanity to man.

Not a single member of the invading, riotous, and murderous

white I mob was ever sent to prison for any of the murders or

arson committed against the Black residents of Greenwood on

May 31 and June 1, 1921.

Adding insult to this injustice, the 1921 Tulsa grand jury

indicted 85 people, the majority of whom were African

Americans, with massacre-related offenses.

Why? Because in the eyes of the grand jury, a group of

armed Black residents standing up for equal rights

understandably provoked the White crowd, and therefore, the

entire Black community in Greenwood essentially deserved what

happened.

But we know that no lie can live forever and, as the poet

William Cullen Bryant prophesied, ``truth crushed to earth

will rise again.''

That is why we are here.

We are here to tell the world that we know what really

happened, and that we will always remember, and never stop

pursuing justice for the victims and survivors of the Tulsa-

Greenwood Race Massacre and their descendants.

Whatever it takes and for how long it takes.

Some might ask ``Why dwell on the past? Let us forget

unpleasant things and move on into the future.''

My answer is to quote the great southern writer William

Faulkner: ``The past is never dead. It is not even the

past.''

The hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white supremacy

that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a

century ago are not dead; they are not even past.

A century ago, White rioters, local law enforcement, and

self-appointed vigilantes claimed to be acting reasonably and

in self-defense against what they feared was an upcoming

Black uprising.

They resented the economic prosperity and self-sufficiency

of the Greenwood community, which was known nationally as

``Black Wall Street.''

They viewed Black males as fearsome physical threats to

their personal safety and as rivals to white women.

These baseless, irrational concerns are not a relic of the

past, they are with us today and are what resulted in the

deaths of George Floyd, Terence Crutcher, Tamir Rice, Deonte

Wright, Stephon Clark, Amidou Diallo, and hundreds of others

too numerous to list.

Were they still alive, the domestic terrorists of the mob

in Greenwood would see their evil reenacted a century later

in the siege and desecration of the hallowed halls of the

U.S. Capitol, the `Citadel of Democracy'.

It should not be overlooked that the source of the January

6 white mob's irrational anger, hatred, and violent reaction

was that Black Americans voted in overwhelming numbers in the

Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit to oust the

most negative, divisive, racially hostile, and incompetent

President in history, the 45th President, who presided over

the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans, disproportionately

Black and Brown.

So we will not be silent, we will not be still, we will not

ever forget what happened to the peaceful, law-abiding, and

America-loving Black residents of Greenwood a century ago.

That is why earlier this year I introduced a resolution--

some of you may have heard of it (H. Res. 215 later modified

as H. Res. 398)--joined by 86 cosponsors, recognizing the

centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

We wanted to remind the nation that in 1921, Tulsa's

Greenwood District, known as ``Black Wall Street,'' was one

of the most documented prosperous African American

communities in the United States.

The Greenwood community with a population of over 100,000

Black people had stores that sold luxury items, 21

restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, a savings and

loan bank, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing

stores, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, a bus and

cab service, a nationally recognized school system, six

private airplanes, and two black newspapers.

But on May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of

Greenwood went up in flames, at least 300 Black persons were

murdered and more than 800 were injured; it is estimated that

not less than 9,000 were left homeless and destitute.

The legacy of white mob violence inflicted upon the Black

community of Greenwood has scarred the descendants of the

victims of this American pogrom.

H.R. 398 is a reminder to the nation of the ultimate

cruelty inflicted upon a people for dare believing that the

promise of America was attainable by them and their

achievements would be respected and protected by law.

But it does more than that, it puts the House of

Representatives on record that the only way the United States

can achieve a more perfect union is:

1. by condemning the violence and destruction perpetrated

against the African-American community of Greenwood, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma, the scene of the then-largest single

instance of domestic terror against American citizens;

2. through the rejection and active opposition to the false

ideology of White supremacy and condemnation of all groups

and organizations that ascribe to this false system of belief

and seek to perpetuate their views through violence and

unlawful conduct;

3. by promoting tolerance and unity and taking actions to

ensure that governmental policies and actions do not foster

division, disharmony, or intolerance;

4. by calling upon all Americans to celebrate the ethnic,

racial, and religious diversity that has made the United

States the leader of the community of nations and the beacon

of hope and inspiration to oppressed persons everywhere;

5. encouraging all persons in the United States to reflect

upon the history of the United States as an imperfect but

committed journey to establish a more perfect union and to

cherish and exercise the rights, privileges, and

responsibilities guaranteed by the Constitution; and

6. recognizing the commitment of Congress to acknowledge

and learn from the history of racism and racial violence in

the United States, including the Tulsa Race Massacre, to

reverse the legacy of White supremacy and fight for racial

justice.

But we must also ensure that the survivors and their

descendants finally receive the direct financial compensation

to redress the horrific injuries and losses sustained in the

Tulsa Race Massacre.

Earlier this month, the House Judiciary Committee held a

hearing on the Tulsa Race Massacre and heard powerful and

heart-rending testimony from the remaining three survivors of

the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre of the atrocities they

lived through and the malignant neglect of governmental

officials who failed in their duty to provide equal

protection under law.

For any persons questioning why we will not move on or why

we continue the quest

for justice or who suggest that talking about the Tulsa Race

Massacre is racially divisive, they need to put themselves in

the shoes of 7-year old `Mother Fletcher' or 6-year old

`Mother Randle' or an infant `Uncle Red,' the three remaining

survivors of an 'American Kristallnacht,' that occurred on

United States soil 17 years before it was repeated in Nazi

Germany in 1938.

Listen to Viola (``Mother'') Fletcher:

``On May 31st, 1921, I went to bed in my family's home in

the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa. The neighborhood I feel

asleep in that night was rich--not just in terms of wealth,

but in culture, community, and heritage. My family had a

beautiful home. We had great neighbors and I had friends to

play with. I felt safe. I had everything a child could need.

I had a bright future ahead of me. Greenwood could have given

me the chance to truly make it in this country.

``Within a few hours, all of that was gone. The night of

the Massacre I was woken up by my family. My parents and five

siblings were there. I was told we had to leave. And that was

it.

``I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we

left our house. I still see Black men being shot, and Black

bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire.

I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear

airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I live through

the Massacre every day.

``When my family was forced to leave Tulsa, I lost my

chance at an education. I never finished school past the

fourth grade. I have never made much money.''

And listen to Lessie Evelyn Benningfield (``Mother'')

Randle:

``100 years ago, in 1921, I was a 6-year-old child. I was

blessed to live with my grandmother in a beautiful Black

community in Tulsa Oklahoma, called Greenwood. I was lucky. I

had a home. I had toys. I didn't have any fears as a young

child, and I felt very safe. My community was beautiful and

was filled with happy and successful Black people. Then

everything changed.

``It was like a war. White men with guns came and destroyed

my community. We couldn't understand why. What did we do to

them? We didn't understand. We were just living. But they

came, and they destroyed everything.

``They burned houses and businesses. They just took what

they wanted out of the buildings then they burned them. They

murdered people.

``We were told they just dumped the dead bodies into the

river. I remember running outside of our house. I ran past

dead bodies. It wasn't a pretty sight. I still see it today

in my mind--100 years later.

``I was so scared--I didn't think we would make it out

alive. I remember people were running everywhere. We waited

for the soldiers to come, and when they finally came, they

took us to the fairgrounds where we would be safe. It felt

like so long before they came.

``I survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And I have

survived 100 years of painful memories and losses.''

Or listen to World War II veteran Hughes (``Uncle Red'')

Van Ellis:

``I am 100 years old. And I am a survivor of the Tulsa Race

Massacre. Because of the Massacre, my family was driven from

our home. We were left with nothing. We were made refugees in

our own country.

``My childhood was hard, and we didn't have much. We

worried what little we had would be stolen from us. Just like

it was stolen in Tulsa. You may have been taught that when

something is stolen from you, you can go to the courts to be

made whole. You can go to the courts to get justice. This

wasn't the case for us. The courts in Oklahoma wouldn't hear

us. The federal courts said we were too late.

``We were made to feel that our struggles were unworthy of

justice. That we were less valued than whites, that we

weren't fully American. We were shown that in the United

States, not all men were equal under law. We were shown that

when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared.''

Rarely have we seen a fellow citizen who exemplifies the

spirit of America--indomitable will, moral courage, faith,

determination, and optimism--as we saw `Mother Randle',

`Mother Fletcher', and `Uncle Red'.

In addition to surviving the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre,

Mother Fletcher and Mother Randle also lived through the 1918

and 2020 global pandemics, the era of racial terror against

Black Americans, and Jim Crow; and Uncle Red survived combat

in the Far East during World War II in the 234th AAA Gun

Battalion, an all-black battalion in the segregated U.S.

Army.

So we should heed the wisdom of these remarkable Americans

who have retained their love for America but have yet to

receive just compensation for the horrendous crimes committed

against them and their community and honor their urgent plea

to enact H.R. 40, legislation I introduced establishing a

national commission to examine: (1) slavery and

discrimination in the colonies and the United States from

1619 to the present.

As important, H.R. 40 also mandates that the Commission

recommend appropriate remedies to address and ameliorate the

lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-

Americans and society.

In closing, let me share with you the story of how we were

able to pass the House resolution recognizing the forthcoming

centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre when no one

thought it possible because it appeared to violate a long-

standing rule of the House prohibiting consideration of

legislation ``commemorating'' dates, events, persons, and

places.

How did we get it done? By not taking no for an answer. By

marshalling our allies and demonstrating our commitment and

resolve. And by developing an alternative that was, if

anything, more effective but not subject to a challenge that

it violated the anti-commemorative prohibition.

And in the end, our opponents capitulated and gave in and

acquiesced to the adoption of the resolution, which now

stands for all time as a rebuke and condemnation of the utter

moral depravity inflicted on the Black residents of Greenwood

community of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

So I close by leaving you with the advice we followed and

that you should always remember.

It comes from the great Harriet Tubman, a black woman who

risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground

Railroad:

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Thank you very much for inviting me to join you for this

important remembrance of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and

your fellowship to get justice for the victims and survivors

and their descendants.

It is an honor to be with you today.

Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate LGBTQ Pride Month and the remarkable progress that has been made in making our country more diverse and tolerant and embracing of differences in the 21 years since the cruel murder of Matthew Shepherd, a college student from Laramie, Wyoming.

As a country, America has made and continues to make great progress in the area of social equality, as evidenced most dramatically by the seismic shift in public support for marriage equality over the past decade.

Today, supporters of marriage equality dramatically outnumber opponents by 61 percent to 35 percent; a near total reversal from 2004, when opponents outnumbered supporters 58 to 39 percent.

Our country made progress in bringing our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, mother and fathers out of the shadows with the repeal of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'' which I was proud to support.

Our Nation is now stronger, and our people are safer thanks to the sacrifices made by these brave Americans, who no longer need to choose between service and silence.

There have been other changes for the better.

In April 2015, President Obama issued a landmark Executive Order prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ persons in the workplace.

This civil rights victory ensures the tax dollars used to pay government contractors support contractors that are committed to equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of sexual orientation.

This legislation marks a major shift from a time when the U.S. Civil Service Commission prohibited the hiring of LGBTQ persons to a time when President Biden has appointed, and the Senate confirmed overwhelmingly, a Secretary of Transportation who is a veteran, a former mayor, and an openly gay man.

And we are making progress in realizing the goal of making H.R. 5, the ``Equality Act,'' the law of the land so LGBTQ people will finally be guaranteed explicit, permanent protection under the nation's existing civil rights laws against discrimination in vital areas of life, like employment, access to public spaces, housing, credit, education, jury service, and federally-funded programs.

Madam Speaker, it is unacceptable that in 31 states LGBTQ people can get married on Sunday and remain at risk of being fired or evicted. on Monday simply because of who they are.

This year marks the 52nd anniversary of the LGBTQ Civil Rights Movement, where activists such as Frank Kameny led the struggle for the voices of the LGBTQ community to be heard.

Frank Kameny's courageous demonstrations inspired others to resist mistreatment, and we witnessed in 1969 what happens when a community says enough is enough.

Our country has made much progress since the Stonewall uprising of 1969 but more remains to be done to realize the full promise of America that all are equally treated and protected by the law.

So there is much reason for joy and optimism when my home city of Houston hosts the Ruby Anniversary celebration of Pride Week later this month, from June 25 to 28, 2021.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the 16th largest LGBTQ community in the Nation is located in the Houston metropolitan area, which I am privileged to represent.

The Houston LGBTQ community is culturally diverse, economically dynamic, and artistically vibrant.

Houston Pride Week has been an annual event for the last 42 years, since 1979, and promotes the individuality of Houston's ever-growing LGBTQ community.

The Pride Festival and Parade are at the center of a celebration annually attended by more than 700,000 people from Houston and around the world.

Madam Speaker, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us, ``Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.''

All Americans should be deeply concerned over the increase in violence and acts of hate perpetrated against members of the LGBTQ community we have witnessed in recent months.

Madam Speaker, I invite all Americans to visit Houston during Houston Pride Week to observe how we live out our conviction that ``Love Will Conquer Hate.''

Progress is made through the efforts of courageous men and women who actively engage their communities and face adversity to ensure that the rights of all are clearly recognized and protected.

People like the legendary Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation which inspired the Freedom Rides of the 1960s and helped Dr. King organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and who was the driving force behind the historic 1963 March on Washington.

Texas natives such as Sheryl Swoopes, a 3-time WNBA Most Valuable Player and champion for the Houston Comets, and former Houston Mayor Annise Parker.

These leaders have set an example of what can happen when we lift the limits of inequality and support our fellow Americans in their pursuits of their inalienable rights.

Other members of the LGBTQ community whose contributions have enriched American culture and made our country better include the great poet Langston Hughes; Mandy Carter, 2008 national co-chair of Obama Pride and lifelong activist; Billy Strayhorn the musician and gifted composer whose 30-year collaboration with Duke Ellington gave the world some of the greatest jazz music ever; Tom Waddell, army medical doctor and Olympic athlete; and James Baldwin, one of the towering figures in the history of American literature.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to acknowledge the achievements of just a few of the countless number of Americans who overcame prejudice and discrimination to make America a more welcoming place for succeeding generations of LGBTQ community members.

Madam Speaker, I rise in remembrance of every man and woman of the Armed Forces who gave the last full measure of devotion in defense of our country.

Memorial Day is a reminder to all of us who live in freedom that as President Kennedy said, ``The price of freedom is high, but Americans have always paid it.''

Each May, veteran and service organizations come together to hold events around the country to demonstrate their gratitude to current and former men and women in uniform and their families for their service to our country.

This year marks the 46th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the conflict that deeply involved and affected every member of my generation, but none more so than the families and loved ones of the 58,148 men and women who never returned home but whose valor and sacrifice is forever enshrined on the sacred Wall of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

357 of those names remind us of the sacrifice on the altar of freedom made by the families of Houston.

Among those who served are:

1. Sgt. Major James Williams of the U.S. Army, who was able

to join the Army at the age of 15 because his mother agreed

to say that he was 17 (the required age) and was stationed in

Vietnam from 1960 to 1962 as Advisor to the Vietnam Regular

Army and then served 3-combat tours of duty from 1965 to 1967

before retiring in 1971 with the rank of Sgt. Major after 21

years of service. Sgt. Major Williams says today that ``If I

could go back in combat and do what I did, in my physical

condition, I would do it all over again.''

2. Major General John H. Bailey II (Ret) TXSG, who was

commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in May 1967

and served two tours of duty in Vietnam, 1967 to 68 and 1971

to 72, first as platoon leader and company commander with the

101st Airborne Division, and second as an Army Fixed Wing

Aviator where he flew Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and

Search and Destroy Missions over South Vietnam, Laos, and

Cambodia.

3. Felix Lugo of the United States Army, a native

Houstonian and has been a resident of the Heights for the

past 45 years, who was 18 years old when he joined the Army

in January 1975 and served 6 years with the 4th Battalion,

31st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and

as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, and is still so

proud to be a Vietnam Era Veteran.

Of the 2.7 million Americans who served in uniform in Vietnam, more than 10 percent (362,000) were killed or wounded, including 5 Americans soldiers who were just 16 years old.

The average age of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam was just 22 years old and 61 percent of those killed were younger than 21.

Three in every five (61 percent) of those killed were younger than 21 and 17,539 among those killed would never again see their wives and children.

So it is fitting and proper that during this month of May a grateful nation acknowledges and affirms the debt owed to those brave men and women who risked their lives to preserve the freedoms we too often take for granted.

Texas is home to more than 130,000 active military personnel and more than 1,600,000 veterans, 30,000 of which are from the 18th Congressional District of Texas.

It has been an honor to represent these constituents and I am extremely proud of their service.

As we acknowledge our veterans, current and future military men and women, it is essential that we provide them with the resources necessary to help, in President Lincoln's words, ``him who has borne the battle, and his widow and orphan.''

That is why I was proud to cosponsor and help shepherd to passage H.R. 1344, the Helping Heroes Fly Act, that was signed into law in 2013 and which facilitates expedited passenger screening at airports for service members who are severely injured or disabled, along with their families.

It is why I also authored the ``Helping to Encourage Real Opportunity for Veterans Transitioning from Battlespace to Workplace Act of 2015,'' or HEROS Act, legislation which provides strong incentives for employers to hire, retain, and employ veterans in positions that take maximum advantage of their skills and experience.

Madam Speaker, let us remember and keep in our hearts the brave men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion to their country while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan or some other foreign theater of conflict.

God bless them and all who served.

And may God bless the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to say thank you to all the men and women of the House floor who execute their duties flawlessly and anonymously so Members of Congress can dispatch the important business of the people we are privileged to represent effectively and efficiently.

We would not be able to discharge the duties vested in us by the Constitution were it not for the reporters, floor clerks, journal clerks, reading clerks, bill clerks, and Parliamentarian staff who daily provide indispensable customer service to the House of Representatives.

Their job just got a little harder because I am sad to report that Barry Pump, one of the Clerks of Debate, has been appointed parliamentarian of the House Committee on Homeland Security and will be relinquishing his floor staff position after 7 years of faithful and flawless service, and a total of 9 years of dedicated service as an employee of the Clerk of the House.

Ask anyone about Barry Pump and you will get story after story attesting to his intelligence, knowledge of floor procedure, commitment to accurate and truthful report, and relentless attention to detail.

This House is a better place because of extraordinary floor staff personnel like Barry Pump.

Madam Speaker, we wish Barry well in his new position as parliamentarian for the Committee on Homeland Security, and as a senior member of the committee, I am happy to learn that is the Homeland Security Committee to which Barry will take his considerable skills and talents.

Madam Speaker, as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Homeland Security, and Terrorism, and a senior member of the Homeland Security, and Budget Committees, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 275--Condemning the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, and reaffirming the House of Representative's commitment to combating hate, bigotry, and violence against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.

Madam Speaker, we all awoke earlier this year to the horrific news that in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, a 21-year old angry white man murdered 8 persons at three Asian massage spas.

Among the innocent victims were 6 young Asian American women who worked in the establishments.

The suspected perpetrator of these brutal crimes has been arrested and charged with 8 counts of murder.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, the killer is reported to have told police that he has an issue, what he considers a `sex addiction,' and `sees these [Asian massage spa] locations as something that allows him to go to these places' and `it is a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.'

Adding insult to injury, a Georgia sheriff's captain, acting as spokesperson for law enforcement investigators, characterized the killer as ``having a really bad day.''

Madam Speaker, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, there has been a significant increase in harassment and violence against the Asian American community.

Unfortunately, this is not new; there is a long history of racism again Asian Americans, especially during times of social and economic unrest.

Throughout American history Asian Americans are often blamed for the emergence of pandemics and diseases, even if the sickness originated far outside the Asian American community.

The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception, as American citizens, and residents of actual or perceived Chinese descent, have received intense and unjust scrutiny, violence, and harassment as perpetrators associate them with the cause of the pandemic and resulting social and economic turmoil.

And the racist practice of the 45th President of always referring to the coronavirus as the ``China Virus,'' or ``Kung Flu'' certainly contributed to, and inflamed, an already dangerous climate for persons of Asian descent.

Asian migration to the continental United States can be traced as far back as 1800's.

Despite their long residence in the country, throughout American history Asian American communities have been stigmatized as perpetual foreigners.

These xenophobic sentiments are especially exacerbated in times of social and economic discontent, leaving Asian American communities vulnerable to white supremacist and racist violence and harassment.

Especially notable to today, historically anti-Asian racism often associates Asian communities with illness--leaving Asian Americans particularly vulnerable to medical scapegoating and violence during epidemics.

Xenophobia and racism against the Asian American community continued well into the 20th century.

Most infamously, in 1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ordered the forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

While American immigration policies' still forbade the free migration of Asian immigrants into the country, thousands of Japanese-Americans had lived in the United States for decades, many of whom were second and third-generation Americans.

As the 1980 investigation and report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians would later conclude, Japanese internment was primarily driven by racism and xenophobia rather than a legitimate security threat.

Even though nearly two-thirds of Japanese internees were American citizens, Japanese-Americans were considered as a collective to be disloyal, un-American, and a security risk.

In 1982, amid a downturn in the U.S. automobile industry that was blamed on competition from Japanese companies, Chinese American Vincent Chin was beaten to death by two white autoworkers, one allegedly saying, ``it's because of you little m-f-s that we're out of work.''

Chin's assailants never spent a day in jail and instead were only sentenced to probation and fined and the resulting outrage from the Asian American community served as a galvanizing force to organize for Asian American civil rights and advocacy, and it remains a central rallying cry and example of injustice for contemporary Asian American activism.

In the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the United States, South Asian, Muslim, and Middle Eastern Americans increasingly became the targets of violence and discrimination.

In the week following the terrorist attack, media outlets reported 645 bias incidents targeting people perceived to be Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent.

At the time, the Bush Administration condemned the harassment and urged respect for the Muslim and South Asian community, with President Bush himself stating that the perpetrators of these racialized attacks should be ``ashamed.''

Then-Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller reiterated President Bush's sentiments, stating that: ``vigilante attacks and threats against Arab-Americans will-not be tolerated.''

In the years since, the Department of Justice has investigated over 800 incidents of violence, threats, and harassment against Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian Americans, and others of perceived Middle Eastern descent.

Sparked by xenophobic rhetoric framing fault for the coronavirus around its country of origin, Asian Americans, notably those of Chinese descent or assumed Chinese descent, have suffered increased rates of violence, harassment, and intimidation over the last year.

Led by the racist rhetoric of the 45th President, targeted xenophobic and anti-Asian sentiments have exacerbated the scapegoating and targeting of the Asian American community.

Between March 16 and March 30, 2020, the worst president in history referred to COVID-19 as the ``Chinese virus'' more than 20 times, claiming that his phrasing was not racist at all, but rather accurate because the virus came from China.

He even had the word ``Corona'' crossed out of his press conference notes, replaced with ``Chinese'' handwritten above it, and he also called the virus ``Kung Flu'' at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, 2020 then again at a church rally in Phoenix, Arizona on June 24, 2020.

Examples of additional violent physical assaults against the Asian American community over the last year include:

1. A sixteen-year-old boy was sent to the emergency room after being physically attacked at his high school by an assailant who claimed the boy had COVID-19 simply because he was Asian.

2. An 81-year-old woman was punched in the face and lit on fire outside her home.

3. A woman was kicked, punched, and hit with an umbrella in a subway station in New York.

4. A man and his ten-year-old son were followed to a bus station by a man who was yelling and cursing at them before eventually hitting the man over the head.

5. A 61-year-old man was slashed across the face with a boxcutter on the subway in New York City. His injuries required him to receive nearly 100 stitches.

6. A woman was doused in a caustic chemical as she took out the trash; resulting in chemical burns on her face, neck and back.

7. A 52-year-old woman was shoved to the ground and hit her head on a metal newspaper stand.

8. A 51-year-old man was beaten with his own cane at a bus stop. His injuries were so severe, he lost part of a finger.

Further, in addition to these violent incidents, data shows that general and daily harassment of Asian Americans has increased in the last year, examples of which include:

1. A couple found a note pinned to their door that read: ``We're watching you f---- c---- take the chinese virus back to china. We don't want you hear [sic] infecting us with your diseases!!!!!!!!!!--Your friendly neighborhood.''

2. A woman was cursed at while taking out her trash, a man walking by yelling ``F---- Chinese'' and ``Yea, I'm talking to you, Chinese B-- --.''

3. A woman was yelled at, followed, and spit on as she walked to her gym.

4. A man was yelled at while grocery shopping, the customer in front of him at the checkout line shouting at him ``It's you people who brought the disease.''

Finally, Madam Speaker, in my home state of Texas, about this time a year ago, a Burmese American family was shopping at a Sam's Club in Midland, Texas when a man repeatedly hit the father on the back of his head and slashed at his face.

Later, the assailant returned to continue to attack the family-- stabbing their two-year-old child and slashing their six-year-old across the face.

In light of increasing attacks on Asian Americans, several members of Congress have called for a stronger hate crime tracking law to add to the existing legal framework of hate crime legislation.

Congresswoman Chu, the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, has called on this consider new hate crime tracking legislation, noting that all of us must be vocal in rejecting xenophobia and racism.''

And I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of the March 25, 2020 resolution introduced by Congresswoman Meng of New York and passed by the House on September 17, 2020, condemning anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19 and calling on federal law enforcement officials to work with state and local officials to investigate hate crimes and incidents against the Asian American community.

In my hometown of Houston, Texas, we know all too well the fear, horror, and heartbreak inflicted on members of vulnerable and marginalized communities when they are targeted by hate crime violence.

That is why I have reintroduced H.R. 133, the David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act or ``David's Law,'' to amend the federal criminal code to impose penalties for willfully causing bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device, attempting to cause such injury, whether or not acting under color of law, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of any person, where the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.

This legislation is named in honor of David Ray Ritcheson, a constituent and high school student, who was brutally beaten and left for dead simply because his assailants hated his national origin.

Madam Speaker, hate crimes are among the worst atrocities that exist in modern day society.

A hate crime is defined as the incidence of violence motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, relation, sexual orientation, gender, and disability of the victim.

Unfortunately, hate crimes are underreported for several reasons, including fear and intimidation.

As most of us in this Congress know all too well, hate-motivated violence disrupts the tranquility and safety of our communities, impedes the movement of members of targeted groups, and prevents members of targeted groups from purchasing goods and services, obtaining, or sustaining employment, and achieving the American Dream.

The mass shootings in Georgia are one part of a nationwide pattern of Asian women's being disproportionately targeted in hate incidents, and this Resolution proclaims loud and clear that the United States Government is committed to combatting hate, bigotry and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

For this reason, I urge all of my colleagues to rise with me in support of H. Res. 275--Condemning the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, and reaffirming the House of Representative's commitment to combating hate, bigotry, and violence against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.

[From Buzzfeed New, Apr. 1, 2020]

A Man Who Allegedly Tried To Kill an Asian American Family Because of

the Coronavirus Could Face Hate Crime Charges

(By Julia Reinstein)

The incident is just one in a surge of racist attacks that

Asian-Americans have faced during the coronavirus pandemic.

A man who allegedly tried to kill an Asian American family

of three because he believed they were spreading the

coronavirus at a Sam's Club in Texas could face hate crime

charges, the FBI told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday.

Jose L. Gomez, 19, stabbed the three people on March 14 at

the Midland, Texas, Sam's Club before being taken down by a

store employee, who saved the family's lives and was injured

in the process, police told BuzzFeed News.

Gomez was then taken into custody by an off-duty Border

Patrol agent. He was charged with three counts of attempted

capital murder and one count of aggravated assault with a

deadly weapon.

Bernie Ramirez, the Border Patrol agent, told CBS7 he

initially approached Gomez and family with the intention of

breaking up what he thought was a fight over scarce goods.

Ramirez said ``credit is due'' to Zach Owen, the store

employee who stopped Gomez by putting him in a chokehold and

suffered stab wounds to the hand in the process.

``He went into a knife fight bare-handed,'' Ramirez said.

``He took control of the individual, and he disarmed him. If

Zach had not been there, things could've gone really badly.''

Ramirez did not immediately respond to a request for

comment. The father in the family declined to comment.

Gomez allegedly stabbed the three ``because he thought the

family was Chinese, and infecting people with the

coronavirus,'' the FBI stated in a document obtained by ABC

News.

An FBI spokesperson told BuzzFeed News they were unable to

comment on the document but confirmed that the case is being

treated as a possible hate crime,

According to the FBI report, federal law enforcement

officials are warning there could be a surge in hate crimes

against Asian Americans.

``The FBI assesses hate crime incidents against Asian

Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to

the spread of coronavirus disease . . . endangering Asian

American communities,'' the document reportedly states. ``The

FBI makes this assessment based on the assumption that a

portion of the US public will associate COVID-19 with China

and Asian American populations.''

The Texas stabbing was just one of the many racist attacks

Asian Americans have been facing amid the coronavirus

pandemic's rise in the US.

On March 11, a woman in New York punched another woman for

not wearing a face mask and ``made anti-Asian statements and

fled the location on foot.'' In February, a 16-year-old boy

was sent to the hospital after being physically attacked by

bullies who accused him of having the coronavirus. One couple

in Minnesota got a note on their door that said ``we're

watching you'' and ``take the Chinese virus back to China.''

President Donald Trump has deliberately referred to COVID-

19 as the ``Chinese virus'' on multiple occasions, which

critics have seen as a way of scapegoating China and, in

turn, inciting hatred and harassment of people of Asian

descent. The World Health Organization has urged people not

to attach locations or ethnicity to the virus to prevent

social stigma.

When questioned, Trump defended his use of the term,

``It's not racist at all, no. Not at all,'' Trump said.

``It comes from China.''

The FBI spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the agency ``will

use all authority granted to us by federal law to investigate

and hold those who commit violent acts accountable for their

actions.''

``During the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to remind everyone

that any violent criminal act against any person because of

their race, ethnicity or national origin is a hate crime,''

the spokesperson said. ``This includes violence toward Asian

Americans or individuals from East Asian countries.''

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of H. Res. 398, the Recognizing the Forthcoming Centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, recognizes one of the darkest moments in American history, the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre, that occurred in the African American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31-June 1, 1921.

Madam Speaker, earlier this year I introduced a resolution (H. Res. 215 later modified as H. Res. 398), joined by 84 cosponsors, recognizing the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The resolution was reintroduced as H. Res. 398 to make technical corrections to allow the House of Representatives to vote on the measure.

On March 18, 2021, I am pleased to report that the H. Res. 398 passed the House as part of the House Rule for H.R. 1629, the Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act, and H. Res. 275, the Condemning the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021.

As the great southern writer William Faulkner reminded us: ``The past is never dead. It's not even past.''

Madam Speaker, as I and other Members spoke in support of H. Res. 398, we recounted the hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white supremacy that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a century ago are not dead; they are not even past.

A century ago, White rioters, local law enforcement, and self- appointed vigilantes claimed to be acting reasonably and in self- defense against what they feared was an upcoming Black uprising.

They resented the economic prosperity and self-sufficiency of the Greenwood community, which was known nationally as ``Black Wall Street.''

They viewed Black males as fearsome physical threats to their personal safety and as rivals to white women.

These baseless, irrational concerns are not a relic of the past, they are with us today and are what resulted in the deaths of George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Deonte Wright, Stephon Clark, Amidou Diallo, and hundreds of others too numerous to list.

In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District, known as ``Black Wall Street,'' was one of the most documented prosperous African American communities in the United States.

The Greenwood community with a population of over 100,000 Black people had stores that sold luxury items, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, a savings and loan bank, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing stores, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, a bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school system, six private airplanes, and two black newspapers.

On May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of Greenwood went up in flames, at least 300 Black persons were murdered and more than 800 were injured; it is estimated that not less than 9,000 were left homeless and destitute.

These rioters reenacted the brutality of the mob from a hundred years ago in the hallowed halls of the Citadel of Democracy.

It should not be overlooked that the source of their irrational anger, hatred, and violent reaction was that Black Americans voted in overwhelming numbers in the Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit to oust the most negative, divisive, racially hostile, and incompetent presidents history, the 45th President, who presided over the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans, disproportionately Black and Brown.

The legacy of white mob violence inflicted upon the Black community of Greenwood has scarred the descendants of the victims of this American pogrom.

Madam Speaker, the events of January 6th have given us insight into what the people of Greenwood Oklahoma faced when they were attacked by a similar murderous mob.

H. Res. 98 is a reminder to the nation of the ultimate cruelty inflicted upon a people for dare believing that the promise of America was attainable by them and their achievements would be respected and protected by law.

But it does more than that, it puts the House of Representatives on record that the United States can achieve a more perfect union:

by condemning the violence and destruction perpetrated against the African-American community of Greenwood, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the scene of the then-largest single instance of domestic terror against American citizens;

through the rejection and active opposition to the false ideology of White supremacy and condemnation of all groups and organizations that ascribe to this false system of belief and seek to perpetuate their views through violence and unlawful conduct;

by promoting tolerance and unity and taking actions to ensure that governmental policies and actions do not foster division, disharmony, or intolerance;

by calling upon all Americans to celebrate the ethnic, racial, and religious diversity that has made the United States the leader of the community of nations and the beacon of hope and inspiration to oppressed persons everywhere;

encouraging all persons in the United States to reflect upon the history of the United States as an imperfect but committed journey to establish a more perfect union and to cherish and exercise the rights, privileges, and responsibilities guaranteed by the Constitution; and

recognizing the commitment of Congress to acknowledge and. learn from the history of racism and racial violence in the United States, including the Tulsa Race Massacre, to reverse the legacy of White supremacy and fight for racial justice.

Madam Speaker, I will now briefly recount the horrific events cited in H. Res. 398 that were experienced by the law-abiding Black community of Greenwood on those terrible days.

In 1921, White supremacy and racist violence were common throughout the United States and went largely unchecked by the justice system.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma reports of an alleged and disputed incident on the morning of May 30, 1921, between two teenagers, a Black man and a White woman, caused the White community of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Tribune, to call for a lynching amidst a climate of White racial hostility and White resentment over Black economic success.

On May 31, 1921, a mob of armed White men descended upon Tulsa's Greenwood District and launched what is now known as the ``Tulsa Race Massacre.''

Tulsa municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the violence, and civil and law enforcement officials deputized many White men who were participants in the violence as their agents, directly contributing to the violence through overt and often illegal acts.

Over a period of 24 hours, the White mob's violence led to the death of an estimated 300 Black residents, as well as over 800 reports of injuries.

The White mob looted, damaged, burned, or otherwise destroyed approximately 40 square blocks of the Greenwood district, including an estimated 1,256 homes of Black residents, as well as virtually every other structure, including churches, schools, businesses, a hospital, and a library, leaving nearly 9,000 Black residents of the Greenwood community homeless and effectively wiping out tens of millions dollars in Black prosperity and wealth.

In the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Governor of Oklahoma declared martial law, and units of the Oklahoma National Guard participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood's surviving residents, removing them from Greenwood to other parts of Tulsa and unlawfully detaining them in holding centers.

Oklahoma local and state governments dismissed claims arising from it the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, and the event was effectively erased from collective memory and history until, in 1997, the Oklahoma State Legislature finally created a commission to study the event.

On February 28, 2001, the commission issued a report that detailed, for the first time, the extent of the Massacre and decades-long efforts to suppress its recollection.

None of the law enforcement officials nor any of the hundreds of other White mob members who participated in the violence were ever prosecuted or held accountable for the hundreds of lives lost and tens of millions of dollars of Black wealth destroyed, despite the Tulsa Race Massacre Commission confirming their roles in the Massacre, nor was any compensation ever provided to the Massacre's victims or their descendants.

Government and city officials not only abdicated their responsibility to rebuild and repair the Greenwood community in the wake of the violence, but actively blocked efforts to do so, contributing to continued racial disparities in Tulsa akin to those that Black people still face today across the United States.

Madam Speaker, the pattern of violence against Black people in the United States, often at the hands of law enforcement, shows that the fight to end State-sanctioned violence against Black people continues.

As the American Historical Association stated, ``What happened in Tulsa was extreme, but not unusual. It is part of our Nation's heritage. We must acknowledge that heritage, learn from it, and do whatever each of us can do to ensure that it is just that--heritage, rather than a continuing practice.''

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a more detailed account of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that is based on the ``Final Report of the Oklahoma Commission to Study The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921,'' issued February 28, 2001.

Madam Speaker, I also ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and their descendants to carry the terrible memories of that horrific day and still grieve over the loss of so many loved ones and of faith in the American system of justice.

Mother Randle's Written Testimony for the House Subcommittee on the

Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, May 19, 2021

I am blessed and honored to be talking with you today. It

means a lot to me to finally be able to look at you all in

the eye and ask you to do the right thing. I have waited so

long for justice.

My name is Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle. People call

me Mother Randle. Today, I am 106-years-old. 100 years ago,

in 1921, I was a 6-year-old child. I was blessed to live with

my grandmother in a beautiful Black community in Tulsa

Oklahoma, called Greenwood. I was lucky. I had a home. I had

toys. I didn't have any fears as a young child and I felt

very safe. My community was beautiful and was filled with

happy and successful Black people. Then everything changed.

It was like a war. White men with guns came and destroyed

my community. We couldn't understand why. What did we do to

them? We didn't understand. We were just living. But they

came, and they destroyed everything.

They burned houses and businesses. They just took what they

wanted out of the buildings then they burned them. They

murdered people. We were told they just dumped the dead

bodies into the river. I remember running outside of our

house. I ran past dead bodies. It wasn't a pretty sight. I

still see it today in my mind--100 years later.

I was so scared--I didn't think we would make it out alive.

I remember people were running everywhere. We waited for the

soldiers to come, and when they finally came, they took us to

the fairgrounds where we would be safe. It felt like so long

before they came.

I survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And I have

survived 100 years of painful memories and losses.

By the grace of God, I am still here. I have survived. I

have survived to tell this story. I believe that I am still

here to share it with you. Hopefully now, you all will listen

to us. While we are still here.

The white people who did this to us, were filled with so

much hate. It is disgusting that they hate us for no reason

except that we are Black people.

We know--most of the people who committed these acts are

dead now. The three of us here today, are the only ones

left--that we know of. But just because these men are

probably dead, the City and County of Tulsa, the State of

Oklahoma, and the Tulsa Chamber are still responsible for

making it right.

The City and County caused this to happen to us--

The State allowed this happen to us--they didn't protect

us.

The Chamber helped ensure that we could not rebuild after

the Massacre, including holding us in internment camps.

They owe us something. They owe me something. I have lived

much of my life poor. My opportunities were taken from me.

And my community, North Tulsa--Black Tulsa--is still messed

up today. They didn't rebuild it. Its empty. It's a ghetto.

You can help us get some justice.

America is full of examples where people in positions of

power, many just like you, have told us to wait. Others have

told us it's too late. It seems like justice in America is

always so slow or not possible for Blacks. And we are made to

feel crazy just for asking for things to be made right. There

are always so many excuses for why justice is so slow or

never happens at all.

I am here today, at 106-years-old, looking at you all in

the eye. We've waited too long, and I am tired. We are tired.

I am asking you today to give us some peace. Please give me,

my family, and my community some justice.

Thank you.

Hughes Van Ellis Written Testimony for the House Subcommittee on the

Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, May 19, 2021

My name is Hughes Van Ellis. I am 100 years old. And I am a

survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Because of the Massacre,

my family was driven from our home. We were left with

nothing. We were made refugees in our own country.

My childhood was hard and we didn't have much. We worried

what little we had would be stolen from us. Just like it was

stolen in Tulsa. You may have been taught that when something

is stolen from you, you can go to the courts to be made

whole. You can go to the courts to get justice. This wasn't

the case for us. The courts in Oklahoma wouldn't hear us. The

federal courts said we were too late.

We were made to feel that our struggles were unworthy of

justice. That we were less valued than whites, that we

weren't fully American. We were shown that in the United

States, not all men were equal under law. We were shown that

when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared.

But we still had faith things would get better. We still

believed in the promise of America and in the cause of

freedom.

I did my duty in World War II. I served in combat in the

Far East with the 234th AAA Gun Battalion. We were an all-

black battalion. I fought for freedom abroad, even though it

was ripped away from me at home, even after my home and my

community were destroyed, I did it because I believed, in the

end, America would get it right.

When I returned home from the war, I didn't find any of the

freedom I was fighting for overseas. Unlike white servicemen,

I wasn't entitled to GI Bill benefits because of the color of

my skin. I came home to segregation. A separate and unequal

America. But still I believed in America,

This is why we are still speaking up today, even at the age

of 100. The Tulsa Race Massacre isn't a footnote in a history

book for us. We live with it every day and the thought of

what Greenwood was and what it could have been. We aren't

just black and white pictures on a screen, we are flesh and

blood. I was there when it happened, I'm still here. My

sister was there when it happened, she's still here.

We're not asking for a handout. All we are asking for is

for a chance to be treated like a first-class citizen who

truly is a beneficiary of the promise that this is a land

where there is ``liberty and justice for all.''

We are asking for justice for a lifetime of ongoing harm.

Harm that was caused by the Massacre. You can give us the

chance to be heard and give us a chance to be made whole

after all these years and after all our struggle.

I still believe in America. I still believe in the ideals

that I fought overseas to defend. And I believe if given the

chance you will do the right thing and justice will be

served. Thank you.

Written Testimony of Mother Viola Fletcher for the Subcommittee on the

Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Wednesday, May 19,

2021

My name is Viola Fletcher, or Mother Fletcher. I am the

daughter of Lucinda Ellis and John Wesley Ford of Tulsa,

Oklahoma. I am the sister of Hughes Van Ellis, who is also

here today. And I am a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 107th birthday.

Today, I am in Washington, D.C. for the first time in my

life. I am here seeking justice. I am here asking my country

to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921.

On May 31st 1921, I went to bed in my family's home in the

Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa. The neighborhood I feel

asleep in that night was rich--not just in terms of wealth,

but in culture, community, and heritage. My family had a

beautiful home. We had great neighbors and I had friends to

play with. I felt safe. I had everything a child could need.

I had a bright future ahead of me. Greenwood could have given

me the chance to truly make it in this country.

Within a few hours, all of that was gone. The night of the

Massacre I was woken up by my family. My parents and five

siblings were there. I was told we had to leave. And that was

it.

I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we

left our house. I still see Black men being shot, and Black

bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire.

I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear

airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I live through

the Massacre every day.

Our country may forget this history. I cannot. I will not.

The other survivors do not. And our descendants do not.

When my family was forced to leave Tulsa, I lost my chance

at an education. I never finished school past the fourth

grade. I have never made much money. My country, state, and

city took a lot from me. Despite this, I spent time

supporting the war effort in the shipyards of California. But

for most of my life, I was a domestic worker serving white

families. I never made much money. To this day, I can barely

afford my everyday needs. All the while the City of Tulsa

have unjustly used the names and stories of victims like me

to enrich itself and its White allies through the $30 million

raised by the Tulsa Centennial Commission while I continue to

live in poverty.

I am 107 years old and have never seen justice. I pray that

one day I will. I have been blessed with a long life--and

have seen the best and worst of this country. I think about

the horrors inflicted upon Black people in this country every

day.

This Subcommittee has the power to lead us down a better

path. I am asking that my country acknowledge what has

happened to me. The trauma. The pain. The loss. And I ask

that survivors and descendants be given a chance to seek

justice. Open the courtroom doors to us.

I believe we must acknowledge America's sins. It is the

least we can do.

I saw what happened here on January 6th this year. It broke

my heart. It reminded me of what happened 100 years ago. And

now, I hear some of you on TV saying it didn't happen, like

we didn't see it with our own eyes. It happened on live TV.

100 years ago, there was no TV, but you have me here right

now. You see Mother Randle. You see my brother, Hughes Van

Ellis. We lived this history. We can't ignore it. It lives

with us.

We lost everything that day. Our homes. Our churches. Our

newspapers. Our theaters. Our lives. Greenwood represented

the best of what was possible for Black people in America--

and for all people. No one cared about us for almost 100

years. We, and our history, have been forgotten, washed away.

This Congress must recognize us, and our history. For Black

Americans. For white Americans. For all Americans. That's

some justice.

Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for yielding.

I was here on 9/11, and I could see the billowing smoke as we ran for our lives as the planes were hitting the Pentagon and the aftermath.

I was here on January 6 when screaming voices came and glass began to break, as the video has shown us, the video of the beatings. My tribute to all the officers--we have heard the story of Officer Fanone.

All we want is truth, and all we want is for the big lie to be undone.

It is important to support H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex, and the underlying emergency supplemental that General Honore and his committee so aptly did.

I thank Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Katko for their hard work. Be reminded of the fact that it was the former President still lingering, lashing around instead of allowing the transfer of peaceful government to go. He is now pushing big lies.

I wanted the Vice President to live. I wanted the Speaker to live. I wanted Members to live. I wanted Black officers not to be under the threat of racist overtones. So this commission will listen to it all.

I ask my colleagues to get rid of the big lie, stand by the Constitution, the flag, and justice and equality for all. Pass H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act.

Mr. Speaker, as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Homeland Security, and Terrorism, and a senior member of the Homeland Security, and Budget Committees, I rise in strong support of the rule governing debate of H.R. 3237, the Emergency Security Supplemental to Respond to January 6th Appropriations Act of 2021, and H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex.

H.R. 3237 provides $1.9 billion in funding to respond to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when thousands of domestic terrorists inspired by the 45th President stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent, crazed, and desperate effort to disrupt the Joint Meeting of Congress prescribed by the Constitution to tally the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the nation and the world.

H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex Act, which establishes a national commission charged with investigating and reporting upon the facts and causes of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as well as the influencing factors that may have provoked the attack on our democracy.

Specifically, the January 6 Commission's mandate includes:

1. examining and evaluating evidence developed by relevant Federal, State, and local governments, in a manner that is respectful of ongoing investigations, regarding the facts and circumstances of the attack;

2. building upon other investigations regarding the attack and targeted violence and domestic terrorism related to such attack; and

3. reporting to the President and Congress regarding its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures taken to prevent future acts of targeted violence and domestic terrorism and improves the security posture of the United States Capitol Complex in a manner that preserves the accessibility of the Capitol Complex for all Americans, and strengthen the security and resilience of nation and American democratic institutions against domestic terrorism.

Like September 11, 2001, we cannot and must not ever forget the existential threat faced by our democracy on January 6, 2021, when thousands of domestic terrorists inspired by the 45th President stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent, crazed, and desperate effort to disrupt the Joint Meeting of Congress prescribed by the Constitution to tally the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the nation and the world.

Mr. Speaker, the morning of September 11, 2001 is, and will always be, a day like no other.

It is a day all living Americans will remember because not since Pearl Harbor had there been such a dastardly and deadly attack on American soil.

On that day, we were united in our shock and anger and sadness and in our resolve to defend our country and protect the freedoms that has made America the greatest country in the history of the world.

I experienced the same gamut of emotions on January 6: grief, hope, resolve, and fierce commitment to protect our country.

Mr. Speaker, the assault on the U.S. Capitol by domestic terrorists and insurrectionists rightly takes its place as one of the darkest moments in our nation's history since the Civil War.

Mr. Speaker, the January 6 insurrection caused tragic loss of life and injuries, while leaving behind widespread physical damage to the Capitol Complex and emotional trauma for Members, Congressional employees, and the Capitol Police.

It bears repeating often that the Congress and the nation owe undying gratitude to the men and women who answered the call of constitutional duty and heroically won the day on that bloody and deadly afternoon.

That is why I introduced H. Res. 169, a resolution commending the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, and other law enforcement personnel for their selfless and heroic service in defense of American democracy in responding to the assault on the United States Capitol by domestic terrorists on January 6, 2021.

H. Res. 169 notes that the January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but that the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, and other uniformed law enforcement officers stood their ground in defense of American democracy while being attacked metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and other weapons.

The resolution conveys the thanks and appreciation of a grateful nation to them for their selfless and heroic service, encourages all educational and media institutions throughout the United States to teach and celebrate the story of their heroism and patriotism; and calls upon all Americans to read, celebrate, and revere the Constitution of the United States, fidelity to which is the surest best means of forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessing of liberty to them and their posterity.

Mr. Speaker, the domestic terrorists and seditionists who attacked the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 were not, as some of their ardent defenders and apologists across the aisle have stated falsely, on a ``normal tour visit''; nor was their effort to lay siege to the Capitol and disrupt the processes of government an act of persons who love their country.

And it is absurd to suggest that it was a celebration of the United States and what it stands for when the leading edge of terrorists desecrated the Capitol by offensively parading the treasonous Confederate flag through the building and when, because of their insurrection, several members of law enforcement made the supreme sacrifice and scores more were seriously injured.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few moments to explain why the intended purpose of the January 6 insurrection--to disrupt the Joint Meeting of Congress to tally the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the nation and the world--was the greatest threat to the American Experiment since the Civil War when the proslavery forces would rather make war than let the nation survive and the pro-freedom forces would accept war rather than let the nation perish.

The Framers understood and declared to the world that democratic governors derived their powers from the knowing and voluntary consent of the governed as expressed in free, fair, and unfettered elections unmarred by the influence or sabotage of any foreign country or entity not a member of the political community.

The most important feature of a democracy is that it is the voters who alone can confer the legitimate consent and authorization necessary to govern upon the governors who are then duty-bound to represent the voters' interests, and only their interests.

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental democratic compact between the governed and the governors is that the latter's authority and continuance in office comes exclusively from the governed and allegiance is owed exclusively to the governed.

This agreement can only be reached through free and fair elections, a breach of which threatens the vitality and viability of the social contract upon which democratic self-rule of, by, and for the people depends.

Mr. Speaker, President Lincoln called the United States the ``last best hope of man on earth'' and stated at Gettysburg the importance of finishing the work we are in to ensure that ``government of the people, for the people, by the people does not perish from the earth.''

By our actions in voting to establish and empower a National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex, we are taking an indispensable step in ensuring the preservation of our democracy, which has been the envy of the world for more than 240 years.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in voting for the rule and the underlying legislation, H.R. 3237, the Emergency Security Supplemental to Respond to January 6th Appropriations Act of 2021, and H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and I thank the ranking member for showing, no matter how much confusion and upside down interpretation that leadership may give in changing their mind, truth will prevail.

Let us show what America is today. Let us show what unity is today. Let me take a few moments to explain why the intended purpose of the January 6 insurrection to disrupt the joint meeting of Congress to tally the votes of Presidential electors and announce the results to the Nation and the world was the greatest threat to the American Experiment since the Civil War, when the pro-slavery forces would rather make war than let the Nation survive, and pro-freedom forces would accept war rather than let the Nation perish.

Mr. Speaker, I was here on 9/11, and I understand what we did not get accomplished, yet when we became part of the Homeland Security Committee, we moved the 9/11 Commission that still stands as the standard-bearer for finding out what happened.

All the American people want, and those officers who were beat and beat and beat, is to find out the truth. This commission will help us find out the truth. It will answer the cry of those law enforcement officers who were called racial names. We will be able to explain why someone was trying to kill the Vice President, kill the Speaker, and kill Members of Congress.

This is a truth time. Can we stand for truth?

And might I add, I want to thank all of those officers who put their line in front for us. Let us get them the truth so the Nation will know the truth and so we can stand on the truth and be free.

Mr. Speaker, as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Homeland Security, and Terrorism, and a senior member of the Homeland Security, and Budget Committees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex Act, which establishes a national commission charged with investigating and reporting upon the facts and causes of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as well as the influencing factors that may have provoked the attack on our democracy.

Specifically, the January 6 Commission's mandate includes:

1. examining and evaluating evidence developed by relevant Federal, State, and local governments, in a manner that is respectful of ongoing investigations, regarding the facts and circumstances of the attack;

2. building upon other investigations regarding the attack and targeted violence and domestic terrorism related to such attack; and

3, reporting to the President and Congress regarding its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures taken to prevent future acts of targeted violence and domestic terrorism and improves the security posture of the United States Capitol Complex in a manner that preserves the accessibility of the Capitol Complex for all Americans, and strengthen the security and resilience of nation and American democratic institutions against domestic terrorism.

Like the 9/11 Commission, the measure establishes a 10-person bipartisan commission with five commissioners, including the Chair, appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate and five commissioners, including the Vice Chair, appointed by the Minority Leaders of the House and Senate.

Like the 9/11 Commission, the January 6 Commission will be granted authority to issue subpoenas to secure information to carry out its investigation but only upon agreement between the Chair and the Vice Chair or a vote by a majority of Commission members.

January 6 Commissioners must have significant expertise in the areas of law enforcement, civil rights, civil liberties, privacy, intelligence, and cybersecurity. Current government officers or employees are prohibited from appointment.

The January 6 Commission will be required to issue a final report with findings regarding the facts and causes of the attack, along with recommendations to prevent future attacks on our democratic institutions, by December 31, 2021.

Like September 11, 2001, we cannot and must not ever forget the existential threat faced by our democracy on January 6, 2021, when thousands of domestic terrorists inspired

by the 45th President stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent, crazed, and desperate effort to disrupt the Joint Meeting of Congress prescribed by the Constitution to tally the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the nation and the world.

Mr. Speaker, the morning of September 11, 2001, is, and will always be, a day like no other.

It is a day all living Americans will remember because not since Pearl Harbor had there been such a dastardly and deadly attack on American soil.

My heart still grieves for those who perished on flights United Airlines 93, American Airlines 77, American Airlines 11, and United Airlines 175.

When the sun rose on the morning of September 11, none of us knew that it would end in an inferno in the magnificent World Trade Center Towers in New York City and the Pentagon and in the grassy fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, as hard as it is to believe, out of a tragedy so overwhelming and horrific, something good and great emerged in the aftermath of September 11.

On that day there were no Republicans or Democrats; there were no Northerners or Southerners or West or East Coasters.

We were not Red State or Blue State; we were all simply Americans.

On that day, we were united in our shock and anger and sadness and in our resolve to defend our country and protect the freedoms that has made America the greatest country in the history of the world.

I experienced the same gamut of emotions on January 6: grief, hope, resolve, and fierce commitment to protect our country.

Mr. Speaker, the assault on the U.S. Capitol by domestic terrorists and insurrectionists rightly takes its place as one of the darkest moments in our nation's history since the Civil War.

Mr. Speaker, the January 6 insurrection caused tragic loss of life and many injuries, while leaving behind widespread physical damage to the Capitol Complex and emotional trauma for Members, Congressional employees, and the Capitol Police.

It bears repeating often that the Congress and the nation owe undying gratitude to the men and women who answered the call of constitutional duty and heroically won the day on that bloody and deadly afternoon.

That is why I introduced H. Res. 169, a resolution commending the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, and other law enforcement personnel for their selfless and heroic service in defense of American democracy in responding to the assault on the United States Capitol by domestic terrorists on January 6, 2021.

H. Res. 169 notes that the January 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but that the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, and other uniformed law enforcement officers stood their ground in defense of American democracy while being attacked metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and other weapons.

The resolution conveys the thanks and appreciation of a grateful nation to them for their selfless and heroic service, encourages all educational and media institutions throughout the United States to teach and celebrate the story of their heroism and patriotism; and calls upon all Americans to read, celebrate, and revere the Constitution of the United States, fidelity to which is the surest best means of forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessing of liberty to them and their posterity.

Mr. Speaker, the domestic terrorists and seditionists who attacked the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, were not, as some of their ardent defenders and apologists across the aisle have stated falsely, on a ``normal tour visit''; nor was their effort to lay siege to the Capitol and disrupt the processes of government an act of persons who love their country.

And it is absurd to suggest that it was a celebration of the United States and what it stands for when the leading edge of terrorists desecrated the Capitol by offensively parading the treasonous Confederate flag through the building and when, because of their insurrection, several members of law enforcement made the supreme sacrifice and scores more were seriously injured.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few moments to explain why the intended purpose of the January 6 insurrection--to disrupt the Joint Meeting of Congress to tally the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the nation and the world--was the greatest threat to the American Experiment since the Civil War when the proslavery forces would rather make war than let the nation survive and the pro-freedom forces would accept war rather than let the nation perish.

Mr. Speaker, the Framers had first-hand experience with the types of abuses and usurpations committed by political leaders who ruled them but were not accountable to them and detailed many of those wrongs in the Declaration of Independence.

The Framers understood and declared to the world that democratic governors derived their powers from the knowing and voluntary consent of the governed as expressed in free, fair, and unfettered elections unmarred by the influence or sabotage of any foreign country or entity not a member of the political community.

The Framers understood that if elections are influenced by foreign actors or authoritarian forces within, then voters are reduced from the great role of citizens to mere subjects, and government for and by the people is a sham.

The most important feature of a democracy is that it is the voters who alone can confer the legitimate consent and authorization necessary to govern upon the governors who are then duty-bound to represent the voters' interests, and only their interests.

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental democratic compact between the governed and the governors is that the latter's authority and continuance in office comes exclusively from the governed and allegiance is owed exclusively to the governed.

This agreement can only be reached through free and fair elections, a breach of which threatens the vitality and viability of the social contract upon which democratic self-rule of, by, and for the people depends.

Mr. Speaker, President Lincoln called the United States the ``last best hope of man on earth'' and stated at Gettysburg the importance of finishing the work we are in to ensure that ``government of the people, for the people, by the people does not perish from the earth.''

By our actions in voting to establish and empower a National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex, we are taking an indispensable step in ensuring the preservation of our democracy, which has been the envy of the world for than 240 years.

I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex Act.

Mr. Speaker, in this short period of time, I offer several

thoughts. First of all, we are stronger as a country when we stand up against hate at all times.

Today, in the Judiciary Committee, we saw the results of hate now 100 years in the making, and that is the Tulsa race riots. The Tulsa race riots showed that attackers looted and intentionally burned an estimated 1,256 homes in Greenwood, America's Black Wall Street, along with nearly all of the district's churches, schools, and businesses.

The testimony of yesteryear saw hundreds of men march through the main business section of White town with their hats off and their hands up. The brutality was unmentionable. Men, women, and children, driven like cattle, huddled like horses, treated like beasts.

Today, we heard from Viola Fletcher, 107 years old; Hughes van Ellis, 100 years old; and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 106 years old. We ask for justice for them.

In addition, I want to take note that this is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and to be able to say that we stand against the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021. We have to stand against hate. I am glad that we passed the bipartisan commission on January 6 to show that America is unified.

Finally, some good news to my constituents: We will be launching the child tax credit effort. We want you to get that child tax credit.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2862, the ``Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act,'' which creates an educational campaign recommended by suicide prevention advocates and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to raise awareness for a three-digit suicide lifeline phone number, suicide prevention resources, and more effective discourse on how to prevent suicide.

This bipartisan legislation is designed to help change the culture around suicide so that all Americans know to engage rather than ignore individuals who might be experiencing suicidal thoughts, and it would:

Fund campaigns to share information about suicide prevention resources like the suicide prevention lifeline, which has been shown to save lives; and

Create new media tools to help television and social media know how to shape the national conversation we need to reduce suicide.

America and Texas face a suicide crisis, and we must come together to fight this tragic epidemic.

Each day in Texas there are more than 6 suicide deaths and nearly 30 hospitalizations for attempted suicide.

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for Texans and the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 24.

60 percent of Texas suicide deaths occur among people 25 to 64 years of age.

Rates of suicide among Whites increased 12 percent since 2000, particularly among females; rates among Blacks and Hispanics have remained stable during the same time.

Estimated medical costs of Texas hospitalizations for suicide attempts average $8,849 per patient, or more than $95.6 million annually.

We need to start talking about suicide, and we need to keep talking.

For this reason, in 2019, I convened a panel to discuss mental health and suicide and an all-youth panel to account for how students handle their mental health and what policies they want to see come from Congress.

It was a beautiful and absolutely necessary convening of young people.

They shared with us and tasked us with the solutions and measures they know will positively impact their communities and their generation.

One problem was raised time and time again during the course of this panel: There are far too few resources available to our young people, especially our young people of color, to truly support the staggering prevalence of mental health ailments and effectively combat the growing number of youth suicide.

Matthew 21:16 says: from the mouths of babies shall come praise, and on that day from the mouths of babies came solutions:

Fund transportation infrastructure in the very communities you scrutinize for gang violence, help the children get home safely.

Create and support more after school programs and activities.

Provide students with mentors and examples of a life alternative to the poverty and violence that many of us are facing.

Support mental health experts and trauma experts of color, who are specifically trained to deal with the unique trauma they face.

I listened to young people share the heart-wrenching truths of encounters with gun violence, the broken juvenile justice system, and improperly trained mental health professionals--if they are afforded the opportunity to be in proximity to these professionals at all.

Suicide prevention starts with recognizing the warning signs of suicide and taking them seriously, and talking openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings can save lives.

Although suicide has long been a serious public health problem, the recent and sudden isolation, unemployment and precipitous change ushered in by COVID-19 threatens to increase the incidence of people for whom suicide seems the only viable solution.

By looking out for one another, matching people with the help they need, and helping those who are hurting feel more connected, people who are contemplating suicide have an opportunity to recover and live lives of meaning and purpose.

For this reason, I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in support of H.R. 2862.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2981, the ``Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act of 2021,'' which bolsters aid for local suicide crisis centers.

This bipartisan legislation fully funds overburdened crisis centers, so that they can meet rising call volumes, and takes steps to alleviate call wait times and make support resources available to friends and family of those in crisis.

Specifically, the Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act:

Significantly increases authorized funding for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline;

Requires HHS to develop and implement a plan to increase quality assurance, eliminate call wait times, implement evidence-based practices like follow-up, ensure resources are available to friends and family of those in crisis, and create guidelines to carry out periodic testing of the Lifeline;

Requires increased coordination and data sharing between the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the CDC;

Creates a pilot program to research and employ innovative technologies for suicide prevention;

Requires a study and report to Congress from both HHS and GAO on the plan implemented by HHS to reform the Lifeline as well as other recommendations for improvement to the Lifeline's operations.

America and Texas face a suicide crisis, and we must come together to fight this tragic epidemic.

In Texas, crisis centers handle the majority of local calls to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

But in recent years, rising rates of suicide and limited funding for call centers have made it nearly impossible to consistently provide quality and timely support for Texans in need.

Making matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic has added constraints and elevated rates of mental illness.

Each day in Texas there are more than 6 suicide deaths and nearly 30 hospitalizations for attempted suicide.

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for Texans and the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 24.

60 percent of Texas suicide deaths occur among people 25 to 64 years of age.

Rates of suicide among Whites increased 12 percent since 2000, particularly among females; rates among Blacks and Hispanics have remained stable during the same time.

Estimated medical costs of Texas hospitalizations for suicide attempts average $8,849 per patient, or more than $95.6 million annually.

We need to start talking about suicide, and we need to keep talking.

Suicide prevention starts with recognizing the warning signs of suicide and taking them seriously, and talking openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings can save lives.

Although suicide has long been a serious public health problem, the recent and sudden isolation, unemployment and precipitous change ushered in by COVID-19 threatens to increase the incidence of people for whom suicide seems the only viable solution.

By looking out for one another, matching people with the help they need, and helping those who are hurting feel more connected, people who are contemplating suicide have an opportunity to recover and live lives of meaning and purpose.

For this reason, I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in support of H.R. 2981.