John Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa for bringing that to our attention. I have seen the exhibit. I have seen the book. It is very, very moving. It makes me very sad sometimes to think that in our recent history that our fellow Americans would do this to other Americans. Some of these photographs makes me want to really cry. It is very painful to see. I think that is a wonderful suggestion, to bring this exhibit to Washington, let it travel around America, because we must not forget this part of our history. Just maybe we will never ever let something like this happen again in our own country. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of my colleagues for participating in this special order.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), my colleague and associate, so much for his leadership. I thank him for all he did as head of CORE in Brooklyn and for being here tonight to participate in this special order. It is appropriate for him to mention the theme song of the movement ``We Shall Overcome.'' After the 1960 effort, 5 years later, the President of the United States, President Lyndon Johnson, came and spoke to a joint session of the Congress when he introduced the Voting Rights Act and he said, ``We Shall Overcome'' several times. He said it to the Congress, but he said it to the nation, ``We Shall Overcome.'' So we have come a distance, we have made a lot of progress since February 1, 1960. It is now, Mr. Speaker, my pleasure and delight to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), my good friend from the city of Newark.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my friend, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), a wonderful human being, a great leader as head of the Congressional Black Caucus, for helping to organize this special order tonight. We thank the gentleman for his very kind words, as well as the other participants. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a brief moment as we celebrate and commemorate African-American History Month to pay tribute to a group of young people. Mr. Speaker, on this day 40 years ago, history was made. February 1, 1960, four young black men, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain and David Richmond, all freshmen students at North Carolina A&T College, took seats at an all-white lunch counter in a little 5 and 10 store in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. They ignited what became known as the sit-in movement. They changed our Nation forever. The sit-ins spread across the south like wildfire. In Nashville, Tennessee, we had been having what we called test sit-ins for several months. We had been studying the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. We would go into a store and ask to be served, and if and when we were refused, we would leave. We would not force the issue. We would not cause a confrontation. We would go to establish the fact that we would be denied service because of the color of our skin. Every single day during the month of February for many of us as young black college students, we would sit in or sit down at lunch counters in an orderly and peaceful fashion. Doing our doing our homework. Not saying a word. Someone would come up to us and put a lighted cigarette out in our hair or down our backs, pour hot water, hot coffee or hot chocolate on us. Beat us and pull us off the lunch counter stools. We did not strike back because we had accepted the philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence. The number of students who wanted to participate in the sit-in grew. Most of them had not prepared as we had, so it was my duty and my responsibility as one of the students to draw up the basic ``do's and don'ts'' of the sit-in movement that read like: Do not strike back if abused. Do not lash out. Do not hold conversations with floor walkers. Do not leave your seat until your leader had given you permission to do so. Do not block entrance to stores outside and aisles inside. It went on to say, ``Do show yourself friendly and courteous at all times. Sit straight. Always face the counter. Report all serious incidents to your leader. Refer information seekers to your leader in a polite manner. Do remember the teachings of Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Love and nonviolence is the way.'' These were the do's and don'ts of the sit-in movement that every student that got arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 27, 1960, had a copy of. The fact is that no matter how well you had prepared, no matter how much you planned what you would do and would not do, in the end you had to hand it over to what we called the spirit. You just had to let the spirit take control. That is why the song came along during the height of the movement, the song we would sing over and over again during this sit-in movement and later, ``I am going to do what the spirit says do. If the spirit says sit in, I am going to sit in. If the spirit says march, I am going to march. If the spirit says go to jail, I am going to jail. I am going to do what the spirit says do.'' During the sit-in movement in 1960, in February, 40 years ago, so many young people, 16, 17 and 18 years old, grew up. They grew up while sitting down on lunch counter stools by sitting in, by sitting down, and by standing up for the very best in American tradition. As we celebrate African American history month, we pay tribute to the hundreds and thousands of young people that changed America forever. Tonight, Mr. Speaker, we pay tribute to the young people, young students, black and white, who were born only with a dream, who had the raw courage to put their bodies on the line. We all salute them tonight for their work, for their commitment and for their dedication to bringing down those signs that I saw when I was growing up in the American South that said white men, colored men; white women, colored women; white waiting, colored waiting. We live in a different America, in a better America because these young people, these young children made history. So tonight, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the time to yield time to the gentleman from the great State of Illinois, the city of Chicago (Mr. Davis).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey, for those kind and moving words. I yield to my friend and colleague from the great State of Iowa (Mr. Ganske).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and my colleague for those very moving words and thank him for his participation, and I thank him for keeping the faith and for keeping his eyes on the prize.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kind words and thank him for participating in this special order. Mr. Speaker, what I would like to do now is to yield to my friend and colleague from the great State of Brooklyn, New York (Mr. Owens).

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I say to my friend and my brother, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), I think it is so fitting and appropriate for him to be standing here as a representative of the great State of North Carolina because so much did take place in North Carolina, not just the sit-ins in Greensboro that got spread throughout the State and around the South, but a few months later in Raleigh, North Carolina, at Shaw University the founding of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee, where many of the young people gathered under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., where we really did come together to learn more about the philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this resolution. When I first came here 13 years ago as a Member of Congress from the State of Georgia and met the Reverend Dr. James Ford, I wanted to refer to Dr. Ford not as Dr. Ford or Reverend Ford but, like my colleague from New York, I wanted to call him Father Ford. For this man, this good and wise spiritual leader, is a blessing not just to this body but to our Nation and to all of her citizens. For 20 years, the Reverend Dr. James David Ford has started our session with the most important motion each day, a motion to the Congress and all Americans to pray and give thanks. Reverend Ford also reminds Congress every day that it is through faith, hope, and love that we serve. Through his selfless counseling and pastoral services to all Members and staff and his spiritual service as a new pastor in 1958 at the Lutheran Church in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, Reverend Dr. Ford, you have personified the very best that public service has to offer. I will miss you, Dr. Ford. We have traveled many roads together. We traveled together to a free and unified South Africa. You kept us calm. You prayed with us. We had good food together. We shared some good times together, but we shared some very high and lofty moments together. We traveled to Selma, Alabama. We have crossed many racial and religious bridges together. In the journey down the road less traveled together, my friend has made all of the difference to me and to many that you continue to touch and inspire each day. Dr. Ford, God bless you. May God keep you, your lovely wife, and your five children. We are going to miss you. But we will never ever forget you. Reverend Dr. Ford, my brother, and my friend, thank you for being you. Godspeed.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Oregon for yielding me this time. I want to thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) for bringing this legislation along with the gentleman from Oregon before us. It is fitting and appropriate that a plaque be placed near the statue of Lincoln near the Lincoln Memorial in honor of the speech ``I Have A Dream'' by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That speech was delivered on August 28, 1963, on a very hot summer day. On that day, Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke from his soul. He spoke from his heart. He said, ``I have a dream that is deeply rooted in an American dream.'' I was there that day, 23 years old. When Martin Luther King, Jr., stood to speak, he was not just speaking for himself, he was speaking for all Americans, not just for those of us 36 years ago now, but he was speaking for ongoing generations. So this plaque, ``I Have A Dream'' plaque, would inspire generations yet unborn, inspire young children, would help make us one Nation, one people, one family, the American family, the American community. It is my hope that all of our colleagues would join in together and support this little piece of legislation, that it would serve as a footnote, but more than a footnote, it would serve as a page in the history of our long struggle toward creating a sense of community, the beloved community. Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank these two wonderful men for bringing this legislation before us today.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Republican budget deal is a do-nothing bill, nothing for Social Security, nothing for Medicare. It hurts every family. The Republican budget bill does nothing to extend the life of Social Security, even by one single day. It fails to provide one penny for Medicare prescription drug benefits. The only thing it does do is hurt every family, every American family, every family, in a very real way. When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, the Republican budget deal is not right, it is not fair, it is not just; it is dead wrong.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is our sacred responsibility to make sure that all of our children have an equal opportunity to learn. But today I rise to express my deep concern that the Republican leadership does not share this commitment. While Democrats have been working night and day to improve education, to put more teachers in our schools and to reduce class sizes, the Republican leadership have been trying to take money out of the schools and away from the majority of this country's children. The Republican plan is not just. The Republican plan is not right. We should be building up our schools, not knocking them down. For the sake of our children, all of our children, we must fight for our schools.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

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

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Chair's approval of the Journal.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to congratulate the Atlanta Braves, America's team. I wish Bobby Cox and all the members of the Braves family the very best in their great nonviolent struggle against the New York Yankees. I say this morning: Braves, go Braves. Go and win. You must win. When you win, America wins. Go Braves. Go Braves.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is fitting today, a day on which our Atlanta Braves play for the right to join the New York Yankees in the World Series, that the United States Congress takes the time to pause and honor the contributions of a great Brave, Mr. Henry Aaron. Number 44 for the Atlanta Braves is the all-time leader in home runs, a record that stands among the greatest in sports. And while records are made to be broken, the spirit of inspiration that Mr. Aaron's example offers to all Americans will stand for all time. I am pleased to join my Georgia colleague, Congressman Saxby Chambliss, in a truly bipartisan effort to ensure that the tremendous achievements of Henry Aaron, the baseball player and the man, are recorded by the U.S. Congress. We cannot forget the difficult times, the troubled waters, and the lonely bridges that Henry Aaron and his family had to contend with. When a young Henry Aaron dared to dream of being a professional baseball player, he could not have imagined the naked, raw, and uncaring face of discrimination that he would later confront virtually every day. But despite the hurdles that both baseball and life placed in his way, henry Aaron refused to allow his dreams to die. He fought on not only to merely play professional baseball but to surpass the records of Ruth on his way to becoming one of the greatest players of all times. Today I honor Henry Aaron, not only for the thrill of watching a great player swing his way into the record books but for the pride of watching a great man march his way into the history books. I rise, indeed I ask all of us to rise today in honoring the now and forever Number 44 of the Atlanta Braves, Mr. Henry Aaron.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, due to my absence, I was unable to attend the House of Representatives on several votes. If I had been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on final passage of H.R. 2140; ``aye'' on final passage on H.R. 2886; ``aye'' on final passage on H. Con. Res. 196; ``nay'' on the motion to instruct conferees on the Commerce/Justice State Appropriations Bill; and ``aye'' on approving the Journal.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great concern. I am deeply concerned that millions of Americans are without health care. I am concerned that parents cannot afford to take their sick children to see a doctor. Too many of us are more worried about insurance companies than patients' care. We are more concerned with managing liability than caring for those who are sick and weak. This is not just, this is not right, this is not fair. Access to health care is a right. Mr. Speaker, we need to pass a meaningful Patients' Bill of Rights. We need a bill that will hold insurance companies responsible. We need a bill that will give patients the right to sue in State courts. We need to do what is right. Let us not jeopardize this remarkable opportunity we have worked so hard and so long to build. My colleagues, the people of America are counting on all of us. Mr. Speaker, let us work together to pass one of the most important health care bills in our lifetime. Now is the time, not next year, not next month or next week, but now is the time to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights, without poison pills. Let us do what is right. Do it for the American people. Do it for the 40 million without any health insurance, without health care. Pass this bill for the people. Pass the Dingell-Norwood bill.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Republicans launched a new ad campaign accusing the Democrats of dipping into the Social Security surplus. In these ads, Republicans vowed to draw a line in the sand. It is time for the Republicans to get their heads out of the sand. Their own spending plan for next year takes $18 billion out of the Social Security surplus. Instead of running attack ads, it is time we start working together to pass a budget that addresses the needs of the American people. The American people, working families, seniors, and children, are waiting for this Congress to stand up and do something. The truth will set us free. The truth will liberate us all. It is time for us all to put our cards on the table. It is time for the Republicans to tell the truth. Speak the truth to the American people. That is what the American people deserve. That is what they need and that is what they want.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, the President was right to veto the Republican tax bill today. The President was right to put Social Security, Medicare, and pay down the national debt ahead of a tax break for the rich. The President was right. The Republican tax bill was wrong, dead wrong. It was a step in the wrong direction. We must use this historic opportunity to save Social Security and Medicare and to pay down our national debt. We should not be wasting it on huge tax breaks for America's wealthiest people. The Republican tax bill did nothing to save Social Security, nothing to strengthen Medicare, nothing to reduce our national debt. It was a huge windfall for the rich, pocket change for working Americans. It was a mistake. It was irresponsible. It was not the right thing to do. I thank the President for vetoing the Republican tax bill.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Republican tax deal is a step in the wrong direction. We must use this historic opportunity to save Social Security and Medicare and to pay down on our national debt. We should not be wasting it on huge tax breaks for America's wealthiest people. The Republican tax bill does nothing to save Social Security, nothing to strengthen Medicare, nothing to reduce our national debt. A huge windfall for the rich, pocket change; pocket change for working Americans. Yes, it is pocket change for working families. It is a mistake. It is irresponsible. It is not the right thing to do. It is not the right direction to go.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans are trying to ram through an $800 billion tax bill. The Republican tax bill does nothing to save Social Security, nothing to preserve or protect Medicare and nothing to reduce our national debt. The Republican tax bill provides huge tax breaks for America's wealthiest people while providing pocket change for American working families. Tens of thousands for the rich, pennies for working men and women. This is the Republican way. That is not fair, that is not right, that is not just. Mr. Speaker, we have a chance to finally put our economic house in order, to pay down our national collected credit card. Just when we are in a position to do what is right, the Republican want to go on a shopping spree. The American people and this Congress should do what is right. We should reject the Republican tax bill.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my friend and my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley), for his leadership and his vision on this issue. Mr. Chairman, it is very difficult for me to come here tonight and to differ with my friend, my colleague and my brother from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), but I must. Mr. Chairman, it is time to close the doors of the United States Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning. The school has not served as a bridge between the United States and our Latin American neighbors. It has been a barrier to bringing peace and democracy to the region. Too many of the school's graduates have committed human rights abuses and unspeakable acts of violence against their own people. For too long, the United States aided and abetted Latin America dictatorships that repressed human rights and even murdered their own citizens. As a Nation, we made a mistake, and we should admit it. We made a mistake. The President of the United States went to Latin America and said, we made a mistake. I apologize. We made a mistake. Today, we have an opportunity, we have the capacity, we have the ability to right that wrong. We can be sure, and we must close the School of the Americas. As we enter the new millennium, we deserve better than the School of the Americas. We deserve an institution that promotes our fundamental belief of democracy, peace, and human rights. The School of the Americas diminishes each and every one of these values. It diminishes us all. We should teach people the value of peace and democracy, not of war and dictatorship. Closing the School of the Americas is the right thing to do. It is good for democracy. It is good for the cause of peace. Mr. Chairman, it is time to close the School of the Americas. It is the right thing to do. Let us do it.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the supporters of Most Favored Nation status may have changed the name to ``Normal Trade Relations,'' but the situation in China has not changed. In fact, the conditions are getting worse. Just a few days ago, the Chinese government conducted its largest crackdown since Tiananmen Square. Thousands of religious worshippers were arrested. Chinese soldiers took people from their homes and places of worship. Some were beaten. The human rights abuses continue, and yet there are those who would reward China with MFN. Business as usual, trade as usual, and China does not change. We are sending the wrong message. We have a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate to stand up for human rights and for democracy. We must send a strong message that China must change its ways if it wants to continue doing business with the United States. Our foreign policy, our trade policy must be a reflection of our ideals and values. Renewing MFN allows China to continue its terrible abuses without repercussion. That is not right. Where are our morals? Where are our values? Where are our principles? I believe in free and fair trade, but it must not be trade at any price, and the price of renewing MFN for China is too high. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) for taking the lead in standing up for human rights and for democracy in China.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Republican tax bill is a ``do- nothing'' bill. It does nothing to protect Social Security, nothing to strengthen Medicare, nothing to reduce our national debt, and next to nothing to help working Americans. Mr. Darrell Stinchcomb is a fifth grade teacher in the Atlanta public school system. Darrell loves to teach and works hard to educate the next generation. In return, he earns $32,000 a year. Unfortunately, this Republican tax bill does almost nothing to help working Americans like Darrell. Under the Republican plan, Darrell would get a tax cut of just $20 a month, $240 a year. Yet a person earning $200,000 a year or more would get a tax break of over $9,000. $240 for working people like Darrell, $9,000 for the richest people in America. That is not right. That is not fair. That is not just. It is a shame and a disgrace. Most working Americans will receive little or nothing under the Republican tax bill. It does nothing, not one thing, to protect Social Security and Medicare. Nothing, but nothing, to reduce the national debt. A thousand for the rich, pocket change for working Americans. That is the Republican tax bill. Mr. Speaker, when I was growing up in rural Alabama, I was responsible for raising the chickens. The first lesson I learned was never, ever to count your chickens before they hatch. This Republican tax bill spends billions of dollars before we have it in the bank. It is a mistake. It is irresponsible. It is not the right thing to do. We finally have an opportunity to protect the future of Social Security and Medicare, not just for ourselves and our parents but for future generations. The Republican tax bill is a step in the wrong direction. It is a step backward. I urge my colleagues to defeat this irresponsible bill.