John Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying this House and the Speaker cannot tolerate a double standard. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me quote what Speaker Gingrich said in 1988 about the investigation of Speaker Wright: I am concerned that the scope, authority and independence of the special counsel will be limited by the guidelines the Ethics Committee has established. Gingrich went on-- The House of Representatives, as well as the American public, deserve an investigation which will uncover the truth. At this moment, I am afraid that the apparent restrictions placed on this special counsel will not allow the truth to be uncovered. Speaker Gingrich was right then, and the same rules should apply today. Let the special counsel uncover the truth. If the Speaker has nothing to hide, do not limit the scope of the special counsel's investigation.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, news reports today suggest that the House Ethics Committee, composed of five Republicans and five Democrats, has concluded they must hire an outside counsel to investigate Speaker Gingrich. All I can say is, it's about time. Now, however, there are those who would limit the scope of the outside counsel's investigation, tying his or her hands. point of order

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, tell me why I am being muzzled. Tell me why there is a conspiracy to silence me.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Kasich-Dellums amendment. We should not spend money we don't have on planes we do not need. Twenty more B-2 bombers will not help our children, our sick, our elderly, or national security. Buying more will not make our world a safer place. President Eisenhower warned us of this day. He said: ``every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.'' This is the choice we make today. The time must come for a great nation to have the courage, the raw courage, not to spend millions and billions of dollars on weapons of mass destruction. The time has come. Look in our hearts. Gather the courage to do what is right. Say ``no'' to more B-2's. Say ``yes'' to our children, our people, our future.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 789.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I am deeply troubled and anguished by what is happening in Bosnia. We all share the pain and the suffering. We have seen the horror. Women are raped, children are brutalized, and young men are taken away to an uncertain fate--often death. These people of Bosnia are part of the family of humankind. When they bleed, we bleed. When they suffer, we suffer. When they are slaughtered and killed, something dies in all of us. What is happening in this part of the world is an affront to all humanity. We--as the community of nations--cannot, and we must not, stand by in the face of this carnage. I--like everyone else--have watched in anguish as the United Nations failed to defend the safe areas in Bosnia. But I know that the British and French have troops in Bosnia. Lifting the embargo is not so simple or clear. We will send troops to help remove the U.N. forces if we lift the arms embargo. How many of us are prepared to send American troops--our young men and women--to Bosnia to fight in this conflict? A vote for this resolution is a vote to send American troops into Bosnia. Every member of this body must know this. This vote is not a free vote. This vote has consequences. The question is not whether to stop the violence. We all want to stop the violence. The question is how to stop the violence. Will unilaterally lifting the embargo bring peace to this region? Or will it spread the conflict and increase the toll of death and destruction? We must strengthen our resolve to defend innocent men, women, and children. But we cannot act alone. We must give this fresh plan a chance. The U.N. must allow NATO to defend the safe areas. Mr. Chairman, we all are frustrated. All of humanity is crying out for a solution to this conflict. This vote is our attempt to act, to do something. But we must not move this way. We must strengthen our U.N. mission. If it does not work, then later we may have to act on our own. American willingness to work with the community of nations is at stake. Our allies have troops on the ground--they are in harm's way. Mr. Chairman, I stand here with a heavy heart--I want to do what is right. I want to end the genocide. I have thought long and hard about this vote. I have searched my soul and conscience, and I have concluded now is not the time to unilaterally lift the arms embargo. It will not help stop the killing. It will not end the bloodshed. We must urge the United Nations to stop the violence--to stop the Serbian aggression. We must protect the innocent people of Bosnia. We must protect the safe areas. Now is not the time to get lost in a sea of despair. With our allies, we have taken a stand against Serbian aggression. Now we must be strong in that stand. Mr. Chairman, I will oppose this resolution.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, with Harry Truman watching, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into a law a program to guarantee health insurance for every person over 65. Thirty years ago, Medicare was born. Thirty years ago, half our senior citizens did not have health insurance. Today, because of Medicare, 99 percent of our elderly have health insurance. The Republicans are threatening the Medicare program. And they are doing it to pay for tax breaks promised in their so-called Contract With America. But make no mistake about it, that is not the Contract With America. I have here in my pocket the true contract with America--the Medicare Act signed by President Johnson. This is our contract with our parents, with our children, with our grandchildren. This is our contract with America. Medicare is a sacred trust with our seniors and our families. It cannot and must not be violated.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this rule. I want to thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], the chairman, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf], the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] and the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] for all their good work. We must send a very strong message to China. Mr. Speaker, we must send a strong message to China. We must let China know that if they want to join the community of nations, they must treat their people with respect and dignity. We must tell them that selling arms to Iran, a terrorist nation, is unacceptable. Harry Wu's arrest is only the most recent reminder of China's longstanding human rights abuses. We cannot forget the day the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square. Terrible human rights abuses continue to this day. Political prisoners in China and Tibet are brutally tortured. Religious leaders are imprisoned. Democratic reformers are jailed. There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of press, no freedom at all. We have a moral obligation and a mandate to tell China to change its ways. As a Congress and as a nation, we cherish freedom, and we must speak out. We cannot stand by while China stifles dissent and disagreement. We cannot stand by while the Chinese Government tortures its prisoners. We cannot stand by while China exports goods made in slave labor camps. We cannot stand by while China detains an American citizen, Harry Wu, and threatens him with the death penalty. I truly believe that if you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything. We cannot have trade at any cost. We must not let the democracy movements in China and Tibet fall. We must stand with the people who are fighting for freedom. I urge my colleagues to support this Rule.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this morning Speaker Gingrich will present a check to students who participate in the Earning by Learning Program which pays schoolchildren $2 for every book they read. Speaker Gingrich has touted this program for years, stressing the low overhead as a major selling point. In a speech this January the Speaker declared: The money only goes to the kids * * * So if you have $1,000 you can pay for 500 books, whereas in the welfare state model, if you have $1,000, you pay $850 of it for the bureaucracy. But, lo and behold, according to the Wall Street Journal this week, Mr. Gingrich's official biographer, Mel Steely, also happens to run this program. And according to this report Mr. Steely and two friends were paid 90 percent, yes 90 percent, of the money raised in the past year for the program. Ninety percent for the Speaker's friends and 10 percent for the children; this is the way, this is the way things work in the Gingrich corporate welfare model.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, while I was in my district yesterday, I met senior citizens who are frightened. They don't have much money to spare, and they watch what they spend. They are worried that they will lose the security of Medicare. They understand that cuts to Medicare are not reform. They understand that they will pay more. I share their concern. The Republicans say they will give seniors more [[Page H 7016]] choice. But they do not mention that many seniors cannot afford the choice. Our elderly will pay more and get less. Republicans say they must cut Medicare to save it. If my Republican colleagues are concerned about the Medicare Program, why do they cut Medicare to pay for tax cuts for the rich? This will not help Medicare. Thirty years ago, Congress and the President signed a sacred trust with our seniors--Medicare. We must not stand by while that trust is broken.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a program that gives security to our Nation's elderly and hard-working families. I rise in support of Medicare. We beat you to death to keep someone else from killing you. The Republicans say that they are cutting Medicare to save Medicare. But it is time to be honest with the American people. These cuts will not help Medicare. These cuts pay for tax breaks for Americans earning over $200,000 a year. And, at the same time, the average senior citizen will pay $1,000 more for health care. We must help the Medicare Program, and I have supported efforts to do so. But we should not and must not take away the security of health care insurance for our elderly. These cuts to Medicare are not reform. I know it, You know it, It's time the American people know it. Don't support Medicare cuts to pay for tax breaks for the rich. That is not right. That is not fair.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. Our flag is a powerful symbol. It represents the freedoms and individual liberty that make the United States the greatest democracy on earth. It makes me sick to see any person burn our flag. But I am appalled when I hear my colleagues try to tell that person that he or she cannot burn the flag. I would say to my colleagues the right to desecrate our flag is protected by the most important document in our country--the Bill of Rights. There would be no United States of America without the Bill of Rights. The States refused to join the union until they were assured that the rights of our citizens would be protected. And what is the first freedom guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? Freedom of speech. The freedom to disagree. The freedom to have political beliefs--and to express those beliefs publicly and openly. More than any other freedom, this is what makes our country great. Our freedom, our individual rights and liberties, are what our flag represents. When we deny our citizens the right to desecrate the flag, we diminish these freedoms. When we diminish our freedoms, we diminish our flag, our country, and ourselves. Our flag, while a great symbol, is still just a symbol--a symbol of our rights and freedom. What is worse, destroying a flag, or destroying the liberty that flag represents? Mr. Speaker, we must not choose the symbol over the real thing. This resolution is an affront to the flag. It is an affront to the Bill of Rights. This amendment will do more to desecrate the flag than any bonfire--or any protest. If Old Glory would speak, she would cry for us. She would weep. Old Glory is strong. She has stood the test of time. She has stood the test of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam. Old Glory does not need 435 Members of Congress to defend her. She is not crying out for our help. I urge each and every one of you to look within yourself, to stand up for freedom. Show the world that the United States is, indeed, the greatest Nation on earth. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to vote against this amendment--it is the only way, the sure way, to protect our flag.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, we are all in agreement, Democrats and Republicans; we must put the financial affairs of our country back in order. Our huge national debt, the legacy of the Reagan and Bush administrations, must be eliminated. The question, Mr. Speaker, is how to cut and what to cut. The Republicans in Congress want to cut school lunches for our children, cut our student's college loans and cut Medicare for our senior citizens. This is how the Republicans propose to balance the budget. Students will have to pay thousands more to attend college and our parents and grandparents will have to spend an extra $1,000 per year for their health care. At the same time the Republicans propose giving a tax break to the wealthiest people in America, the super rich, the top 1 percent. This approach, is wrong, just plain wrong. Mr. Speaker, when are the Republicans in this House going to realize that the American people want to get the financial affairs of this country in order, but not on the backs of our children and senior citizens and not while giving tax breaks to the richest people in America.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern over Monday's Supreme Court decision on affirmative action. I believe this ruling sends the wrong message. I believe there is no justification in diminishing the power of the Federal Government in building a diverse workplace and ensuring opportunity for all Americans. Mr. Speaker, the American people should know that affirmative action does not promote unqualified people and firms into jobs and institutions. Instead, it has provided minorities and women equal access to education, jobs, and contracts. Affirmative action is an important tool to address the persistent dilemma of racial and gender inequality and discrimination. Now more than ever before, we need affirmative action because the scars and stains of racism and bigotry are still deeply embedded in the American society. We cannot go back and we must not go back.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans won the elections last November and they promised no more business as usual, and were they ever right. The ethical standards that have been adopted by the Republicans in this House are at the lowest level I have ever seen. Lobbyists writing legislation, Members letting outside groups send out partisan political mailings on their office stationary and, of course, at the center of it all, the Speaker of the House and his infamous book deal. Now, in the latest chapter, the Speaker has ignored the ethics committee and signed his contract with Rupert Murdoch. He has even launched a nationwide book tour. This, despite saying he would wait for the ethics committee to approve the deal, which they have not. They cut school lunches, they cut Medicare, they cut students' college loans, while the Speaker joins the club of millionaires. For Republicans, it is no more business as usual, it is time for making money.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I thank the gentlewoman for those comments.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I say to my friend, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown] I must agree with you. There is nothing radical about wanting to know what is in the air we breathe, what is in the water we drink or what is in the food we eat. I thank the gentleman very much for his comments. I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton]. celebrating the motor-voter law

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me agree with you that motor voter is good, and it is necessary to open up the political process. As you well know, in our own State hundreds and thousands of people have been registered during the past 3 months. I think in Georgia more than 3,000 people every single day are being registered because of motor voter.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me just thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for those comments, those words, and for participating really in this special order tonight. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr Brown]

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown], my friend and colleague.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown], for participating in this special order, for all of his good work to increase voter participation, long before I came to this body, as the Secretary of State of the great State of Ohio. I say to the gentleman, ``Thank you very much.'' On January 1 of this year, the National Voter Registration Act, known as motor-voter, went into effect. This month marks the two year anniversary of Motor Voter becoming law. Tonight I want to recognize the important role Motor Voter has played in registering voters and promoting democracy. The motor-voter law allows citizens to register at motor vehicle bureaus, welfare offices and other agencies. The goal of the law is to simplify voter registration and encourage people to participate in the political process. After only 3 months, the results are in. Motor Voter is working. In only 3 months, over 2 million citizens have registered or updated their registration. Motor Voter will add an estimated 20 million voters to the rolls by the 1996 election. Motor Voter would be an even greater success if all states complied with the law. Unfortunately, some States have not complied with the Motor Voter law. They refuse to follow the law of the land. Even some Members of Congress oppose Motor Voter. They want to repeal this successful law. Mr. Speaker, during an earlier period of my life, I put my body, my heart and my soul on the line to increase participation of all people in the political process. From the sit-ins to the Freedom Rides to the March on Washington, to the March from Selma to Montgomery, I and thousands of others worked for the civil rights of all Americans. We wanted to make one man, one vote--one woman, one vote--a reality. This was our cause. In the history of our nation, we were not alone. Time and again, ordinary American citizens have risen in defense of one person, one vote. From the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord to Abraham Lincoln-- from Susan B. Anthony to Viola Liuzzo--from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to James Chaney, Andy Goodman and Mickey Schwerner . . . people have given their heart, their soul--and often their lives--so that all Americans could vote. We have all come a long way. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution first stated that all people are created equal, and that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to our Constitution, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act have ensured that all Americans can exercise their right to vote. Motor Voter guarantees that they will. Too many people, especially the young and the poor, are sitting on the sidelines. They have not registered to vote. They are not going to the ballot box. We must encourage all Americans to vote. We all must be involved. For people not to register--for people to refuse to participate in the political process--is dangerous to the health of our country. Despite our proud democratic history--despite the obvious success of Motor Voter, certain Members of this body want to repeal Motor Voter. They want us to take a step back in history--a step away from having a truly democratic society. We must not let this happen. Why do so many of my colleagues want to repeal Motor Voter? Why do they want to make it harder for people to vote? What do they fear? That people will vote? That people will get involved? That we will expand democracy? This is what Motor Voter does. It makes it easier for all Americans to participate in our democratic process. Motor Voter opens up the process--it makes it easier for people to come in, to participate. Registering to vote is as simple as renewing your driver's license. The more people vote--the more people become involved--the more government becomes responsive to the people. Each and every citizen has the power to hold their elected officials accountable. [[Page H5565]] When people do not vote, they forfeit their power--they silence their own voices. They say ``I do not care.'' How can so many Members of Congress continue to oppose Motor Voter? They say it is an unfunded mandate--an unfunded mandate. My Colleagues, if telling states to register voters is an unfunded mandate, it's a mandate as old as the Constitution. Read article I, section 4 of the Constitution. ``The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.'' My Colleagues, our Constitution is not just another unfunded mandate. We cannot put a price tag on political participation. We cannot put a price on democracy. Despite the opposition, despite the attempts to make it harder for Americans to vote, I am heartened by all that Motor Voter has accomplished in three short months. We must encourage people to become involved--to stand up and speak out--to vote. We must continue to support Motor Voter. Now, Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentlewoman from the State of Georgia, the gentlewoman from the great State of Georgia [Ms. McKinney].

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me just thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from the State of Georgia, Cynthia McKinney, for participating in this special order tonight. I appreciate your help and all of your support. I think we have a moral obligation, a mandate, and a mission as Members of this body to do what we can to increase the political participation of all of our citizens. Open the process up, let everybody come in. Ms. McKinney. The gentleman knows that I have long admired his work and his advocacy on behalf of the American people and the American democracy. Just a word about the nature of this discourse tonight: This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is about the American people and enhancing and fine-tuning our democracy. We do have, we are blessed in this country to have the most perfect democracy on the face of the Earth. Yet it can still be a whole lot better. Motor voter is but one tool to get us there, and I appreciate the gentleman and his strong leadership and advocacy. You know you have my support every step of the way.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Thank you very much for those kind words and for participating in this special order tonight.

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Well, let me just say to my friend and colleague from Georgia, I will never forget some 30 years ago in the little town of Selma, AL, in the heart of the black belt in Dallas County in 1965. Only 2.1 percent of blacks of voting age were registered to vote. They had to take a so-called literacy test. People were afraid. There were black men and women teaching in the local college, black doctors and lawyers, but they flunked the so-called literacy test. They could only go down to attempt to register on the first and third Mondays of each month. On the third Monday in January 1965, it was my day to lead a group of people down to the Dallas County Courthouse. To be exact, it was January 18, and we walked up to the steps of the courthouse, and there was a sheriff named Jim Clark. He wore a gun on one side, a night stick on the other, and he carried an electric cattle prod in his hand, and he did not use it on cows, he used it on people, and he said to me, ``John Lewis, you're not some agitator. You're the lowest form of humanity.'' At that time I was almost 25, and I had all of my hair. I was a few pounds lighter, but I looked him straight in the eye, and I said, ``Sheriff, I may be an agitator, but I'm not an outsider. I grew up 90 miles from here, and we're going to stay here until these people are allowed to register and vote.'' And he said, ``John, you're under arrest,'' and he arrested me along with many other people. A few days later in a little town near Selma a young black man by the name of Jimmy Lee Jackson was leading the march for the right to vote. He was shot in the stomach by a state trooper, and a few days later he died. In the course of what happened to him we said that we were marching from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the Nation and to the world that people wanted the right to participate in the democratic process. And on March 7 we decided to march in twos, leaving downtown Selma, walking through the streets of Selma, about 525 of us, elderly men and women and a few young children. We came to the apex of the bridge. We saw a sea of blue. It was the Alabama State troopers. We continued to walk until we came within hearing distance of the State troopers, and a man identified himself and said, ``I'm Major John Cloud of the Alabama State troopers. I give you 3 minutes to disperse and go back to your church.'' In less than 1\1/2\ minutes he said, ``Troopers, advance,'' and they came toward us, beating us with night sticks and bull whips, trampling us with horses and using tear gas. This became known as bloody Sunday, and because of what happened in Selma, President Johnson came to this hall, and spoke to a joint session of Congress, and introduced the Voting Rights Act, and it was passed, and since then I must say, my colleague, we have seen hundreds and thousands and millions of new registered voters because this Congress had the courage to pass the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and Motor Voter is another step down that long road toward opening up the political process and letting all of the people come in.