Cynthia McKinney

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. I have a piece of legislation which has been introduced, House Resolution 2545, which proposes a solution to this problem. It gets us to color blindness, it gets us to republican representative democracy, it gets us to the kind of participation that we all want and value in this country. In the next special order we will talk about some solutions to this problem that do not rely on single-Member districts which have been the tool that the Voting Rights Act allowed us that are now under attack because they have been so successful.

Ms. McKINNEY. The Supreme Court has taken the bold step of declaring the district that I represent unconstitutional. I do not lose. The people of America lose. And if each one of us is taken out of this body, what kind of republic, what kind of democracy, can America claim? Is it that the Congressman from Alabama wants to say some concluding words?

Ms. McKINNEY. I would just like to say in conclusion thank you to all of the Members of this body who have come to me personally and, I am sure, have come to each of the other Members who are on this floor right now to express their concern about what is happening in redistricting, and how valuable our participation is and how valuable the notion of diversity is to having policies produced that are meaningful to the broad spectrum of the American electorate.

Ms. McKINNEY. The gentlewoman is absolutely right. I would like to conclude by saying that I know that there are people who understand this issue, who are not asleep during the counterrevolution and who truly appreciate that there is something wrong when a district like the Sixth District of Texas can be found constitutional, and the districts that we all represent can be found unconstitutional or can be challenged as to whether or not they are constitutional. I received a letter dated November 9 from Richard Hamilton from Fleetwood, PA, and he says, ``I'm a white northern conservative Republican. You have gained my respect through this speech. I wish there was some way I could help you with your problem. To lose someone like yourself through this redistricting is a tragedy for your district.'' This comes from the pen of a conservative, a staunch pro-gun, pro- life, small-government, low-taxes conservative: Government needs people like yourself. Your voting record, I'm sure, would be directly opposite to my views. No matter. This is a democracy. Even though I may not agree with some of your views, I respect them. Having heard you, I would be compelled to vote for you. You are qualified in every sense. I would be honored to have you represent me in Congress. Sounds crazy; doesn't it? Mr. Speaker, it does not sound crazy at all. Mr. Hamilton gets it.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out what the gentlewoman has referred to. The entire map of Texas was challenged, and they picked over this district. Talking about the lower court, the three judge panel found this district here, which is 91 percent white, constitutional. They did not find anything wrong with that district. They had to leap all the way to Barbara Jordan's district and say: Now, no, we do not want people like Barbara Jordan in Congress, so her district is unconstitutional; but this district right here withstands constitutional scrutiny.

Ms. McKINNEY. Barbara Jordan's historic district has now been found unconstitutional.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, the district in Dallas was found unconstitutional, and the district in Houston, more than ably represented by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, was also found unconstitutional.

Ms. McKINNEY. The gentlewoman from Texas, from Dallas, as well as the gentlewoman from Houston have both endured constitutional challenges to their districts where the lower court found that their districts were unconstitutional.

Ms. McKINNEY. The gentleman, with respect to his South Africa comments, raises an interesting question that I am glad you answered. We have with us a gentleman from Alabama, who is a strong fighter, always has been a strong fighter, and now he comes to the floor of this House to make sure that what happens in this whole redistricting arena is not something that catches people off guard. We want to make sure that folks are not asleep while this quiet counterrevolution takes place.

Ms. McKINNEY. I think the gentleman's point about the historical context in which this whole drama that is not being played out must be viewed is very important. To reiterate, 21 times blacks had their elections challenged, blacks in Congress had their elections challenged. Right now, we are looking at challenges that have been filed or are planning to be filed in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina legislative districts, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, New York, and Illinois. You are absolutely right, that this is not anything new.

Ms. McKINNEY. But how many years from North Carolina did it take?

Ms. McKINNEY. I certainly will.

Ms. McKINNEY. Oh, you are wonderful. We also know that this cold wind that has blown across the South did not start in Georgia and it did not stop in Florida. Actually, I think it probably started in North Carolina. And we have the subject of the North Carolina redistricting fight on the floor with us. And we also know that it swept through Texas, and we have the gentlewoman from Dallas with us; and we hope that Alabama will be spared, but we have the gentleman from Alabama with us, and I will yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Ms. McKINNEY. Congresswoman, there is an article here that I have from the Florida Times Union of November 24 where a noted political scientist from the University of Georgia is quoted as saying if a white Congressman has a 10-percent or 20-percent minority constituency, they might not have a person who votes 100 percent of the time with the black agenda but they will get those votes from him some of the time. So, apparently, representation some of the time is Ok.

Ms. McKINNEY. If the gentlewoman would allow me to reclaim my time for a moment. The tool that the gentlewoman used was the Voting Rights Act.

Ms. McKINNEY. It reads, ``At the time the Degrande court drew the districting lines for the State of Florida, it engaged in a good faith effort to adopt a politically neutral redistricting plan that would enhance the voting opportunities for African-American and Hispanic voters. The Degrande court closely followed the dictates of the Voting Rights Act and traditional redistricting principles throughout this process. This court must now reexamine the redistricting lines drawn by plan 308 and decide whether the contours of District 3 are unconstitutional in light of Shaw versus Reno and Miller.'' What this means is that in Florida the legislature did not draw the current congressional lines, the court did it, and when the court drew the lines, the court was operating in good faith, trying to do things that were beneficial to all of the people of the State of Florida. Now, because of what happened in North Carolina and what happened in Georgia, all of that is subject to change. Joining us is the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Meek]. But let me give you just a brief history. First of all, the Florida legislature could not pass a plan, so the courts had to intervene so that we could have elections in Florida. Now, there are many reasons why the Florida legislature could not pass a plan, but basically it was politics, politics, and more politics. Everyone that was in charge of redistricting was running for Congress. It is hard to take the politics out of politics.

Ms. McKINNEY. It certainly is. [[Page H 13797]] Mr. Speaker, changing our focus a little bit, I would like to ask a question, and the question is, what happens to a jogger, someone who strategizes, maps out a fitness routine, and the regime that is mapped out is done so that a target heart rate can be reached; and, unbeknownst, to our jogger, without any knowledge at all of our jogger, the wrong target heart rate has been given. Then the folks who gave the wrong heart rate allow the jogger to go out and jog. What happens? The jogger could die. The issue that I am about to talk about is a real issue of life and death, political life and political death. In my opinion, we have a few southerners who have conspired to orchestrate the political death of blacks, Latinos, and women. I have a transcript of a Florida hearing that just took place.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I do want to say one thing. I would like for Congresswoman Schroeder to come to this floor and tell the story, because I know she can tell it much better than I would ever be able to tell it, but she came to this Congress at a time when you just did not have women serving on the Committee on National Security and women serving in this Congress. She tells the story of how the chairman had she and the gentleman from California, Ron Dellums, share a single chair. Those are the kinds of stories that this leader had to endure in order to make sure that I could get a full seat in the U.S. Congress. Her story is a wonderful story that needs to be told, and her leadership has benefited us all.

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I feel compelled to at least make a statement about what we have heard over the last hour. I would just like to say that George Bush proclaimed a New World Order, but Bill Clinton is making one. Bosnia is not about war, it is about peace. In the ethnically diverse community of Dayton, OH, three warring ethnic groups came together, sat down at a table, and made peace. I really do not understand how people can advocate pouring billions of dollars into a defense establishment to make war, and at the same time they can deny sick kids Medicaid, they can raise taxes on the working poor, but they are not willing to make peace. I do not understand that. Also, I would just like to say a few words about an announcement that I heard about today, about the retirement of one of our leaders, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder]. I would just like to say that she is a trailblazer, a role model for all of us, and a real leader. Her leadership in the 105th Congress is sorely going to be missed. But because of her leadership I do not know how many Congresses before, she has made a way for me and other women who now serve in Congress, and her outspokenness on issues affecting families and children and women and men alike, really, has been really a beacon I guess, for all of us.

Ms. McKINNEY. So those who have 96 percent are not satisfied unless there is 100 percent?

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a 10-year-old son. My son accompanies me on the floor of this House. Now, if my presence here threatens the majority status, how do I explain that to my son when he clearly looks around and says: ``Well, mama, there ain't enough of you. There ain't very many women in this body. There ain't very many African-Americans in this body.'' So what is threatened by my presence in this body?

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, protecting majority status, there is nothing wrong with that. Our presence in this body does not threaten the majority status.

Ms. McKINNEY. So, actually, what the gentlewoman is saying is that the Members of Congress and the legislators were picking their voters before the voters had a chance to pick their representatives.

Ms. McKINNEY. Certainly.

Ms. McKINNEY

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, both Democrats and Republicans agree that the American worker is in need of relief. Stagnating wages, longer hours, corporate downsizing, and NAFTA have all taken their toll on what was once the world's highest living standard. By contrast, the stock market is breaking new records, corporate profits are going through the roof, and corporate executives are making 30 times more than their lowest paid employees. Yet the Republican solution to these inequities is to cut taxes for wealthy corporations, reduce worker safety, and increase funding for star wars and B-2 bombers. This trickle-down strategy, Mr. Speaker, is the crack cocaine of bad economic policy. I urge my colleagues to just say no to GOP dope.