Kweisi Mfume

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 772 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 229 Minnetonka Avenue South in Wayzata, Minnesota, and I hope I am pronouncing that correctly, as the Jim Ramstad Post Office. Jim Ramstad was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, on May 6, 1946. He was a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the George Washington University Law School, as well as a member of the Army Reserve from 1968 until 1974. Jim became a State senator in 1981. There, he began shaping his personal and political life around the principles of recovery, honesty, resilience, transparency, and accountability. Jim Ramstad would then go on to serve in the Minnesota State Senate for 10 years before ultimately becoming a Member of this body, the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's Third District. In the Congress, he was a consensus builder, championing the bipartisan policies needed to reduce discrimination against those suffering from mental health and addiction problems. His signature legislation, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Treatment Act, was enacted in 2008 just before Jim retired from Congress. After retiring, he served as a fellow at Harvard University and as an adviser to Minnesota's Hazelden treatment center. Representative Ramstad lived the final 39 years of his life in absolute and complete sobriety. His story is the story of recovery, impacted in a way that many of us will not understand, but impacting the lives of Minnesotans and Americans. He died November 5, 2020, after battling Parkinson's disease for some time. Naming a post office for Jim Ramstad is an entirely appropriate measure, given his distinguished political career and contributions to his State and to his country. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips) for his leadership on this effort, for his leadership in the House, and for reminding me, especially, that the post office will reside in Wayzata, appropriately. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I urge passage of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 813) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1050 Sunset Road Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the ``Jose Hernandez Post Office Building''.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 813, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service at 1050 Sunset Road Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the Jose Hernandez Post Office Building. Jose Hernandez was born in 1971, in Arizona. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from Arizona State University and was stationed in Germany. In 2003, he deployed to Iraq for 1 year. When he was discharged from the Army, Mr. Hernandez moved to New Mexico with his wife and continued his career in public service at the U.S. Postal Service. New Mexicans on his mail route remember the days when they were in a rush and Mr. Hernandez would quickly go through his mailbag just to get them their mail before they had to rush on their way. And they remembered the slower days when he would join them for a short chat or simply sit for a moment to enjoy the weather. In April of 2019, letter carrier Jose Hernandez was tragically killed while protecting a mother in an argument with her son. Mr. Hernandez intervened to try to peacefully end the dispute, but was, instead, shot and killed by the young man. Mailboxes along his former route quickly became memorials, while his colleagues made their own memorial at his former post office. So naming a post office after this distinguished public servant, who gave his life in the line of duty trying to protect an innocent woman, I think is the very least that this body can do. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the distinguished gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Haaland).

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico for being here as the Secretary- Designate of the Interior Department. This is a confirmation day. So to be at both places at the same time is very important, and I think it underscores her real heartfelt appreciation with respect to this legislation and its passage. Having said that, I urge passage of H.R. 813, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 208) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 500 West Main Street, Suite 102 in Tupelo, Mississippi, as the ``Colonel Carlyle `Smitty' Harris Post Office''.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 208, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 500 West Main Street, Suite 102 in Tupelo, Mississippi, as the Colonel Carlyle ``Smitty'' Harris Post Office. Smitty Harris entered the Air Force on January 2, 1951, and served through the rank of sergeant before being commissioned. He retired from the Air Force in 1979 as a colonel. In his career, he flew fighter aircraft and was an instructor and operations officer and a faculty member at the Air War College. On April 4, 1965, just a week before his 36th birthday, he was on a combat mission over North Vietnam to bomb the Thanh Hoa Bridge. Smitty was successful in destroying the bridge, but his F-105 fighter plane was hit and Smitty was forced to bail out over North Vietnam. He was captured immediately and spent the next 8 years as a prisoner of war in various prisons, where he was confined, mistreated, and tortured. He is credited with introducing the tap code to POWs so that they could communicate surreptitiously between their cell walls. During his distinguished Air Force career, Smitty earned two Silver Medals, three Legion of Merits, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars for valor, two Purple Hearts, and two Air Medals as well. Smitty retired from the Air Force in August of 1979, and entered directly into the University of Mississippi School of Law, joining the Mississippi bar in December of 1981. His post-Air Force employment included banking law and marketing. In October of 2012, Colonel Harris was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Air Force Association. Tupelo, Mississippi, is the home to Smitty and to Louise, their two daughters, and a son who was born in Okinawa shortly after Smitty was shot down. Their spouses, as well as others in their family, reside in Tupelo. Madam Speaker, we are urging today an extra honor for Smitty Harris, a true American, by naming this postal facility after him. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for his remarks, and I thank him for his service, as well. The distinguished gentleman also is a Major General of the Army National Guard Element, Joint Force in Mississippi. I don't take that lightly. I appreciate all he has done, and I appreciate him calling the name of Sam Johnson, who I served with previously in this body. Madam Speaker, I went to the Hanoi Hilton as a tourist, and stood there in pain looking at what he and Senator McCain, and so many others went through in that facility. I mean, it just brings you back to Earth. And sometimes we take lightly the service. Sometimes, we take lightly the fact that some of our servicemen and women were captured. And sometimes, we take lightly the fact that war can happen at any time. And when it does happen, we hope that it will continue to always bring out the best in all of us. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand here and to give these remarks from our side of the aisle about Smitty. I talk about him as if I know him, but when I read about him, I feel like I do know him. My thanks to the gentleman from Mississippi and the gentlewoman from South Carolina for leading this discussion on the other side. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Ms. Pelosi and our House Democratic colleagues who moved swiftly to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald J. Trump for his role in inciting the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on this United States Capitol. This impeachment is not about politics. It is about the President's failed attempt to overturn a free and fair election, a violent insurrection, and the ongoing threat this President poses to our nation. For months, President Trump knowingly spread falsehoods about a ``stolen election'' in an effort to subvert the results and a peaceful transfer of power. Through an act of desperation, he called and threatened a government official demanding that he finds ``lost votes'' in Georgia or face criminal charges. As if this were not enough, the President went a step further, pressuring Vice President Michael Pence to unlawfully reject certification of Electoral College votes. Then, in a last-ditch effort to regain power, on the morning of January 6, 2021, President Trump urged his supporters to prevent Congress from certifying the election results. The scenes from January 6th's deadly domestic terror attack will forever be etched in the hearts and minds of our families, neighbors, and colleagues. Mr. Trump has peddled vitriol, violent anger, and extremism for years. Since the day he was elected to serve this great nation as Commander in Chief, he has provided oxygen to the dangerous ideologies of white supremacy. That hate grew, festered, and eventually culminated into the chaos and siege of the U.S. Capitol. Five Americans died during this violent attack and more than 50 police officers were seriously injured. President Trump, through his traitorous incitement of insurrection, broke his constitutional oath to preserve, protect, and defend our country. This offense warrants not only impeachment but immediate removal from office and permanent disqualification from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit in these United States. While it is unfortunate that our nation has come to this place, it is incumbent upon Congress to act. I firmly believe history will judge the idle and the complicit. On the 13th day of January in the year 2021, I am standing with my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to perform my constitutional duty to protect American democracy and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will vote to impeach Donald J. Trump.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Pallone of New Jersey. I appreciate his oversight of this bill and the way his committee has moved us to where we are today. Mr. Pallone and I go way back. When I left this body some time ago, I didn't know I would come back and he would be chair of the committee, but I couldn't think of a better person. I also say to Mr. Walden, the ranking member from Oregon, that the body obviously will miss you. And as you heard on both sides of the aisle with the comments that have been made, people have respected your leadership and the leadership that you have brought to that committee both as ranking member and as chair. By the way, let me tell you, there is life after Congress. I went out and found 24 years of it before coming back. So best of everything to you, sir. Members of the body, if I might, let me just talk a bit about a distinguished, in my opinion, woman whose picture is here beside me. Her name was Henrietta Lacks. She was born 100 years ago in Roanoke, Virginia. Mrs. Lacks and her husband and her family later moved to Baltimore County in 1941, seeking, as a lot of people did, what they thought were jobs that were available the further north you moved. They moved to an area near what was known as the old Bethlehem Steel Plant. Henrietta and her family lived not far from me and my family in a segregated Black enclave known as Turner Station. Ironically, Mrs. Lacks got ill. In 1951, as a young mother, she went to the hospital complaining of vaginal bleeding. She went to Johns Hopkins at the time, which was one of the few hospitals that African Americans could go to and be treated. Upon examination, gynecologists discovered a large, malignant tumor in her cervix. During her treatment there, two cell samples were taken from Mrs. Lacks and from her cervix without her permission and without her knowledge. One sample was healthy tissue, the other sample was cancerous tissue. And these samples were given to a physician and a cancer researcher at Hopkins to study. What this researcher would soon discover was that Mrs. Lacks' cells were unlike any others he had ever seen. Where other cells would die, Mrs. Lacks' cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours. This continued after her death. The cells from the cancerous sample became known eventually as the HeLa immortal cell line. The HeLa immortal cell line is the oldest and the most commonly used human cell line in scientific research anywhere in the world. The cell line was found to be remarkably durable and prolific, which allows its use extensively in scientific study. This was the first human cell line to prove to be successful in in vitro studies, which was a scientific achievement with profound implications on the future and profound benefits to medical research. HeLa cells can divide an unlimited number of times in a laboratory cell culture plate as long as fundamental cell survival conditions are met and sustained. There are, as we have come to know over time, many strains of HeLa cells as they continue to mutate in other cell cultures, but all HeLa cells are descended from the same tumor cells once removed from Mrs. Lacks. The total number of HeLa cells that have been propagated in cell culture far exceeds the number of cells that were in her body. Today, these incredible cells are used to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones, and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without having to experiment on humans while that is being done. They have been used to test the effects of a number of different things: radiations, poisons, to study the human genome, and to learn more about how all viruses ultimately work, and they have played a crucial role in the development of the polio vaccine. When Jonas Salk was so close to getting to what he thought was an effective vaccine, Dr. Salk tested the vaccine against the cells, and the cells directed him to make the vaccine even more potent. The NIH analyzed and evaluated scientific literature over the course of time involving HeLa cells and found that over 110,000 publications cited the use of those cells from 1953 to 2018. So this analysis, I think, further highlights the persistent impact of HeLa cells in science and in medicine, proving that they have been a consistent and essential tool that has allowed researchers to expand their knowledge base in fields such as cancer biology, infectious disease, and many, many other areas. There is so much to be said about Ms. Lacks, who died in that same Black, poor enclave many, many years ago, but to her credit and to the credit of all science, her living clearly was not in vain, and her death has proven something that nobody ever anticipated at the time: that there could even be such a cell that would continue to develop and mutate long beyond the donor's ability to live. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger) of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire how much time remains on my side.

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My thanks, again, to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the others who have spoken on behalf of this, including Congressman Ruppersberger, who has been, as he indicated, a part of this effort for a while. And that while goes all the way back to the other reason that I am here today, and that is my friend of 42 years and a Member of this body for 23 years, the late Elijah Cummings, who originally introduced this bill before his death, and a commitment that I made to he and to others long ago that, working outside of the Congress, I would be supportive of him. But now that I am inside, I wanted to make sure that I got unanimous consent from this body, as I did a month or so back, to be able to assume the leadership of this bill, its sponsorship, and to move it forward, and we have been doing all that we could to get to this point. Again, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not thank Mr. Pallone and Mr. Walden for their efforts. Let me, if I might, just say a couple of things, Mr. Speaker. It has been long recognized that the burden of cancer is not equal and not equivalent among different racial and ethnic groups in our society. In fact, there is a fourfold increase, or disparity, in the number of Black people diagnosed with cancer in this country as compared with the proportion of Black people participating in clinical trials. The gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) mentioned how sensitive this is right now as we are trying to work with drug companies to come up with a number of vaccines. And whether it was the Pfizer trial or the Moderna trial, one thing is clear: there has never seemed to be enough persons of ethnic backgrounds, particularly African Americans and Latinos, who are participating in these trials. To underscore this more, let me remind you that 20 percent of Alzheimer's patients in this country are African American, but only 3 to 10 percent are the trial participants in clinical trials. As I said, COVID is a disease with a roughly twofold higher rate of diagnosis and mortality between African Americans and other populations. So all of that, in the aggregate, really stresses the need for a more diverse research participatory effort in order to fully understand, comprehensively deal with, and cure these diseases. Clinical trials are an essential step in advancing potential new cancer treatments. We know that. Patient participation in those trials is absolutely crucial to their success. Now, many patients will express a willingness to participate in clinical research, yet only a small fraction of those persons do actually do that. In terms of the larger African-American community, some of the barriers that have existed continue to exist. People can't take time off from their job to participate and be studied in a clinical trial, or, more importantly, there is this level of distrust. The distrust, particularly among African Americans, goes back to 1932, when our government, through the United States Public Health Service, oversaw and gave authorization for what was to become known as the infamous Tuskegee Study, where 600 Black men, without their knowledge, without their approval or consent, were injected with syphilis and told that they were being treated for something altogether different. Those 600 men lived and watched their bodies change. Many of them may had reinfected others. They suffered a great deal of pain. And nowhere during that time did the government step in and say, ``Stop it.'' That Tuskegee study, which many of us grew up hearing about, is something that lurks in the minds of a lot of African Americans about why you can't trust the government on research when it comes to your body. The shame that went with that ought to be a collective shame that all of us in this country feel. We are beyond 1932. People are still getting ill. There are all sorts of infectious diseases. We need vaccines, and we have to find a way now to participate in that process and to find a way to get beyond the things that hold us back. But in this instance, I just thought it was important to mention why that reluctance tends to exist. Racial and ethnic groups, and older Americans, rural Americans, and poor Americans, are all the groups that still remain underrepresented in cancer clinical trials. Without action, these groups will continue to face barriers in terms of enrollment in cancer and other clinical trials, which then deprive many Americans from access to effective treatments and effective interventions. Mr. Speaker, I close by reminding us how we began, and that is with the story, the life, and the lesson of Henrietta Lacks, who died at an early age, a mother of five who came north seeking employment, who developed an illness, who got treated, and who, without her knowledge or consent, had cells taken out of her body that were not cancerous--in addition to the cancerous cells--only to miraculously find that there was something very, very special about Ms. Lacks and her biological makeup: a cell that continued to mutate and to mutate and to double long after it was taken from her body, long after her death, and even now has created 110,000 studies about this miraculous cell, which we call HeLa, that has been the basis of research, Nobel award-winning research, in the years that followed. My thanks to all of you for participating and for understanding the passion that drove Elijah on this, that drives me on this. I want to thank the Lacks family, the Henrietta Lacks Foundation. I want to thank the American Cancer Society, the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Research America, and all the other organizations that continue to fight to bring about some sort of balance and equity in the whole issue of research and clinical trials. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Trone, and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to join this Special Order on behalf of the late Senator Paul Sarbanes. Mr. Speaker, I want to just thank John Sarbanes, our distinguished colleague from Maryland, for being here, for accepting our joint and individual condolences over the last several days, and for being so very, very much like his father. I also want to extend that same thanks to Michael Sarbanes and to their sister, Janet, and to the larger Sarbanes family of in-laws, many of whom we have not met, all of whom share in this hour of this overwhelming sense of loss. It is loss both for the family and, obviously, I hope we would agree, for the entire Nation, regardless of what side of that aisle that we sit or stand on. I first came to know, if I may use that term, Paul Sarbanes in May of 1974, when, as a student of political science, I devoured every opportunity I could to watch political proceedings. And I remember the assignment that we got that May: to make sure that we watched, understood, and learned from what was then the impending impeachment proceedings against Richard Milhous Nixon. So on a small, fuzzy TV, I got introduced to Paul Sarbanes. And along with him, I got introduced that month to Peter Rodino of New Jersey, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, and to Larry Hogan, Senior, the only Republican to vote for all Articles of Impeachment. I was just struck by the fact that no matter how much I had heard or believed or given into the fact that politics was just posturing and that politicians would say anything and do anything in order to secure a vote, I saw three men that day, led by Paul Sarbanes, who exemplified, to me at least, the highest ideals of moral character that I had seen coming out of Washington--or any other chamber--because of the way they conducted themselves, but more importantly, because of the principles that they held onto, that in many instances could, in fact, and might, indeed, cost them votes. But they believed, nonetheless, that the sacred oath of office that we all took when we came to this Chamber, or when others have gone to the Senate, must be something that we abide by. And so I got a special sense of pride when I realized that not only was this Paul Sarbanes, this dashing young man who was absolutely brilliant on details, not only was he saying and doing and representing all of us, I thought, in the best way possible, he was also from the State of Maryland, which gave me extra pride and extra pause. I said to myself, if I were to ever be elected to the office, that is the standard that I should subscribe to, that is the standard that I should emulate, and that is the standard that I think all of us benefit from, a standard bequeathed by Paul Sarbanes and others that is just as important today as it was that hot day in May of 1974. And so while the House has a sense of loss because of Paul's time here and his work with so many of us, because the Senate has that same sense of loss, I would dare suggest that in Annapolis, Maryland, that the State legislature feels that same way for the many days that he walked those halls and the many bills that he helped usher through them. We all think about Sarbanes-Oxley, but Paul Sarbanes, lest it ever be misunderstood, fought like crazy to expand affordable housing and to stabilize Social Security and Medicaid trust funds and Medicare trust funds. He fought, as John mentioned earlier, for the little things that may escape many of us, that we might feel that we are too big or too proud to do, just the notion of making sure that people got the same mail delivery on a block who happened to be Black and who happened to be citizens. So there are a lot of things that can and will be said, I think and I know, about Paul and his life and what he stood for and what he believed in. Let me say a couple of others. Paul Sarbanes had a good heart. He loved Christine. Whenever I saw him, I saw her. And I said to him once: Paul, isn't Christine tired of you dragging her out to this dinner and to this event and to this speaking engagement? He said: No, she is actually dragging me out, because there are some times when I don't want to go out. But he had a very, very good heart, and they represented just the best of matrimony. I sent a text to John an hour after I learned of the passing of his dad, and I said, among other things: John, you and your sisters won the parents sweepstakes. You just had great parents, great role models, who were great Americans. So Shakespeare said of that kind of good heart long, long ago, something that he took to pen with, he said that a good heart is like the Sun and the Moon, for it shines bright; it never changes because it keeps its course. Paul Sarbanes kept his course. He was unawed by opinion, unseduced by flattery, and undismayed by disaster. He instinctively knew that America was not like a blanket: one size, one shape, one texture, or one color; but, rather, and instead, he realized that the America that we all love is so much more like a quilt: different shapes, different sizes, different textures, and different colors, all woven and held together by a single precious thread of democracy. Paul has taught us so much, and as students who followed him, worked with him, believed with him, loved him, and now miss him, we could never be more thankful.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for convening us to commemorate this 155th anniversary of the ratification of our 13th Amendment. It is difficult sometimes for many of us to look back at history because it was so painful, but it is important so that we understand where we are and how we got here. The enslavement of the Negro, the extermination of the Indian, the annexation of the Hispanic made, in many respects, the birth of our Republic an iniquitous conception. It was conceived under the concept that White men were superior to Black men and, therefore, entitled to oppress them, harass them, and, if necessary, destroy them. We all talk about, as has been mentioned here today, the words of the Declaration of Independence and how this is a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal and that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those shall be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But the great historian John Hope Franklin reminded us that, many years after those words were written, we still existed in a society where slavery was the order of the day. In fact, it was the great historian John Hope Franklin who referred to it as the great evil institution of American servitude. It would be the 13th Amendment that would, to a large extent, end that and give us what we are celebrating here today. But even after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, it was still several years before we got to the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery; the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and due process; and then the 15th Amendment, which gave us and ratified for us the right to vote. I think that, without a doubt, when we look back on all that has happened, particularly considering how we got here, that this commemoration is important. It is overdue. It ought to be an annual celebration. I, again, thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina for convening us.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the primary sponsor of H.R. 4467, the Witness Security and Protection Grant Program Act of 2019, a bill originally introduced by Representative Cummings of Maryland, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the primary sponsor of H.R. 2981, the Parren Mitchell Minority Business Education and Empowerment Act of 2019, a bill originally introduced by Representative Cummings of Maryland, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the primary sponsor of H.R. 1966, the Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer Research Act of 2019, a bill originally introduced by Representative Cummings of Maryland, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained earlier. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 217.

Mr. MFUME

Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, this legislation, this bill, this movement, and this purpose that we are debating today really found its genesis long ago with a Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, when, on May 17, 1954, nine men robed in black assembled not far from here to announce on the steps their unanimous decision to end segregation in public education. On that day, among the Nation's Black citizens, there was, indeed, a celebration, and it was a celebration, indeed, by many of its Whites. Many of us thought that this decision was the launching of the threshold of a new era in life when education all across this Nation would be treated the way it should be for all of its citizens. Many people felt in the bowels of their being and in their very existence that this Nation again at long last would find a way to launch itself into a new era. So this is the manifestation of that new era. This legislation extends the guarantees, the protections, and the expectations of that decision; and it is the expectations that we are talking about today: to be able to provide the kind of education and the kind of treatment of education that would extend to all people, to increase diversity, and to do away with those things that have held us back for so many, many years. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the sponsor of this bill. I urge my colleagues to understand her intent and the expectations that it brings with it so that we might do the right thing and pass it. I urge an ``aye'' vote, Mr. Speaker.