Stacey Plaskett

Ms. PLASKETT

Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, every year during the month of March, we celebrate the contributions to events in history and modern society by women. We call it Women's History Month, but in my district, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the month of March is also commemorated as Virgin Islands History Month. So, in keeping with both customs, I would like to take the time to recognize a few Virgin Islanders who have broken the glass ceiling for women in the upper echelons of law in the territory and, indeed, in the United States, and who inspired generations of young women to do the same: The Honorable Eileen Ramona Peterson, who became the first female judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1971; the Honorable J'ada Finch- Sheen, who later became the first female sworn in as attorney general of the Virgin Islands; and the Honorable Wilma Lewis, who, among a long list of noteworthy accomplishments, was the first African American woman to serve as inspector general to the U.S. Department of the Interior and, later, as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Judge Lewis currently serves as the chief judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands. Our fight for law and justice and equality comes from our history, and that fight has often been led by women, women such as Queen Mary Thomas, who, along with three other women, led a revolt in the streets of St. Croix to protest unfair labor wages and deplorable working conditions in 1878. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize these women because their work and their contributions have allowed many Virgin Islands women to ascend through the glass ceiling. Their contributions made it possible for a young girl from the Virgin Islands--myself--to become a New York assistant district attorney, to be at the Justice Department and to later serve as the fifth-elected Delegate to Congress from the U.S. Virgin Islands. To that end, Mr. Speaker, it troubles me to see the political gamesmanship that is delaying the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as the next Attorney General of the United States. By all accounts, she is highly qualified and regarded, and would make a great Attorney General. I am urging my colleagues in the Senate Chamber to bring Ms. Lynch's confirmation to a vote. Place your objections on the record.

Ms. PLASKETT

Ms. PLASKETT. I additionally, Mr. Speaker, would like to discuss another issue that is of grave importance to the people of the territories, and that is territorial voting rights. As we commend the 50th anniversary of the March on Selma this week, and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act, I want to once again call to the attention of my colleagues here in Congress that there are still American citizens today who do not have equal voting rights. While we may discuss the irrational and truly illogical mechanism which has excluded those who have been convicted of felonies from society for voting, I want to discuss another group which has been disenfranchised, that is some 4 million people to be exact. These are citizens of America's island territories--the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Northern Marianas--American citizens who willingly risk life and limb in defense of a great nation for which they do not have a vote. American citizens who, in their great patriotism, have paid the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of their lives, and in this last conflict in Iraq and Iran, have died at a rate of seven times the national average. Citizens of the current U.S. territories have bravely fought in every American conflict, indeed, including the American Revolution, when we gave our own person in Alexander Hamilton from the Virgin Islands to fight in that war. Some have even been awarded the Medal of Honor, which is the Nation's highest military honor. Yet, these citizens who have contributed and sacrificed so much still cannot vote for their Commander in Chief. This inability to vote has a direct correlation to the poverty and disenfranchisement in so many areas that the people of these island territories experience. Poverty in the 21st century is a shameful reality in our great Nation, and for decades it has been a serious and persistent problem in the Virgin Islands. Child poverty for us in the territories is a heartbreaking reality. A recent report from the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands and Kids Count says 31 percent of the children in the Virgin Islands are living in poverty. To further underscore this troubling statistic, Virgin Islands families are struggling with a very high cost-of-living, driven by the fact that much of our food supplies must be imported, along with the very high cost of electricity. We pay some of the highest prices in the Nation. And while, thankfully, the American economy is on the rebound and reports of job growth are very good news, unemployment on the islands on which I live is 15 percent or more. The benign neglect of this great Nation to the territories has got to end. Each island was bought for military purposes, and now that it is believed by the country that the physical geopolitical need is not there, the people have been forgotten. Indeed, some have even questioned whether the people were ever remembered on these islands, that the lands and the resources were what this Nation wanted, not the people. But we have contributed much, and we deserve better. Not tying citizenship and the right to vote to the soil--the sovereign soil--on which an individual is born controverts the most basic English and, thus, American law. Mr. Speaker, Virgin Islanders, who are proud people dedicated to their families, committed to their faith, and are so very willing to work hard for a better and brighter future for themselves, their children, and, indeed, this country, deserve the right to vote.

Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for the opportunity to speak. I want to thank Ms. Kelly from the great State of Illinois, as well as Mr. Payne from the great State of New Jersey for yielding me this time. I want to extend my support for the confirmation of Ms. Loretta Lynch for the position of Attorney General. As a New Yorker, indeed a Brooklynite, a former Bronx district attorney, as well as having worked at the Justice Department, I have the utmost respect for Ms. Lynch, who has served the people of New York, and indeed this great country, is eminently qualified to be the Attorney General and should be confirmed. Territorial Voting Rights

Ms. PLASKETT

Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861, the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that will keep the Department open so it can carry out its critical mission of keeping the American people safe.

Ms. PLASKETT

Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, this month, as we pay homage to the many achievements and contributions to our great Nation by African American men and women, and earlier this week my colleagues spoke on this floor commemorating the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act, I want to call to the attention of my colleagues here in Congress that there are still American citizens today that do not have equal voting rights--some 4 million citizens, to be exact. These are citizens and residents of America's island territories: the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands. These overseas U.S. territories have been part of the United States for over 115 years. That is more than half as long as there has been a U.S. Constitution. Our service has gone above and beyond, giving this great Nation even its very banking system, through fellow Virgin Islander Alexander Hamilton. Our service has gone even to having the highest rate of military service in the United States, with some 7 percent higher than other areas, the national average, in casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq. I implore this Congress and urge them to pass the Voting Rights Act, and also to extend those rights to its U.S. citizens abroad.

Ms. PLASKETT

Ms. PLASKETT. Section 2: ``This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.''