Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this coming weekend, between November 10 and 13 I and more than twenty of our colleagues in the House will be meeting and participating in the 10th annual Caribbean Multi-national Business Conference sponsored by the New York Carib News in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands where we will be enjoying the hospitality of Carib News publishers Karl and Faye Rodney and Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Over the last decade the conference has brought together elected officials, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives of major corporations to explore opportunities for growth and expansion in the emerging markets and developing economies of the Caribbean. The conference has significantly contributed to the building of closer working relationships and personal ties between Caribbean leadership and the Members of Congress who have participated. As we approach this year's conference, I wish to recognize and pay tribute to an outstanding Caribbean leader, Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts-Nevis by placing in the Congressional Record the text of a proclamation to be awarded at the conference: A Proclamation Celebrating the Accomplishments of Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, Prime Minister, St. Kitts-Nevis Whereas, It is an established and honorable tradition for elected officials to recognize the outstanding contributions of those persons whose leadership and life's work have made a substantial difference to the lives of people everywhere, especially in their own countries; and Whereas, Such committed leaders are like beacons that show the way to a better life for those persons at the lowest rungs of the economic and social ladder and are therefore an Inspiration to people at home and abroad; and Whereas, Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, a national and Prime Minister of the independent Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis, is surely one such leader and dedicated public servant; and Whereas, Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, a physician, is being cited and honored at the annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference 2005 in St. Thomas In the U.S. Virgin Islands for his service to his native land, the wider Caribbean community and developing nations generally, serving as head of Government in St. Kitts-Nevis at a time when the United Nations placed his country on the list of the World's top 50 states where the quality of life is high; is the Caribbean Community, Caricom, lead Prime Minister on health issues, championing the fight against HIV/AIDS infection in the Caribbean; and Whereas, The Prime Minister has led his country with distinction for the past 10 years while Demonstrating to the world that a small nation can be an international model of development, an example when it comes to adherence to the rule of law and parliamentary democracy; now, therefore be it Resolved, That we salute and commend Dr. Denzil Douglas for his distinguished an unblemished record of service to humanity and for his leadership on the national and international stages, within Caricom and the countries which belong to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this coming weekend, between November 10 and 13, I and more than 20 of our colleagues in the House will be meeting and participating in the 10th annual Caribbean Multi-national Business Conference sponsored by the New York Carib News in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands where we will be enjoying the hospitality of Carib News publishers Karl and Faye Rodney and Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Over the last decade the conference has brought together elected officials, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives of major corporations to explore opportunities for growth and expansion in the emerging markets and developing economies of the Caribbean. The conference has significantly contributed to the building of closer working relationships and personal ties between Caribbean leadership and the Members of Congress who have participated. As we approach this year's conference, I wish to recognize and pay tribute to an outstanding Caribbean leader, Dr. Kenny Anthony, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia by placing in the Congressional Record the text of a proclamation to be awarded at the conference: A Proclamation Celebrating the Accomplishments of Dr. Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister, St. Lucia Whereas, It is an established and honorable tradition for elected officials to recognize the outstanding contributions of those persons whose leadership, scholarship and total life's work have helped to transform people's lives for the better, especially in their own countries and region; and Whereas, Such committed leaders are reliable foundations on which sustained economic growth and human development are built, paving the way for a better standard of living for all, particularly the poor, and are therefore an inspiration to people at home and abroad; and Whereas, Dr. Kenny, a national and Prime Minister of the independent nation of St. Lucia is obviously one such leader and a dedicated public servant; and Whereas, Dr. Kenny Anthony, an attorney and recognized legal expert with graduate degrees in law, including a PhD from the University of Birmingham in England, is being cited and honored at the annual Caribbean Multi- National Business Conference 2005 in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for his service to his country of birth, the wider Caribbean community and developing nations generally, serving as head of Government in St. Lucia at a time when the country has gained international recognition for its pace of human development; is the Caribbean Community, Caricom, lead Prime Minister on governance and jurisprudence; and Whereas, The Prime Minister has led St. Lucia with distinction for almost a decade while directing much of the work on the historic creation of the Caribbean Court of Justice and showing the world that St. Lucia which has given the world 2 Nobel Prize winners, one in economics and the other in literature is contributing even more to the improvement of the human condition and that a small nation can be a showcase of talent and intellect while being an example when it comes to adhering to the rule of law and parliamentary democracy; now, therefore be it Resolved, That we salute and commend Dr. Kenny Anthony for his distinguished an unblemished record of service to humanity and for his leadership on the national and international stages, within Caricom and the countries which belong to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this coming weekend, between November 10 and 13, I and more than 20 of our colleagues in the House will be meeting and participating in the 10th annual Caribbean Multi-national Business Conference sponsored by the New York Carib News in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands where we will be enjoying the hospitality of Carib News publishers Karl and Faye Rodney and Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Over the last decade the conference has brought together elected officials, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives of major corporations to explore opportunities for growth and expansion in the emerging markets and developing economies of the Caribbean. The conference has significantly contributed to the building of closer working relationships and personal ties between Caribbean leadership and the Members of Congress who have participated. As we approach this year's conference, I wish to recognize and pay tribute to an outstanding Caribbean leader, Ms. Diane Abbott, Member of House of Commons, United Kingdom by placing in the Congressional Record the text of a proclamation to be awarded at the conference: A Proclamation Celebrating the Accomplishments of Ms. Diane Abbott, Member of the House of Commons, United Kingdom Whereas, It is an established and honorable tradition for elected officials to recognize the outstanding contributions of those persons whose leadership and life's work have made a substantial difference to the lives of people everywhere, especially in their own countries; and Whereas, Such committed leaders are often pioneers, who blaze a trail, becoming a role model for others to emulate, especially the young and the less fortunate in society. Whereas, Diane Abbott, the first Black woman ever elected to the British House of Commons has earned her place on the scroll of outstanding women of achievement and is certainly one such pioneer. Whereas, Diane Abbott, the daughter of Jamaican Immigrant parents and an honors graduate of Britain's prestigious Cambridge University, has represented a working class, multi- ethnic District In London since she was first elected to the House of Commons in 1987. Whereas, Diane Abbott is being cited and honored at the annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference 2005 in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for service to her country, the Caribbean community and the developing world generally. Whereas, Diane Abbott, a member of the Treasury Committee of the International Monetary Fund helped to raise the consciousness of the International community about the damage which the debt crisis was having on governments and people of the Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America; now, therefore be it Resolved, That we salute and commend Ms. Diane Abbott for her distinguished an unblemished record of service to humanity and for her leadership on the national and international stages in the United Kingdom, the Caribbean as elsewhere.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this coming weekend, between November 10 and 13, I and more than 20 of our colleagues in the House will be meeting and participating in the 10th annual Caribbean Multi-national Business Conference sponsored by the New York Carib News in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands where we will be enjoying the hospitality of Carib News publishers Karl and Faye Rodney and Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Over the last decade the conference has brought together elected officials, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives of major corporations to explore opportunities for growth and expansion in the emerging markets and developing economies of the Caribbean. The conference has significantly contributed to the building of closer working relationships and personal ties between Caribbean leadership and the Members of Congress who have participated. As we approach this year's conference, I wish to recognize and pay tribute to an outstanding Caribbean leader, Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart, Renowned Jamaican and Caribbean Business leader and Entrepreneur by placing in the Congressional Record the text of a proclamation to be awarded at the conference: A Proclamation Celebrating the Accomplishments of Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart Whereas, It is an established and honorable tradition for elected officials to recognize the outstanding contributions of those persons whose groundbreaking leadership and life's work have helped to transform the private sector as a key engine of economic growth while upgrading people's standard of living, especially in their own countries; Whereas, Such successful business leaders have earned their places in history the old-fashion way, working hard, taking risks, blazing profitable commercial trails, thus setting examples for others to follow; Whereas, The Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart, a national of Jamaica who is Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, sits at the pinnacle one of the largest corporate conglomerates in the Caribbean; Whereas, The Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart, until recently Chairman of Air Jamaica, has been widely recognized and honored throughout the Caribbean, North America and Europe for his business innovation, entrepreneurship and success. Whereas, Two of most cherished awards are his country's highest national honors, the Order of Jamaica and Commander of the Order of Distinction. Whereas, The Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart is being cited and honored at the annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference 2005 in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for service to his country, the Caribbean community and the global business community; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That we salute and commend the Hon. Gordon ``Butch'' Stewart for his outstanding, distinguished an unblemished record of service to business and humanity and for his leadership on the national and international stages in Jamaica, the Caribbean, North America and Europe.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that we return to the framework for declarations of war set out by our Founding Fathers and found in the United States Constitution. The Iraq War and all the damage it has done and continues to do, is a demonstration of what happens when Congress ignores the Constitution and the intentions of the Founding Fathers. As Leslie H. Gelb and Anne- Marie Slaughter point out in their article in the November 8, 2005 Washington Post ``No More Blank-Check Wars'' ``Most wars overflow with mistakes and surprises. Still, in Iraq, much that has gone wrong could have been foreseen--and was. . . . Too often our leaders have entered wars with unclear and unfixed aims, tossing away American lives, power and credibility before figuring out what they were doing and what could be done. Congress saw the problem after the Vietnam War and tried to fix it with the War Powers Act. It states that troops sent into combat by the President must be withdrawn within 60 days unless Congress approves an extension. But Presidents from Nixon on never recognized the validity of this legislation against their powers as commander in chief. Nor did Congress ever assert its rights and take political responsibility. Since the Korean War, the process has consisted of at most a Congressional resolution, a few serious speeches and authorization for the President to do whatever he wants. Odds are against changing these `political realities.' But, impaled as we are on costs and carelessness of so many of our recent wars, it is worth trying to find a better way.'' As it happens, Gelb and Slaughter point out: the answer is in the Constitution. The Founding Fathers understood that sending Americans to war required careful reflection and vigorous debate. The answer survives in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which give Congress--and only Congress--the power to declare war. The authors suggest that power needs to be reestablished and reinforced by new legislation. The new legislation would require a declaration of war from Congress in advance of any commitment of troops. Requiring a declaration by Congress would require congress to debate the issues, analyze the threat, and consider the costs of a war. In the case of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the President would retain his power to repel the attack and strike back without a Congressional declaration. But if he went to Afghanistan and planned to keep troops there, topple the government and transform the country, he would need a Congressional declaration. Without the declaration, he would have no funding for nation building. These are ideas that need discussion. These ideas come from the document we all swear an oath to uphold: the Constitution of the United States. In my view, a patriot is a person who remembers he must uphold and defend the Constitution, not a political party or a President. [From the Washington Post, Nov. 8, 2005] No More Blank-Check Wars (By Leslie H. Gelb and Anne-Marie Slaughter) Most wars overflow with mistakes and surprises. Still, in Iraq, much that has gone wrong could have been foreseen--and was. For example, most experts knew that 100,000 U.S. troops couldn't begin to provide essential security and that Iraqi oil revenue wouldn't dent war costs. But none of this was nailed down beforehand in any disciplined review. And Iraq, whether justified or not, is only the latest in a long line of ill-considered and ill-planned U.S. military adventures. Time and again in recent decades the United States has made military commitments after little real debate, with hazy goals and no appetite for the inevitable setbacks. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson plunged us into the Vietnam War with little sense of the region's history or culture. Ronald Reagan dispatched Marines to Lebanon, saying that stability there was a ``vital interest,'' only to yank them out 16 months later after a deadly terrorist attack on Marine barracks. Bill Clinton, having inherited a mission in Somalia to feed the starving, ended up hunting tribal leaders and trying to build a nation. Too often our leaders have entered wars with unclear and unfixed aims, tossing away American lives, power and credibility before figuring out what they were doing and what could be done. Congress saw the problem after the Vietnam War and tried to fix it with the War Powers Act. It states that troops sent into combat by the president must be withdrawn within 60 days unless Congress approves an extension. But presidents from Richard Nixon on never recognized the validity of this legislation against their powers as commander in chief. Nor did Congress ever assert its rights and take political responsibility. Since the Korean War, the process has consisted at most of a presidential request for a congressional resolution, a few serious speeches and authorization for the president to do whatever he wants. Odds are against changing these ``political realities.'' But impaled as we are on the costs and carelessness of so many of our recent wars, it is worth trying to find a better way. As often happens, an answer can be found with the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. They could not have foreseen the present age of nuclear missiles and cataclysmic terrorism. But they understood political accountability, and they knew that sending Americans to war required careful reflection and vigorous debate. Their answer survives in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress--and only Congress--the power to declare war. That power, exercised only a few times in our history, and not at all since World War II, needs to be reestablished and reinforced by new legislation. This legislation would fix guidelines for exercising the provision jointly between the White House and Congress. It would restore the Framers' intent by requiring a congressional declaration of war in advance of any commitment of troops that promises sustained combat. Requiring Congress to declare war, rather than just approve or authorize the president's decision to take troops into combat, would make it much harder for Congress to duck its responsibilities. The president would be required to give Congress an analysis of the threat, specific war aims with their rationale and feasibility, general strategy and potential costs. Congress would hold hearings, examine the information and conclude with a full floor debate and solemn vote. In case of a sudden attack on the United States or Americans abroad, the president would retain his power to repel that attack and strike back without a congressional declaration. But any sustained operations would trigger the declaration process. In other words, the president could send troops into Afghanistan to hunt down al Qaeda and punish the Taliban in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. But if he planned to keep the troops there to topple the government and transform the country, he would need a congressional declaration. Without one, funding would be restricted to bringing the troops home soon and safely. This declaration process should appeal to conservatives and even neocons. It meets their valid concern that the United States often loses diplomatic showdowns and wars not on the battlefield but at home. It adds credibility to presidential threats and staying power to our military commitments. Binding Congress far more closely to war, for instance, might have convinced Saddam Hussein of Washington's resolve to fight him in both gulf wars; today it would help convince insurgents in Iraq of America's long-term commitment to make Iraq secure. Liberals and moderates, always rightly complaining about a rush to war, would welcome the restored declaration. Not least, the attractiveness of this approach would be aided by the political power of the Constitution itself. Nor would the process proposed here diminish a president's leadership or stature as commander in chief as he makes his case to Congress. If, even with these advantages, his arguments fail, then the case cannot be very compelling. Today Congress deliberates on transportation bills more carefully than it does on war resolutions. Our Founding Fathers wanted the declaration of war to concentrate minds. Returning to the Constitution's text and making it work through legislation requiring joint deliberate action may be the only way to give the decision to make war the care it deserves.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no idea as to what the objection was raised to. The House was not in order when the gentleman was speaking. The House has no way to know as to what objection he raised. Is it possible for the Chair to edify the House as to why the objection was made to dispensing with the reading?

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, my parliamentary inquiry was, could the Chair share with us the reason given by the distinguished objector?

Mr. RANGEL. I cannot hear the Chair.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the courageous contributions and civil services of Mrs. Rosa Parks, who peacefully left the world on Monday, October 24, 2005 in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 92. As I look back at the struggles of African Americans, I am astounded by the fire that Mrs. Parks ignited: On December 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. On December 5, 1955, she led a boycott by all colored people on the Montgomery buses, which lasted for 381 days. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Alabama's State and local laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional. Other events continued that challenged the U.S. Constitution: The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, the desegregation of Woolworth's lunch counter at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, and the desegregation of the University of Mississippi. Nine years later, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin which provides the Federal Government with the powers to enforce desegregation. Mrs. Rosa Parks was instrumental in changing the social and political climate of the United States of America. Her action has inspired Americans of all races and backgrounds to stand up for our basic human rights. She has taught us the power of determination and perseverance. Mrs. Parks was an activist who did not seek public attention. After the civil rights movement, Mrs. Parks continued to give back to the community. In 1987, she and her late husband, Raymond Parks, founded the Institute for Self-Development, which prepares young African- Americans for leadership positions in the workplace and the community. A subdivision of the Institute, called Pathways of Freedom, allows groups of teens to follow the Underground Railroad and visit the historical sites of the Civil Rights Movement. Her act of defiance against a powerful system showed each of us the importance of everything we do and the impact that our own acts of courage can have. Mrs. Parks lived a long and full life. She has left us physically, but will remain spiritually as she will be remembered for generations to come. Following, is a CNN report of Mrs. Rosa Park's life. Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks Dies at 92--Long Known as the ``Mother of the Civil Rights Movement'' Rosa Parks, whose act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspired the modern civil rights movement, died Monday in Detroit, Michigan. She was 92. Parks' moment in history began in December 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system by blacks that was organized by a 26-year-old Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott led to a court ruling desegregating public transportation in Montgomery, but it wasn't until the 1964 Civil Rights Act that all public accommodations nationwide were desegregated. Facing regular threats and having lost her department store job because of her activism, Parks moved from Alabama to Detroit in 1957. She later joined the staff of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat. Conyers, who first met Parks during the early days of the civil rights struggle, recalled Monday that she worked on his original congressional staff when he first was elected to the House of Representatives in 1964. ``I think that she, as the mother of the new civil rights movement, has left an impact not just on the Nation, but on the world,'' he told CNN in a telephone interview. ``She was a real apostle of the nonviolence movement.'' He remembered her as someone who never raised her voice--an eloquent voice of the civil rights movement. ``You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene--just a very special person,'' he said, adding that ``there was only one'' Rosa Parks. Gregory Reed, a longtime friend and attorney, said Parks died between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. of natural causes. He called Parks ``a lady of great courage.'' Parks co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development to help young people pursue educational opportunities, get them registered to vote and work toward racial peace. ``As long as there is unemployment, war, crime and all things that go to the infliction of man's inhumanity to man, regardless--there is much to be done, and people need to work together,'' she once said. Even into her 80s, she was active on the lecture circuit, speaking at civil rights groups and accepting awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. ``This medal is encouragement for all of us to continue until all have rights,'' she said at the June 1999 ceremony for the latter medal. Parks was the subject of the documentary ``Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks,'' which received a 2002 Oscar nomination for best documentary short. In April, Parks and rap duo OutKast settled a lawsuit over the use of her name on a CD released in 1998. Bus Boycott She was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. Her marriage to Raymond Parks lasted from 1932 until his death in 1977. Parks' father, James McCauley, was a carpenter, and her mother, Leona Edwards McCauley, a teacher. Before her arrest in 1955, Parks was active in the voter registration movement and with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where she also worked as a secretary in 1943. At the time of her arrest, Parks was 42 and on her way home from work as a seamstress. She took a seat in the front of the black section of a city bus in Montgomery. The bus filled up and the bus driver demanded that she move so a white male passenger could have her seat. ``The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, `Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't,'' she once said. When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, `Why do you push us around?'' The officer's response: ``I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest.'' She added, ``I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind.'' Four days later, Parks was convicted of disorderly conduct and fined $14. That same day, a group of blacks founded the Montgomery Improvement Association and named King, the young pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as its leader, and the bus boycott began. For the next 381 days, blacks--who according to Time magazine had comprised two-thirds of Montgomery bus riders-- boycotted public transportation to protest Parks' arrest and in turn the city's Jim Crow segregation laws. Black people walked, rode taxis and used carpools in an effort that severely damaged the transit company's finances. The mass movement marked one of the largest and most successful challenges of segregation and helped catapult King to the forefront of the civil rights movement. The boycott ended on November 13, 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that Montgomery's segregated bus service was unconstitutional. Parks' act of defiance came one year after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision that led to the end of racial segregation in public schools. U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a Democrat, told CNN Monday he watched the 1955-56 Montgomery drama unfold as a teenager and it inspired him to get active in the civil rights movement. ``It was so unbelievable that this woman--this one woman-- had the courage to take a seat and refuse to get up and give it up to a white gentleman. By sitting down, she was standing up for all Americans,'' he said.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be attending the funeral of Kenny Swygert, beloved husband of my long-time staff assistant and friend, Brenda. I submit to the record the remarks I will be making at the service. At times such as this we find that words can never adequately provide a true expression of the sympathy we feel, and words seem so unlikely to provide comfort, but we gathered here this morning to show Brenda and her family that we are grieving with you over the loss of your beloved Kenny. Having known Kenny from the time Brenda met him, and remembering that it was in my first Congressional office that they met due to the matchmaking efforts of brother Pat, I have always felt partly responsible for the success of their marriage, and, Brenda, you two found such happiness together that I came to believe that your marriage was one of the best things I have ever been a part of. Over the years Brenda and Kenny have defined a good marriage for me and for all who know them, so we know how difficult this loss will be for you, Brenda, and how difficult it will be for you to be without your life partner. Please know that your many friends, and all of those whose lives you and Kenny have touched over the years, are with you in spirit at this time of sorrow and that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers. I believe that it is often the case that those who work with someone on a daily basis have a very good opportunity to know of the quality of a marriage. It is on a daily basis that one has, particularly in a small Congressional office, to see what the people with whom you work are experiencing in their lives away from the office. With Brenda, I could tell that she was married to a man who supported her and enabled her to devote herself to the demands of a Congressional career as well as give of herself to friends and family as generously as she has over the years. And give of herself Brenda has, so much so that I knew Kenny must be a wonderfully supportive husband to tolerate her missing so many evenings at home while she was working late with me. I have benefited so much over the years from Brenda's professionalism and dedication that I haven't thought enough of thanking Kenny for allowing her to be as devoted as she is. When Brenda was sick a couple of years we were able to see the kind of love and support that Kenny provided and how his prayers and his strength and determination that she survive was a force that encouraged and sustained Brenda in her fight to breathe and restore her health. We all worried about the illness that threatened her life and the capacity of her doctors and medicine to overcome it, but we had absolutely no worry about Brenda's will to live and her fighting spirit and that she was not alone because Kenny was there fighting with her. Brenda, I hope that you and your family will be comforted at this time by the memories of the many good times you shared and by the knowledge that you were able to care for and comfort him at the end of his life, at his side as he was with you. By being with him as he passed you truly fulfilled your wedding vow ``until death do us part.'' I once heard a Pastor of a younger congregation, who counseled many couples before marriage and continue in touch with them through a Married Couples club in the church, tell the story of the death of an elderly male member of cancer and saw at his bedside at the moment of his death his wife beside him holding his hands, mopping his brow, and giving him comfort. He said to the young people that evening that he knew there were many good ways for a marriage to begin, but there was no better way for a marriage to end. I know, however, that what is important to you and your family at this time is that Kenny has been taken from you. May God give you the strength and courage at this time of sorrow to help you bear your burden of grief, and may He strengthen your faith in the resurrection promised by Jesus to provide hope of reunion in Heaven.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my recognition and respect to the extraordinary contributions of the world renowned playwright August Wilson who died October 2, 2005 of liver cancer. Mr. Wilson was a Tony Award winner and two time Pulitzer Prize winner whose plays not only chronicled and captured the harsh realities African American families faced throughout the 1900s, they have provided insight into Black life, depicting its struggles to overcome discrimination and poverty with dignity and nobility amidst the pain and the struggle that all communities are able to appreciate. His plays poetically depict the effects of slavery and oppression on Black Americans in every decade of the 20th century, and show that despite the harshness of life, this crucible produced great strength and resilience that have enabled us to overcome. August Wilson was born on April 27, 1945 as Frederick August Kittel, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He later changed his name after his father left out of respect for his mother. Mr. Wilson grew up on ``the Hill,'' which was a predominantly Black and poor neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It was the daily experiences of this African American community that inspired the content of his plays. At 13 years of age he moved to predominantly White Hazelwood, but he did not forget the unique culture of the Hill, especially when he had to suffer the racial taunts in Hazelwood. The racial discrimination that Wilson faced led Wilson, at the age of 15 to drop out of high school because his teacher couldn't believe that a Black student could create a well written term paper and accused him of plagiarism. This however, did not impede his thirst for knowledge or his love for writing. With diligence and self discipline, August Wilson continued his education through self-study at Carnegie Library. He began reading Black literature and other Black works, like Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, and Arna Bontemps. His hopes of becoming a writer were quickly challenged when his mother urged him to become an attorney. Disapproving of his dreams for a writing career, his mother forced him to leave the house. In 1963, Mr. Wilson enlisted in the U.S. Army only to be discharged in 1964. Determined to continue his pursuit for a writing career, he invested in the purchase of his first typewriter and moved into a rooming house in Pittsburgh. To support himself he worked a series of odd ``blue collar'' jobs, like short-order cook, dishwasher, porter, stock boy, and gardener. Starting out as a poet, his poems were published in the late 1960s and early 70s in several periodicals, one being the Negro Digest created by the late John Johnson. However, it was not until August Wilson heard the voice of legendary Bessie Smith's record ``Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jellyroll Like Mine,'' he realized that it was his responsibility to carry the torch of his ancestors and assume the role as the representative of Black American culture, telling the world our history and dignifying our struggle. Hearing the blues motivated, challenged, and empowered the young poet to document Black American culture in his writings. Wilson describe this epiphany as the ``Universe stuttered and everything fell to a new place . . . I cannot describe or even relate what I felt . . . it was a birth, a baptism, a resurrection, and a redemption all rolled up in one. It was the beginning of my consciousness that I was a representative of a culture and the carrier of some very valuable antecedents . . . I had been given a world that contained my image . . . The ideas of self-determination, self-respect, and self-defense . . . are still very much a part of my life as I sit down and write. I have stood [these ideas] up in the world of Bessie Smith on the ground captured by the Blues. Having started my beginning consciousness there, it is no surprise that I would mature and my efforts would come to fruition on that same ground.'' As a result he established two organizations that promoted Black American writing: the Center Avenue Poets Theatre Workshop, and Black Horizons. Plus, he continued writing plays chronicling different experiences that Afiican Americans faced. His big break was the debut of the 1982 play ``Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,'' the first of a 10-drama series that would chronicle each decade of the Twentieth Century, which premiered at Broadway's Cort Theater on October 11, 1984. Set in Chicago in 1927, the play focuses on White record companies' exploitation of Black musicians. This play mirrored the images and positions that African Americans faced in a society dominated by White racism. The beauty of the play, grabbed national attention earning Mr. Wilson several Tony nominations, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. ``Fences'', however, a play depicting a 1950s Black family's personal and economic issues, grossed a record $11 million in a year, which broke the record for nonmusical plays. As a result, Wilson became The Chicago Tribune's Artist of the Year; the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, four Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Featured Actress; and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Finally, ``The Piano Lesson,'' inspired by Romare Beardon's painting illustrated family conflict over an heirloom built by a slave ancestor. This 1986 play earned the New York Drama Critics Award, the Tony for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award, the American Theatre Critics Outstanding Play Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Wilson's subsequent plays continued to receive accolades and awards, solidifying his position in American Theatrical history. August Wilson was not only a champion of Black America by representing and dignifying African American culture during a time when it wasn't otherwise appreciated; he was a pioneer in the world of literature and theatre. Although his body is no longer with us, his work and his impact on American History will continue on for posterity. On October 17, Broadway's Virginia Theatre will be renamed the August Wilson Theatre in Mr. Wilson's honor. His final play, ``Radio Golf' is scheduled to be produced on Broadway during the 2006-2007 season. Mr. Wilson is survived by his wife, Constanza Romero; their daughter, Azula, 8, and an adult daughter from a previous marriage, Sakina Ansari. I submit to you an article from the October 4, 2005 edition of the Washington Post, illustrating the type of man and impact August Wilson had on this country. [From the Washington Post, Oct. 4, 2005] The Cycle of August Wilson's Life (By Peter Marks) The death of August Wilson does not simply leave a hole in the American theater, but a huge, yawning wound, one that will have to wait to be stitched closed by some expansive, poetic dramatist yet to emerge. To say that Wilson was the greatest African American playwright the nation has produced--as some inevitably do--is to limit the scope of his significance as a contributor to the country's dramatic heritage. Wilson wrote scathingly about racism, yes, in ``Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,'' and the indelible scars of slavery, in ``The Piano Lesson'' and ``Gem of the Ocean.'' He also wrote about the Oedipal conflict of fathers and sons (``Fences'') and the universal quest for the easy score (``Two Trains Running''). His concerns were as multifaceted as the hard-pressed people he wrote about. Over the past 20 years, Wilson had staked a legitimate claim to the title of nation's most important dramatist. During that time he won two Pulitzers and a Tony, and among his plays he polished off at least three that will rank among the classics: ``Ma Rainey,'' ``Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' and ``The Piano Lesson,'' along with what will perhaps endure as his favorite with audiences: ``Fences,'' the story of an embittered former baseball prospect, played on Broadway by James Earl Jones. All this may not have meant as much as it did in the days when playwriting giants roamed the countryside, when a new play by Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller or Eugene O'Neill had the power to galvanize public discourse, and even land an actor on the cover of a national magazine. We've moved away, sad to say, from the era of the stage as a truly vital pulpit. In the commercial realm, Wilson's plays were usually not moneymakers. But the fact that he could consistently count on clicking the ``send'' button and having a play end up in the in box of Broadway--even in this lean and inhospitable time for serious drama--stamps him as a theater man of nothing but consequence. Wilson died ludicrously young on Sunday, at the age of 60 in his adoptive home town of Seattle, where he wrote plays, big, garrulous, angry, lyrical, ponderous, often beautiful plays, in an office in his basement. He went public with his terminal liver cancer a little more than a month ago and when he did, he came forward with a breathtaking serenity. He pronounced himself prepared for what was coming. ``I've lived a blessed life,'' he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the paper of the city of his birth, the metropolis that served as backdrop for many of his major plays. ``I'm ready.'' He cannot, of course, have been content to leave his family, especially his 8-year-old daughter, Azula, whom he proudly told me last December was writing her own plays. Work-wise, however, he may have been expressing a measure of relief, in that he had satisfied the exacting requirements of the towering assignment he had given himself: a cycle of 10 plays, one set in each decade of the 20th century. (``Radio Golf,'' the last one, has yet to reach New York; its regional debut comes at Center Stage in Baltimore in March.) Not that he was exactly through with writing. In an interview over breakfast at a diner in the Edison, the modest Times Square tourist hotel that was his longtime New York base, he revealed that he was working on a comedy whose milieu now seems heartbreakingly prescient: Pittsburgh coffin makers. His dramas are connected by a palpable sense of geography, usually, a rambunctious district of Pittsburgh; by the mordant humor of characters who spit at hardship; by an eye that seemed to see a story taking shape in every soul. They also reveal the acumen of Wilson's ear in the cross currents of language that flow from his characters as if pouring out of deep, lustrous, meandering canals. He wrote for authentic-sounding stage creatures, and yet his dialogue might have found a place in novels. ``Now I'm gonna show you how this goes, where you just a leftover from history,'' Toledo, the piano player, tells the other Black musicians in dialect in ``Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.'' The play, set in the 1920s, was the first of Wilson's to make it to Broadway. It was an auspicious coming out. Wilson, wrote drama critic Frank Rich in the New York Times at the play's 1984 opening, ``sends the entire history of black America down upon our heads.'' Wilson returned again and again to the idea of Black America's unique historical inheritance, to reminders of how the South's peculiar institution was not at all a dead memory but a living shadow. As many other characters would in the Wilson pantheon, Toledo offers in ``Ma Rainey'' his own homespun history lesson about the African diaspora: ``Everybody come from different places in Africa, right? Come from different tribes and things. Soonawhile they began to make one big stew. You had the carrots, the peas, and potatoes and whatnot over here. And over there, you had the meat, the nuts, the okra, corn . . . and then you mix it up and let it cook right through to get the flavors flowing together. Then you got one thing. You got a stew.'' Wilson's own favorite playwright was Chekhov, and you can see how their theatrical stews might simmer well together. Wilson was a conjurer of characters, not an accomplished spinner of plot or master of compression. He was, in fact, legendary for writing one overlong draft after another, and working with a director--most successfully Lloyd Richards, head for many years of the Yale School of Drama--who could help him pare it down. A script was by no means complete once rehearsals began, he told me. He even liked to seek out actors and ask them what else they needed from him. He had a reputation for feistiness and a certain amount of ego. The talk of the theater world in 1997 was his Manhattan debate with Robert Brustein, the director, critic and founder of Harvard's American Repertory Theatre, over their disagreement about whether a theater exclusively devoted to Black experience is desirable. Wilson was a passionate advocate of Black theater, and the evening at Town Hall stands as the last occasion on which a philosophical theater argument grabbed headlines. When I sat down with him late last year, Wilson seemed anything but combative. He was in a pleasant frame of mind, as a playwright might be with the work of grinding out a play completed. The play was ``Gem of the Ocean,'' set in 1904, which as a result became the prologue of the cycle he'd been writing for much of his professional life. As it happens, the first in the chain was the last he'd ever get to see on Broadway. The chain he'd long promised, and true to his word, the chain he delivered.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present resolution H. Res. 179 giving homage to one of America's forgotten heroes, Asa Philip Randolph. A champion for workers' rights and civil rights for African Americans, he has achieved many gains and survived many losses in his battles to achieve racial, social and economic equality for all Americans. Mr. Randolph was born in the post-Reconstruction South on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida. At the age of twenty-two, he moved to Harlem, New York to attend City College where he studied politics and economics, and soon joined the socialist party. During the onset of WWI, Mr. Randolph and his friend Chandler Owen established a controversial magazine called ``The Messenger,'' which initiated his open stance against the segregation of the military and other anti-war sentiments. He believed that the statement ``making the world safe for democracy'' was a fallacy and a tremendous offense to the intelligence of Black Americans because at that time Blacks were being lynched and denied the right to vote, in the South especially, and were victims of segregation and discrimination all over the Nation. WWI became the catalyst for his commitment to fight for the rights of all. Although Mr. Randolph has done a lot for the Civil Rights Movement, including initiating the famous March on Washington which led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he has done much more with concern for workers' rights and the labor movement. Employment, better wages and equal access are the only ways in which he believed the fight against discrimination and racism could be won. Just before WWII, Mr. Randolph traveled throughout the Nation to unite African Americans against discrimination, which shut them out of well-paying jobs in the factories. As a result of his efforts, then President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order ending discrimination in defense plant jobs. Once more in 1948, the power of persuasion and the justice of his complaints convinced President Truman to sign an order calling for the end to discrimination not only in the armed forces, but also in federal and civil service jobs. His greatest accomplishment, however, has been attributed to his leadership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Initially, Randolph was approached by a group of Black Pullman porters who wanted the right to bargain for better wages and improvements in working conditions. They wanted to unionize. This was considered the first serious effort to unionize the Pullman Company. In retaliation, the company fired union members, put fear in the men by threatening them with tougher assignments, assignment cuts, or termination. However, to no avail. A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters continued to fight for their right to unionize. In 1935, 12 years after they started their fight against the Pullman Company, the American Federation of Labor reversed its previous position and voted to make them an international charter. Two years later, the Pullman Company agreed to sit down with the Brotherhood and they signed a contract. He then became heavily involved within the ranks of the AFL- CIO, trying to build a mass movement by working with and through trade unions. The words and deeds of A. Philip Randolph show us the unyielding strength of his lifelong struggle for full human rights for African Americans and all the disinherited of the Nation. He believed that the condition of blacks in America were a symptom of a larger social illness, an illness which is caused by an unfair distribution of power, wealth, and resources. Mr. Randolph left a legacy of activism and triumph for all Americans to cherish. He fought long and hard to secure the rights of working class Americans regardless of race, color or creed. His life and legacy was based on the principle that ``Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted and the struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher social, economic, political and religious relationships.'' A. Philip Randolph's position, whether an attitude toward the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain for their terms and conditions of employment; or his anti-war stand, or a political position with an aim of economic change, has consistently reflected his socialist ideals. He has always believed in a movement based on the workers as the main force, and has always been committed to the idea that a democratic redistribution of wealth is the first step toward greater freedom for all people, Black as well as White. This is why I believe that Congress should support resolution H. Res. 179 expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that A. Philip Randolph should be recognized for his lifelong leadership and work to end discrimination and secure equal employment and labor opportunities for all Americans.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to your attention and strongly endorse the position taken by former president Jimmy Carter in support of the preservation of America's greatest wildlife preserve. President Carter's position was stated in his opinion editorial article ``Arctic Folly'', in the Washington Post, September 13, 2005. President Carter criticizes a policy advanced by the Bush administration and adopted by the Congress in the energy legislation passed earlier this session which favors increased production of domestic oil over the protection and preservation of the environmental treasures contained in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and which do nothing to encourage the preservation of oil. President Carter states, ``Now is a time to speak out for the ecological integrity of this unsurpassed 18-million acres wilderness. If we do not respect those acres, many species will be affected.'' This ``Frozen Desert'' as Mr. Carter describes it, is a rich Serengeti-like haven of life; serving as a nursery for Caribous, polar bears, walruses and millions of shore birds and waterfowl. Nevertheless, Mr. Carter warns that ``. . . In a few months Americans could lose this special and amazing place through a backdoor legislative maneuver . . .'' I strongly support Mr. Carter's commitment to the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and I am glad to know that he is asserting leadership to preserve this important legacy for our wildlife and future generations. [From the Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2005] Arctic Folly (By Jimmy Carter) Congress is about to make one of those big decisions that marks an era. Unless wiser heads prevail, it may do it badly--making the wrong decision in the wrong way and about the wrong place. At stake is America's great wildlife sanctuary, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. To dissaude Congress from this environmental tragedy, Americans must rally, and quickly. Congress had its Pyrrhic energy victory this summer, with a new energy policy that ignores much-needed conservation measures and gives the oil industry large new tax breaks regardless of where it drills and pumps. Surely Congress has done more than enough to increase the profits of the oil industry. Yet now, in a separate decision, the White House and Big Oil are pressuring Congress to allow drilling rigs to rip into the ecological heart of America's preeminent wildlife sanctuary. We must not confuse this with Prudhoe Bay, which lies west of the Arctic refuge and is already an industrial landscape resembling Houston more than Yellowstone. With increasing gasoline prices bringing economic hardship and concern to many Americans, we must not be misled by oil lobbyists who are trying to convince us that our energy security is singularly dependent on sacrificing the Arctic refuge. They promote the false premise that development will touch just a few thousand acres when, in fact, it would introduce roads and pipelines spider-webbing across hundreds of thousands of acres on the fragile coastal plain. We cannot drill our way to energy security or lower gasoline prices as long as our nation sits on just 3 percent of world oil reserves yet accounts for 25 percent of all oil consumption. An obvious answer is to increase the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles, at least to the level we set more than a quarter-century ago. Instead, the administration recently proposed a tiny increase in gas mileage for SUVs, miniVans and pickups. Not effective until the 2011 models, this would save about one month's current consumption of fuel over the next 20 years-- far less than will be saved in just one state by a new California law. The new ruling offers automobile makers an opportunity to avoid the reductions by modifying the size of various models as they persist in manufacturing gas guzzlers. It is not a coincidence that Moody's has just downgraded the debt of General Motors and Ford to junk status, while makers of efficient vehicles prosper. I have been to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to study the wilderness wildlife. Far from being the frozen ``desert'' some suggest, this is a rich, Serengeti-like haven of life: nursery for caribou, polar bears, walruses and millions of shorebirds and waterfowl that migrate annually to the Lower 48. To sit, as Rosalynn and I did, watching a herd of musk oxen circle-up to defend their young and then to find yourself literally in the midst of thousands of caribou streaming by is to touch in a fundamental way God's glorious ark of teeming wildlife. We Americans use a lot-of energy, and millions of us want to do so in a more efficient way that also allows us to cherish our disappearing wilderness heritage. In the Arctic refuge we cannot have it both ways. In the next few months Americans could lose this special and amazing place through a backdoor legislative maneuver. Each fall Congress endeavors to combine budgetary directives covering the nation's $2.5 trillion dollar annual budget in a single ``reconciliation'' decision. In a tricky ploy to avoid full debate, drilling advocates have buried their despoil-the-Arctic goal in this mammoth measure. So, conservation-minded Americans must ask our elected representatives to vote down any final budget reconciliation bill that would allow the sacrifice of our Arctic sanctuary. Now is the time to speak up for the ecological integrity of this unsurpassed 18-million-acre wilderness. Many Americans will be in Washington on Sept. 20 for the Arctic Refuge Action Day rally on the Mall and to contact congressional representatives personally. If we are not wise enough to protect the Arctic refuge, future generations will condemn us for needlessly sacrificing the wilderness of their world to feed our profligate, short- term and shortsighted energy habit. The pathway to a better, more sustainable energy future does not wind through the Arctic National Wtldlife Refuge.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashana. This is the 5766th year on the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashana is the Hebrew phrase which literally translates to ``the head of the year.'' As the Jewish people of our great country and around the world celebrate this new year, let us join them in their prayers for peace, justice and equality. Let us not forget those of us, of all faiths, who are struggling, especially in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf. A new year is a symbol of hope and this year is no different. Today, we need to have hope more than ever. Hope for less wars and more diplomacy, hope for breaking racial barriers and coming together, and hope for restraint and modesty in the face of great challenges. Jewish people throughout the world join their loved ones and friends to take part in a traditional dinner where they enjoy sweet foods such as apples and honey. These foods symbolize the notion of starting a new and sweet year. Even many of the 10,000 Jewish Katrina evacuees got to celebrate this new year. In Houston, Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer led a service for 120 of these evacuees. Many of them had not seen each other since the hurricane hit their communities over a month ago. Such coming together after a tremendously painful experience only serves to show the resilience of America's communities and the necessity of maintaining them. I know my colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me in wishing a happy new year to all Jews in my district, in our country and around the world--both in the Diaspora and in Israel. May God continue to bless all of us as we face some of the most difficult tests we have ever been faced as a nation. Shana Tova Umetuka--Have a good and sweet year!

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask Congress to please join me in cosponsoring H.R. 1433, the Thurgood Marshall Commemorative Coin Act to commemorate the life and legacy of the Honorable Thurgood Marshall, one of America's distinguished Civil Rights leaders and the first black Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and many more, Thurgood Marshall led a civil rights revolution in the twentieth century that forever changed the landscape of American society. Working through the courts to eradicate the legacy of slavery and destroying the racist segregation system of Jim Crow, he had an even more profound impact on race relations than many of his peers in the Movement. As the leader of Legal Defense Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mr. Marshall won Supreme Court victories breaking the color line in housing, transportation and voting, all of which overturned the `Separate but Equal' apartheid, which was the oppressive reality of American life for Blacks from emancipation to the 1960's. It was Marshall who was the mastermind behind the strategies which won the most important legal case of the century, Brown v. Board in 1954, which ended the legal separation of black and white children in public schools and initiated the dismantling of the legal framework which supported segregation. The success of the Brown case sparked the 1960's Civil Rights Movement. Marshall's first major case in 1933 desegregated the University of Maryland and initiated his long and distinguished career as the most notable civil rights attorney in American history. Heavily involved with the NAACP, Mr. Marshall navigated through the court system a series of cases to legally challenge the laws that sought to legitimize the denial of constitutionally guaranteed civil rights to African Americans. He was even invited by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to help draft the constitutions of both newly formed Ghana and Tanzania. As a result of the success of many of his Supreme Court challenges to state sponsored discrimination, President John F. Kennedy appointed Mr. Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As a Federal Court judge Thurgood Marshall wrote over 150 decisions including support for immigrants' rights, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. As U.S. Solicitor General, Mr. Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the government. Through this position he represented and won more cases before the Supreme Court than any other American. Therefore it was befitting that in 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the Supreme Court, making Thurgood Marshall the first African American to be a Supreme Court Justice. Throughout his tenure as a Supreme Court Justice, Marshall was a strong advocate for equal rights under the law. He strongly believed that integration was the only route to achieving equal protection for all. Once individual rights were accepted, blacks and whites could rise or fall based on their own ability. However, Justice Marshall believed that the Constitution was inherently defective in its acceptance of slavery, and he made it clear that while legal discrimination had ended, there was more to be done to advance educational opportunity for people who had been locked out and to bridge the wide canyon of economic inequity between blacks and whites. Therefore he was a very strong advocate for programs such as Affirmative Action, preferences, set-asides and other race conscious policies. Although Thurgood Marshall worked most of his life on behalf of the rights of African Americans, he built a structure of individual rights that became the cornerstone of protections for all Americans. He succeeded in creating new protections under law for women, children, prisoners, and the homeless. Justice Marshall ``refused to acquiesce in outdated notions of `liberty', `justice' and `equality,' '' and worked to better them. Therefore, as we now experience the process of appointing a new Supreme Court Justice, let us remember the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. For his strength and struggle has contributed greatly to American history and his impact on the Supreme Court fully represents the true essence and purpose of our Constitution. I believe it is most appropriate at this time in our national history to recognize and honor Thurgood Marshall in a special manner. That is why I have introduced a bill to authorize the minting of a special coin in honor of Thurgood Marshall. I submit the text of my proposal legislation for the Congressional Record and ask for the support of its early consideration and passage.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to wish L'Shanah Tova ``Good Year'' to my Jewish friends in Congress and to Jewish people around the world as they begin the celebration of the Days of Awe: the sacred Holy Days beginning with Rosh Hashanah continuing to the holiest day Yom Kippur, which falls on October 13, 2005. To those Jews who must feel the most forgotten and alone whether in Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the remnants still living in poverty in Poland, Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe who can only celebrate these Holy Days in their hearts, I rise to say you are not forgotten. For Jewish people Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as well as the days between are the most solemn of all the Jewish Holidays and for some the most important. These ten days are sometimes known as the Days of Remembrance, the Days of Repentance and the Days of Awe. Unlike other Jewish holidays and festivals which are closely tied to harvests and changes of seasons, the High Holy Days are spiritual days of soul- searching and prayer. Rosh Hashanah is a beginning of a spiritual new year, when each Jew can ask forgiveness for sin of conduct and of the heart, atone for those sins and begin again asking God to inscribe him or her in the ``Book of Life.'' On Rosh Hashanah the Book is opened. The Shofar, the curled ram's horn, calls the Jewish people to gather together to pray on Rosh Hashanah as the Book of Life is opened, just as it has for the last 3000 years. The Jewish liturgy or prayers said during this holiday not only ask for forgiveness from God for sins against both of conduct and of the heart, the prayers remind the people that they cannot be forgiven by God for sins committed against their fellow man. For forgiveness from others, they must atone by seeking it from the people they have hurt and doing charity. The liturgy, both the ancient derived from many beloved psalms as well as newer liturgy, which recognizes political realities of our time, center on ethical concerns, searching for the core of the ethical human being, the meaning of righteousness and good. For Jewish people this High Holy Day is one for evaluating their conduct of the past year, not only toward their fellow man, but for all the creatures of the earth and for the earth itself. This re-thinking of their conduct requires each person to examine his or her moral and spiritual values, principles, ethical standards, in other words the moral core of their being. The Jews from ancient times valued these high holy days more than the other holidays and traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem so the High Priests could perform the spiritual rituals that would cleanse them of their sins and seek blessings of peace for them and inscribe each with his or loved ones in the Book of Life. This day is the beginning of the Jewish calendar year. It is a beginning in a spiritual sense which is more important than a change in the calendar. For the Jewish people, each Rosh Hashanah is a new year that is one more step in a history thousands of years long. Jewish people strive to understand the values of our forebears and build on what has gone before. Jewish people all over the world read from the writings of the sages who wrote during the long exile in Babylon a model for moral behavior: ``The one who proceeds with integrity, and takes action for justice, and speaks truth with their heart, the one who does no harm to others, and does not raise trouble for their neighbor. . . .'' On Rosh Hashanah Jews also reflect on the words of Isaiah, ``Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil; learn what is good. Seek justice; relieve the oppressed; Speak out for the orphan; advocate for the widow.''--Isaiah, I: 16-17 The prayers are also a promise to God to strive for peace. In this Holy Day liturgy which spans the millennia, the Jewish people around the world pray for God's peace: Bring peace, the Jews sing, peace to the Jews and to the whole world. The second High Holy Day, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is a day of fasting, reflection and prayers. The names of this day in Hebrew are many: Yom HaZikkaron, ``Day of remembrance,'' Yom ha-Din ``Day of Judgment'', the day on which God judges all human beings by their deeds during the year just ended and inscribes their fate in the heavenly record book for the next year. Some believe the Book of Life will close at sundown on Yom Kippur. As the sun slowly sinks in the sky, the fasting people stand for the entire evening service. Some believe literally, others believe metaphorically, that on this day God has determined who will live, and who will die. They make a last plea for their loved ones and themselves. They also pledge to live the ethical life they believe is required of them by soul or spirit that is the spark of God in them. In Judaism, ethics are the foundation of prayer and the theology of prayer. This is most evident on the High Holy Days. Yom Kippur is also called in Hebrew, Yom Teruah, ``The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar'' In the ancient past trumpet sound called the people together to repent sins, to forsake evil and to pursue goodness and mercy. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the repeated trumpeting sound of the Shofar in the synagogue. For most Jews the call of the Shofar is a reminder of their rich heritage, the centuries in a Diaspora when they had nothing but their Holy Book and their liturgy. The call of the Shofar reminds Jews they survived the Roman Empire which burned their Holy Temple twice and drove them to exile; survived expulsion from Spain, survived pogroms, poverty and restrictive regulations in Russia and Eastern Europe and even survived the Nazi ``final solution, genocide the murder of their men, women and their babies; survived to have a Jewish Country and flag. In all that time and through all those trials, the Jews of the world have kept their Holy Days. Their Holy Book is unchanged from the day they took it into exile. The Jews have lived now to hear the Shofar blown in Israel as it was before the Diaspora. The liturgy has remained as it was in ancient times, but in the last century prayers and remembrances have been added for the victims of the Holocaust. The words of the Kaddish are a hymn that praises God. It is a public declaration of the Jewish belief that God is Great and Holy and it envisions a time when Peace will be established on earth. One form of the prayer says ``may He who makes peace in heaven, make peace for us.'' On the High Holy Days, the Days of Awe of 2005, I join with my Jewish friends and wish peace for us.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and honor the esteemed boxer Sugar Ray Robinson for his positive impact on the athletic world as one of the greatest boxers of all time, and to honor his service as a role model with an extraordinary positive influence on his community. Sugar Ray Robinson was a prime example of an American role model, a man from an era where blacks were seen and treated as second class citizens and he focused on his talent in order to achieve greatness, the story of a true hero. At a time when African American youth did not have African American icons to idolize; Sugar Ray more than filled this void, by being an enormous boxing influence to a variety of African American children, some of whom became Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard whom even took Robinson's nickname. He gave these kids something to believe in and something to be proud of. The phrase ``pound for pound the best'' was coined in honor of Sugar Ray's boxing success, and has been used to reference successful boxers ever since. Walker ``Sugar Ray'' Smith was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1921. He began boxing as an amateur in New York City, where he quickly advanced to the professional circuit in 1940. New York has always been a tough city and to make it there as Sugar Ray Robinson did, you have to be among the best of the best. From 1946 to 1951 he became the world welterweight champion and the world middleweight title holder. Sugar Ray's athletic ability clearly outmatched his opponents, fight after fight. A fierce competitor, Sugar Ray's final record was an utterly amazing 174 wins, 109 of them being knockouts, and only 19 losses and 6 draws; this being a remarkable testament to Sugar Ray's amazing athletic accomplishments within the boxing circuit. Sugar Ray Robinson was a Renaissance man; he did not restrict himself to solely boxing and athletics. He used his fame as keys to experiment in the musical world and also acting. Nevertheless his fame is attributed to his remarkable achievements in his boxing. He was one of the first athletic stars to cross over into different mediums of public spotlight. Sugar was known for his huge entourages and public displays of success, truly a man who enjoyed the life he lived. He showed generations of young African Americans that raw physical talent was not enough. Skill, ability and education were also important. In 1989 Sugar Ray Robinson died a month before his birthday, leaving behind a plethora of fans, along with countless influences and friends. Sugar Ray Robinson represented hope and optimism for the African American community during an era of blatant and systematic racial oppression. He aided in racial relations in athletics while giving African Americans a sense of pride as an example of African American perseverance and strength over the negative barriers. Sugar Ray broke these barriers, charging forward for his people to be seen, to be respected and to be loved. It was a fight to show that African American people were not inferior and should be granted equal opportunity. The African American hero, the American idol, Sugar Ray Robinson showed the American people a black man that was a powerful warrior, and clearly the best of his time in and out of the ring. I have reintroduced legislation in the 109th Congress to recognize the stellar career of Sugar Ray Robinson. It is an honor which Sugar Ray Robinson very well deserves and I truly hope my colleagues will join me in this effort.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 167th anniversary of Jamaican Emancipation, established on August 1, 1838. On August 1, 1838, when the enslaved Jamaicans found out that they were freed, tears flowed incessantly, while shouts of freedom rang from every direction. The sentiment of the day was jubilance; however, there was an underlying reverence for the freedom of hundreds of thousands enslaved men, women, and children. They had been freed from the oppressive social and economic system to which they had been subjected to for generations. Similar to the Quakers in the United States, the Quakers of Jamaica were very instrumental in aiding the fight for the abolition of slavery. Many of them started campaigns against the slave system, one of which was led by the ``Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade''. This community of abolitionists believed that slavery was against the will of God and a denial of civilization. Freedom and only freedom was and is the true natural state of man. The booming rise in the sugar industry quickly fostered economic excuses in favor of slavery, which quashed the Quaker's efforts within the 17th century. However, entrance into the 18th century, and the initial decline of the sugar industry ushered in much opportunity that encouraged a resurgence of the abolitionist movement within Jamaica. In 1807, abolitionists gained their first victory through the ``Total and Immediate Abolition of the Slave Trade'' in the British Parliament, ending Jamaican involvement in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, cutting off their human cargo from Africa and the influx of more potential slaves. Meanwhile, enslaved Jamaicans were taking their freedom into their own hands through the many slave revolts staged across the island. The most famous revolt took place a few days after Christmas in 1831. Reverend Samuel Sharpe, who was a leader of a secret society of slaves, and is today recognized as a national hero of Jamaica, planned that the slaves should simply stop work, present their demand for freedom, and then hold fast in resistance until the demand was met, which was one of the first acts of organized civil disobedience, prior to our modern day examples. However, the slaves still armed themselves, in case they needed to defend themselves, as of course they did. The strike turned into a running series of fights, which accumulated and spread, to over two hundred plantations. Slaves did not take the initiative in attacking their white masters, but they did systematically destroy plantation houses and equipment. Within a short time, they had control over settlements and communications in virtually all the western end of the island. This 10 day rebellion mobilized some 60,000 slaves, numbers that quickly got the attention of Parliament. With the possibility of a general uprising looming, the idea of abolishing slavery was once again proposed to Parliament. In 1833, it decided that slavery was no longer an effective economic system. The Emancipation Act of 1834 declared that all enslaved peoples under the age of six and those born after the enactment of the bill were legally free. Those who were older were forced to become apprenticed to their former masters up until August 1, 1838, after which they would be free. Indeed, in 1838 all those who were once enslaved were made free. Emancipation Day is celebrated across the island within churches and town squares where there are a variety of all night vigils that take place. Then at midnight, there is a nation wide celebration of drumming, pealing of bells, and much more which carry on into the dawn of the ``First of August''. All this is done to simulate or re-create the atmosphere that existed during that morning when slavery was abolished. The celebration of Emancipation Day is of the utmost importance to the historical integrity of Jamaica. It not only pays homage to those millions of Africans that were subjected to one of the worst crimes against humanity, it provides a historical foundation for the country to evolve from. As Rev. Dr. Burchell K. Taylor, Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, states ``an event as significant as the Emancipation of our people from slavery and all it signifies in terms of human cruelty, suffering, sacrifice, folly, courage, deception, greed, triumph of the human spirit and faith and hope, cannot be allowed to slip from our collective memory. There are lessons to be learned that are of lasting value. Remembering Emancipation can itself be an ongoing liberating experience.'' I submit to you an editorial written by the Honorable P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica, found in the August 9th edition of the CaribNews newspaper, addressing the people of Jamaica and the significant lessons that this celebration brings with its 167th year. There are many lessons that we, the U.S., can learn from Jamaica and its national and cultural acceptance of their past. We truly cannot know where we as a country are headed unless we first recognize, reconcile and then celebrate our history, all of our history. Emancipation is a celebration that should not be reserved for those who are descendants of slaves and abolitionists. As the Prime Minister suggests, ``the abolition of slavery meant more than the emancipation of slaves. It also meant the emancipation of those who held them in bondage, at least from the burden of callousness and greed-factors that devalue human life and desecrate any society intended to nurture that life.'' We too must engage in similar reconciliatory celebrations and find strength in our past. What Emancipation Means to Jamaica and Its People (By P.J. Patterson) One hundred and sixty seven years ago, our forebears gathered in churches all over this island (of Jamaica) to give thanks for the release of some 400,000 former slaves into full freedom. On that day, a clear message was sent to the world that, as children of a Common Creator, no one could rightly, justly or morally be the property of another. The assertive character of Jamaican has never allowed us to sit idly by and allow that part of our history to be either forgotten or ignored. It is our solemn duty to secure the gains won by the invincibility of the human spirit against such great odds with passionate and loving care. We are about to celebrate yet again that freedom which set hundreds of thousands of our ancestors free and to give the society they were to inherit, as free men and free women, the capacity to become civil, tolerant and enduringly humane. The great Haitian leader, Touissant l'Ouverture in his memorable reply to the President of France, the colonial ruler asserted (and I quote) ``It is not a circumstantial liberty conceded to us that we wish, but the unequivocal adoption of the principle that no man whether he is born red, black or white can become the property of his fellow man''. It is that spirit of determination to effect human equity and equality for which we here in Jamaica have struggled, regardless of race, colour, political affiliation or creed. The celebration of August First, then, remains an important observance for all who inhabit this land of ours. Today's challenges may appear formidable. But the fact that our forebears could overcome the greatest hardship of all--that of being enslaved--is cause enough, both for hope and for the strengthening of our resolve, to overcome every obstacle. We dare not betray the trust placed in us who have come after the generation of 1838. We must never give up the fight to become the self-directed, liberated human beings we were created to be. The abolition of slavery meant more than the emancipation of the slaves. It also meant the emancipation of those who held them in bondage, at least from the burden of callousness and greed--factors that devalue human life and desecrate any society intended to nurture that life. So, let us again say thanks for that Emancipation which allowed thousands of others, whose descendants now call Jamaica ``home'', to enter a free society. They were still being exploited on contract during the period of indentured labour, but at least there were prescribed rules of engagement covering conditions of work. They bequeathed this precious legacy to our workers and their trade unions, to our professionals and their staff associations, to our citizens and their right to choose their leaders who hold power in trust on their behalf. It was this legacy which was to help guide us into Independence, another milestone that we will observe in a few days. This legacy set us on the road to civil society, democratic governance and peaceful co-existence. Our Emancipation Day observance is therefore a fitting tribute to that legacy of determination and inner strength which our freedom-loving ancestors have given to posterity. May I wish blessed and pleasant Emancipation Day to everyone! (P.J. Patterson is Jamaica's Prime Minister. The Emancipation Day Message was read to hundreds of worshippers at a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday afternoon at Hanson Place Central Methodist Church in Brooklyn by Dr. Basil Bryan, Jamaica's Consul-General in New York).

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay homage to one of the most significant men in my life and in the Congressional history, John H. Rainey, the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representatives and the second Black U.S. Congressman. Without his courage, strength and will to represent the issues and concerns of the once voiceless community of freed slaves, I would not be what and who I am today. Joseph H. Rainey was born on June 21, 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina. His parents were both slaves, but his father, Edward, had a successful business as a barber, enabling him to purchase his family's freedom shortly after Joseph Rainey's birth. As an adult, Rainey followed his father by becoming a barber. In 1861, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, Rainey was drafted by the Confederate government to,work on fortifications in Charleston, South Carolina, as well as to work as a laborer on blockade-runner ships. In 1862, he and his wife were able to escape to the West Indies. They settled in St. Georges, Bermuda, where Rainey continued to work as a barber for the duration of the war. In 1866, following the war's end, Rainey returned to South Carolina. He quickly involved himself in politics, joining the executive committee of the state Republican Party. In 1868, he was a delegate to the convention which wrote the state's new constitution. In 1870, Rainey was elected to the State Senate of South Carolina. Later that year, he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Forty-first Congress of the United States as a Republican. This vacancy had been created when the previous incumbent, B. Franklin Whittemore, was censured by the House for corruption and subsequently re-elected, after which the House refused to seat him. Rainey was seated December 12, 1870 and was re- elected to Congress four times; he served until March 3, 1879, which made him the longest-serving black Congressmen prior to William L. Dawson in the 1950s. During his term in Congress, Rainey focused on supporting legislation to protect the civil rights of Southern blacks. This pursuit eventually proved unsuccessful, with the end of Reconstruction effectively meaning that the black electorate lost all political power. In 1876, Rainey won re- election against Democratic candidate John Smythe Richardson; Richardson however challenged the result as invalid on the grounds of intimidation by federal soldiers and black militias. Two years later, as the opponents of Reconstruction solidified their control over South Carolina politics; Rainey was defeated in a second contest with Richardson. After leaving Congress, Joseph Rainey was appointed internal-revenue agent of South Carolina. He held this position for two years, after which he began a career in private commerce. Rainey retired in 1886 and died the following year in Georgetown, the city in which he was born. Joseph H. Rainey set a standard which all U.S. Representatives should seek to emulate. His strength and courage was unparalleled, and his will and commitment to his people, his state and his country were admirable. Thank you, Mr. Rainey for paving the way for African Americans like me in Congress, and for reminding us that we too must continue the fight for true liberty and justice for all. The Honorable Chaka Fattah, Member of Congress and the Honorable Robert W. Ney, Chairman, the House Fine Arts Board, cordially invite you to the Official Unveiling of the Portrait of the Honorable Joseph H. Rainey, the first African-American to serve in the United States House of Representatives, the Rayburn Foyer, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, September 21, 2005, 2:00 p.m.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite Congress to join me in cosponsoring H.R. 1432 to require the Secretary of the Treasury to redesign the $1 coin to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On December 5, 1955, after civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to observe the segregation policy on buses, the residents of Montgomery, Alabama launched a bus boycott. The success of the boycott which desegregated the city bus system propelled Dr. King into national prominence. He organized and led strategic marches, protests and demonstrations for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, fair hiring practices and other basic civil rights. He led these marches under the philosophy of non-violence and civil disobedience, which gained national and international media attention. Through his influence, the world began to see first hand the inhumanity of segregation. It wasn't until his 1963 ``I have a dream'' speech during the March on Washington, did America begin to see Dr. King as a prophetic visionary. The eloquence and optimism of his speech and vision truly inspired the collective conscience of the American public. As his message began to spread, the Nation began to change. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became manifestations of the dreams and hopes of equality and justice for all that Dr. King so effectively represented. Although Dr. King, once Time Magazine's ``Man of the Year 1963'' and the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize was quickly and violently taken from us, his dream still lives on. He had insight into a reality that was not yet this world's reality. Peace on Earth and goodwill towards all was not yet this world's reality. But he believed that it could be; that it ought to be. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for national and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this Nation and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for a new way of life of equality and justice for all have been intertwined with the American experience. There is no man more deserving to have their image engraved on the face of the $1 coin than, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not only would this be a national recognition of his many contributions to American history, but it would be a constant reminder that we have not yet fulfilled the dream, Peace on Earth and good will to all men, and equality and justice for all.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, in celebration of Jamaica's 43rd anniversary of independence I rise today to insert in the Record an article from the July 20th New York Times highlighting Jamaican cuisine and its impact on New York City. The influx of Jamaican cuisine in New York and other cities throughout the U.S. is a testament to the richness which immigration has brought to the city of New York and our Nation. The diversity of cuisine now available to us is but one example of the benefits we New Yorkers and Americans derive from the cultures and customs brought to the U.S. from all over the world. The vibrant cuisine of Jamaica is a reflection of its culture and is as diverse as its people, drawing inspiration from a medley of sources. Jamaican cooking can be best described as a culinary melting pot that combines a hint of Spanish, a dash of English and a heaping teaspoon of Indian and Chinese with a cup or two of African ingredients to serve up some of the Caribbean's most creative cuisine. As a native New Yorker I have been a Jamaican food enthusiast since my youth. It is a cuisine full of flavor and vibrancy. Jamaicans have been immigrating to the United States for centuries and have undeniably left their mark on cities throughout our Nation. Their contributions can be seen at the center of our neighborhoods and industries, in every sector from music to cuisine. The Jamaican American community is a prime example of a community which has and is contributing greatly to New York City and their adopted nation. Special praise is due for what the entrepreneurs of this community are contributing to the cuisine of the city and their efforts are appropriately recognized in this article. Island Flavors in a Yellow Envelope (By Julia Moskin and Kim Severson) Long before the BlackBerry and the PlayStation Portable, New Yorkers loved their hand-helds. The folded pizza slice, the hot dog and the crusty knish have a built-in mobility that lets hungry New Yorkers eat on the street, and enough density to carry them through to the next meal. New immigrants have added to the on-the-go family, introducing Colombian arepas, Mexican tacos and Uzbek samsas. But the hand-held with the best shot at making the list of classic New York noshes is the Jamaican beef patty, a rectangle of flaky yellow crust filled with ground beef shot through with onion, thyme and the inimitable heat and perfume of Scotch bonnet chili peppers. The patties are familiar to New Yorkers who order bland commercial versions sold at numerous pizzerias. But they cannot compare to the fresh, handcrafted patties found at a handful of Jamaican bakeries here. The flakiest crusts are still made with a hefty percentage of beef suet, and the most memorable fillings are unabashedly hot. ``That little country pepper takes you right back to Jamaica,'' said Ronald Patterson, a customer at Buff Patty in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, using a Jamaican term for the Scotch bonnet chili pepper, which has a fruity, almost floral taste that balances its considerable heat. Since the 1970's, Jamaicans have been among the largest immigrant groups in New York City, with many arrivals settling in Brooklyn. There are large Jamaican communities in the Wakefield section of the Bronx and (coincidentally) in Jamaica, Queens. But the city's best Jamaican food is concentrated in Brooklyn, along Flatbush, Nostrand and Utica Avenues. ``We use Black Angus beef and fat from the caps of the prime rib,'' said Desmond Patterson, an owner of Jamaican Pride Bakery in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. There, Mr. Patterson and his crew turn out 2,000 patties from scratch every morning and bake them throughout the day. Jamaican Pride's ground beef filling combines plenty of black pepper and Scotch bonnet, and a whiff of fresh thyme and allspice (Jamaicans call it pimento), two signature seasonings in Jamaican cooking. It is slightly soupy, not unlike a sloppy Joe. Patties at most New York shops tend to be drier, with the meat pastelike, in the traditional style. Patties, it turns out, are an immensely personal matter. Preferences for meat texture, crust style and spicing levels are often determined by how and where one was raised. Jamaican cooking combines local ingredients with an overlay of Spanish, British, Indian and Chinese influences. The patty could be a descendant of the empanada or of the meat pasty, the traditional lunch of miners in Cornwall in southwest England, who needed portable lunches that they could take deep into the mines. Other islands with British influence make patties. In Trinidad a distinct curry flavor reflects that island's many Indian cooks (try the patties at Al Cholo Bakery in the Bronx); the bakers at Shaborn Juice Bar, a Guyanese bakery in Flatbush, make round patties no bigger than the palm of a hand. The filling is flavored with a little basil, and the crust is rich and crumbly. The Jamaican patty is served wrapped in coco bread, which is like an oversize, slightly sweet hamburger bun. It is called coco bread not because it contains coconut (it doesn't), but because you split it open like a coconut. Although the combination first appears dauntingly starchy, the soft sweetness of the bread nicely offsets the spicy filling and the crisp crust. ``You eat it with the coco bread to soak up the spice and the juice,'' said Shana Bennett Reid, who works at Angel Flake Patties in Flatbush. In different times and places, the distinctive yellow- orange color of the classic patty crust has come from palm oil, annatto seeds, yellow food coloring and turmeric. Some upscale patties bear a natural pale-brown crust, rather than the traditional yellow. In developing a recipe for home cooks, we found that using turmeric and a bit of West Indian curry powder added a pleasant pungency and the classic yellow color. We also found that although vegetable shortening makes a perfectly good crust, beef suet makes a spectacular one. Not all patties are spicy. Vegetable patties in a whole- wheat crust may seem like an American health food invention, but they are authentically Jamaican. Many Jamaicans are at least part-time vegetarians because of the dietary laws of Rastafarianism. Jerk chicken patties, a relatively new creation gaining popularity here and in Jamaica, can be hot or not, but they are always heavily perfumed with allspice and thyme, the classic jerk spices. At Jamican Pride, one popular patty is filled with ackee, a soft, slippery-sweet fruit that resembles scrambled eggs when baked inside a crisp crust. Besides coco bread, the squeal of brakes seems to be a constant accompaniment to patties; many of the best patty shops are near bus and subway stops. At any time of day, customers rush in holding two dollar bills, the usual tariff for a patty in coco bread. ``In Jamaica people eat patties first thing in the morning and last thing at night,'' said Patrick Anthony, whose father owns the One Stop Patty Shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem. ``Every neighborhood has its own patty shop, and every patty shop has its own recipe.'' Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, is the hotbed of the country's patty wars, with chains of Tastee Patties and Juici Patties battling for dominance. ``I have heard of people making a living buying Tastee Patties by the case in Kingston airport and flying them to Miami, just going back and forth,'' Ronald Patterson said. His favorite patty shop, Buff Patty, carries Royal Caribbean patties, a local commercial product that stood out in our tastings. They are sold nationally under the Caribbean Food Delights label in Costco stores and in other large grocery chains. Caribbean Food Delights, Tower Isle and Golden Krust, which sells its patties to hundreds of franchisees, are the big players in the market. The companies, which turn out hundreds of thousands of patties a day, are determined to make patties as popular as hamburgers and pizza. Vincent and Jeanette HoSang, who founded Royal Caribbean, import Scotch bonnets and thyme from Jamaica so their patties will taste the way they do on the island. ``But everyone buys them,'' said their daughter, Sabrina, the bakery's director of operations. ``Not only Jamaicans, but Caucasians and especially Hispanics--a patty is a lot like an empanada.'' Or a lot like a calzone, a samosa or even a knish. But no matter what your roots, the patty travels well. Especially through the streets of New York.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the retirement of Jean D. Mathis whose contributions to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration have been unparalleled. Ms. Mathis was born on March 3, 1950 in Washington, DC. She attended DC public schools (Anthony Bowen Elementary, Randall Junior High and Dunbar High) and graduated from Howard University in 1972. Ms. Mathis worked throughout her junior high, high school and college years and was introduced at an early age to work in government service. Immediately following her graduation from college, she began her first full-time employment in the Federal Service with the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, where she worked until 1975. In October 1975, she began her employment with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Ms. Mathis distinguished herself from the beginning and quickly advanced through the ranks of the Operational Support Division. In 1990, Ms. Mathis was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Personnel, becoming one of the first two women to enter DEA's Senior Executive Service (SES) and the first African-American woman promoted to the rank of SES. In 1994, Ms. Mathis was promoted to Assistant Administrator for Human Resources becoming DEA's first female Assistant Administrator. Ms. Mathis's stellar career is marked by numerous exemplary achievements. Under her direction, the DEA instituted validated testing for senior law enforcement personnel, drug testing for employees and applicants, and psychological testing for Special Agents. In 1999, she played a vital leadership role in the opening of DEA's state of the art training facility in Quantico, Virginia. Ms. Mathis is a longstanding member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and served as a member of the Training and Education Committee. She also chaired this committee for 2 years. Ms. Mathis' outstanding work ethic and diligence have been recognized with a plethora of awards and commendations over the years. Moreover, her DEA accomplishments have been recognized government-wide as she distinguished herself and the DEA as a two-time recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Performance in 1995 and 2001. Over the years, Ms. Mathis has participated in extensive training programs including Management Training at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, University of Southern California and is a 2003 Brookings Fellow. It was as a Brookings Fellow that Jean came to work in my office and I received the benefit of her experience and wisdom. I have been actively engaged in the problems associated with illegal narcotics throughout my congressional career and have been aware of the role of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the implementation of our national anti-narcotics policies. Yet Jean Mathis taught me a great deal and enhanced my understanding and appreciation of the complexities of addressing the challenges of narcotics addiction and control. She performed superbly as my Congressional staff assistant and I regretted her return to the DEA. In summary, the essence of Ms. Mathis' career was captured in a number of performance award justifications over the years including several DEA Administrators for whom she worked directly. Among them was former DEA Administrator Thomas A. Constantine who stated, ``Ms. Mathis leads by example, demanding high ethical standards and conscientious work. Her outstanding work ethic and diligence inspire and challenge her staff.'' Ms. Mathis has inspired all of those who were fortunate enough to work for or with her. Ms. Mathis' tenacious spirit and pursuit of excellence will be missed at DEA but will continue to inspire those who engage her throughout her retirement and personal endeavors.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the life and legacy of Judge Constance Baker Motley who died September 21, 2005. Constance Baker Motley had a remarkable career as a public servant, achieving success both as an elected official and as a Federal judge. She made history and contributed greatly to the widening of opportunities for minorities and women. Judge Motley was the first woman and first African-American woman to be appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the largest Federal trial bench in the country; the first African-American woman to be elected to the New York State Senate and the first woman to the Manhattan Borough Presidency. Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921 in New Haven, CT, where her father worked as chef for a Yale University fraternity. Her parents were West Indian emigrants who encouraged her to excel in school and to become involved in community activities. Clarence Blakeslee, a wealthy white contractor and philanthropist was so impressed by her that he paid for her college education. She attended Fisk University and graduated from New York University in 1943. In 1946, she received her law degree from Columbia University, and married real estate and insurance broker, Joel Wilson Motley. She also began work as a law clerk with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Thurgood Marshall interviewed her for the position and continued to mentor and support her in the years to come. As one of the NAACP's principal trial attorneys Motley played a role in all of the major school segregation cases. She helped write the briefs filed in Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, and she personally tried the cases resulting in the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi and of Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes to the University of Georgia. In the 1950's and 1960's she argued 10 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, winning 9. She also represented such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy. In 1964 Motley became the first Black woman elected to the New York State Senate and in 1965 she became the first woman elected to be president of the Borough of Manhattan. In 1966 she was named U.S. District Judge, the first African-American woman to be appointed to the federal bench. Her nomination was approved only after months of fierce political opposition; President Lyndon Johnson had been forced to withdraw his earlier nomination of Motley to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Constance Baker Motley is the author of dozens of articles on legal and civil rights issues, including several personal tributes to Thurgood Marshall. She has received honorary doctorates from Spelman College, Howard, Princeton, and Brown Universities, and from many Connecticut institutions, including Yale, Trinity, Albertus Magnus, UCONN, and the University of Hartford. Among her many other awards are the NAACP Medal of Honor and her 1993 election to the National Women's Hall of Fame. Judge Constance Baker Motley has truly been a trailblazer in the advancement of civil rights for all Americans, and a pioneer in breaking racial and gender barriers within the once homogeneous legal arenas. She is truly not only an African-American ``shero,'' she is an American icon as well. Judge Motley leaves behind her husband of 59 years, Joel Wilson Motley, her son Joel Motley III; three sisters; a brother; and three grandchildren. I submit to you two obituaries from the September 29th, 2005 edition of the New York Times and from the same edition of the Washington Post. [From the New York Times, Sept. 29, 2005] Constance Baker Motley, Civil Rights Trailblazer, Dies at 84 (By Douglas Martin) Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights lawyer who fought nearly every important civil rights case for two decades and then became the first black woman to serve as a federal judge, died yesterday at NYU Downtown Hospital in Manhattan. She was 84. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Isolde Motley, her daughter-in-law. Judge Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, as well as the first woman to be Manhattan borough president, a position that guaranteed her a voice in running the entire city under an earlier system of local government called the Board of Estimate. Judge Motley was at the center of the firestorm that raged through the South in the two decades after World War II, as blacks and their white allies pressed to end the segregation that had gripped the region since Reconstruction. She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered. But her metier was in the quieter, painstaking preparation and presentation of lawsuits that paved the way to fuller societal participation by blacks. She dressed elegantly, spoke in a low, lilting voice and, in case after case, earned a reputation as the chief courtroom tactician of the civil rights movement. Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama and other staunch segregationists yielded, kicking and screaming, to the verdicts of courts ruling against racial segregation. These huge victories were led by the N.A.A.C.P.'s Legal Defense and Education Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall, for which Judge Motley, Jack Greenberg, Robert Carter and a handful of other underpaid, overworked lawyers labored. In particular, she directed the legal campaign that resulted in the admission of James H. Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962. She argued 10 cases before the United States Supreme Court and won nine of them. Judge Motley won cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and at whites-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Ala. She fought for King's right to march in Albany, Ga. She played an important role in representing blacks seeking admission to the Universities of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and Clemson College in South Carolina. She helped write briefs in the landmark school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and in later elementary-school integration cases. Judge Motley was a tall, gracious and stately woman whose oft-stated goal was as simple as it was sometimes elusive: dignity for all people. Her personal approach was also dignified. When a reporter wrote that she had demanded some action by the court, she soon corrected him: ``What do you mean `I demanded the court'? You don't demand, you pray for relief or move for some action.'' Charlayne Hunter-Gault, whose admission to the University of Georgia was engineered by Mrs. Motley's legal finesse, described her courtroom cunning. ``Mrs. Motley's style could be deceptive, often challenging a witness to get away with one lie after another without challenging them,'' she wrote in her book ``In My Place,'' published in 1992. ``It was as if she would lull them into an affirmation of their own arrogance, causing them to relax as she appeared to wander aimlessly off into and around left field, until she suddenly threw a curveball with so much skill and power it would knock them off their chair.'' As a black woman practicing law in the South, she endured gawking and more than a few physical threats. A local paper in Jackson, Miss., derided her as ``the Motley woman.'' In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her as a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York at the urging of Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, a Democrat, and with the support of Senator Jacob K. Javits, a Republican. The opposition of Southern senators like James O. Eastland, a Mississippi Democrat, was beaten back, and her appointment was confirmed. She became chief judge of the district in 1982 and senior judge in 1986. Constance Baker was born on Sept. 14, 1921, in New Haven, the ninth of 12 children. Her parents came from the tiny Caribbean island Nevis at the beginning of the 20th century. Her father worked as a chef for various Yale University student organizations, including Skull and Bones. She attended local schools in what was then an overwhelmingly white community. One of her first experiences with discrimination came at 15, when she was turned away from a public beach because she was black. She read books dealing with black history and became president of the local N.A.A.C.P. youth council. She decided that she wanted to be a lawyer, but her family lacked money to send their many children to college. After high school, she struggled to earn a living as a domestic worker. When she was 18, she made a speech at local African- American social center that was heard by Clarence W. Blakeslee, a white businessman and philanthropist who sponsored the center. He was impressed and offered to finance her education. She decided to attend Fisk University, a black college in Nashville, partly because she had never been to the South. In Nashville, she encountered a rigidly segregated society, and brought her parents a poignant souvenir: a sign that read ``Colored Only.'' After a year and a half at Fisk, she transferred to New York University. After graduation in 1943, she entered Columbia Law School, where she began to work as a volunteer at the N.A.A.C.P.'s Legal Defense and Education Fund, an affiliate of the National Organization for the Advancement of Colored People that Mr. Marshall and his mentor, Charles Houston, had created in 1939. After she graduated in 1946, she began to work full time for the civil rights group at a salary of $50 a week. She worked first on housing cases, fighting to break the restrictive covenants that barred blacks from white neighborhoods. Also in 1946, she married Joel Wilson Motley Jr., a New York real estate broker. He survives her, as does their son, Joel III, who lives in Scarborough, N.Y.; three grandchildren; her brother Edmund Baker of Florida; and her sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice Royster and Marian Green, all of New Haven. Mr. Marshall had no qualms about sending her into the tensest racial terrain, precisely because she was a woman. She said she believed that was why she was assigned to the Meredith case in 1961. ``Thurgood says that the only people who are safe in the South are the women--white and Negro,'' she said in an interview with Pictorial Living, the magazine of The New York Journal-American, in 1965. ``I don't know how he's got that figured. But, so far, I've never been subjected to any violence.'' Mr. Meredith's admission to the University of Mississippi in September 1962 was a major victory for the civil rights movement. Mrs. Motley worked on the case for 18 months before Mr. Meredith's name was even seen in the papers. She made 22 trips to Mississippi as the case dragged on. Judge Motley once called the day Mr. Meredith accepted his diploma in 1963 the most thrilling in her life. She said her greatest professional satisfaction came with the reinstatement of 1,100 black children in Birmingham who had been expelled for taking part in street demonstrations in the spring of 1963. In February 1964, Mrs. Motley's high-level civil rights profile drew her into politics. A Democratic State Senate candidate from the Upper West Side was ruled off the ballot because of an election-law technicality. She accepted the nomination on the condition that it would not interfere with her N.A.A.C.P. work and handily defeated a Republican to become the first black woman elected to the State Senate. She was re-elected that November. She remained in the job until February 1965, when she was chosen by unanimous vote of the City Council to fill a one- year vacancy as Manhattan borough president. In citywide elections nine months later, she was re-elected to a full four-year term with the endorsement of the Democratic, Republican and Liberal Parties. As borough president, she drew up a seven-point program for the revitalization of Harlem and East Harlem, securing $700,000 to plan for those and other underprivileged areas of the city. After becoming a federal judge in 1966, Judge Motley ruled in many cases, but her decisions often reflected her past. She decided on behalf of welfare recipients, low-income Medicaid patients and a prisoner who claimed to have been unconstitutionally punished by 372 days of solitary confinement, whom she awarded damages. She continued to try cases after she took senior status. Her hope as a judge was that she would change the world for the better, she said. ``The work I'm doing now will affect people's lives intimately,'' she said in an interview with The New York Times in 1977, ``it may even change them.''

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the eloquent remarks made by the Honorable P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica as he accepted the Charles Diggs Award for International Service from the Congressional Black Caucus as part of our Annual Legislative Conference Awards Dinner on Saturday September 24, 2005. His acceptance speech reached beyond words of gratitude, to encompass a stirring statement of the basis for the commonality of people throughout the African Diaspora. Prime Minister Patterson inspired us with his words to promote enlightenment, encouragement, unity and brotherhood. In his address he reminded us of the shared histories and experiences of Blacks in the Americas and across the globe. He showed how those who survived the Middle Passage were indeed part of a larger family of shared experience. Prime Minister Patterson illustrated the common experiences of poverty, neglect and misrepresentation that affected the social status of Africa and its descendants of the Diaspora alike. His message showed that the neglectful actions of federal, state, and local governments following Hurricane Katrina were a microcosm of the global experience of blacks everywhere in the world. He gave us hope that through this shared history, we have a common foundation from which we as one people regardless of nation, or geographic location can stand on to fight injustice around the world, especially since those of African descent suffer most from the injustices. Mr. Patterson also reminded and encouraged us as public officials and as citizens of the world to continue the fight for what we vowed to do, fight for justice on the local, national and international levels. He reminded us in the African American community that we are not alone in our struggle for justice and equality. We are part of a global struggle to bring empowerment to those who are poor and oppressed around the world and that we must take courage from our faith that what is right will prevail. We all have to engage all our energies and intellects in the struggle to build the national and global framework where marginalized groups, industrialized countries, and developing nations alike have an equal voice in the determination of how best we protect and share the resources of not only our country and others alike, but our planet as well. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and his words of hope and optimism were a breath of fresh air to his audience during such despondent and confusing times. He gives direction where there is seemingly none, and he makes sense out of a seemingly senseless world. Thank you, Mr. Patterson for your words of encouragement and hope, and for exhibiting much courage and strength during a time when the world needs leaders with such characteristics. The citizens of Jamaica are truly blessed to have a leader like you, to guide them successfully into the future and we are as a people are fortunate to have you as part of our African family. I submit the transcript of Prime Minister Patterson's acceptance speech given on Saturday September 24, 2005 to the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Legislative Conference Awards Dinner to the Congressional Record. Over a period of two centuries, some fifteen million young Africans were crowded into slave ships, propelled by the winds that sweep the Atlantic at this time of year. Family victims of the pernicious system of slavery were separated forever according to the dictates of the plantocracy in the Caribbean, North, Central and South America. So, no matter in what country we now reside, we are indeed one big family, one people. We are all descendants of those who survived the Middle Passage. Once again, I express the deepest sympathy of the government and people of Jamaica to everyone who lost a relative or friend and to all who suffered the traumatic experiences and material losses of Hurricane Katrina. It is appropriate to underscore our special empathy with our kith and kin, who by all accounts, suffered the greatest loss from these catastrophes. I cannot overlook the disdain manifest to the plight of the poor in Louisiana and the weakness in the early response to the devastation, so arrogantly described as a Third World situation. No one can dispute the fact that the African American influence on the culture and vibrancy of New Orleans is the most pervasive, has giving heart and soul to this unique city.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Cindy Sheehan the ``Peace Mom'' from Vacaville, California, whose 24 year-old son Casey was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004. Referred to by some as, the ``Rosa Parks'' of the peace and justice movement, she was arrested today in front of the White House while calling on President Bush to end the War in Iraq. Cindy had traveled to Washington from Crawford, Texas where, intent on a face-to-face meeting with President Bush, she gained national attention by camping outside the Texas White House during the President's summer vacation. The site was called Camp Casey in honor of her son. Cindy Sheehan wanted to ask President Bush: What is the ``noble cause'' that my son Casey died for? Like millions of people in this country, Cindy Sheehan knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the citizens in the United States had never been in ``imminent danger'' from Saddam Hussein and Iraq had no connection to 9/11 as the President had claimed. As a mother she felt she had the right to ask the President to meet with her to explain why her son had been sent on a fraudulent mission. After all, he had the time for a bicycle ride with Lance Armstrong. She felt he should make the time to meet with her. The President refused to meet with Cindy, but sent two high level White House officials in his place. Explaining this substitution, President Bush stated that he had to go on with his ``normal life'' and that the American people wanted him to do that. Cindy announced she would not leave Crawford until Mr. Bush met with her or left for Washington DC. As Cindy Sheehan waited in the broiling Texas sun, people began to come to Crawford to be with her. They wanted to support her and to send a message to the President that they, too, wanted an explanation for the war. Thousands came from across the country; some stayed a few hours, others, a few days. When authorities ordered her to move Camp Casey, a local landowner gave her space on his ranch for an even larger encampment. White crosses with the names of the soldiers killed were planted in the ground. The boots Casey was wearing when he died were placed with his cross as were the boots of other soldiers whose crosses were at Camp Casey. After President Bush finally left his ranch a few days short of his planned five week vacation, four groups of Cindy's supporters--Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Vets Against the War and Veterans for Peace--left Camp Casey on a ``Bring Them Home Tour'' from Crawford, TX to Washington, DC. The Veterans for Peace sent a bus to Covington, KY, to deliver supplies to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Three other buses filled with representatives of each group toured the central, southern and northern States and met in Washington on September 22nd to prepare for the peace march on September 24, 2005. An estimated 300,000 people participated in the demonstration. Cindy spoke to the crowd who welcomed her as a hero. I called Cindy the ``Rosa Parks'' of this peace movement. Like the woman who sparked the civil rights movement, Cindy is the one person who has come forth to inspire others to do more than they believed themselves capable of doing. On that day when our grandchildren ask what we were doing during the Iraq War, we will be able to say: We spoke out and stood up in support of Cindy Sheehan.