Bobby Rush

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained and missed a vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 62. Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Panetta

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I inadvertently missed a vote on H. Res. 844. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 58.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an important milestone in our Nation's fight for environmental justice. On February 11, 1994, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12898, making it the Federal Government's first major action on this issue. Today, I have introduced a resolution to honor Chicago native Mrs. Hazel M. Johnson, whose contributions were the necessary keys to this order. Madam Speaker, Mrs. Johnson worked as the ``mother of the environmental justice movement'' to address racial injustices and improve environmental protections fundamental to this action. Therefore, I take pride in introducing legislation to celebrate the month of April as Hazel M. Johnson Environmental Justice Month.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full Committee on Energy and Commerce for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 826. Over the last 3 years, the Trump administration has deliberately and repeatedly sabotaged the Affordable Care Act. This has led to higher healthcare costs for low- and middle-income Americans. This has also led to an increase in the number of uninsured Americans, including those in my home State of Illinois. As such, Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising to me that the administration is, once again, attacking vulnerable Americans' healthcare. We have not forgotten that our colleagues across the aisle tried and failed to force through the Medicaid block grant in the year 2017. It failed, Mr. Speaker, because the American people saw the plan for what it was: a way to weaken the Medicaid program. Under this latest proposal, just like TrumpCare, much of the financial burden would shift to States. States, Mr. Speaker, would be forced to reduce benefits, kick vulnerable Americans off Medicaid, and siphon funds from other priorities, including schools, roads, and first responders. Mr. Speaker, healthcare is a human right, and we cannot and we will not stand idly by if this right is taken away from the most vulnerable among us. As such, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to vote in favor of this resolution to express my disapproval of the Trump administration's Medicaid block grant plan.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of National Gun Violence Survivors Week. At a field hearing in my district last November, we heard from Pastor Brenda Mitchell, who lost both her brother and a son to gun violence. After her son's death, Pastor Mitchell experienced hypertension, and the trauma forced her to leave a successful career behind. According to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun violence statistics, there have been 862 deaths in my district since 2013, 862 families who have experienced the trauma of losing a loved one to gun violence. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to stand up to the empty minds, the empty hearts, and the empty suits of the gun lobby and send H.R. 8 to the President's desk.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, the dynamic part of the dynamic duo, my brother who is known far and wide as being a voice of inspiration, a voice of reason, and a mighty voice of valor, my friend and colleague for many, many years, Congressman Danny K. Davis from the great Seventh Congressional District in the State of Illinois. I thank Congressman Davis for honoring the legacy of his friend and mine, Mr. Richard Barnett, who was a true visionary, whose outstanding efforts helped bring Chicago's local government and the State of Illinois' government closer to the people who consented to be governed, to the people who know governments are supposed to serve. Madam Speaker, Richard Barnett was a man of enormous talents, skills, and abilities. Integral to his vision, though, was a focus on enfranchising those who had been intentionally excluded from the political process by Chicago's political elite. Richard was a courageous voice for the left out, for the locked out, and for those who were forced to live on the margins of political power in the city of Chicago. I guess the clearest example of this was the critical role that Richard Barnett played in the election of Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington, and the defeat of Chicago's vaunted Democratic machine. But we can't look at one election and summarize Richard's contribution by just one election. Richard Barnett's transformative role in Chicago politics would come years earlier, following the untimely assassination of my dear friend and colleague, Fred Hampton. The story goes that after then-Cook County State's Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan led the political assassination of Hampton, who was chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Richard Barnett encouraged all African Americans, all minorities, all good people in the city of Chicago, all those who cared about civil rights, law and order, and justice in our city, to refuse to vote for Edward Hanrahan in the upcoming general election. That was the election in 1972. This was in spite of the fact that Richard was a Democrat, and most of the African American community was Democrat. We vote with the Democratic machine. We refused to just be ignored and disrespected, and we defeated the Democratic machine in Chicago in the election of 1972 for Cook County State's attorney but, for the first time in the history of the city of Chicago, elected a Republican as the State's attorney of Cook County, Bernard J. Carey. The evil Edward V. Hanrahan would lose the general election, mostly because of Richard Barnett's political acumen and activism. This defeat by the Cook County Democratic machine would ignite a political awakening in Chicago that would begin with the 1983 election of Harold Washington. But it would go even beyond that and would go on to inspire African Americans all across the country to run for public office, including yours truly. Barnett's work elected strong political voices, committed political voices, dedicated, passionate political voices up and down the ballot, year in and year out. Richard Barnett helped elect scores of members of the city council, aldermen, appellate court judges, judges in the circuit court, State representatives, State senators, Members of Congress, other elected officials. I guess, personally, for me, Richard Barnett's legacy was centered around his strategic and informed advice. I mean, you would just marvel, sitting in a political education class, where Richard Barnett would take a group of--not an organization, but just well-meaning individuals from different places, some Ph.D.'s and some GEDs and no Ds, bring them into a room, spend time telling them about not only how to win an election, but why they should win an election. Barnett would tell us how to use the very tactics that precinct captains had been using for decades and use it against those same precinct captains. He would teach us how to canvass an election. The first time I ever heard anything about a canvass, it flowed from Richard Barnett's lips: how to take a poll sheet and go from house to house and building to building and floor to floor asking people would they vote for your candidate, and then summarize that by either putting a plus or a minus. If they were going to vote for your candidate, they were a plus voter; if they were going to vote against your candidate, then they were a minus voter; and if they were undecided, then you put a zero. And you just didn't stop there. The minuses, you left them alone, but the zeroes, you went back to them. Richard Barnett told us all of that every day from the announcement to the decision day in an election, and that was election day, and how you had to really be prepared for election day because, as Congressman Davis indicated, we didn't have poll watchers in the polls, passing 100 feet outside of the polls. If you didn't go and locate your plus voters and get them to the polls, then you would not win that election. So Richard Barnett taught us the strategy and the discipline of how to win an election. Barnett shaped a lot of community leaders, politicians, and activists through his example and through those political education classes. The list is prominent, exalted, endless: Congressman Danny K. Davis; yours truly, Congressman Bobby L. Rush; Congressman Chuy Garcia; former Congressman Luis Gutierrez. We all sat at Richard Barnett's knee and learned how to win elections from this eminent political strategist and teacher. Even Barnett's charisma, his character, his teaching transcended into the mindset, the strategies of the former President of the United States.

Mr. RUSH. Certainly, Congressman Davis. I just wanted to add my voice to the Richard Barnett story that the Nation must know about.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor and privilege to come before the House this evening to celebrate the memory of a major trailblazer in our Nation, one who was a fierce crusader for justice and equality, an American who was a quiet man, with a quiet demeanor, but a giant in terms of his accomplishments, his courage, and the things he did not only for his local constituency, the city of Gary, Indiana, but the African American community and America at large. Mr. Speaker, I am speaking of the one and only, the first Black mayor of Gary, Indiana, Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. Sadly, Mayor Hatcher passed away at the age of 86 on the 13th of December, 2019. Although he is no longer with us, his legacy lives on. His legacy, his work, his love, his sacrifices continue to be felt in these very Halls of Congress, throughout the city hall of Gary, Indiana, and indeed, throughout these State legislative halls, these halls of municipal governments in cities all across this Nation. Mayor Hatcher was one who carved and made a way for African Americans who are elected officials even to this very day. When Mayor Hatcher was first elected mayor of Gary, Indiana, there were but few elected officials of African American descent in the Nation, but there now exists over 10,000 African American elected officials. In some supernatural sense, because of the hard work, the insight, the courage, and the commitment of Mayor Hatcher, his sterling example, we all stand on the shoulders of Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. Mayor Hatcher's surprise victory over the political machine in Gary, Indiana, in 1967 was indeed a watershed moment for Black political participation in this Nation. Along with the election of Mayor Carl Stokes, the first African American mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, Mayor Hatcher became the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city, the city of Gary, Indiana. Mr. Speaker, in his two decades of service as Gary's mayor, Mayor Hatcher fought valiantly in his beloved Gary and throughout his beloved Nation for fair political representation for those whose voices had been previously dismissed, disregarded, and downright ignored for most of American history. When Mayor Hatcher was elected to lead a deeply segregated Gary, Indiana, only two of the city's department heads were African Americans, in a city that was actually over 50 percent African American. Within 10 years of Mayor Hatcher's tenure as mayor, 25 of Gary's 40 department heads were African Americans. Finally, Mr. Speaker, those who worked for Gary's government began to look more like Gary's citizens, those who were supposed to be working on behalf of the citizens of Gary, Indiana. As mayor of Gary, Mayor Hatcher worked very closely with his congressional delegation and the Democratic administration in the White House. He secured millions of dollars in Federal funding for job training programs for Gary's citizens and subsidized housing for Gary's citizens, building up a vibrant economy in his beloved city of Gary, similarly and singlehandedly, in some instances, ensuring that those communities that were previously underserved received their fair share of city services, Federal funding, and Federal dollars. Mayor Hatcher's herculean efforts to ensure fair representation extended far beyond Gary. As a young man, I was inspired and intrigued by the electoral and political processes and systems because of the tenure, political career, and outstanding accomplishments of Mayor Richard Hatcher. Mayor Hatcher was a visionary, a man who not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk. On the streets of Gary, he was highly visible. With all of that, his vision even surpassed and transcended Gary. In 1972, he organized the inaugural and historic National Black Political Convention in Gary. I was there. I attended. I saw it in action. This National Black Political Convention convened with two goals: establishing an independent Black political agenda and electing more Black officials to public office. Never before, not at any time, had this been done. Over 8,000 individual American citizens attended this historic occasion, including some who are icons even today in our Nation, including Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, Bobby Seale, and my colleague from Chicago, Congressman Danny K. Davis. Many, many others were involved, inspired, educated, and learned the value of the vote and heard for the first time that a voteless people is a hopeless people, all because of the single vision of this one American giant, Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. Mr. Speaker, I am honored and humbled to speak in this well about this giant of a man, telling all who have a listening ear and a seeing eye about the work of Mayor Hatcher and that historic National Black Political Convention. It was not just fighting the windmills, Don Quixote-like. It produced results. At the time of this convention, there were just 14 African American Members of Congress, just 14. Today, there are 56 African American Members of Congress, 56 living and breathing, hardworking Members of this Congress who are a result of the vision of Mayor Hatcher and who were inspired by his life and what he had accomplished. He was our inspiration. He gave all of us an exceedingly high standard that we live by even today. Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher spurred a wave of Black civic participation that reverberated all throughout America. In 1973, just 1 year, 365 days, after the Gary convention, Detroit elected its first African American mayor, Mayor Coleman Young, Atlanta elected its first African American mayor, Mayor Maynard Jackson, and Los Angeles elected its first African American mayor, Mayor Tom Bradley. All across this Nation, major cities all across this Nation saw a witness, and participated and celebrated the election of mayors in major cities all across this Nation. The legacy, the inspiration, the example, the instruction just didn't stop in 1973. Even some 10 years later, Mayor Harold Washington was elected mayor of the city of Chicago following the Gary model. Congressman Davis and I were on the front lines in Mayor Washington's election. He challenged us to register 50,000 new voters, and we rose up to the challenge, a la just like being cognizant of what was going on in Gary, Indiana. That voter registration, that election rocked the entrenched Chicago political establishment, political machine. The renowned Richard J. Daley's Democratic machine was overturned in 1983, inspired in no small respect by Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher in the city of Gary, Indiana. It just didn't stop there, Mr. Speaker. The story didn't end there. It kept developing, it kept materializing. The civic awakening that was started in Gary, Indiana, with the election in 1967 of Mayor Hatcher, which ensued with the election of Mayor Harold Washington, inspired a young man who was living in Los Angeles to move to Chicago, Gary's neighbor. He wanted to be a part of what was going on in Chicago, in Gary, Indiana, in urban areas, and major cities throughout the Nation. It inspired him, a young law student named Barack Obama, to move to Chicago, to the south side of Chicago to start community organizing and ultimately to become a State senator from the State of Illinois, then to become the U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, and then finally to become President of these United States. So in no uncertain terms, the overwhelming outstanding achievements, the miraculously determined achievements of Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher led to the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Mayor Hatcher was pivotal in Reverend Jesse Jackson's transcendent 1984 and 1988 Presidential campaigns. In 1988, Mayor Hatcher served as his campaign vice chairman, and Reverend Jackson in that historic campaign earned over 6.7 million votes and Reverend Jackson, through the hard work and the inspiration of Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, won 11 primary contests. You can't undervalue, underestimate how important that was. This happened before the election of Barack Obama. We all stand indebted to Richard Gordon Hatcher and his life, the life that he lived and the life that he led. Mayor Hatcher's victory was a clarion call to all of us who aspired and are inspired to serve as elected officials in our Nation. If we work hard, harness the imagination, speak to the real need of our constituents, we could also raise our voices in the spirit of equity and fairness, justice; that we could all stand not only in the well of the Congress, but in the State houses, in the city halls of our Nation and of States and municipalities all over this country, even in the White House. We miss Mayor Hatcher. We will miss his counsel. Again, he was a man who was not a self-promoter. He was quiet, in some sense professorial, in some sense laid back, but a mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty warrior, a mighty man, a giant. I am just grateful for all that he has done for this Nation, all that he has done for poor people all across this Nation, for the middle class all across this Nation, all that he has done for African Americans not only in Gary, and certainly in Gary, but in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, other places all across this Nation. He inspired young people, young professionals to look at public service as being an honorable pursuit, an honorable career, profession, and get in there and do something not just for yourself, but do something for your Nation, for your community, and for people who need a voice, those who are voiceless. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my condolences to Mayor Hatcher's family, his wife, Ruthellyn, his daughters, and let them know that our prayers are with them, and their loss is great, our loss is great. We lost a friend, we lost a colleague, we lost a champion, but in some sense, we lost someone who was a steadfast, rock solid inspiration to us all. We mourn the loss of this American giant, former Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), a gentleman who represents the city of Gary right now, another man of unmatched wisdom and intellect, the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and my friend and colleague.

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I certainly thank the gentleman from Indiana for his candid remarks, and he also stands in the wonderful splendor of Mayor Hatcher's legacy and of his work and his commitment to public service. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), who is my colleague, my true friend, my coconspirator.

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, as I close this significant moment in the annals of this Congress, let me just say to the family of Mayor Hatcher once again, as I reflect on my public career, as I reflect on all of us who are public officials who represent African American communities, as I reflect on all public officials, but particularly those of us who have historically been denied the opportunity to serve, I want to thank this wonderful man for giving me and others the audacity: the audacity to act, to believe, to run, to get elected, to lead. Mr. Speaker, I give thanks to Mayor Hatcher for showing us the way to contribute, to add our voices to the plight of those who are seeking the American Dream, and for giving us the audacity, the audacity to act. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and commemorate the life of the prescient priest and prophetic pastor that was the Reverend Clay Evans. Reverend Evans was the inspirational icon and tireless servant to his church, to his community, and to the people of Chicago and borders beyond. His untimely passing has left us all with yet another stunning and unimaginable loss. Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, Reverend Evans founded the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in 1950. For the next 70 years, he would nourish and strengthen the souls of his flock with his unwavering wisdom, his incorruptible courage, and his unyielding devotion to the Word of the Lord, the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible, Madam Speaker, says at Psalms 119:105: ``Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.'' Reverend Evans lived his faith humbly. He was a prophet to both parishioners and pastors alike. When the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King brought his movement to Chicago, Reverend Evans had the courage to welcome Dr. King into his church against the objections and the retribution of then-Mayor Richard J. Daley and many others. Reverend Evans was instrumental in founding the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition alongside the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. As chairman of the board of PUSH from 1970 to 1976, Reverend Evans worked diligently to establish Rainbow/PUSH as a national powerhouse in the fight for civil rights. Madam Speaker, Reverend Evans leaves behind a long legacy of pastors who greatly benefited from his teachings, including Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. and Mother Consuella York, the first Chicago woman to be ordained in the Baptist denomination. In total, Reverend Evans ordained 93 preachers and pastors, inspiring them to go forward and spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No celebration of Reverend Evans' life would be complete without mentioning the innovative role music played in his ministry. His radio broadcast reached far and wide into our Nation, into the homes of millions of Americans. Reverend Evans recorded 11 gospel albums and creatively infused gospel music into his sermons, evoking even more truth and life into the Scriptures from which he was preaching. In October 2007, Reverend Evans graced this very Chamber with his powerful presence, serving as a guest chaplain. It was my deep honor to sponsor Reverend Evans. Even today, I can still feel his presence in the same way that I felt it all those years ago when he took us to church here in this very Chamber. Madam Speaker, although we all feel deep pain with the passing of Reverend Evans, I am comforted in knowing that he is now with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and with our Father in Heaven. Reverend Evans' wife, Lutha Mae; his daughters, Gail Claudette Pye and Faith Evans; his sons, Michael and Ralph; and all who loved him are in my deepest prayers and have my greatest sympathies as they mourn the loss of this truly great religious giant, Reverend Clay Evans.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained for rollcall No. 661. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 661. Amendment No. 12 Offered by Mr. Crist

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my thoughts on H. Res. 326, which expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While I am a firm believer in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the two-state solution, I am disappointed that the version of the resolution brought to the Floor did not reflect the language as introduced, language that I and 191 of my colleagues cosponsored. It remains my firm belief that the United States must continue to call for an end to Israeli settlement expansion and oppose Israel's unilateral annexation of territory. Furthermore, the United States must do more to uphold human rights and ensure that democratic ideals are preserved as part of the process. All humankind deserves to live a productive life without fear of threat to their safety. That is why I remain committed to the peace process and welcome the opportunity to work with my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to achieve that aim.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, it goes without saying that the love and respect that I have for my colleague from the Seventh Congressional District of Illinois, my good friend Congressman Danny K. Davis, a man who is such an inspiration to us all, a man who is steadfast in all that is good as it relates to what an elected official and public servant should look like, should be like, should walk like, and, hopefully, if they are giving it, should talk like, speak like. If we all could have the voice of Congressman Davis, we would be much better off. But if we can't have his voice, maybe we can aspire to the heart that Congressman Davis possesses. Madam Speaker, I am here this afternoon, as I have been many years now, speaking from the well of this Congress in this institution that is the envy of all governments throughout the world. I am here for one purpose today and one purpose only, and that is to commemorate the life of a young man who was killed on this very day, December 4, in 1969. His murder was not an accident. His murder was planned by the highest levels of law enforcement in our Nation. Madam Speaker, the Federal Bureau of Investigation collaborated on, conspired on, and coordinated the assassination of Frank Hampton and Mark Clark. Fred's and Mark's assassinations, if not the only, were two of a few instances of proven political assassination by police forces or law enforcement agencies of this country. I say that because toxicologists' reports concluded after the autopsy on the body of Fred Hampton that he had the barbiturate Seconal in his body. He had been drugged with Seconal. They said he had enough Seconal in his body to immobilize an elephant. They came into that apartment, Madam Speaker, on a cold December morning at 4:30 a.m. Nobody was moving on the streets. They came into the West Side community camouflaged in Commonwealth Edison trucks. They came into that community with machine guns, with a definite purpose of killing Fred Hampton and anybody else who was in that apartment. They came using public utility trucks, not marked police cars, but trucks that would not look out of place at that hour in the morning. They knocked on the door when they got to that apartment. Half the police officers went to the front door. Half went to the rear door. They knocked on the door, and Mark Clark, who was in the apartment, asked, ``Who is it?'' at 4:30 in the morning. He got a response from one of the police officers, who answered by saying, ``Tommy.'' When he said, ``Tommy,'' he came in shooting. When they heard the first round of gunfire at the front door, the other half of the raiding team, the assassination team, came in through the rear door, shooting also. There were 12 people in that apartment, including the pregnant wife of Fred Hampton, who was asleep in the bed with him. He had been drugged. She didn't know that he was drugged. He came home late that evening, had a meal. Fred loved Kool-Aid. His Kool-Aid was laced with the aforementioned Seconal. They came in shooting from the front of that apartment and the back, the rear of that apartment. Someone, a Panther on the inside by the name of Louis Truelock, shouted out: Stop shooting. Stop shooting. There is a pregnant woman in here. The shooting stopped. A patrolman by the name of Daniel Groth went into that apartment where Fred had been shot, blood all over the mattress. They heard two other shots of gunfire from a handgun. Groth came out and said: ``He is good and dead now.'' This was a political hit by the FBI, by the Chicago Police Department, by the Cook County State's attorney. Why did they kill Fred? Why was this 21-year-old young man such a threat that the law enforcement agencies of this entire Nation would conspire to murder him and drug him? Because Fred Hampton was a young man who had remarkable, extraordinary gifts. He was a charismatic individual. He could speak and was considered a great orator for his time and for his age. He could move masses through his charisma and through the strength of his conviction and ideas and through his courage. Fred Hampton, at age 21, was a leader of men and women. Adults followed him. But more than anything else, Fred Hampton was a man who everybody knew said what he meant and meant what he said. There was a conspiracy, an assassination, a political assassination because the FBI, Edward Hanrahan, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, and the Chicago Police Department knew that Fred had been convicted of armed robbery. They said he had held up a Good Humor ice cream truck and took $71 of ice cream on a hot August day and had given the ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars, and Dreamsicles away to the children in the community because it was so hot. That is what he was convicted of. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison for stealing, according to them, $71 worth of ice cream. He had been out on appeal, and his appeal had been denied. The FBI, State's attorneys, Edward Hanrahan, and the Chicago Police Department knew that on December 13, some 9 days later, Fred was going to report back to the Illinois Department of Corrections to finish off his sentence. They knew that Fred would not be on the streets. Why did they kill him? Because of his courage, his charisma, his commitment. Fred was committed, not just to Black people, and he was committed to Black people, but to all poor people. Fred used to say that you cannot kill racism with racism. You kill racism with racial solidarity. Madam Speaker, on this day, the 50th anniversary of the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, I remember so well so many things that Fred said, and one thing that he said really stands out to me on this very day. He used to say: ``You can kill a revolutionary, but you can't kill a revolution.'' Madam Speaker, that ought to mean something to this body because no matter where we are today, this body, this United States of America, was founded on the premise of a revolution. Fred was right. Revolution continues even to this day. Fred's blood still is producing fruit. Congressman Davis mentioned it. Look at the people who were inspired by Fred and his ultimate sacrifice: Harold Washington, elected the first African American mayor of the city of Chicago, in direct response to the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and the wounding of seven other Panthers; Carol Moseley Braun, the first female African American U.S. Senator in the history of this Nation; And the mayors from Baltimore to Seattle to New York and other places inspired by Harold Washington's election, which was inspired and which was founded on the blood of Fred Hampton. All these things would not have existed had Fred not given his life for the cause of freedom, justice, and equality. Yes, Madam Speaker, even the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, Fred Hampton's life was given so that Barack Obama could come from Chicago, from the State of Illinois, and become a U.S. Senator and then the President of the United States. Even now, young protest groups, Black Lives Matter and others, were founded on the premise of and came into existence because of the blood of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Madam Speaker, I am here today because he was my friend. He was my colleague. I remember December the 4th, 1969. I couldn't sleep last night because my mind kept going back to 1969, the calls that I got, waiting in the basement of an apartment, listening to news radio, trying to figure out what really was going on, what was happening. I identified Fred's body in the morgue that very morning, later that morning. I remember going to the morgue and identifying Fred's body. I identified his body. They came to my apartment the very next morning. I was supposed to have been in the same apartment with Fred on December 4. The very next morning, at 5 a.m., they came to my apartment looking for me. I had gone underground. If I hadn't been in that apartment with my wife and my children, if we hadn't been in that apartment, I wouldn't be here today, speaking in the well of this Congress. ``You can kill a revolutionary, but you can't kill a revolution.''

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 622.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained in a meeting discussing the lack of diversity in media. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 599 and ``nay'' on rollcall No. 600.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address two critical bills that would mandate studies to examine, one, whether tasers are a safer alternative to firearms and, two, how innovative technology can enhance the safety of firearms. My bill, H.R. 4740, the TASER Access, Safety, and Effectiveness Review Study Act, or TASERS Act, will direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to coordinate a multiagency study comparing the effectiveness and the safety of firearms and of tasers. By studying tasers, Mr. Speaker, we can determine whether they can be a safe, effective, and, most importantly, nonlethal weapon of self-defense. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4784 would direct the National Institute of Justice to update its 2013 study on gun safety technologies. The 2013 NIJ study noted that several innovative gun-locking technologies were close to coming onto the market in our Nation. Newer gun-locking or smart-gun technologies require fingerprints or other advanced mechanisms to unlock the firearms. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, vehement protests and inaccurate information about drastic cost increases from the gun lobby have prevented this technology from becoming widely available. Mr. Speaker, smart-gun technology has the potential to stop firearms from being used by those who shouldn't possess them. A 2019 Department of Justice survey found that 56 percent of prisoners who possessed a firearm during their offense obtained it through illicit channels. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, a study in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that over 1,500 stolen guns were recovered in connection with violent crimes between 2010 and 2016. Updating the Department of Justice's 2013 study would be a critical step forward into determining how smart-gun technology can be incorporated into the multifaceted approach needed to reduce gun violence. Congress must always seek to harness the power of innovation and innovative technology to make Americans safer. The studies these bills would mandate are a critical first step in evaluating how we can use technology and innovation to prevent gun violence. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to sponsor both of these measures and encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting them.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 African Americans were lynched in this Nation. This fact appears to be completely lost on the President, who just this morning conflated constitutionally mandated oversight with the horrific act of lynching. The heinous nature of lynching is why I have introduced H.R. 35, The Emmitt Till Antilynching Act. Madam Speaker, this bipartisan bill would specify that lynching is a crime in and of itself, and that its vile nature warrants an enhanced sentence under hate crime statutes. I would encourage all my colleagues to support this bill and to reject this President's vile rhetoric.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. The Word of the Lord says in Psalm 116:15: ``Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.'' With that in mind, the people of the First Congressional District of Illinois have sent me here to extend their collective condolences to the family and friends of Elijah Eugene Cummings and to the citizens of the Seventh Congressional District of Maryland. Elijah loved the Lord because the Lord first loved Elijah. How do I know this? I know this from the many times that we had discussions. Rarely in those discussions did we talk about anything other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how good the Lord has been to both Elijah and myself. I just stopped by the well of the U.S. House of Representatives this evening to tell somebody, to tell everybody, that the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever. Our Nation shall surely miss the love, the compassion, the strength, the brilliance, the tireless dedication, and the amazing words of Elijah Eugene Cummings. The Lord proclaims now to all who would hear his praise for Elijah and Elijah's work: Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the scourge of the diabetes disease in lower income communities all across our Nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 30 million Americans are living with the dreaded diabetes, and many cannot properly manage this potentially deadly disease due to the high cost of their medication. Insulin is a critical and necessary treatment for those with diabetes. Since 1996, the cost of the most frequently prescribed forms of insulin has increased from just $25 to over $250 per bottle. According to a 2018 Yale University survey, one in four patients were forced to ration their insulin due to these skyrocketing costs, a potentially deadly practice. No one, Madam Speaker, should ever have to forgo or ration their lifesaving medication, which is the very reason why I introduced H.R. 366, the Insulin Access for All Act. This bill would prevent the most vulnerable citizens from having to choose between taking their insulin or paying their household bills by eliminating the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare and Medicaid patients. I encourage all of my colleagues, Madam Speaker, to join me in supporting this very necessary bill. Additionally, Madam Speaker, the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing yesterday to begin discussions on H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. I am a proud cosponsor of this bill. I firmly believe that passing this piece of legislation would be an important step in relieving the burden of rising pharmaceutical costs experienced by all of our citizens. This legislation would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate fairer prices for some of the 250 most costly drugs, including insulin. Madam Speaker, no American should ever have to wonder if they can afford the lifesaving insulin that they must depend on. Congress must take bold action to lower insulin costs. Lives are depending on it. Madam Speaker, healthcare is a human right, and access to insulin is righteous and just and good.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying I certainly and clearly disassociate myself from the remarks of the previous speaker. I absolutely, wholeheartedly disagree with him and do not concur with him. Mr. Speaker, in 1999, my son Huey became a victim of gun violence when he was murdered in an aborted robbery attempt as he was bringing groceries into his apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Tragically, Mr. Speaker, my son's death was not unique because literally hundreds of men, women, boys, and girls are dying every day in our Nation due to gun violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 40,000 Americans have died as a result of gun-related injuries in the year 2017, which is the most recent year for which complete data is available. Almost 40,000 Americans have died as a result of gun-related injuries in the year 2017. In the city I love, the city I live in, the city of Chicago, over 279 citizens of our Nation have been murdered within the last year due to gunfire. Mr. Speaker, these statistics should be a clarion call to action by this Congress, by this Nation, by this administration. That is why, Mr. Speaker, the committee that I am proud to serve on, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will finally meet in my district on October 3 to convene a hearing to examine gun violence as a national public health issue. This is a hearing that I have been consistently calling for ever since 2017. This hearing will convene community members, national experts, victims, academia, and law enforcement. All these individuals will gather in my district in the city of Chicago for one purpose and one purpose only: to discuss how we can better protect our Nation, our people, our boys and girls, our schoolchildren, our church-going citizens, our mosque-going citizens, our citizens who worship in synagogs all across this Nation, our movie theater-going citizens, our citizens who are in malls across this Nation enjoying themselves and shopping. We need to have protection for all of our citizens driving along the highways. All of our citizens need to be protected, and this hearing will have the purpose of discussing how we can better protect our citizens and our communities from this epidemic, this widespread epidemic of gunfire, gun violence. As with any epidemic that this Nation faces, we will have experts come and speak to us. Mr. Speaker, we must stop the violence. Save the children. Save the families.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the scourge of mass shootings currently plaguing my community and other communities around the Nation. The Gun Violence Archive, Mr. Speaker, which is a not-for-profit corporation that tracks and disseminates information on mass shootings, defines mass shootings as incidents where four or more people are injured or killed as a result of gunfire. Using this metric, Mr. Speaker, there have been 33 mass shootings in my district in the past 5 years, and eight so far this year--33 mass shootings in my district in the past 5 years and eight so far this very year. Mr. Speaker, our national consciousness has been shocked by the tragedies in Ohio and Texas, as it should very well be, but we seem increasingly numb to the everyday violence taking place in cities like Chicago and Baltimore and other places throughout the Nation, especially when that violence impacts people of color. Mr. Speaker, clearly, the events that took place in Dayton, El Paso, and Odessa deserve our most serious and intense attention. These are despicable acts carried out by despicable actors. I only wish, Mr. Speaker, that every single mass shooting in our Nation received the same intense and undivided attention. There are men, women, and children being murdered and maimed on an almost daily basis across our Nation. Their names, Mr. Speaker, are easily forgotten and not remembered. Their stories will not be read aloud on the national news. Their families' pain will continue to be ignored. There are many slow-moving massacres taking place in districts like mine that, unfortunately, do not receive the same widespread attention because the violence is occurring in poorer, minority communities where it is sadly seen as commonplace or par for the course: They deserve to be victims. They deserve to be mass murdered. They deserve to be killed by gunfire. They have earned that. That is how they live. They are subhuman. Mr. Speaker, as you and I know, this is unacceptable at its core. Throughout my tenure in this Congress, I have introduced and reintroduced legislation that will help reduce the mass shootings taking place today, yesterday, and days gone by in my district and beyond. In 2007, I first introduced the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act. I have reintroduced this bill in every Congress since; and in 2019, it is more necessary than ever, as it would forbid unlicensed firearm ownership, prohibit the transfer of firearms without a valid license, and require universal background checks. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, this body has passed two important background check bills that have been passed out of this House, and I was the proud cosponsor of each of these bills. They now, sad to say, are sitting collecting dust over on the Senate side.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, today I rise to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The People's Law Office. Founded in August of 1969 in Chicago, the PLO has championed many important struggles against official racism, police violence, and mass incarceration over the past 50 years. The first important case taken on by the PLO was the Fred Hampton Black Panther case. My friends and fellow students of the struggle, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, were killed by 14 raiding Chicago police officers under the command of Cook County State's Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan on the early morning of December 4, 1969. After 13 years of hard-fought court battles in the wake of Fred's death, the PLO and their clients in the Illinois Black Panther Party proved that Fred was murdered in his bed as part of the FBI's COINTELPRO initiative. As the founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party, I was privileged to have a front-row seat to the commitment, diligence, and resilience of the PLO's lawyers. Together, we won a victory for justice and accountability, and made sure that Fred's death was not in vain. The PLO was also an early pioneer in fighting against the inhumanity of America's prisons both in Illinois and nationally. Its lawyers were instrumental in fighting for justice for the men who were murdered, tortured, and unjustly prosecuted in the 1971 Attica prison rebellion. They also fought for years for justice in the Marion Federal Penitentiary and several Illinois prisons, including Pontiac, Stateville and Dwight. Together with other Chicago lawyers and activists, the PLO obtained the acquittal of 16 Pontiac prisoners wrongfully prosecuted for capital murder after the Pontiac Prison rebellion in 1978. In my district, as well as the greater city of Chicago, PLO has fought for more than 30 years to expose and bring to justice a ring of racist police torturers, led by police commander Jon Burge, who tortured more than 125 suspects of color from 1972 to 1991. Their work in uncovering the scope and breadth of this officially sanctioned scandal has been instrumental in freeing numerous men who were wrongfully convicted as a result of torture, winning money settlements for many of those men, helping to end the death penalty in Illinois, in obtaining the firing and conviction of Burge, and in obtaining from the City of Chicago a historic and wide ranging package of financial and non-financial reparations for many of the survivors of police torture. PLO lawyers also fought for justice in Greensboro, North Carolina, in a case brought by the families of five anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators who were massacred by KKK and Nazi members in 1979. The PLO continues to champion cases that advance the civil rights and civil liberties that uphold the very foundations of our government. The PLO has represented many generations of protestors, Puerto Rican independence and Palestinian activists, victims of police brutality, and other forms of official violence and abuse. Madam Speaker, I congratulate the PLO on fifty years of fighting for truth, justice, and accountability. I wish them another fifty years of success in protecting the civil rights of my fellow Chicagoans.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address how racially discriminatory housing policy has contributed to the unjust racial wealth gap in our Nation. Currently, Madam Speaker, 72 percent of White households own their own homes, while just 41 percent of Black households do. The roots of this disparity can be traced to the discriminatory practices implemented by the Federal Housing Authority, which resulted in only 2 percent of federally backed loans being issued to African Americans between 1934 and 1968. This was a supra-classic form of kinematic, organic, and institutional racism. The ongoing ramifications of this most insidious example of discrimination continue to be felt acutely by people like many of my constituents. A recent study by Duke University found that the systemic denial of federally guaranteed loans led to the widespread use of predatory home sale contracts in Chicago's Black communities. These contracts, Madam Speaker, led to a situation where Black home buyers paid, on average, over $71,000 more--I repeat, Madam Speaker, over $71,000--for their homes than White homeowners who had unfiltered access to federally backed loans. In total, Madam Speaker, redlining, the practice of rating predominantly Black neighborhoods as ``high risk'' for traditional mortgage lenders, stole $3.2 million--this is by conservative estimates, $3.2 million--stole up to $3.2 million from Chicago's Black families. This is just one example of how homeownership, a pillar of the American Dream, has been placed out of reach of far too many Americans due solely to the color of their skin. It is incumbent, Madam Speaker, upon all of us to make this American Dream equally available to all, regardless of their skin color and regardless of their ZIP Code. Fortunately, Madam Speaker, there are steps that this Congress can take to support Black American homeownership. For example, as the Urban Institute notes, factoring rental payment history into credit-scoring models could increase financial opportunities for Black home buyers. Passing the Home Loan Quality Transparency Act, a bill I am proud to cosponsor, will restore a critical provision of Dodd-Frank, requiring mortgage lenders to report crucial details about their borrowers, including credit scores, racial and ethnic breakdowns, and other data. Madam Speaker, $3.2 million stolen.

Mr. RUSH

Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1420) to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to promote energy efficiency via information and computing technologies, and for other purposes, as amended.