Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez). (Mr. RODRIGUEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick). (Ms. KILPATRICK asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire as to the number of minutes left, and also I would like to inquire as to whether or not Members who have wanted to be here and had signed up, who probably are in travel, if they will have an opportunity to enter their statements into the Record.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, recently, when the President traveled to Africa, of course one of the most important stops on that trip was South Africa, where we had an opportunity not only to see and talk with Nelson Mandela, but of course young Thabo Mbeki and others who were involved in the anti-apartheid movement. One of the most interesting things about the conversation and the proceedings involving the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela was Nelson Mandela's ability to talk straight talk to the President. There was discussion about the Africa trade bill, and Nelson Mandela was able to raise the kinds of questions that many leaders would not have been able to raise. Easily, and I think as we watched him in the way that he did that, we all concluded that Nelson Mandela had earned the right to ask anybody any questions he would like to ask them, to reserve the right to disagree and to reserve the right to give advice and to talk in ways that very few people get to do on the international stage. And of course we all recognize that he earned this right because he put his life on the line, the 27 years that he had served much of that time in isolation, the fact that he had contracted tuberculosis while he was in prison, the fact that he sacrificed his family literally for the movement, the fact that he gave his life at a very early age when he first helped to organize the youth movement of the ANC, the fact that he was in the leadership of the protests that were called that are now identified as the famous Sharpville riots where so many lives were lost; all of this on the world stage where people began to rally all over the world and where they developed friends from all over the world who contributed money, who contributed time, who engaged their government all because of the leadership of one man who exercised more power from imprisonment than most of us exercise with all of the freedoms that we have. I stand here today, and it just so happens that I brought with me a replica of the ballot that was used when Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa. Not only is it a beautiful ballot, but it is an instructive ballot. It is a ballot that was designed to make sure that the average person could understand who they were voting for, what parties they were voting for and the face of the persons they were voting for. Here it is, and I keep this as one of my most prized mementos to remind me not only of the struggle of Nelson Mandela and the ANC and Walter Sisulu and Mr. Mbeki and all of the brave warriors that have been involved in the liberation of South Africa, but also to remind me of my own responsibility not only to be the best person that I can possibly be, but to challenge myself on a daily basis about my responsibility to freedom and justice. To be on the cutting edge of this kind of work is not easy, and certainly we do not gain a lot of friends, but in the final analysis we stand here today with special recognition for Nelson Mandela even though many in our own country were opposed to what he was doing who said that we were going to bring down Wall Street with divestment and sanctions, who said that we were not mindful of the fiduciary responsibility of those who had great portfolios that we were asking to divest from businesses that were doing business in South Africa. We are honored to be able to honor him today, and we are honored to have lived in a time where we witnessed the fall of a mighty powerful regime that was dedicated to the proposition that it was going to suppress and that it was going to deny and it was going to marginalize and not allow human beings to realize their full potential. This brilliant leader, this President of South Africa, stepped forward from imprisonment not bitter. He stepped forward with an approach that said when we rule it will be a nonracist, a nonsexist government that recognizes every human being, that everybody is important to this government and to this Nation. If there was one thing that I could end up concluding about Nelson Mandela, it is if there is anybody that ever walked on God's Earth who could be considered a saint, it is Nelson Mandela. This man is still smiling. This man is still understanding that it is important to respect every human being on Earth. Everything that he has sacrificed, everything that he has given up, all of his trials and his tribulations are not for naught. He anointed through his work many people who never thought they would be inspired and motivated to be about the business of freedom. I am very pleased that I stand here today with Democrats and Republicans alike bestowing this honor on a man that a few years ago no one would have believed would have ever become President of South Africa. I am very pleased that there are those who say today, if only I had known, I wish I could have done more, I wish I could have understood better. I am very pleased to stand here today understanding that those who worked hard in the vineyard, those who had to educate, those who had to organize can say today my work was not in vain and how proud I am to have been a part of one of the most important movements in the history of this world. As we watch the reconciliation hearings that are going on, we are learning an awful lot. We are learning that people on both sides made mistakes and that they are coming forward in this healing process to talk about those mistakes. I shuddered as I listened to some of the testimony. I shuddered as I listened to some of the plots and some of the recognition and some of the admissions, people who killed, people who experimented with all kind of poisons, people who were describing how anthrax was experimented with. I shudder to think about the lives that were lost. To tell my colleagues the truth, even though I was working in this movement and spent 7 years in the California State legislature on the legislation before it was passed, I never really thought I would see the day when South Africa would become a democracy, where South Africa would truly emerge with Nelson Mandela as President. I really did believe that blood would flow in the streets before that would have happened. How lucky we are to have our faith and our hope not only restored in all human beings, but to be instilled with the kind of pride that one can only gain from having experienced this movement, from having experienced these kind of human beings. We think, some of us think, we have had it tough, some of us who think about what has happened here in America, and some of us who look at what happened just recently in Jasper, Texas, and we talk about how bad it has been and how bad it may be. But I want to tell my colleagues the warriors who helped to move South Africa all have stripes on their backs, the Sisulus and the Mbekis spent all 25 and 30 years in prison and came out and did this work, and while I am disgusted with just what happened to Mr. Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas, and while I am disgusted with the copycat actions that have taken place since that time, and while I know the history of my foreparents here in America, and I understand what slavery is all about, and I understand what racism is all about, and I understand what discrimination is all about, as bad as it was, it does not measure up to what was going on in South Africa and the number of lives that have been lost. And so I take this time on the floor of Congress today not only to gloat and to enjoy and to commend and to brag a little bit, but to simply say I guess I am proud to be an American today, and I hope that all of the Members of Congress will somehow be stronger and better because we move today to join hands across the aisle to recognize a man that perhaps could not have been recognized a few years back. I hope that we are resolved in our work to be just a little bit better and to confront any thoughts of racism and discrimination that we may harbor. I hope that we will not sit in a back room or we will not be involved in any shape, form or fashion in supporting racism ever again in our lives. It is never too late to change. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega). (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that we are here on the floor today considering legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Nelson Mandela. It is a distinct honor to rise in support of this bill as the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Domestic and Independent National Monetary Policy of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. I would like to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton) for introducing this bill and his tireless work and commitment to see it become law. Mr. Speaker, I take personal pride as a member of the Congress of the United States of America today and the work that I have been involved in for so many years because of Nelson Mandela and all of those brave men and women in South Africa who decided they would put their lives on the line to dismantle the unconscionable racist apartheid by the South African regime at that time. I can recall getting interested in this issue. I was asked to serve on the Board of Trans-Africa here in Washington D.C., headed by Randall Robinson. I was then a member of the California State Assembly. And because of my involvement on that board, I carried the divestment legislation for the State of California, divesting all of our pension funds from businesses that were doing business in South Africa. Well, that work carried me all over the United States of America and, of course, to South Africa at the appropriate time. We had the opportunity to work with Members of Congress. We had the opportunity to travel all over the country to universities and colleges organizing students. We had the opportunity to offer our legislation as a model to other legislators who wanted to carry divestment legislation. We were carrying divestment legislation at the state level. We had brave members of Congress; i.e., Ron Dellums, and others who were carrying the sanctions legislation here in Congress. We worked. We organized. We worked with Walter Sisulus. We worked with Mbeke. We worked with members of the ANC. We embraced the ANC when it was unpopular to do so because of the policy that they had embraced and the approach that they were taking to get rid of apartheid. It was some of the most important work that I have done in my entire career. My divestment legislation was signed into law, and I think I am prouder of that legislation than any other legislation that I have carried either there or here in the Congress of the United States. I traveled to South Africa when we first lifted the ban, when they first lifted the ban on the ANC and met with leaders from around the world as we talked about the work of the ANC. And of course, I traveled to South Africa on any number of cases, up to the point of time when Nelson Mandela was inaugurated to become the president of South Africa. The work that Nelson Mandela did, the time that he served in prison, the years that he spent in isolation on Robben Island was really the most motivational experience any human being could have. To see him dedicated to the proposition that they would be free no matter how powerful, no matter how overwhelming that regime was, was a lesson to all of us who were involved on a day-to-day basis in the civil rights movement, involved on a day-to-day basis trying to get justice right here in our own country. We cried with those who were involved in that struggle. When Nelson Mandela walked out of that prison, we stayed up all night and we danced the tutu. When he came to the United States following his release, I had the opportunity to produce him at the arena in Los Angeles, where we had 90,000 people who came and enjoyed his speech and a lot of cultural activity. Again, I stand here today so pleased and proud to join with all of the Members who are principal coauthors and who are just supportive of the idea that he deserves this recognition. Mr. Speaker, I will close my comments simply by saying, we could not do a better thing here in this Congress than give recognition to this gentleman who showed us all what it means to be a human being that is committed to justice and equality for all. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), the minority whip.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today proud of my colleagues. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Kentucky (Mrs. Northup) for joining with me and others as principal cosponsors on this resolution. Mr. Speaker, we are very tired. We are very pained, and we wish that this nightmare would stop and it would go away. Unfortunately, we are perhaps saddled with the responsibility of fighting against racism and discrimination and marginalization, and all of those evils that we find ourselves confronted with. And while I am disgusted and I am tired and I am pained, I will not go away. The members of the Congressional Black Caucus will not go away. And Members who want to live in this Nation in peace and harmony will not go away. So to those who would dare think they can frighten us, they can scare us, they can cause us to want to resign ourselves to the fact that there will be violence, let me just say that is not going to be the case. We will never resign ourselves to that inevitability. We will fight, we will work, we will provide leadership, we will do everything that is possible to make this Nation what it could be and what it should be. Mr. Speaker, we end this week of work with these little cards that we spread out throughout the United States, and it is just the Congressional Black Caucus 10-Point Alert, and it gives 10 points about what to do to avoid violence and confrontation, no matter how much racism may be any place, any time, anywhere. I stand here as a Member of Congress, a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus, knowing that when I leave here with many of the Members of this caucus that we go to our districts, we go to other places around this country, we do not know what we will encounter. We are proud black Americans who intend to make America everything that we ever dreamed it could be.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), our minority leader. (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from Kentucky (Mrs. Northup) and I be permitted to add the names of any Members desiring to be original cosponsors by the end of business today.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, today the Congressional Black Caucus members and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle join with many other citizens of this country in sending our heartfelt condolences to the family of James Byrd, Jr. We, too, are pained by this senseless and racist killing. We are outraged that three young white men with ties to white supremacist hate groups apparently believed that Mr. Byrd's life had no value, simply because he was black. These men, who allegedly offered Mr. Byrd a ride home, beat him, chained him to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him until his body was torn to pieces. Mr. Byrd's head, arm and neck were severed and strewn along a two mile stretch of country road about 10 miles from his home in Jasper, Texas. This is a hate crime, pure and simple, that is what it is, and it should be charged as one. Each and every Member of this body should join the Congressional Black Caucus on this House resolution to condemn the murder as unacceptable and outrageous and to pledge to do everything in his or her power to probe the underlying causes of this brutal killing, to make sure that the United States does not return to the days when such hatred, brutality, violence, hangings and murder are deemed acceptable.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of House Resolution 466, condemning the brutal killing of Mr. James Byrd, Jr., and ask for its immediate consideration in the House; that debate on the resolution continue not to exceed 20 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the gentlewoman from Kentucky (Mrs. Northup) and myself; and that the previous question be considered as ordered on the resolution to final adoption without intervening motion or demand for a division of the question.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost). (Mr. FROST asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Carrie Meek). (Mrs. MEEK of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Julia Carson).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Elija Cummings).

Ms. WATERS. Yes, Mr. Speaker.