Date: 2001-02-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for yielding to me. I also thank her for her leadership in leading this series of speakers tonight here on Black History Month. Mr. Speaker. it is my honor to open the Congressional Black Caucus annual Black History Month special order. This is the year that we will focus on a very important area for every black American. that is. voting rights and election reform. We do this in the spirit of Sankofa. In Africa. Sankofa is more of a philosophy than a single word. It means that we learn from the past. work in the present. and prepare for the future. So in the first year of this new millenium. it is fitting that we honor AfricanAmerican heroes and heroines. on whose broad shoulders we stand. Mr. Speaker. we must mention those who paved the way to freedom in thought and deed. such as W.E.B. DuBois. Harriet Tubman. Booker T. Washington. Mary McLeod Bethune. Sojourner Truth. Malcolm X. As Members of Congress. we must also take note of those who served in the political realm. such as Dr. Martin Luther King. Junior. Ralph Bunche. Barbara Jordan. Fannie Lou Hamer. Adam Clayton Powell. Marcus Garvey. Shirley Chisholm. I could go on. These AfricanAmericans and countless others whom I have not mentioned by name are the reason that I am standing here today in the well of the United States House of Representatives as chairperson- of the Congressional Black Caucus. They paved the way for me and for many of my colleagues in Congress. However. when I look at the past. we cannot forget essential elements of political representation and the right to vote. AfricanAmerican men were first granted the right to vote as a result of the 15th amendment to the Constitution. That postCivil War amendment to the Constitution guaranteed that newlyfreed slaves would not be denied the franchise simply because they had been held captive. As a result of the 15th amendment and the use of Federal troops in the formerly Confederate States. black people were able to enjoy the fruits of liberty. They were able to vote. and their votes were counted. Between 1870 and 1900. ther. were 22 AfricanAmericans who served in the U.S. Congress. and countless more serving in State and local governments. However. this era of reconstruction began to fade away. and in State after State the right to vote and to participate in democracy was whittled away by oppressive means such as the poll tax. the grandfather clause. and the literacy test. The right to participate was brutally wrenched away by the intimidation of the nightriding Ku Klux Klan and the questionable imprisonment of large numbers of black men on trumpedup vagrancy and other minor charges. We have to recall this history and be mindful. because we do not want to repeat it. But for most black Americans. the right to vote was a withdrawn promise that had been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. the compromise of 1877 which -allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become President. who withdrew the last Federal troops from the Confederate States and ended the era of reconstruction. By 1900. segregation was firmly established. Jim Crow was the law of the land. and terrorism and lynching ruled the South. Between 1929 and 1965. only eight black Members were elected to Congress. It would take the passage of the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 to begin to restore AfricanAmericans to the right to participate in representative government that every other racial and ethnic group in this country had freely enjoyed. This was under a Texas President. The President was Lyndon Baines Johnson. We stand here today with another Texan as President. and I know that he can do no less. Today the Congressional Black Caucus is 37 strong. dynamic. informed. and committed leaders. But here we stand. almost 40 years after the landmark 1965 legislation. and again are confronted with the question of whether AfricanAmericans will be allowed to vote and whether their votes will count. In the words of the great Santayana. "Those who do not remember the pastare condemned to repeat it." We have read the past. We remember many of the past. All of us that are here remember the march from Selma to Montgomery. And. Mr. Speaker. for all of these reasons. I believe it is imperative that the first thing we address in the 107th Congress is election reform. As far as I am concerned. the entire integrity of our democracy is at stake for voting. and having ones vote counted is the very crux of any democracy. And our reputation and standing in the world is on the line. The world is watching to see if America. the matriarch of democracy. will right the wrongs of the election system which was so badly exposed in the last Presidential election. not just in Florida. but many other States around the country. including my home State of Texas. Mr. Speaker. last week. at the Demo-. cratic Caucus retreat in Pennsylvania. we were visited by our President. and when I was able to ask him a question.. I asked him to support comprehensive election reform for this fiscal year 2002. In his budget. he responded positively. Election reform must be a part of the national discussion now. and we must solve the inadequacy of our system in time for the 2002 election cycle. But in order to do that. we would like to pass election reform legislation. not later than the 4th of July of this year. That is the anniversary of the United States claim of independence from the British system which refused to allow American colonists representation. We do not want any American to be refused representation. If we enact legislation by this date. State and local officials should have sufficient time to implement uniformity of our election system that it so critically needs. However. they must also be given adequate resources and incentives to ensure the blessings of liberty for all Americans. Now. our critics may say why is the Congressional Black Caucus. talking about election reform? Why are they not talking about education reform. tax policy. the budget. maintaining a strong national defense. health care reform. fighting the scourge of AIDS in the U.S.. and in Africa where this dreaded disease is killing entire villages and societies. to them I say we will address these issues. and the Congressional Black Caucus plans to be at the forefront of all of these issues and many others. But we strongly believe that our liberty and our democracy will not be free until we fix our election system such. that the public and the world must have faith that in any election held in the United States. that the true winner wins. . then the confidence that the world has in our great democracy will be damaged beyond repair. If we do not do it. our reputation will be damaged beyond repair. We cannot allow this to happen. I must tell you. Mr. Speaker. the world is watching. And as I have visited outside this country since that election. the question has been posed. would not the American people go to the UN and ask for elections to be overturned if they did not feel that it was a fair election? And yet. the greatest power of the world has not raised the question about this election. So it is over. and it has been decided by the Supreme Court. but we cannot move on. And so in this month of black history. as we reflect and as we celebrate our history and think about our African American mothers. fathers. ministers. teachers. officers. firemen. nurses. doctors. lawyers. painters. maids. maintenance people and any othercommunity leader. we must say to them that your vote is aS important as a vote of the Supreme Court. for it is us who must elect a President. and we cannot do it until we are assured that our election system is fixed. We simply must fix this system to ensure that we have a bright future for America. Remember. the words of Santayana. remember the past or we might be condemned to repeat it.