Date: 1994-03-22
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I come before you on this day with an issue of profound importance. It is an issue which threatens the most basic principle of democracy. and democratic freedomthe principle of one man. one vote. The historic struggle of black Americans to gain the right to vote spanned two centuries. and culminated with the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act Consequently. the number of black elected officials has increased exponentially. And while black electoral representation is extraordinary when compared to any time before the 1970s. our numbers still represent less than 2 percent of all elected officials nationwide. Since the mid1960s. black Americans have constituted a significant portion of the demo.cratic constituency now representing between 20 to 25 percent of the entire democratic base. Our current administration received more than 87 percent of the black vote. Retaining the voting rights act has often been threatened or impeded by socalled American tradition. law. or by such extralegal practices as fraud. intimidation. and violence by members of the coomunity at large. Madam Speaker. a number of forces have combined to once again challenge not only the letter. but the spirit of one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the history of this great body. the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Last night the very powerful movie. "Schindlers List." won most every Academy Award for which it was nominated. including best picture for 1993. This incredible movie highlights one of the many stories of heroism surrounding the Jewish Holocaust under Nazi Germany. The message surrounding the making Of this movie. and others like it. is "never again." "Never again will this kind of atrocity be tolerated." Madam Speaker. it is the overwhelming declaration of black Americans throughout this Nation. both Democrat and Republican. from Texas to New York to North Carolina. that never again will any law. tradition. or other impediment. be allowed to interfere with. dilute. or otherwise undermine the full and complete enfranchisement of black Americans. Never again will black Americans sit by while their communities are carved up by highways and reservoirs in order to dilute their voting strength. or electora potential. There are some who ask. why is it essential that there be blacks in Congress? To that. I would like to respondwith this simple illustration: Imagine a university classroom. where the days discussion turns to race relations. Imagine if in that classroom. there ae no blacks. no Jews. no Hispanics. imagine even that there are no women. only males. Imagine a Congress where only one point of view is represented. Mr. Chairman. that is precisely the kind of presence which threatens to replace this great body today. I urge your support. and that of all my colleagues. both Democrat and Republican. in defending the voting rights of black Americans. from Texas to Louisiana to California. Finally. for those Members. and those groups who believe this is only a black problem. I would remind you of the words of the great Christian scholar.Martin Neimollen When they came for the Jews. I didnt raise my hands. because I wasnt a Jew.. when they came for the trade unionists. I didnt raise my hands. because I wasnt one of them. and then they came for mebut there was no one left.�