Slavery Remembrance Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud descendant of the enslaved people who made cotton king and America great; the enslaved people who had a hand in the construction of this Capitol, who had a hand in the construction of the White House; the enslaved people who constructed roads and bridges across the length and breadth of this country, who worked for more than 200 years without a payday. They made the difference for what we call the United States of America on the global scene at the time.

I am honored to be a descendant, and I am honored to say also that this House, on July 27, took the historic step of according them Slavery Remembrance Day, a day to remember their lives and commemorate their accomplishments.

It is important that we do this because, for too long, we have reviled the slaves and revered the enslavers. For too long, we have placed them in such a position as to cause the people who are the very descendants to be ashamed of who they were associated with, with reference to their heritage.

I am proud that this House has taken this important historic step with Slavery Remembrance Day, but I am also proud to say that at 2 o'clock tomorrow in Room 145A at the Washington Convention Center, we will continue to talk about this piece of legislation that we passed, H. Res. 517, the Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution.

We will talk about this. We will give a legislative update. The Reverend Al Sharpton will be there, and he will give insightful information on this very topic.

I am just proud that we no longer fear having those persons who made this country great recognized by this Congress, and that had been the case in the past.

I thank all the Members of the Congress, 218 of whom who voted for this legislation. I thank the President, who recognized Slavery Remembrance Day. I thank all of the leadership for allowing this resolution to come to the floor.

I thank Ms. Elizabeth Warren, the Senator who supported it, and I thank Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer was a man of his word, a person of his word. He said this resolution would come to the floor for a vote. He supported it, and it came to the floor for a vote.

I thank you for the courage that you showed, Mr. Hoyer, and the judicious insight that you utilized to make sure that we had this opportunity.

Tomorrow, we continue what I cannot finish today at the convention center, 2 o'clock, Room 145A.

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