The Conscience Agenda

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. And still I rise, Mr. Speaker. I rise today as a proud descendant of the enslaved people who are the foundational mothers and fathers of our country. They are the persons who laid the economic foundation that we all reside upon today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give an update on the conscience agenda. I rise to give an update because we have had something new that we have to add to the agenda.

Previously, we had announced that the agenda would consist of expanding a Slavery Remembrance Day. August 20 of 1619 is a day that will live in infamy. It was a seminal moment in time for this country because it was on that day that persons upon a ship, the White Lion, docked at a place called Point Comfort, near what we now call Norfolk, Virginia.

On that ship were persons of African ancestry, the first 20 Africans. There may be some debate as to the number, but approximately 20 is what is recorded in most places, it seems. The first 20 Africans were traded for goods. They became the first enslaved people in this country.

August 20 of 1619, a day that was a seminal moment then and a seminal moment now because of the impact it has had on our country. Slavery should be remembered.

We have a Holocaust Remembrance Day, and I completely, absolutely, and totally support it. I was at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony just recently where we commemorated those persons who were victims of the holocaust. We have a 9/11 remembrance day. We have a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. We must have a Slavery Remembrance Day.

I am proud to let the world know that this House of Representatives did pass a resolution commemorating slavery remembrance. It did not make it through the Senate, but the House did pass it.

I am also honored to say that our President, the Honorable Joe Biden, recognized Slavery Remembrance Day with a press release. Last year, in Houston, Texas, we had an official Slavery Remembrance Day Commemoration Breakfast. At that breakfast, we had over a thousand people in attendance. We will have another such breakfast on August 20 of this year. Slavery Remembrance Day is a part of the conscience agenda.

We also have on the conscience agenda the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved Americans of African ancestry.

Why? Because in this country, we have reviled the enslaved and revered the enslavers. In this country, we have named military bases and schools after enslavers. We have not done such things, to any great degree that I am aware of, for the enslaved persons. We revered the enslavers and reviled the enslaved.

There is something a little bit more sinister associated with this. It is the notion that there seems to be an expectation that the descendants of the enslaved behave as perfect victims.

Behave as perfect victims. Allow your ancestors to be dishonored, allow them to be disrespected. Be the perfect victim. Allow schools that you send your children to, to be named after enslavers. Allow military bases that your young people will go to and serve, when serving in the military--do this and don't complain. Don't complain; it is okay. After all, they were the enslaved.

But we will salute, revere, give great honor, and lionize those who were the enslavers. Something sinister about that, expecting the descendants to appreciate the revering of the enslavers while reviling the enslaved. Something sinister about it. It boggles the mind.

I refuse to be a perfect victim. I am not going to honor the enslavers, and I think that we should honor the enslaved. This is why we are asking this Congress to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved. They are the people who helped construct this very facility that we are in. They are the people who, with their humble hands, helped to erect the White House and build it. They are the people who built roads and bridges, planted the crops, harvested the crops, and fed the Nation. Many of them were born into slavery. Babies were enslaved in this country, lived as children in slavery, and died as slaves for hundreds of years.

People expect the Al Greens of the world to be perfect victims, just accept it. I refuse to be a perfect victim. This is why I am asking for a Congressional Gold Medal for the enslaved persons who are the foundational mothers and fathers of this country.

There is another reason for asking. We, in 1956, awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers. The Confederate soldiers were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. No such thing for the people who built the country, whose lives were sacrificed so that we could have this economic power that we have today.

By the way, I love my country. I sing the National Anthem. I stand and I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I am not a person who, with some great degree of disdain, disrespects the flag. I don't do it.

But I will say this: The greatness of America will not be measured by whether I salute the flag or sing the National Anthem. The greatness of America is measured by whether I will stand up for the rights of those who choose not to salute the flag, who choose not to sing the National Anthem. I do; I stand up for them.

I would want you to know that if we can, as we did in 1956, give a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers, surely we can accord a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved. Just as we have done it for those who would have kept them in bondage, we can do it for those persons whose lives were sacrificed such that we would have this facility, such that we would have the economic engine that we have today. So we ask for the Congressional Gold Medal.

We have also noted that Richard Russell, a self-proclaimed white supremacist--Richard Russell's name is on the Russell Senate Office Building, a self-proclaimed white supremacist. He fought antilynching legislation that we just passed in the last Congress.

He was self-proclaimed, fought integration, and was one of the authors of the Southern Manifesto. Richard Russell's name is on the Russell Senate Office Building. That is the Richard Russell. His name ought not be there.

These are the enslaved persons who were brought here, a depiction of them, in 1619.

The Richard Russell Office Building is a symbol of national shame. The Senate has been in the process of, along with this House, taking the names of Confederate soldiers off of military bases. But that same Senate will not remove the name of Richard Russell from a building that it resides in, the Richard Russell Office Building, a symbol of national shame.

I do not enter the Richard Russell Office Building. I have enough respect for myself. I am not a perfect victim. I am a one-person protest. It is better to stand alone on some questions than not stand at all. I don't have any problem with standing alone when it comes to this facility.

Richard Russell has a rotunda in this facility devoted to him, with a statue of Richard Russell. Richard Russell, the self-proclaimed white supremacist, the same who fought integration, the same Richard Russell who coauthored the Southern Manifesto, a building named after a racist, bigot, self-proclaimed white supremacist.

His name needs to come off of that building and it should revert to the name that it had before his name was placed on it, which was the Old Senate Office Building. If we would like to name it something more, we can. The Senate is participating in the shaming of the Nation by allowing this name to stay on this building.

The Senate but only has to have the will to remove the name. The same will that it had when it decided that we would take the names of Confederate soldiers off of military bases. If the Senate can take the names of Confederate soldiers off of military bases, surely it can acquire the will to remove Richard Russell's name from a building that the Senate has control over. It is a symbol of national shame.

Now to the update. Not only is Richard Russell's name on the Senate Office Building, but his name is also on legislation. I am not the perfect victim. His name is on legislation. I have a piece of legislation in my hand that bears the name of Richard Russell. I will not single this piece of legislation out because there are other pieces.

The substance of the legislation, I have no quarrel with. I do take issue with having legislation named after a person, in honor of a person, who is a self-proclaimed white supremacist, and in honor of a person who fought anti-lynching legislation. It is the same person who coauthored the Southern Manifesto. I refuse to allow it. I will not participate in it. His name should be removed from the Russell Senate Office Building.

This piece of legislation, as I have indicated, bears his name. It is the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Program. His name shouldn't be on a school lunch program. It shouldn't. I can think of some other names that would be removed immediately, if not sooner, if they were on a school lunch program. I can. His name should be removed.

I am filing legislation--this is the update--to have Richard Russell's name removed from all legislation that happens to bear it currently--all legislation--and to never have his name listed again. He is a symbol of national shame. His name should be removed. I refuse to be the perfect victim. The expectation that I don't respect myself enough to stand up for myself.

What is so ironic about this, and it really breaks my heart, is to know that there are people who know this. They know this. There are people of color, African ancestry, and they know this. They still frequent the Richard Russell Office Building, a symbol of national shame.

At some point, my dear friends, we have to cease to be the perfect victim and allow others to expect, and ourselves to participate, in the shaming of our ancestors, and the treatment that African Americans have received in this country by a Richard Russell, having a building named in his honor. We have to remove his name.

This agenda also includes some other things. That was the update. Let's go ahead and refresh memories now.

We have another item on the agenda, and that is enacting the Securities and Exchange Atonement Act.

Friends, I had the honor, the singular honor, of serving as the chairperson of the Oversight Subcommittee on the full Financial Services Committee. I did so under the leadership of the Honorable Maxine Waters. Under her leadership, we found that there are banks in this country--the big banks, the major banks--these banks, through their predecessor institutions, these banks literally made loans so that masters, as they were called, could buy slaves--enslaved people. They would buy them.

If the master did not make the payments, defaulted, the bank repossessed the people and treated them as chattels. I refuse to be the perfect victim. This behavior necessitates atonement. We need to do what this legislation will call for, and that is--let's do the research, let's find out which of these banks benefited from this institution of slavery because they made a profit when they made these loans. They need to atone. That is what this legislation is all about.

We also found out that the major insurance companies insured human beings as chattels. When the master's chattel, the human being that was enslaved, had some death that was one that would require the master to be compensated, the master received payment for the death of an enslaved person. This has to change. There has to be some atonement for this. That is what this Securities and Exchange Atonement Act is all about.

The last thing on the agenda currently is the establishing of the department of reconciliation. To get all of these things done requires reconciliation. Reconciliation is bigger than the institution of slavery.

There are others who necessitate reconciliation, as well. An example would be the indigenous population, the persons who were here when the Europeans arrived. The indigenous population, those persons who suffered what we call the trail of tears. Literally, they were uprooted from their homes and forced to move across the country, simply because others wanted their land. They just took it and forced them to move. Many died along the way. We need to reconcile for this.

There were the persons who were placed in these camps when we were at war with Japan. They lost their homes and property. We need to reconcile. There is reconciliation that must be had and this department would help us do this.

Right now we have a Department of Labor to deal with labor issues. We have a Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Labor reports directly to the President. We have the Department of Commerce to deal with issues associated with commerce. The Secretary of Commerce reports to the President.

We need a department of reconciliation with a secretary of reconciliation and undersecretaries of reconciliation to deal with all these various areas that need to be reconciled, and that person should report directly to the President.

Reconciliation is not going to occur over one Presidency. It is not going to occur in a few years. It may take decades, but we will have the department to get it done. Just as we are going to keep a Department of Commerce, we should have and maintain and keep, if you will, a department of reconciliation. It is absolutely necessary for us to do this. If we should do so, we can also deal with some other issues that require reconciliation.

This is the way a great nation should respond. A nation that requires liberty and justice for all. That is what is in our Pledge of Allegiance. A nation founded on the notion that all persons are created equal, who are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is what this Nation was founded on.

We have to live up to the promise and the pledge. We have to live up to the words in the Declaration of Independence. We have a duty and a responsibility to posterity to correct the injustices that were perpetrated. I have a duty and a responsibility to myself to decline to be the perfect victim.

Mr. Speaker, I rise and I stand in this, the well of the House, not the perfect victim, but as a proud descendent of the enslaved people who helped construct this very facility. I do so knowing that there will be resistance to what I do, but I do so knowing that that resistance cannot withstand the bending of the arc of the moral universe toward justice for the enslaved people who are the foundational mothers and fathers of this country.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a descendent of these enslaved people.

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I compliment the gentleman for recognizing a staffer. This is what I would expect from him, to be quite honest. He has demonstrated in his years in Congress a desire to see that all people are treated fairly. He has not only demonstrated a desire, but he has actually demonstrated it by way of a voting record that evidences the will to see that it is done.

Mr. Speaker, I compliment the gentleman and it is what I would expect from him.

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks. I also thank my friend for helping us to shepherd it through the House in the last Congress. We didn't get it through the Senate, but it got through the House because of his hands, and I appreciate it.

Because this is an intern, I won't give the full name, but her first name is quite similar to my name. My name is Alexander. Most people know me as Al. Hers is Alex.

Alex is with us today. She is a person who, quite frankly, has matured beyond her years and has rendered a great service to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Alex very much for her service to our country, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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