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For the Relief of the Parents of Theresa marie Schiavo

Date: March 20, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights


FOR THE RELIEF OF THE PARENTS OF THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO -- (House of Representatives - March 20, 2005)

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I have served as the senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church for 30 years, for 30 years. And over those 30 years, I have had countless men and women who have come to me in situations of decisions that had to be made regarding family members; and in the privacy of a home or in a waiting room, we have dealt with those decisions.

Tonight, I want to talk about the shame of this debate. The shame of this debate is that in spite of the fact that we are a great legislative body, we are a body that determines peace and war, but we are not a hallowed body. And the fact that we are engaged in this debate is proof positive of the fact that we are a fractured body. And what we need to also understand is that we live in a world of echoes, a world of echoes. And a thoughtless word falling from the lips of Members here can travel around this country and do even more damage to the divisions that we have in this Nation.

We are doing that. We have even used the inflammatory word "kill." We were doing damage to this country, and it is shameful that we would do this.

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