September 10, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 144 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S5373-S5374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      400TH ANNIVERSARY OF SLAVERY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now on an entirely different matter, 
today Congress observes the 400th anniversary of a reprehensible moment 
in the history of our land. In August 1619, an English ship landed at 
the tip of Virginia's Lower Peninsula. On board were 20-some Africans 
whom the crew had captured from a Portuguese slave ship. These men and 
women were sold to the Colonies, and with that, England's American 
Colonies had taken their first step into the already massive 
transatlantic slave trade. The shameful history of slavery in what 
would become our Nation had begun.
  In many ways, slavery is the original sin of the United States of 
America. This systematic racial exploitation wove its way into the 
Colonies' economies and societies. Almost two centuries later, the 
disgusting practice was a stumbling block in our founding debates. It 
ultimately was allowed to continue for the sake of union.
  Some of our Founders participated personally even as they argued the 
philosophical case for equality under God and under law. Thomas 
Jefferson owned slaves while he wrote the Declaration of Independence--
and the shameful inconsistency was not lost on him. Jefferson wrote: 
``Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: 
that his justice cannot sleep forever.''
  Indeed, justice did not sleep forever. The last century and a half 
has seen the moral truths on which this Nation is founded slowly 
overcome one racist evil after another. After an unthinkably bloody 
Civil War, slavery in America was no more. Almost a century later--much 
too late--the failures of Reconstruction and the cruelty of Jim Crow 
began giving way to the heroism of the civil rights movement.
  Change has come too slow. The process has been incredibly imperfect. 
But every American should take pride in the undeniable progress we have 
made

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in overcoming the terrible chapter that was opened 400 years ago. We 
should take pride that our American ideals of equality and justice--not 
the sins of our forefathers--are the true, deepest bedrock of this 
great Nation.
  Today, with the Nation, Congress looks back to 1619 and remembers the 
size and scope of slavery's stain on our history. We mark this somber 
anniversary with grief for all the slaves whose God-given freedoms were 
so brutally denied. We reflect gratefully on the tremendous, rich 
contribution that generations of African Americans have made to this 
Nation despite this violence and adversity. We give thanks that true 
American values slammed the door on this unjust part of our Nation's 
history and continue to prevail today.

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