March 3, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 42 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H1441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              STILL I RISE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, proud to be an 
American, proud to be a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  I rise today because I refuse to accept the notion that we should get 
back to bigotry as usual in the House of Representatives. I am one who 
has fought bigotry most of my life, and I will continue to fight it for 
the rest of my life.
  Today, I want to talk about bigotry, not only within the country, but 
I also want to talk about those who aid and abet bigotry in the House 
of Representatives. Right here in this House there are people who aid 
and abet bigotry.
  I spoke last on the floor about a Newsday report. It concerned an 
investigation that took place in the State of New York. And within this 
investigation it was uncovered that, with reference to real estate 
agents, after having tested them, it was uncovered that 19 percent of 
the time Asian Americans were treated unequally when compared to White 
Americans. Thirty-nine percent of the time Hispanic Americans were 
treated unequally. And 49 percent of the time African Americans were 
treated unequally.
  We sought to do something about this in the Financial Services 
Committee. We have a piece of legislation that will provide for testing 
and expand the testing that was started in this country by President 
Ronald Reagan.
  President Reagan gave us the paradigm which we seek to enhance, which 
we seek to expand because that is the means by which we can eliminate 
this kind of invidious discrimination. It is not a question of way; it 
is a question of whether we have the will to challenge it and take it 
on.
  I want to tell you that in my committee there were those who would 
aid and abet. They came up with specious arguments, fallacious 
contentions, the notion that we can do without, without saying we can 
do without the improvements.
  I believe this kind of aiding and abetting is the reason we still 
have this level of invidious discrimination in this country. There are 
people in this Congress who aid and abet racism and discrimination. We 
have to call this out. We cannot continue to pretend that it does not 
exist right here in the Congress of the United States of America.
  I plan to come back to this podium, and I am going to say more about 
what happened and who caused it to happen. Those who tolerate bigotry 
and racism perpetuate bigotry and racism. I refuse to be among those 
who tolerate it.

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