Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Page H3887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CITIZENS UNITE FOR PEACEFUL PROTESTS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Himes) for 5 minutes.
Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to express the extent to
which I am proud of my constituents in southwestern Connecticut in
Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District, but also to observe that
just as in this country we have work to do in addressing the racial
disparities that exists in all of our institutions, we have work to do
in Connecticut's Fourth District.
Mr. Speaker, I was enormously proud that after we began to bend the
curve on coronavirus--thanks to the leadership of our Governor, Ned
Lamont--just as we saw those numbers begin to decline, like the rest of
the country, my constituents were appalled by the brutal murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis. Nobody was unaffected by what we saw that
day.
To the great credit of my constituents, people rose up in the broad
diversity of my constituency. My constituency includes some of the
wealthiest, small, and--yes--very White towns in the country: Towns
like New Canaan and Darien. It also includes diverse cities that
struggle with the issues of urban poverty: Bridgeport, Norwalk, and
Stamford.
But as one, my constituents rose up--young, old, poor, wealthy,
Black, White, straight, LGBTQ--and demanded progress and change, and
they did it peacefully. They did it side by side with the leaders of
the Police Department of Stamford, of Wilton, of New Canaan--police
chiefs standing side by side with Black Lives Matter protestors. That
was a good thing. That was an example of how we come together in the
face of something awful.
But I also rise because there is no room for complacency. I remind my
fellow citizens of Connecticut, while we are a progressive State, and
while we did come together in all of our communities, it could happen
here. I remind my constituents that Connecticut was actually the last
State in New England in 1848 to eliminate slavery. That is just a few
years before Abraham Lincoln did so in the South and around the
country. So there is no place for complacency amongst my constituents.
And the truth is, as I have observed and many have observed, what
happened to George Floyd is the pinnacle atop a structure of four
centuries of racism and discrimination. Of course, George Floyd is not
alone. The names echo in the chamber of shame in this country.
Breonna Taylor. Tamir Rice. Ahmaud Arbery. The names echo, and they
go on and on.
But those Black Americans who have been killed unjustly sit atop a
structure of the denial of equal access to opportunity. And that is in
our systems of housing, our systems of education, and in the private
sector.
So even as I celebrate and express my pride in my constituents, we
need to be there for the broader struggle. We need to be there as we
consider how we make one of the more segregated parts--at least with
respect to housing in the United States--more fair. We need to be there
when we contemplate the fact that too many of our Black and Brown
brothers and sisters don't have the access to the extraordinary
educational institutions in the State of Connecticut and around the
country.
Mr. Speaker, we need to be there. It is good to show up and protest
peacefully when a Black man is murdered at the hands of the police, but
it is not enough because that act sits atop an edifice--a four-century
long edifice--of discrimination, the effects of which still echo
through every aspect of our society.
Mr. Speaker, it is not just my constituents. It is this Chamber and
this Congress that must get serious about addressing the unequal
distribution of opportunity in this country. That is our mission. I
just said goodbye, with so many of my colleagues, to John Lewis. I
know that is what John would have us do, and I know that he would have
us do it with grace and with dignity and humility.
Mr. Speaker, that is what I charge my constituents with, and that is
what I hope this Congress will address, in the memory of John Lewis,
who just left us this morning.
____________________
