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WORLD CIVILITY DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mrvan). The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for his reminding us of the World Civility Day and its importance. I rise today in the spirit of civility, facts, and bringing people together.
First of all, we are all saddened by the surge of crime across America, and we are working with our communities, those who intervene, and those who are responding to the issues of depredation and danger that permeates many of our communities and many of our young people.
I believe it is important to ensure that the excessive amount of guns that are trafficked illegally are taken off the street. Soon in my community we will hold a gun buyback with the Houston Police Department because they are working with the community.
So I think it is important to state the fact that the Obama administration, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris are strong advocates and have invested much to ensure that crime goes down. We know that it is a mixture of the toxicity of the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, and, of course, those who are inclined to do the crime.
With that in mind, it is very important to factually make the point that there is nothing in the Biden administration's agenda or its funding packages or those of Democrats that deal with the defunding of police. We are reimagining and working with our communities collectively. As we say: Police community relations will improve and continue to improve, one, the finding of those who perpetrate the crime for them to be brought to justice fairly because crime does not look to the color of one's skin. It is without discrimination and hits all of America.
So I am very proud to have been an original cosponsor and lead on the Victims of Crime Act that was signed by the President last week that ensured that our communities will now have a victims fund that our States will be able to deal with.
I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to go home and interact with the victims of crime. Show them that you care and work with your communities so that they are compensated in the full.
Let me also indicate that it is appropriate for us to move on H.R. 40. An enormity of Members of Congress have sponsored the commission to study slavery and develop reparation proposals. In civility, this would give us an opportunity to have a first federal conversation on race for a full discussion and analysis of the economy, political, psychological, scientific, and sociological effects of slavery in the United States.
The legislation makes no judgment on how to respond to the slavery of African Americans that began its sinful roots 401 years ago, but it points us to developing a response and a repair to deal with what is a continuing stigma of institutional racism. Mr. Speaker, you cannot ignore the disparities that exist in the community, and we cannot ignore the opportunity to have that discussion.
I am very grateful for the wide variety of individuals from the East, the West, the North, and the South of varying political perspectives who have supported this, the religious organizations that have supported this, the social justice organizations, or just plain people who raise their voices--57 percent in a recent poll.
So let us look forward to repairing, being a repair, the repairers. We know that our beloved pastor and leader who has provided us with the words that he is the repairer of the breach, and we thank him for that. And we thank all those who are willing to have a civil discussion to ensure that we can end the surge of crime and the scourge of crime and as well be able to discuss race in a manner of civility in a way that we can come together and repair it.
I know that it is the intent of those who cosponsored the bill and all of the vast supporters across America. It is certainly my intent as the lead cosponsor after the Honorable John Conyers, and I know it is the intent of the Congressional Black Caucus and all those who raise their voices for a civil discussion on the question of race. I think America is that good and better than that to be able to say that we can have that civil discussion. As has been said in our meetings of the Congressional Black Caucus: our power and our message.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 133
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