On the recordMay 15, 2020
I was listening to the majority leader talk about a statement that Abraham Lincoln made. He made it in his annual report to the Congress on December 1, 1862. In that message, he proposed one of the dumbest ideas that has ever been put forth in this Congress and that was: instead of freeing the enslaved people in this country, we would round them up and put them on boats and take them back to Africa. That is what was in his message. He talks about the tired dogmas of the past. The Constitution is not dogma. It is the fundamental law of this country. {time} 1415 Remember, on December 1, 1862, this Congress was in this room. Fifty miles away, 10 days later, a fierce and awful battle took place in Fredericksburg, with 18,000 casualties. If it hadn't been winter, the Confederate Army could have come here and taken this building. Yet, they continued to meet here, through pandemics of yellow fever and malaria. This was the hottest spot in the country for typhoid fever for over 15 years, and the Congress still met in this room. Millions of Americans go to work every day, doing their jobs, and they expect us to do the same. Instead of adopting this very ill- considered rule, we should all get to Washington, do our jobs, and take care of the American people. Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
