Dana Rohrabacher: “continuing on with regard to the contributions made to America by black inventors, Granville T. Woods developed over 20…”

“continuing on with regard to the contributions made to America by black inventors, Granville T. Woods developed over 20 patents for engineering the railroad industry, including batteries, I might add, electric brakes and telephone transmitters. January Ernst Matzelinger in 1889 invented an automatic shoe machine. This was part of a process of putting together shoes. Before his invention, shoes cost three or four times as much. This is something Americans forget. Back before this Matzelinger, a black American, invented this process, shoes were so expensive that most Americans did not even own a pair of shoes, or, if they did, they owned one pair of shoes in their entire life. We all know about George Washington Carver. He, of course, is well-known to school children throughout the United States for his great scientific integrity and the work he did, especially in the investigation of food processing and peanuts and the paint industry. We know he made enormous contributions. But there are many, many more black Americans besides George Washington Carver who deserve this credit. For example, more closely to home, James West joined Bell Labs in the late 1950's and was responsible for over 100 patents on microphones and other electronic devices.”