Stephen Horn: “this is a very close call, if looked at strictly in terms of the role of this House--the people's House. Should Congress…”

“this is a very close call, if looked at strictly in terms of the role of this House--the people's House. Should Congress be the grandnanny of America? I think most of us would say ``no.'' On the other hand, if good people do not stand up, bad people will poison the well of our representative democracy. As one who was part of the Senate drafting team for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I remember who was often in the room besides the congressional staff and the floor leaders: Andrew Biemiller of the AFL-CIO; Clarence Mitchell of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Joseph Rauh for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; David Brody of the Anti-Defamation League; James Hamilton of the National Council of Churches. Those were the people who for years had walked the Halls of the House and the Senate to secure the rights of all Americans. Black and white, Christians and Jews they worked inside to establish justice and to achieve what Martin Luther King sought so eloquently outside. They worked together in a grand coalition because what we were doing was right. By passing this resolution will we make false heroes out of some of these sick bigots. Perhaps. Do we need to speak out once this resolution is before us? We do. I shall support the resolution.”