Kendrick Meek: “I decided I would speak out in strong opposition to the Riggs amendment, which is another verification of a dying…”

“I decided I would speak out in strong opposition to the Riggs amendment, which is another verification of a dying system. The system is in its death throes. I thought that once it was lethally killed, but now I see that there are many who believe that by turning the clock back, that they may bring a change in America which they were unable to bring before. My colleagues will not be able to bring that change. They will not be able to bring it by glibly reciting laws one by one. Many have quoted case law, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and any number of people and incidents have been quoted. But, Mr. Chairman, my colleagues will be unable to turn this America back. This America is not the America that they knew or their forefathers knew. This is a different America. This is the America that is proud to have all races, ethnicities and creeds and sexes and everyone participate in this great manner which we have here in this country.”