Cleo Fields

I’ve never served a single day in Congress without a federal lawsuit looming over my head.

The people taking part in this historic march are answering back, and history will remember that they did.

This march is about people who refuse to be counted out. When the courts and the legislature broke apart District 6, they did not just redraw lines.

I intend to answer that call.

After a great deal of prayer and reflection, I have decided not to seek reelection, to Congress, in the 6th District or any other district in Louisiana,

I feel my calling to serve the people is better put to use back home than here in D.C., and I intend to answer that call.

Denying access, repeatedly and without explanation, does not just inconvenience a handful of volunteers. It weakens the public’s ability to hold our institutions accountable and erodes confidence that justice is being administered fairly…

It pushes us back to 60 years ago.

I want to make sure I am doing it right. All I have to do if I go back to my office right now and I wanted to register to vote is pick up the phone and dial 1-800-REGISTER?

Knowledge and power. I cannot overemphasize how important this is. For the 23d, it is HBCU, historical black colleges and universities, but listen, every college students, irrespective of what college they attend, ought to register to…

You are a former student leader on your college campus. How did you and your colleagues encourage young people or get young people at North Carolina A&T registered to vote? Let us face it, there are a lot of students who are not from North…

As the gentleman knows, if he is speaking of the $5 billion program, under the President's proposal, it would be paid for by the selling of the spectrums. So the $5 billion program is in fact paid for or will be paid for. An expanded…

It is like the unique bumper sticker that we have all seen in our travels, if you can read this, thank a teacher. You cannot put it any more pointedly than that. If you can read this, thank a teacher.

I come from the school of thought that we have to do all that we can do to improve opportunities for higher education in this country, and I know both gentlemen, particularly this gentleman and the chairman, have worked hard to provide…

Mr. Speaker, the burning of churches in this country is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in any shape, form or fashion. This legislation will give Federal prosecutors the tools they need to prosecute those perpetrators of the crime…

In my State you can go to jail for not paying a traffic ticket. In my State a traffic ticket is a misdemeanor. In the State I come from a traffic ticket, a moving violation, is a misdemeanor and you can in fact go to jail for it. What I am…

A parking ticket is a misdemeanor. What about if I got a traffic ticket? What about jaywalking? Then you take a 5-year period. Second, why do we not impose this same requirement on the Members of Congress? Why do we not say to America you…

If I got a parking ticket yesterday, I am a convicted criminal? If I got a ticket in Washington, DC., I cannot serve on a board. Yes or no, is that not correct?

Why is it so difficult for a person to serve on a board if they have been convicted of a misdemeanor?

Reclaiming my time, the last time I checked, there is nothing wrong with a person looking for an apartment and filing out an application who has been convicted of a parking violation. I do not understand the rationale. I can understand…

The section that deals with the board of directors, the manager's amendment calls for an election of one tenant on each board. This amendment simply went, as a result of the manager's amendment, my amendment was changed to deal with that…

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I simply say that Members of this Congress, all who I serve with and all who I have a great deal of respect for, when we go home each day we take in $550. Each day we work we get $550. A person on minimum wage only…

I say we need to increase the minimum wage to a livable wage. We need to protect workers' rights and jobs. We need to decrease taxes on middle and low income families, and we need to encourage not just personal responsibility but corporate…

The gentleman from Arkansas made some reference to productivity gains, and there have, indeed, been productivity gains experienced by our economy, except that in the past those productivity gains accrued to the community at large. Now…