On the recordNovember 30, 2010
I am a little dismayed that we come back after this recess and after a struggle that has gone on for generations, and we come here, and of all my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I am stunned that only one person rises in support of a claim that is so gross, so discriminatory, and I was glad that the gentlelady raised the question of why nobody was ever fired or punished or discharged. That is how deep and pervasive this problem has been over the centuries in this country. That is why nobody was punished. That is why it makes it all the more important that we, if we can, get as bipartisan a vote from everybody in this House on this matter. Chairman Bobby Scott mentioned John Boyd of the National Black Farmers Association. He is sitting up in the gallery right now. I want you to know that he came to me in the spring of 1983. That was 27 years ago, and we have been working on this matter ever since. All across the South--we even had problems, we found out, in the North. It wasn't just the South, but the South was obviously the most pervasive.
