Melvin Watt: “I thank the gentleman, Mr. Davis, for yielding the time. I am honored to be an original cosponsor with my friend…”

“I thank the gentleman, Mr. Davis, for yielding the time. I am honored to be an original cosponsor with my friend, Congressman Rogers from Alabama, of this legislation. Some people probably are wondering why this kind of interesting coalition has come together. Well, for me, it is about having the Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, not inside my congressional district, it is actually in an adjoining congressional district represented by one of my other North Carolina colleagues. But we know the value of NASCAR and motor sports in North Carolina and in the area from which I come. The second thing that converges here is the recognition that I have five Historically Black Colleges and Universities in my district, and two of them have already become a part of this partnership and will benefit from NASCAR's diversity initiative: North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Representative Davis has indicated the history of NASCAR when it comes to drivers, and that is important, but I want to emphasize that this is not only about having drivers in the cars. NASCAR is a massive conglomerate of entities, and a lot of people view NASCAR or motor sports as just the guys that are out there running around the track or the guys in the pits. There are marketing opportunities, there are accounting opportunities; this is a major corporate undertaking here.…”