Melvin Watt: “I am here as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and to talk about the bill before us. When I became Chair of…”

“I am here as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and to talk about the bill before us. When I became Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this year, I encouraged my colleagues in the caucus to refocus their energies, and they agreed to do so, on the basic historical purpose of the Congressional Black Caucus: closing disparities that exist between African Americans and other Americans in this country. That enabled us to develop, in a daylong retreat, an agenda around closing disparities in this country. It enabled us to give that agenda to the President of the United States on January 17 of this year, and to say to the President of the United States, we will not evaluate you on whether you are a Republican or a Democrat; we will evaluate you solely on whether you are proposing an agenda, an appropriation, a proposal that will close or widen the disparities that exist between African Americans and other Americans in this country. It enabled us to come, when we engaged in this debate on the budget and offer a Congressional Black Caucus budget that focused on the agenda of closing disparities between African Americans and other Americans. It enabled us to develop a legislative and an appropriations agenda that focused on that same objective. So why are we here today? Because this bill literally blows up our whole domestic agenda that the Congressional Black Caucus has adopted.…”