Donald M. Payne: “as one who has been involved in this endeavor from the beginning, I am pleased that our efforts are coming to fruition…”

“as one who has been involved in this endeavor from the beginning, I am pleased that our efforts are coming to fruition today. I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. Castle, for moving this important measure through, and thank the gentleman from New York, Floyd Flake, the ranking member, for all of his contributions. Let me express special appreciation to the sponsor of this bill, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, Ms. Nancy Johnson, who you have just heard, for all of the hard work she has done on this bill for so many years. It has been a pleasure working with her through this process. Our legislation directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 500,000 coins in 1998 recognizing the sacrifices of African American soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Proceeds from the sale of this coin will help the construction of the first monument on the National Mall here in Washington to specifically honor the contributions of the African-American war patriots. It is fitting that we pay tribute to the pride and patriotism of heroes such as Crispus Attucks, as the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], mentioned, a runaway slave who became the first casualty of the American Revolution. As our country was struggling to become free of British tyranny, this young runaway slave gave his life during the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. African-American patriots fought in most of the major battles of the Revolutionary War.”