James Norton: “I must say to her that it gave me special personal pride to see her elected to the Congress, much more to see her become…”

“I must say to her that it gave me special personal pride to see her elected to the Congress, much more to see her become the first African American woman on the Ways and Means Committee, and she just did us proud again. The gentlelady from Ohio has applied her distinguished career in the law to reminding the prosecutor what his first obligation is, and that is to do justice. That's why the prosecutor is given such discretion. He often doesn't prosecute, or he thinks of other things that should be done. The onus is on him. And I found your remarks especially important in light of the fact that after what we've seen in Jena has left us to just get to one side or the other, and that's not solving the problem either. I want to thank the gentlelady from Michigan, who is the Chair of our caucus, for delegating to you this responsibility and for her great leadership, especially in this week of the Congressional Black Caucus events where we will be discussing public policy and trying, as a group of African Americans, to contribute not only to the Congress, but to our Nation.”