165 years ago the U.S. House of Representatives passed a rule to ban discussion, debate, printing of any information or discussion of the issue of slavery. As a result, former President John Quincy Adams, who was elected to the House of Representatives after he was President, came to the House floor night after night, week after week, hoping to change the minds of people and debate the issue of slavery. Adams, one of the Nation's leading abolitionists, one of the Nation's strongest believers in giant social justice, as a result, because he was prohibited from talking about slavery, came to the floor and read letters that he received from constituents in Massachusetts and constituents around the country. He believed that Congress should discuss slavery and debate slavery, so he allowed citizens to speak through him as the microphone, citizens through using these letters to speak directly to Congress, directly to the American people. In a similar way, many in this Congress are unhappy that we are failing to investigate what our role in Iraq was.
On the recordSeptember 16, 2003
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govinfo.govEditor's note · Context
Discussing the historical ban on slavery debate in Congress and its relevance to current issues.
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