J.C. Watts: “I rise in support of H.R. 1776, the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative Coin Act. I commend our chairman, the…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 1776, the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative Coin Act. I commend our chairman, the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle], and the ranking member, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], for moving this commemorative coin. This House has noticed an absence and therefore a very real need for commemoration in honor of people who helped to birth the Nation, people who actually gave the supreme sacrifice during this Nation's defining moment. As Harriett Beecher Stowe wrote about the black men and women who served in the Revolutionary War, It was not for their own land they fought, nor even for the land which had adopted them, but for a land that had enslaved them and whose laws, even in freedom, more often oppressed than protected. Bravery under such circumstances has a peculiar beauty and merit. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, men and women of all colors have been involved in every aspect of this country from its founding days. We are full partners in the history, bloodshed and tears that have made this Nation great. Unfortunately, not all of us know our Nation's history, where we came from and what makes us who we are today. H.R. 1776, the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative Coin Act, renders honor to those who are exceptionally deserving of lasting historical recognition, and teaches us vis-a-vis "history in our hands" that we all had a stake in this Nation's founding and that we all are equal partners.”