J.C. Watts: “I rise in support of H.R. 4957, legislation to extend the authority of the Black Patriots Foundation to establish a…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 4957, legislation to extend the authority of the Black Patriots Foundation to establish a commemorative work on the national Mall. I am delighted to be an original cosponsor of this legislation along with Mr. Rangel, Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Payne, all of whom have worked so long and hard--and continue to do so--to make this memorial to the Black patriots of the Revolutionary War a reality. My colleagues, this House has noticed an absence and therefore a very real need for commemoration in honor of people who helped to birth this 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 Revoluntioinary 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.”