Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my honorable friend, Congresswoman Lawrence, for her leadership on someone who really set a tone, not just in Detroit and Michigan, but the entire Nation. I thank her for her leadership. Mr. Speaker, I knew Chairman Conyers, not as well as some of the Members who have spoken, but I did know him. We each represented the largest city in a large northern industrial State. Philadelphia and Detroit have many of the same problems, such as poverty, gun violence, a loss of good manufacturing jobs, and access to healthcare. I didn't tell my colleague, Congresswoman Lawrence, that when she mentioned May 16, I was born on that same day, so there is that connection there. The chairman was one of the 12 founders of the Congressional Black Caucus. From Pennsylvania, the person who was one of them was Robert N.C. Nix, who was elected in 1958. So 48 years ago, as a result of the chairman, we have built on the backs of those founders. Today, there are 54 of us in the caucus, including the House majority whip, two Senators, four chairs of House committees, and one of our former members who became a two-term President of the United States. The chairman helped to lay the groundwork for this progress. When he cosponsored the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I was 10 years of age. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act banned discrimination at the ballot box. He was a fierce critic of the Vietnam war that led to a clash with President Lyndon Johnson.…”