Political Quotes

“I want to thank the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Marcia Fudge, for yielding time to me on this important resolution. I also want to commend her for her leadership on this initiative to pay appropriate commemoration to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to my first election to the House of Representatives, I served in the State government of my native State, South Carolina, in an office charged with administering this landmark legislative achievement. We, in South Carolina, effectively used provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enforce fair employment practices. That instrument has had tremendously positive impact on the working men and women of my State and across the country. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Law of 1968, and other initiatives embody the ideals upon which this Nation was founded. I had the opportunity to expound on this notion at some length when I spoke in Dayton, Ohio, in 1985 as president of the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies. At that time I spoke these words: We are an experimental Nation toying with the idea of individual rights as opposed to collective control and tyranny. So far, the experiment has worked, no doubt to the surprise of many who witnessed its birth over 200 years ago. It is interesting to speculate why not only has the Nation survived, but also its ideals and principals.…”