I believe that democracy is at a crossroads, and I think the gentleman has made that very clear tonight. We are here tonight, Madam Speaker, to talk about the Bush administration's systematically deceiving the American people. This…

Yes, there is a better way. I think Dr. King, reflecting upon him right now, showed us a better way and told us that there was a better way. He told us how the bombs bursting in Vietnam would explode here in the ghettos of America if in…

I want to thank again the gentleman from Maryland for his leadership and for insisting that the Congressional Black Caucus put forth this vision, a vision that is based on true American values, a vision that is based on equality and…

I think I have the answer to why they cut job training, and that is, they do not know where the jobs are coming from and what to train people for. First, we have lost the service industry. We have lost manufacturing, and we are outsourcing…

Going back to the Congressional Black Caucus' budget, we increased the funding for Pell grants and for our young people so they do not have to deal with the very situation that the gentleman described. Taking it just a little further…

There has to be the political will to do that, and the future has to be a priority in terms of the budget priority. You have to see young people as being our future, those who are going to really take over the world, and we have not…

Madam Speaker, the insidious and the sinister nature of this Bush budget is that so many of these efforts and programs which have been eliminated or cut affect the African American, the Latino and the Asian Pacific Islander communities…

First responder funding, police, firefighters, health care emergency workers, we are cutting $648 million out of that budget. We are cutting port security grants by 63 percent. This totals, in terms of homeland security, an additional $155…

although I do have some reservations about this bill, I rise in support of the vast majority of the underlying bill and want to praise the excellent bipartisan leadership exercised in crafting it and moving it to the floor today. It was a…

first let me just say I rise in total opposition to this resolution. This is another resolution to deceive the American people. This resolution completely distorts and ignores the basis for this war and its costs. This resolution never…

first, let me thank Members of Congress tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) for our focus and for leading this effort not only tonight but over the years with regard to Haiti. Of course, Haiti…

first let me thank our chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus once again for his leadership not only in unifying the Congressional Black Caucus around such an important issue but also in terms of insisting that we move forward not only…

I rise tonight to ask the Bush administration why in the world our country appears to be allowing a violent coup d'etat to occur in Haiti. Through a wink and a nod, our administration is allowing this violence to occur, and we must not…

I thank the gentlewoman, first of all, for a very powerful statement. Secondly, just to paint a picture very quickly, my area is an area that is a very vulnerable area. We have a great port. We have a major transit system. We have…

I sincerely do wish former President Reagan and his wife well on his birthday, and my thoughts and prayers are with them as he deals with the terrible disease of Alzheimer's; however, the resolution went well beyond a simple birthday wish…

once again let me just thank the gentleman from Maryland, the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for his leadership, and for calling these special orders to discuss the real state of the Union. I thank the gentleman from Maryland…

This bill of course we have yet to see but have heard a lot about what will essentially privatize Medicare. Not only will the bill begin to dismantle a program that has worked for over 30 years; it does fatten the pockets of the…

There are many veterans who are still with us who are getting older now who I have the privilege to know and work with, and those are the Tuskegee Airmen. What a wonderful legacy they have left. I will never forget when I was working for…

I agonize every time I walk down the streets in my community and see veterans who are homeless, and then find that hospitals are closing and that they cannot get their medication and they do not have anyplace to sleep. I think it is a…

He should be. What we are doing is making veterans pay for their disabilities, which are no fault of their own. It should be just the reverse. We should pay them a stipend, an additional benefit, for what they have done.

History must be recorded accurately. I think only by telling the truth, by putting forth the true history of any group of people, but especially our veterans, whom we are discussing tonight, that has got to be a priority for our young…

They are taking away money from them after they have been hurt. That is mean. That is mean, and I think it immoral. Somehow, the entire country needs to wake up to that and say how unjust this is and correct this. That is why H.R. 2569 has…

I can remember very vividly men in uniform, black men in uniform, being denied entrance to a restaurant or to a movie theater, or being forced to go to a water fountain that said 'Colored Only,' in uniform. I can remember this. I have so…

That is right. My final comment is, as I said earlier, I think we need to put our money where our mouth is now and try to fight like we know how to fight to make sure that each and every nickel that they deserve they receive.

That, in essence, is taxing disabled veterans for disabilities that they unfortunately acquired while serving this country.