September 10, 2019 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1121 recognition, and Noelle rightfully earned this It is an honor to recognize Christine on her $171,000 in wealth while the national house- award. Noelle is planning on continuing her induction into the Luzerne County Sports Hall hold median was $97,300. studies at Texas Southern University, and we of Fame. May her story serve as an inspiration The black unemployment rate is 6.6 percent wish her the best of luck in her future career. to the next generation of Pennsylvania ath- more than double the national unemployment On behalf of the Twenty-Second Congres- letes striving for excellence. rate. sional District of Texas, congratulations again f Approximately 31 percent of black children to Noelle Walker on receiving the Sports Medi- live in poverty, compared to 11 percent of cine Scholarship from Memorial Hermann Katy ‘‘400 ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST white children. The national average is 18 per- Hospital. SLAVE ARRIVING IN AMERICA’’ cent, which suggests that the percentage of f black children living in poverty is more than HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE 150 percent of the national average. PERSONAL EXPLANATION OF TEXAS In the healthcare domain, the disparities suf- fered by African Americans is also troubling. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HON. DOUG COLLINS Over 20 percent of African Americans do Tuesday, September 10, 2019 OF GEORGIA not have health insurance, compared to a na- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I tional average between 8.8 percent and 9.1 percent. Tuesday, September 10, 2019 thank my colleague, Congresswoman BAR- BARA LEE for anchoring this Special Order rec- One in four African American women are Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, ognizing the 400th anniversary of the first uninsured. I was absent due to being unavoidably de- slave arriving in America. Compared to the national average, African tained. Had I been present, I would have Four hundred years ago the first slave ar- American adults are 20 percent more likely to voted ‘‘Yea’’ on Roll Call No. 516 and ‘‘Yea’’ rived in America, ships set sail from the west suffer from asthma and three times more likely on Roll Call No. 515. coast of Africa and in the process, began one to die from it. Black adults are 72 percent more likely to f of mankind’s most inhumane practices: human suffer from diabetes than average. IN RECOGNITION OF CHRISTINE bondage and slavery. Black women are four times more likely to BUTTON STRUMSKI ON HER IN- For two centuries, human beings—full of die from pregnancy related causes, such as DUCTION INTO THE LUZERNE hopes and fears, dreams and concerns, ambi- embolisms, and pregnancy-related hyper- COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME tion and anguish—were transported onto ships tension, than any other racial group. like chattel, and the lives of many forever In our nation, among children aged 19–35 changed. months, black children were vaccinated at HON. MATT CARTWRIGHT The reverberations from this horrific series OF PENNSYLVANIA rates lower than white children: 68 percent of acts—a transatlantic slave trade that IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES versus 78 percent, respectively. touched the shores of a colony that came to Education has often been called the key to Tuesday, September 10, 2019 be known as America, and later a democratic unlocking social mobility. Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Madam Speaker, I rise republic known as the United States of Amer- African American students are less likely today to honor member of the Tunkhannock ica—are unknown and worthy of exploration. than white students to have access to college- Little League Association and Northeastern Approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their ready courses. Pennsylvania native, Christine Button descendants were enslaved in the United In fact, in 2011–12, only 57 percent of black Strumski. This year, Christine was inducted States and colonies that became the United students had access to a full range of math into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame States from 1619 to 1865. and science courses necessary for college at the 35th annual dinner on August 11, 2019 The institution of slavery was constitutionally readiness, compared to with 81 percent of for her distinct achievements in the sport of and statutorily sanctioned by the Government Asian American students and 71 percent of softball. of the United States from 1789 through 1865. white students. Each year, the Luzerne County Sports Hall American Slavery is our country’s original Black students spend less time in the class- of Fame honors those who have brought fame sin and its existence at the birth of our nation room due to discipline, which further hinders and recognition to the state of Pennsylvania is a permanent scar on our country’s founding their access to a quality education. through their outstanding achievements and documents, and on the venerated authors of Black students are nearly two times as likely contributions in athletic endeavors. those documents, and it is a legacy that con- to be suspended without educational services Growing up in a time when sports like base- tinued well into the last century. as white students. ball were male-dominated, Christine became a While it is nearly impossible to determine Black students are also 3.8 times as likely trail-blazer for the inclusion of women in sports how the lives touched by slavery could have to receive one or more out-of-school suspen- in the 1970s. In the 70s, the National Little flourished in the absence of bondage, we sions as white students. In addition, black children represent 19 per- League was sued by the National Organiza- have certain datum that permits us to examine cent of the nation’s pre-school population, yet tion for Women for discrimination based on how a subset of Americans—African Ameri- 47 percent of those receiving more than one sex. Christine would go on to help form the cans—have been affected by the callousness of involuntary servitude. out-of-school suspension. first girls’ softball league in Tunkhannock. School districts with the most students of We know that in almost every segment of Dedicated to equality and inclusion, Christine color, on average, receive 15 percent less per society—education, healthcare, jobs and commissioned the board to have a girls’ team student in state and local funding than the wealth—the inequities that persist in America from the league participate in the State of whitest districts. Pennsylvania Baseball Tournament. The girls’ are more acutely and disproportionately felt in And, of course, we cannot consider the dis- league was so new at the time that one team Black America. parities between black and white in America would only have to win six games to become This historic discrimination continues: Afri- without considering the intersection of African state champions. Despite the small number of can-Americans continue to suffer debilitating Americans and the Criminal Justice system. competitors and a new league, the competition economic, educational, and health hardships There are more Black men in bondage was fierce. Christine helped her team secure including but not limited to having nearly today who are incarcerated or under correc- the first state girls’ softball championship 1,000,000 black people incarcerated; an un- tional control, than there were black men who against Minersville. employment rate more than twice the current were enslaved in the 1800s. Today, Christine is still actively involved in white unemployment rate; and an average of The United States locks up African Amer- the Tunkhannock Little League Association. less than 1⁄16 of the wealth of white families, ican males at a rate 5.8 times higher than the This past year, the girls secured another state a disparity which has worsened, not improved most openly racist country in the world ever championship title. Under her leadership, the over time. did: team qualified for the Softball World Series in A closer look at the statistics reveals the South Africa under apartheid (1993), African Portland, Oregon where they came in second. stark disparity in these areas. American males: 851 per 100,000 Christine’s dedication to equality and excel- Black household wealth is less than one fifth United States (2006), African American lence has been an inspiration to all. Her serv- of the national average. males: 4,789 per 100,000 ice and willingness to stand and be counted in The median black household had a net Incarceration is not an equal opportunity the uphill battle for equality in sports is admi- worth of just $17,600 in 2016. Yet in that punishment. For example, incarceration rates rable. same year, the median white household held in the United States by race were: VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A10SE8.018 E10SEPT1 E1122 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 10, 2019 African Americans: 2,468 per 100,000 Since my reintroduction of H.R. 40 at the Let us also do with the spirit of reconciliation Latinos: 1,038 per 100,000 beginning of this Congress, both the legisla- and understanding that this bill represents. Whites: 409 per 100,000 tion and concept of reparations have become Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to African American offenders receive sen- the focus of national debate. help address the harm that slavery has had on tences that are 10 percent longer than white For many, it is apparent that the success of our nation by supporting H.R. 40. offenders for the same crimes and are 21 per- the Obama administration has unleashed a f cent more likely to receive mandatory-min- backlash of racism and intolerance that is an imum sentences than white defendants ac- echo of America’s dark past which has yet to COACH FRANKLIN POST-GAME cording to the U.S.