Today, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement on the passing of U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Frank E. Petersen, Jr.: “While we mourn the loss of United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General Frank E. Petersen, Jr., we also celebrate his over three decades of honorable, inspired and courageous service to our country. From the harrowing skies of Korea and Vietnam, Lieutenant General Petersen flew over 300 combat missions with g...
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Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield released the following statement to mark the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina: “Ten years ago Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast and became one of the worst natural disasters in American history. Today, we reflect on the more than 1,800 individuals whose lives were lost and the millions of people whose lives were forever changed. We remember the many valuable lessons that our country learned during the storm’s aft...
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Today, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement on the passing of 104-year-old civil rights icon Amelia Boynton Robinson: “Today we mourn the passing of a remarkable citizen, Mrs. Amelia Boynton Robinson, a civil rights activist and one of the leaders of the 1965 Bloody Sunday march of 1965. Often referred to as the matriarch of our country’s Civil Rights Movement, Mrs. Boynton Robinson worked tirelessly on the behalf of those who were...
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Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement recognizing the 95th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which guarantees a woman’s right to vote: “Today, on Women’s Equality Day, we mark the progress and applaud the achievements women have made since gaining the right to vote 95 years ago. Although women now graduate from college in higher numbers than men, make up nearly half of the workforce, and serve in senior government and private indu...
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Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement regarding the death of former Congressional Black Caucus founding member Louis Stokes: “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our founding members Louis Stokes. “As the first African American to represent Ohio, Mr. Stokes was a pioneer in public service, breaking numerous barriers for African Americans and for all people of color during his extraordinar...
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Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman G. K. Butterfield released the following statement on the passing of Civil Rights leader Julian Bond: "Our hearts are deeply saddened upon hearing news of the passing of our dear friend, Dr. Julian Bond, a forefather of America's Civil Rights Movement and one of our country's greatest advocates for freedom, equality and equitable treatment for all people. "From his work as a student leader during the 1960s to his service in the Georgia House of Represen...
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Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement recognizing the 80th anniversary of the Social Security Act, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935: “For eight decades, Social Security has served as the foundation of retirement security for millions of Americans and has proven to be the country’s most effective poverty prevention program. “Social Security keeps 22 million Americans out of poverty, including mor...
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Today, CBC Chairman G. K. Butterfield released the following statement in response to the decision by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruling that the Texas voter identification law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and has a discriminatory effect on black and Hispanic voters in Texas. “The Congressional Black Caucus applauds the decision by the federal appeals panel on Wednesday that said Texas’ voter identification law discriminates agains...
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Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07) sent a joint letter to President Obama on Wednesday encouraging him to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 103-year-old Amelia Boynton Robinson. Often referred to as the “Matriarch of the Movement,” Mrs. Boynton Robinson’s role in Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery is immortalized in the Oscar-nominated film Selma. She also made history in 1964, by becoming the first Afr...
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Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965. “The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is the most successful piece of civil rights legislation in American history and it changed the political landscape for African Americans. The VRA was enacted during the height of the civil rights movement and prohibits racial discrimination...
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