mr. clyburn for living and understanding the civil rights journey and conveying it in his legislative journey. for mr. rangel for his service to this nation as a korean war vet, and then coming home to be a vet of the civil rights effort. and then of course to the holder of the seat that represents selma for her life story. and so today i rise to ask the question what is our moral standard? and follow in the words of dr. martin luther king, why we can't wait. this is the clarion call to my colleagues, democrats and republicans. that in fact this year, of all years, calls for us to act. it calls for us to be able to understand why the nation cannot wait, who is going to lift up the moral standard? the walk from selma to montgomery turned into bloody sunday. it was where a young man by the name of john lewis stood bravely stood bravely alongside of names like josea williams. and it was of course a place where the world watched and it became the stair steps of which the voting rights act was passed. today we realize that on the shoulders of that tragic time, where violence claimed the life of ji

mr. clyburn, for five minutes. mr. clyburn: thank you very much mr. speaker. mr. speaker in one of his great books, martin luther king jr. asked the question, where do we go from here? chaos or community? mr. speaker, today, 50 years after selma, that question is still in need of an answer. one area in need of aggressive action is persistent poverty. and i want to thank president obama for sending us a budget that equalizes the tax code and if substantially enacted will prove us closer to what dr. king often referred to as the beloved community. statistics show that there are nearly 500 counties and thousands of communities in the united states that are classified by the census bureau as persistent poverty areas. there are so identified because 20% of their populations have lived below the poverty line for the last 30 or more years. there are diverse communities, including caucasian communities in states like west virginia kentucky and tennessee, native american communities in states like south dakota, alaska, and oklahoma. latino communities in states like arizon

mr. clyburn: thank you so much mr. payne, for yielding time. i appreciate the accolades but i eassure you my long-distant memory is very good. i assure you your contributions to this body are very much appreciated. mr. speaker, on yesterday i opened up black history month with a speech at cornerstone baptist church on wayne street in columbia, south carolina. they had an interesting topic for me to develop. it was all about remembering our past and preparing for the future. chairman butterfield has talked a little bit about the past that many of us remember. but 50 years after selma we must turn to the question that martin luther king jr. asked in one of his great books. where do we go from here? chaos or community? statistics show that there are nearly 500 counties and thousands of communitiesed in the united states that are classified by the census bureau as persistent poverty areas. they are so defined because 20% of their populations have lived below the poverty level for the past 30 years or more. they're diverse including caw cushion coun

mr. hoyer, assistant leader clyburn mr. engel, ranking member, on foreign affairs, and adam schiff ranking on intelligence. it was a meeting put together rather rapidly because the speaker called us and said -- they thought it was a bipartisan meeting. would we meet with him. which we did. that's the context. it was a very, shall we say, we are friend. it was a meeting in friendship. i think it was a meeting, i would say, more by sadness on my part anyway, really sad it has come to this. that -- but hopefully there will be a path out of the situation that we are in. we have, many of us have been fighting a fight on nonproliferation our whole lives, our whole political public service lives, so we understand that even if israel did not exist, we'd still have to make sure iran did not have a nuclear weapon. because that's very -- an arms race that in itself -- we can't have it. the arms race it would lead to would be disastrous. we all stipulate to that fact. i do happen to think it it was the greatest political achievement of

mr. clyburn: he suffered racial abuse, slurs and threats as he became the first african-american to play the pga tour. born in north carolina in 1922, he worked as a caddy and dominated the all-black united states golf association winning five straight national titles. he challenged the pga's whites only rule and in 1961, they rescinded it. he won the harvard open in 1967 and the los angeles open in 1969. he also won the 1975 senior pga championship. in 2004, he became the first african-american inducted into the world golf hall of fame. last year, president barack obama awarded him the medal of freedom joining jack nicolaus and arnold palmer as the only golfers to receive a you are -- receive our nation's highest civilian honor. tiger woods, one of the greatest golfers of all times, has often said, he might never have taken up the game were it not for the courage grace, and perseverance of charlie sifert. mr. speaker, charlie was not a quitter. he was a hero. he was my hero. may he rest in peace. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the

clyburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. following years of vigorous debate they adopted the framework recognizing that basic freedom as enshrined in the 1st ten amendments to the constitution is fundamental to a free and democratic society. james madison gave life to the first amendment, and a scant 45 words which are fundamental to the spirit of this great nation. almost two centuries later justice william brennan would write the historic 1964 new york times versus sullivan decision that holds debate on public issues should be uninhabited, robust, and wide-open. i believe president madison and justice brennan would be particularly proud of the rigorous robust, and unfettered debate that has led us to this historic moment, and what a moment it is. i believe the framers would be pleased to see these principles embodied on a platform that has become such an important part of our lives. i also believe they never envisioned a government that would include the input and leadership of women, people of color and immigrants, or tha