Articles

Good evening.

Thank you for joining us tonight.

I’d like to acknowledge my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus who are here this evening.

[Read names]

Very briefly, I’d like to share why your presence here tonight is so important.

It’s likely that many of you already know the numbers, but I just want to remind you that in 2012, African Americans voted in greater numbers than any other demographic in this nation.

In fact, African American voter participation in Presidential elections has steadily increased since 2000, eight years before we had a black candidate.

What makes this so unique is that unlike the Hispanic or Asian communities, our increased participation is not due to population growth, but to rising turnout rates.  More of us are going to the polls.

And as many of us have been paying close attention to this growing trend, the modern efforts to stop us at the polls began.

The first attempt was to institute these voter ID laws that make it harder for us to get to the polls and to cast our vote.

But that didn’t stop us. It just made us angrier and caused us to turnout more.

What happened next?

The Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act; weakening the landmark legislation that ensured the vote of disenfranchised African Americans across this nation would be protected.

But, I’m convinced that won’t stop us either.

I’m convinced because the reason African Americans are turning out the way we have been is because we understand and have seen the power of our vote at the polls. We know how it can shift the direction of this nation, in spite of the massive efforts against us.

What we need to figure out now is how to translate this increasing awareness of our political power to our city councils, our state races and to our Congressional Districts.

This is why your support of the Congressional Black Caucus and the CBC PAC is so critical right now.

Too many people forget that between Presidential elections, there are these important things called mid-terms. These are the elections that help determine the direction in which this country goes, but more importantly, the way in which our communities go.

We rely on the support of the people in this room to help us carry this message to our districts and to support candidates that we believe in; and as a result, gives us the ability to continue fighting for policies that directly benefit the people we represent.

That is what the CBC PAC is about and that is why you are so critical to the work we’re all trying to do.

So, on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, thank you for joining us this evening and for your continued commitment to the CBC.