Peace on Earth
PEACE ON EARTH -- (Extensions of Remarks - December 22, 2005)
SPEECH OF
HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2005
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into the RECORD ``Witness for Justice #245'' entitled My Christmas List, published on December 5, 2005, by the United Church of Christ of Cleveland, Ohio. The article eloquently written by Bernice Powell Jackson the Executive Minister of this Church on 700 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland is a fervent wish for Peace. Her wish, her prayer, is one that many of us share with her and I hope is in the hearts and on the lips of every minister, rabbi and imam when he or she stands before a congregation. Minister Jackson believes that for Christians the call to work for peace comes from the Prince of Peace. Those of other faiths, she says, are called ``by our Creator to work for a world of peace not only at this time of year, but all year long.''
Minister Jackson's first wish on her Christmas list is for peace on earth. I join with her in this wish for all of us; but I wish the God's peace especially for the least among us for these are the first victims when peace is absent. These victims are the women, the children, the child soldiers, the soldiers and their families, the poor, the invisible, the uncounted, the sick, the forgotten, and those whose dignity, even humanity, is not acknowledged--the enslaved, the trafficked, and the tortured.
Minister Jackson's second wish is for young people who are ready and willing to take up the struggle for a world of peace and justice. She states this article, number 245, is her last Witness for Justice Column. She hopes for young people like the ones who struggled for civil rights in the U.S., in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, in the people power struggle in the Philippines, and in Tiananmen Square in China will arise to take on the causes for which she has been such an effective advocate. Minister Jackson recognizes the struggle continues against poverty.
I join Minister Jackson in her second wish and add a second wish of my own. I wish that we will see the end of extreme poverty in our lifetime. I commend the work and advocacy of Jeffery Sachs, Bill and Melinda Gates, Bono and Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and wish with them that childhood AIDS can be treated, that the AIDS Pandemic in Africa can be stopped, that treatable diseases that cause blindness in Africa can be eradicated and that people who are too poor to live can receive simple remedies like mosquito nets that will save 5000 children a day in Africa, clean water and enough food to flourish not just survive.
The third wish on Minister Jackson's Christmas List is for health care for every American. I join her in this wish. Ours is the richest country in the world and yet 45 million Americans cannot afford health care. Minister Jackson says the health care system is ``imploding all around us.'' It is failing us. As a nation, America can no longer afford not to have health care for all Americans. The lack of universal health care for Americans represents a failure of our government and of our priorities; both must be changed.
Finally, Minister Jackson wishes for a return of a value which she writes ``seems to be disappearing from our landscape--the value of integrity.'' Integrity she says is ``a value which can only be earned through a life of honesty, fairness, forthrightness and a commitment to the common good of all humankind. It is a value which seems to be sorely lacking in government, in politics, in media, in business, even in religion. Integrity means standing up for what is right and just and true, no matter which way the winds of the world blow. It means speaking the truth, not words of political spin ..... It means matching your words with your life. My Christmas wish is for an increase in integrity in our world.'' I join Minister Jackson in this wish with all my heart. Witness for Justice #245, Dec. 5, 2005
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