Goodbye to All That

By Rep. Cynthia McKinney

[This is a transcript of Rep. McKinney's remarks on September
14 at the reception for the Congressional Black Caucus. McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, was recently defeated for re-election.]



This is an important week for all of us, although it is a
particularly important week for me. This week we had three
very successful Braintrusts: Afro-Latinos and their rising
tide of political empowerment all over Latin America; Hip Hop
Power and the importance of Hip Hop as a communications medium
in the absence of a real communications industry other than
Radio One now, inside our community, owned by our community
spreading the good news about our community;



And finally, COINTELPRO II: The Murder of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. where we learned that there really are linkages
between the murders of JFK, MLK, and RFK. And that the
COINTELPRO process was"to neutralize" the black
leader--in the words of the CIA--assassinate, and then replace
that leader with someone whose skin color was black, but whose
loyalty was to their plan and not us. Yesterday, Judge Joe
Brown told us unequivocally that the so-called murder rifle
was NOT the weapon that killed Dr. King.So, I think we did some very important work in these three
braintrusts, connecting, communicating, and educating. And at
least for the next two years, I will not be at the CBC Weekend
as a Member of the House of Representatives. As everybody
probably knows by now, I didn't cross the finish line first
this time. Despite the fact that I easily won the Democratic
vote, 40,000 Republicans maliciously crossed over and overtook
the Democratic Primary. And because AIPAC had telegraphed in
newspaper articles that they were going to target both Earl
Hilliard and me, the Democratic Party was paralyzed.
Therefore, if Alabama represents the heart of the civil rights
movement and Georgia represents its brain, the black body
politic has sustained a mortal blow.



What does this portend for the future of independent black
leadership in this country, particularly given what we learned
really happened during the COINTELPRO period, and what will
happen soon now that the USA Patriot Act, Homeland Security,
and the Funding for the War on Terrorism Act have
significantly changed the legal landscape.



The Operation TIPS program of John Ashcroft, by the way, is
nothing new in the annals of the FBI, but executive authority
always seemed to be there to override such ambitions. That's
not the case now. And so, I'm proud of the votes I cast
against those bills and I'm proud of the legislation I've
authored that really does seek to move our country forward.



For instance, the legislation to override the President's
executive Order denying our troops their rightfully earned
overtime pay. George Bush has asked our young men and women to
make the ultimate sacrifice, but he doesn't want to pay them
for it.



And the legislation I authored to stop the use of weapons with
depleted uranium which seems to be causing health effects and
abnormal births and even deaths among the troops of our allies
and maybe even our own.



I'm proud of the bill to stop the importation of coltan into
the United States, the source of so much pain and suffering in
eastern Congo because it's a key ingredient in our computers,
palm pilots, Sony Playstations, and Oneboxes that people are
willing to kill to get their hands on it.



I'm proud that we extended the benefits for our veterans who
are suffering from Agent Orange because those benefits were
about to expire and I authored the legislation that was passed
into law to help them. But I'm most proud of my work to hold
this Administration accountable to the American people.



And after I've asked the tough questions, here's what we now
know:



* That President Bush was warned that terrorists were planning
to hijack commercial aircraft and crash them into buildings
in the US;



* That in the weeks prior to September 11, 24-hour fighter
cover was placed over the President's ranch in Crawford,
Texas;



* That in the weeks prior to September 11, Attorney General
Ashcroft stopped flying commercial aircraft and instead flew
Government aircraft;



* That the US received numerous high level warnings from a
wide range of foreign intelligence services warning of
impending hijackings and terrorist attacks;



* That a number of FBI agents were pleading with their
superiors to conduct intensive investigations into the
suspicious activities of various men in US flight schools;



* That in the days prior to September 11, highly suspicious
stock market activity in aviation and insurance stocks took
place indicating that certain well-placed people had advance
knowledge of the attacks.



And now this week we learn that the FBI had an informant
living with two of the actual 9-1-1 hijackers. All of this has
become public knowledge since I asked the simple question:
What did the Bush Administration know and when did it know it.
Now against this backdrop of so many unanswered questions,
President Bush wants us to pledge our blind support to him.
First, for his war on terrorism and now for his war in Iraq.



How can we, in good conscience, prepare to send our young men
and women back to Iraq to fight yet another war, when we have
tens of thousands of our service men and women poisoned and
still suffering from the first war?



And what of those veterans who are sleeping on our streets?
Within five minutes of where we are today, you can walk there,
and see them, and talk to them: Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War
veterans, veterans of our wars. George Bush can count me out
of his war-making plans.



Throughout my career, we have proudly brought blacks and
whites, Asians, and Latinos together. I'm proud that
everywhere around me the human rainbow has been represented.
And I know that as we continue to speak out on behalf of the
poor and the marginalized in this country, my supporters
across the spectrum, and across America will be right there
with me.



And that as we continue to speak out on behalf of those who
are sick and tired of greed being more important than human
needs, my supporters will be right there.



And finally, as I ponder the future of America where voices of
dissent are snuffed out by selfishness and intolerance, I'm
reminded of the words of Bobby Kennedy, who we learned
yesterday, was considering Martin Luther King, Jr. as his Vice
Presidential running mate. Bobby Kennedy, truly a great man
who selflessly lived and died for his country, shaped an
entire generation with his thoughts, his words, and his deeds.
And it was Bobby Kennedy who reminded us that:"The task of
leadership, the first task of concerned people, is not to
condemn or castigate, or deplore: it is to search out the
reason for disillusionment and alienation, the rationale of
protest and dissent" perhaps, indeed, to learn from it. And we
may find, that we learn most of all from those political and
social dissenters whose differences with us are most grave:
for among the young, as among adults, the sharpest criticism
often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of
country.