PEACEFUL, SILENT PROTEST

On 2026-02-25, Representative Al Green (D-TX-9) delivered a floor speech titled "PEACEFUL, SILENT PROTEST" in the House. The speech addressed healthcare and also covered taxes, Social Security.

PEACEFUL, SILENT PROTEST

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2321-H2325] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] {time} 1300 PEACEFUL, SILENT PROTEST (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Green of Texas was recognized for 30 minutes.) Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, and I rise, Mr. Speaker, a liberated, unbought, unbossed, fearless, unafraid Democrat. I rise, Mr. Speaker, with a special message, one that concerns events that [[Page H2322]] transpired right here on the floor of the House of Representatives last night. I rise, Mr. Speaker, to speak truth to power and truth about power. To speak truth to power, you have to simply say to power: We have a problem, and let us solve the problem. But if you speak truth about power, you say: Power, there is a problem, and you are it. I would like to address both. Let's start with the genesis of what occurred last night, and that genesis is a meme in some worlds, but it was actually something that AI concocted. It had President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama being represented as apes, portrayed as apes. I find this unacceptable, and a good many people of good will found it unacceptable, as well. As a person of good will finding this unacceptable, I wanted to do more than simply tweet something about it or write something about it. I wanted the President to know that people of good will will confront him and let him know that he is doing things that are unacceptable. It is unacceptable to portray Homo sapiens, especially persons of African ancestry, as apes--a little bit more than, in some worlds, of the ape family and a little bit less than a Homo sapien, something that is sort of in a twilight zone, maybe the missing link, if you will. We are not the missing link. We are as human as anybody else, and we are going to demand the respect that everybody else is accorded. This is not a world where you are going to relegate some human beings to a lower life form simply because it pleases you and a host of people who you happen to communicate with. This is unacceptable. So right here, I sat on this row. I was over one seat away from the aisle, but when the President approached, I then approached the aisle. When I approached the aisle, I wanted him to see a sign that I had that simply said--but it was truthful; I believe it was powerful--that Black people are not apes. Black people aren't apes. I flashed that for the President to see. Based upon the way he turned away and tried to move briskly, it appears that he got the message but did not want to embrace the message. As a result of this, he made his way up to give his speech, and I continued to stand silently, holding my signage. My signage was my means of silently protesting. There were other persons over in this area who were protesting, and they were doing it peacefully. They had on signage. It was displayed on a cap--that is what I saw on one person, a cap--and it had language on it. These kinds of things are done in this Chamber quite regularly. If someone thinks it is too often, I won't differ with them, but we all have to stop. If we are going to stop some of us, every one of us will have to behave in a similar fashion. I stood there with my signage, and my colleagues became rather disturbed about it. I did not create a disturbance. I stood there silently. They created the disturbance. They are the people who grabbed and ripped my signage. They are the people who said things to me as I traversed the aisle and tried to make my way out of the Chamber. They are the people who became rather rambunctious and behaved, in some ways, in an unacceptable fashion. If there is to be some concern about who created the disturbance, then you have to look at the video, and you will see. I am saying this to you because I have heard talk of someone wanting to censure me again. I have already been censured. This happened some time ago, and I have signage that I used to indicate that, while I have been censured, my signage indicates that I have not been silenced, and I will not be silenced, censured but not silenced. This was when the President was here for a joint session of Congress. The President was indicating that he had a mandate. I wanted him to know that he didn't have a mandate to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security, and I spoke up. I was seated in that very same area. For this, I was removed, and I was censured. But for this that occurred last evening, there should not be a censureship of me. If anybody is going to be censured, it should be the people who became so rambunctious as to create a disturbance. I didn't do that. I silently stood, and I would do it again. The first time I engaged the President, it was with spontaneity. I did not plan this. I responded to this because I was concerned about Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, and well I should have been because about $1 trillion has been cut from healthcare. We are still fighting to get subsidies so that people can pay premiums that they can afford. This is a part of that affordability that the President refuses to recognize, but I did this with a degree of spontaneity. It was not planned. What I did last night was planned, but it was only planned after I did have a conversation with my staff and asked them to tell me why I should and should not come over. We had that conversation, and I made the decision myself. My staff did not make the decision, but I welcomed their input. I came here to behave, as I did, and engage in peaceful, silent protest--peaceful, silent protest. However, my colleagues caused it to metamorphose into something that was less than what some persons would call the standards that we have set for ourselves here in the House of Representatives. I am not going to give a long message today. I wanted to make this message clear such that people would understand that I believe in what I did. The President should not portray persons of African ancestry as apes. This is unacceptable given the history in this country of caricatures such as this being utilized against people of color at an earlier time. The President would take us back to those ugly days when you could call Black people n-words with impunity, when you could demand that Black people show respect that was not deserved, when the Black people were relegated to the back of the bus. They were relegated to the balcony of the movie and the bottom of the jails. This is unacceptable. Black people are not going back, Mr. President. Black people are going to move forward with the rest of this country. I am giving notice today that we will not tolerate this level of injustice emanating from the highest office in this country, from the Presidency. We will not tolerate it, Mr. President. I speak for a good many people of good will, of all hues, who have decided that they will not tolerate it. Now, one final word on something else before I bring you to my closing. It seems to me that the news media--a good many, not all the outlets--not all of them, but a good many of these major outlets have decided that they will determine when a problem that African Americans are having to suffer--they will determine when it is worthy of being televised, worthy of when it should be challenged, when the problem itself should be taken on, and they will decide who is going to solve our problems. If we allow other people who, for whatever reasons, have a timeline that does not coincide with our suffering, then we do ourselves a disservice. We cannot allow some of these major news sources to decide when they will give us the opportunity to protest our problems. Those who would deny us this opportunity to engage in peaceful protest will only make it possible for other forms of protest to manifest themselves. This peaceful protest is an acceptable methodology by which problems can be brought to the attention of the public, can be properly litigated, and can be resolved, but not when you have a media--and there are many of them that would do this, and I will tell you who they are so that there won't be any question about it. I know that they don't favor me because I talk not only to them but about them. They are the same people, the same networks, who are over in the Russell Office Building--over in the Russell Office Building, named in honor of a bigot and a racist. Richard Russell was a coauthor of the ``Southern Manifesto.'' Richard Russell fought anti-lynching legislation. {time} 1310 Richard Russell fought civil rights legislation. We should not honor a bigot and a racist by placing his name on a building paid for with taxpayer dollars. Who are they? They are the people who have themselves stationed above the statute of Richard Russell in the [[Page H2323]] Russell Senate Office Building. They are CNN. They are MSNBC. Yes, they are two of the major components of this group of folks who don't respect us enough to move themselves from the Richard Russell Office Building. Don't leave FOX News out. These are the people who talk as though they are our friends, who give the impression that they want to see our problems solved. Yet, they are part of the problem over in the Russell Senate Office Building. CNN, MSNBC--no longer that--it is MS NOW, and also FOX News, they are a part of the problem. I speak truth not only to power. I told you I would speak truth about power. This is about them, and this is about what they are doing to prolong the suffering that we have to endure by having Richard Russell's name on the building and having them right there over Richard Russell in the Rotunda dedicated to Richard Russell. How shameless are you? Why is it that you, who portray yourselves as the bearers of the torch of freedom, as the carriers of the words of ``liberty and justice for all,'' how can you station yourselves in