INVIDIOUS DISCRIMINATION

On 2026-06-11, Representative Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33) delivered a floor speech titled "INVIDIOUS DISCRIMINATION" in the House.

INVIDIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4105-H4109] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] INVIDIOUS DISCRIMINATION (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Green of Texas was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise with much to say, but before going into my message, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey), a colleague who has done an exceptional job representing the 33rd District in the State of Texas. After he has finished, I will then continue with my message. Recognizing the Life and Legacy of Sylvia Collins Mr. VEAZEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the Ninth Congressional District from Texas, a colleague and a great guy that represents the Greater Houston Fort Bend area for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the last couple of weeks, I have lost a couple of amazing constituents--one in a terrible tragedy. There was a fire in Dallas, an apartment building that exploded. It was a [[Page H4106]] gas explosion, and one of the people that lost their life in the explosion was Ms. Sylvia Collins, who was just an incredible person. Any time I would go to an event in the Oak Cliff, Dallas part of the district that I represent, Sylvia was usually at that event. She supported and attended so many of the different functions and so many of the different programs for constituents and townhalls that I would put on for the district, and she is someone that is going to deeply be missed. She was someone that literally dedicated her entire life and her time in Dallas trying to do everything that she could to make sure that people were taken care of. She was always looking out for someone else and just always had a friendly smile on her face, so much civic engagement--her time as a precinct chair in Dallas County and a community organizer. She just wanted to make sure that all voices were heard. She just did an extraordinary job in doing that. Throughout her life, she became known as someone that was passionate. Anyone who asked her to join a cause or be a part of something, she was always there for them. Whether it was campaigning for civil rights, whether it was helping different people that wanted to run for office, being a spokesperson for our immigrant community, Sylvia was someone that was always there for everyone else. It was such a tragedy when she died in the explosion. There were also a young woman and her baby that were killed in the explosion, as well. We are still trying to find out exactly what happened during that explosion, but her loss of life has truly left a hole in the Dallas County community, the Dallas County Democratic community, and just everyone that came across this amazing woman that always had a smile and a hug for you. She is going to be missed. I send prayers out to her family. Recognizing the Life and Legacy of Anderson B. Lampkin Mr. VEASEY. The next person here that I wish to recognize is Mr. Anderson Lampkin. His wife is still with us. They would have celebrated 73 years of marriage in August, an extraordinary couple. The reason why I have both of them pictured, even though Mr. Lampkin is the person that we lost, is because they did everything together as a family, the entire family. Whether it was Boy Scouts, whether it was all of their work at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church on the north side of Fort Worth, NAACP, they did everything together as a family. I think they are just an amazing example of what we need to get back to. Mr. Lampkin was born in Gonzales, Texas, but was raised in Austin. When he left East Austin, he moved to Dallas, and then came to Fort Worth about 10 years later. He liked to volunteer and be a part of the community. For 60 years, he was a sign language interpreter. He was the deaf ministry bus driver, a deacon at his church, a trustee at his church, a leader in his church. He was someone that was committed to public service as a nonelected official. It was just amazing to go to a Boy Scout event, for instance, and see him and his wife involved, to see his kids involved, to see his grandkids involved in Boy Scouts. They did everything together as a unit. His leadership and volunteer services touched so many different clubs and agencies in Fort Worth and in Tarrant County: Mission Shiloh, the Longhorn Council of the Boy Scouts there in Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Education Association, and many, many others. He was from a very large family, and Mr. Lampkin is someone that is going to be missed greatly. I will miss seeing that couple at different events together. I urge you to keep Ms. Dorothy Lampkin in prayer, and keep the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids in prayer. Mr. Speaker, I honor Mr. Lampkin for a job well done. I thank the gentleman from Texas, my colleague, my delegation colleague, for giving me a few minutes to honor these extraordinary Americans. Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the way Mr. Veasey has conducted this time, and I wish him the very best. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And I rise, Mr. Speaker, as I always do, unbought, unbossed, unafraid, and now I must also add unelected, a liberated Democrat, truly liberated, liberated to the extent that while I have been censured, I have not been silenced. While I have now been unelected, I will not be silent. My agenda remains the same. It is still the agenda that deals with the voices of those that are not heard in this House as they should be, the voices of the least, the last, and the lost--the least among us, persons who don't inherit a legacy of much, but actually a legacy of poverty, not plenty; persons who are among the lost in a society as rich as ours where persons find themselves lost in places of despair, living in places that you and I would not consider a place habitable. The least, the lost, and, of course, the last. The last would be those persons who are the last to be hired and the first to be fired--the least, the last, and the lost. But I also represent other people, and I will continue to do so. I represent those persons who suffer invidious discrimination. They are among the LGBTQIA+ community. They are women. They are persons who are of the Islamic faith. They are persons who are currently suffering from anti-Semitism. They are persons who are suffering because of the color of their skin. Today, I rise to speak on the topic of invidious discrimination emanating from the Presidency. I call to the attention of the listening audience and viewing audience an article from the Huffington Post, the HuffPost. This article is titled: ``Trump Used His Go-To Insult In Interview After Knicks Loss''--that would not be the last game, of course, the game prior to this one--``And Experts Say It's A Pattern.'' We are talking about his go-to insult, and I must commend Ms. Katie Mather for the outstanding job she has done with this article. It has the date June 9, 2026, as its date of publication. {time} 1130 I would like to read some excerpts from this because I think it would give us an opportunity to understand how the Trump Presidency has not only impacted what he does but also some other aspects of society. So this is truly invidious discrimination emanating from the Presidency. Let me read some excerpts. The first reads: ``'First Take' host Stephen A. Smith slammed President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning after Trump told reporters on Monday night that Smith wouldn't be a good fit to run for President because `you need a high IQ.' '' My dear friends, if I may say brothers and sisters because I truly believe that there is but one race, and that is the human race, so if I may just say, my dear brothers and sisters. Friends, you may call Stephen A. Smith many things. I probably would not agree with anything that is negative. I don't know a negative side of him. I know that he is opinionated, but that is not unusual in the United States of America to have people who are opinionated. It is especially not unusual here in the House of Representatives. So you might call him many things, but I don't believe that you can call him a person in need of a high IQ, implying that he has a low IQ, and it goes on to say this in this article. Stephen A. Smith is brilliant, and I say this without question, reservation, or hesitation. He is one of the most brilliant people who I have seen in the sports arena, but he goes beyond sports. He talks on a multiplicity of subjects all the time, and he equips himself well on every topic that I have heard him speak on. Now, you don't have to agree with a person to understand the brilliance of the person. He has a brilliant mind, and I do believe that the President made this comment for dubious reasons. So let me continue reading from excerpts in the article: ``Trump's `low IQ' comment against Smith has racist implications . . . '' This is what the article says: `` . . . racist implications and is referred to as a `racial dog whistle' by linguists and political experts, said Dr. Karrin Anderson, a communications studies professor at Colorado State University.'' This professor is making the point that when the President says these things about persons with low IQs, he is actually signaling to others. It is a racist dog whistle. [[Page H4107]] The article goes on to say: `` `What distinguishes a dog whistle from just an insult is it is designed to sound innocuous . . .' '' the dog whistle is designed to sound as though, oh, it is harmless, just another thing someone is saying to be funny or cute. Well, not this dog whistle. The article goes on to say: `` `. . . Anderson, who teaches courses in rhetoric, political communication, and gender and communication, told HuffPost: `It is meant to be deniable. The virtue, the rhetorical appeal of a dog whistle, is you can deny that it functio