{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ContentRecord_id=67973525-6A02-4F3D-9AA8-18C84B6A19F2", "Blunt, Kaine, Warner, Scott, & Booker Applaud Approval of Commission to Recognize 400 Years of African American History", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Mark Warner (Va.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (Va.) applauded final Senate passage of their bipartisan 400 Years of African American History Commission Act  legislation establishing a National Park Service commission to commemorate the 400th anniversary in 2019 of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans into English Colonial America, marking the beginning of a new African American culture. The bill now heads to the Presidents desk for signature. Scott, U.S. Representative Don Beyer and U.S. Representative G. K. Butterfield, former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, led the introduction of similar legislation that passed the House of Representatives this Congress.\r\nThis commission will be charged with recognizing and highlighting the resilience and cultural contributions of Africans and African Americans over 400 years. In August 1619, some twenty enslaved Africans were brought ashore in an English-built, Dutch flag privateer at Point Comfort, Virginia, on the site of what is now Fort Monroe National Monument in the City of Hampton. Similar commissions have been established to commemorate Americas English roots through the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, as well as its Hispanic roots through the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, Florida.\r\nWe would not be the nation we are today without the innumerable contributions African Americans have made over the past 400 years. America is a stronger, better nation when all of our citizens learn, understand, and appreciate our history. The creation of the 400 Years of African American History Commission provides us the opportunity to honor African American culture and educate current and future generations about the impact it has had on our nation, Blunt said.\r\nThis commission will be tasked with telling 400 years of the African American story. It is a story of achievement and beauty, poets and presidents, pain and degradation, triumph over adversity, and sometimes adversity following triumph. This story must be told in full to enrich our understanding of who we are as a country. I look forward to working with everyone involved commemorate the uniqueness and resilience of African American culture from 1619 to 2019 and beyond, Kaine said.\r\nThe commission members will have a huge responsibility in faithfully documenting the African American experience  the journey, the arrival, and the individual strength and resilience as African Americans shaped our nations heritage. This work can serve as a testimonial to the lessons in racial diversity and inclusion we have learned as a country, and help to shine a bright light on lessons we still need to learn, Warner said.\r\nThe history of Virginia and our nation cannot be fully understood or appreciated without learning about the first Africans who arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia in 1619. The commission established by the 400 Years of African-American History Commission Act will be charged with the important task of planning, developing and implementing a series of programs and activities throughout 2019 that fully tells the story of African Americans, their contributions to the fabric of our nation, and their resilience over the last 400 years. I applaud Senator Kaine for his vision, leadership and hard work on this legislation, and I look forward to President Trump signing this bill, Scott said.\r\nBlack history is American history, and this commission will honor, reveal and pay respect to the rich experiences, lives, accomplishments and discoveries as well as the atrocities, the struggle and the terror that have shaped the past 400 years of our history as Americans. The story of Black history in America is a story of profound struggle matched with profound purpose and of extraordinary hardship matched with extraordinary courage. As we learn more about this story, we will learn more about the ongoing struggle to fulfill the promise of justice and equality for all Americans, Booker said.\r\nThe bill is supported by the National NAACP, National Urban League and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ContentRecord_id=67973525-6A02-4F3D-9AA8-18C84B6A19F2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3322271406650543, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}