Senator Sanders and Senator Bishop have a difference of opinion on the issue of a resolution introduced by Senator Sanders that says basically Alabama apologizes for its part in slavery.
The debate got heated on the Senate floor when Sanders reminded Bishop of a time Bishop used the word "boy" in a meeting in the hallway of the capitol...and Bishop told Sanders he was "No Michael Figures."
Following the events on the floor of the Senate, Bishop and Sanders met with the media. Bishop says he asked that a new resolution offered by Sanders similar to the one introduced yesterday be sent to the Rules Committee because he "had not seen the resolution...It was a substitute to what he offered before." Sanders says he brought up a different resolution than the one sent to Rules yesterday because if it had been reported out old business - in this case a banking bill from yesterday, would have come up first and his resolution would have never seen the light of day.
"No, I don't object to it (the resolution)," says Bishop. "I don't know about my constituents because I think this whole thing is not about any of us..I hate to see this going into the point...Nobody in this state can call me a racist. I've been down here 16 years and the point is I see an effort maybe coming from a Sharpton or somebody else to get a handful of southern states to start one-by-one agreeing the state has done bodily harm and harm to..which they did, we all know. But for us to come out here all these years later that was not a part of that in any way and say yes, this is what happened...I can only read the history books and it looks like some of it's worse than what he has on that resolution...But I don't personally know and I certainly know that I'm not responsible for any of it. I've got a lot of black friends that are family to me. But I didn't do it. So how can I apologize for something I didn't do..."
"Having said that, the people in my district may feel different and I want to do what they want me to do because this is a very critical issue. I'm tired of hearing this two standard type of thing. That yo-yo on the radio station said that about the basketball team. Okay, he's crazy, he ought to be kicked off the airways. Just because blacks do it doesn't make it right that white men ought to do it. We're getting too touchy in here about that issue and I just don't think we have it in this chamber and I don't believe it's here. It may be, but you'll have to point it out to me. I just happen to disagree with the potential of his resolution, the potential of billions of dollars of lawsuits scattered all over the South...I think that's the motive behind this. I don't think it's whether Senator Sanders and I get along. I don't think that at all. I think it's about a potential lawsuit that Senator Sanders may not even know about, that's what I'm scared is happening to the people of Alabama with this resolution. Does that group that may be doing this feel like that's enough states or do they need more before the lawsuit starts? I don't know and I'm not saying that's going to happen, but that's what the potential is to me and it doesn't have anything to do with racism. It has something to do with something that happened many, many years ago that this nation should forever be on its knees about, but how far does that go? I don't have the answer to it. Even though it has no legal...I think it's bigger than Alabama. I think this whole thing is bigger than Alabama and you know it's sad. But I think that's a fact...."
For his part Senator Sanders asked about Senator Bishop's motivation said, "Whatever his motive is I don't think it's good and I don't think it is helpful..."
Sanders: "If the Rules Committee had brought a rules report then unfinished business would have kicked in. That's why I came with the same resolution again. Under Senate rules even if you bring a rules report with just a resolution then unfinished business actually kicks in - the banking bill. So it wouldn't have been considered; that's why it was introduced again. This resolution recounts a lot of history, but there are two important things in the resolution. One of them is that Alabama regrets its part in history. Now he thinks that somehow a resolution addressing that is going to lay a groundwork for a lawsuit. That's crazy. I mean the history of Alabama is already on the books."
"All of these laws that (were) made dealing with helping to keep slavery in place. You don't need a resolution. The evidence is everywhere. So his thought of that is just crazy. The second thing it says is "this will help with the process of reconciliation" and his actions (are) preventing that process. What's wrong if you did wrong if a state did wrong to say,'I regret it.' You know that's an easy step to take. If you did me wrong and I do you wrong the right thing to do is say I regret it. You can avoid lawsuits by saying I regret it. But this has nothing to do with a lawsuit and Senator Bishop, that's just a smokescreen. Finally, I had this resolution during the special session and I didn't bring it and I didn't bring it because they were in the throes of trying to develop legislation to help bring the big industry down to Mobile..."
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