Jim Clyburn

I'm going to run, irrespective of what the makeup of the district might be, because I believe that I have a record that is very acceptable to the South Carolina voter.

And I have a good understanding of America's promise.

And we'll run on that.

When I published my memoir 10 years ago, 2015, one day,

A group came to my office when I was a Majority Whip, and I had on the wall of my conference room these eight pictures.

They're pictures of the eight African Americans who served in Congress from South Carolina before me.

One of the people in the group asked me who they were.

And when I told them, she said to me, I thought you were the first African American to serve in Congress from South Carolina.

And I kind of playfully said to her, no, before I was first, there were eight.

And later that day, I said to myself, you know, maybe one day after I get over this book we just published, I might write a book about these eight people, because I think so many of them are so important to our history.

Joseph Rainey was the first African-American to be elected to the House of Representatives and sworn in on

December 12, 1970, Richard Cain, who was number four in that group, Richard Cain became an AME bishop and had pastored Emanuel AME Church down in Charleston.

Then there's Smalls, Robert Smalls from Beaufort.

Robert Smalls is only, to me, genuine hero of the Civil War.

And it served in the State House of Representatives here in Columbia and in the Congress.

I said, I'm going to write about these people.

And so I started taking notes and not really getting too serious about it.

Then January 6, 2021 hit.

And while we were sitting in this so-called undisclosed location,

having been rushed off the House floor for safety, I said to people around me, I know what's happening here.