[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H400-H403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF TEXAS WESTERN'S 1966 NCAA
BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 668) celebrating the 40th anniversary of Texas
Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and recognizing the
groundbreaking impact of the title game victory on diversity in sports
and civil rights in America, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 668
Whereas Don Haskins was a high school basketball star at
Enid High School in Enid, Oklahoma, a college standout at
Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) under his mentor, Coach
Hank Iba, and a successful Texas high school basketball
coach, amassing a 157-41 win-loss record coaching Benjamin,
Hedley, and Dumas High Schools;
Whereas in 1961 Don Haskins became the coach of the men's
basketball team at Texas Western College, which was later
renamed the University of Texas at El Paso;
Whereas early in the 1965-1966 basketball season Don
Haskins told Texas Western president Joseph Ray, ``The way
our boys line up now, my six best boys are black. If I leave
two or three of them out because they're black, they'll know
it. [And] the white boys will know it.'';
Whereas the 1966 Texas Western team of Bobby Joe Hill
(Detroit, Michigan), Orsten Artis (Gary, Indiana), Togo
Railey (El Paso, Texas), Willie Worsley (New York, New York),
David Palacio (El Paso, Texas), Dick Myers (Peabody, Kansas),
Harry Flournoy (Gary, Indiana), Louis Baudoin (Albuquerque,
New Mexico), Nevil Shed (New York, New York), Jerry Armstrong
(Eagleville, Missouri), Willie Cager (New York, New York),
and David ``Big Daddy'' Lattin (Houston, Texas) finished the
basketball season 28-1;
Whereas on March 19, 1966, Coach Don Haskins' all-black
starting line-up, the first such line-up to ever appear in a
major championship contest, defeated the heavily-favored
University of Kentucky to win the NCAA Basketball
Championship, an event defined by many as the ``Brown v.
Board of Education of athletics'';
Whereas the Miners' victory accelerated the pace of racial
integration in college athletics and contributed to the
expansion of the civil rights movement into the realm of
sports;
Whereas when recounting his historic impact on diversity in
college sports, Don Haskins said, ``I just played my best
guys, like any coach would do.''; and
Whereas over the course of his career Don Haskins also
coached the Miners to 32 winning seasons, seven Western
Athletic Conference championships, four Western Athletic
Conference tournament titles, and 21 post-season appearances,
creating a proud tradition of college basketball success and
community spirit in El Paso that persists to this day and
winning entry into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of
Fame in 1997: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives celebrates the
40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball
Championship and recognizes the groundbreaking impact of the
title game victory on diversity in sports and civil rights in
America.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Keller) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H. Res. 668.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
It gives me great pleasure to rise in support of House Resolution
668, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA
basketball championship and recognize the groundbreaking impact of the
title game victory on diversity in sports and civil rights in America.
Texas Western's victory occurred 40 years ago, 1966, during the midst
of the civil rights movement to end discrimination against blacks. The
1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the Civil Rights Act of
1964 outlawed institutional racial segregation. In Vietnam, blacks were
fighting and dying alongside their fellow white soldiers. Blacks were
not, however, playing basketball at many schools in the South, where de
facto segregation still reigned.
For Don Haskins, coach of the Texas Western Miners men's basketball
team, a person's race did not matter. To him ability on the basketball
court mattered more than the color of the player's skin. To Coach
Haskins, the only thing that really mattered was winning.
This was the philosophy Coach Haskins used on the night of March 19,
1966. That night the Texas Western Miners made history by defeating the
number-one-ranked, all-white University of Kentucky Wildcats for the
NCAA basketball championship, a game of historical significance because
no other college team at the time had ever started five black players
in a major championship contest. In fact, when Texas Western defeated
Kentucky 72-65, a game still celebrated as one of the biggest college
basketball upsets in NCAA history, there were no black basketball
players in the Southeastern or Atlantic Coast Conferences.
This remarkable triumph helped shift the national perception of black
athletes and helped bring about the widespread desegregation of college
sports. In turn, the desegregation of college sports helped to spread
greater equality throughout American society.
Mr. Speaker, the man behind Texas Western's success is Don Haskins.
His 38-year reign at Texas Western, now the University of Texas El
Paso, allowed him to become one of the winningest coaches in NCAA
history. He amassed a 719-354 record, 32 winning seasons, seven Western
Athletic Conference Championships, four Western Athletic Tournament
titles, and 21 post-season appearances. In 1997, Coach Haskins was
inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He retired
from coaching in 1999.
Coach Don Haskins is truly a living legend in college sports. He
believed that as a coach he should recruit the best raw talent he could
find no matter the player's race, background, or life story. If not for
the colorblind dream of Coach Haskins to win basketball games with his
team's most talented players, history may not have been made on the
night of March 19, 1966.
I want to thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Reyes) for introducing
this legislation and bringing forth a lesser known, yet significant,
piece of history in college athletics. I am happy to join my colleagues
in celebrating the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA
basketball championship. I ask my colleagues to support this
resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise in support of H. Res. 668, a
resolution to celebrate the 40th anniversary of
[[Page H401]]
Texas Western's 1966 NCAA basketball championship.
I am proud to join my colleague and very good friend, the
resolution's author, Congressman Silvestre Reyes from El Paso, in
commemorating the 40th anniversary of this watershed event in our
struggle for racial equality.
On March 19, 1966, Texas Western College's Coach Don Haskins led an
all-black starting lineup to a 72-65 win over an all-white team from
the basketball powerhouse, University of Kentucky. For Coach Haskins,
he was simply putting his best players on the floor. For the Nation, he
delivered the message that in competition, talent and ability mattered
more than race. This is a lesson that we are still learning today.
The young men who took Texas Western College to a 28-1 championship
season braved racism and hostile crowds to carry their team and their
college to victory. I invite you to see this 1966 team photo in front
of Memorial Gym, courtesy of the University of Texas El Paso. These
champions were Bobby Joe Hill, Orsten Artis, Togo Railey, Willie
Worsley, David Palacio, Dick Meyers, Harry Flournoy, Louis Baudoin,
Nevil Shed, Jerry Armstrong, Willie Cager, and David Lattin.
It is fitting that on this 40th anniversary of the 1966 Miners
breaking the color barrier in the NCAA championship game, that we
reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. College
enrollments are at an all-time high; and yet black, Hispanic, and low-
income students are not enrolling and graduating at the rates we need
for our Nation to put its best players on the floor.
Texas Western College is now the University of Texas El Paso. As an
institution, it continues to lead the charge in developing our best
talents without regard to race, ethnicity, or family income. The
University of Texas El Paso is one of our Nation's leading Hispanic-
serving institutions: 72 percent of its students are Hispanic. It is
third in the Nation for producing Hispanic undergraduates, and is also
rated the top engineering school for Hispanics. Since 1988, it has been
led by a Latina, Dr. Diana Natalicio, a top administrator and a
trailblazer by anyone's measure.
The University of Texas El Paso, in the spirit of the 1966
championship Miners, continues to break barriers and continues to
refuse to let race, ethnicity, or family income trump talent and hard
work.
I hope that all my colleagues will join me in celebrating this
milestone in college athletics and racial equality.
Please join me in saluting the Miners on the 40th anniversary of
their NCAA championship, and I urge you to vote for this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6\1/2\ minutes to my friend and
colleague from El Paso, Texas (Mr. Reyes), the author of this
legislation.
Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas and also the
gentleman from Florida for allowing us the time to speak here on this
very important event, not just for El Paso and not just for Texas but
for our whole country, for a whole generation of players and those that
have benefited from their accomplishments.
I rise today in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of H. Res. 668, a
resolution that celebrates the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966
NCAA basketball championship, recognizing the groundbreaking impact of
that title game victory on diversity in sports and, of course, on the
impact, as my colleagues have stated, of civil rights in America.
I am proud to have introduced this bill and honored to have the
opportunity to speak in this Chamber today about the importance of what
a basketball team and a coach achieved 40 years ago.
This afternoon I want to thank Leader Boehner and Chairman McKeon and
Ranking Member Miller for their support in bringing this very important
legislation to the floor.
On March 19, 1966, the Miners of Texas Western, which is now UTEP,
led by Coach Don Haskins, defeated the University of Kentucky at Cole
Field House in College Park, Maryland. This significant championship
game gave the NCAA basketball championship at a crucial time to Texas
Western College.
At a time when the bitter politics of racism dictated to many coaches
around the country who got to play, Coach Haskins started five black
players in the NCAA basketball championship game, the first time in
America that this country had seen an all-black starting lineup in a
major championship contest.
In 1966, as a strengthening civil rights movement met poisonous
political dispute and violence, the Miners were clearly able to
demonstrate to a Nation and the sports world the virtue of
desegregation and equality.
As the athletic establishment abided by that unwritten rule that
said, play two on the road, three if you are really behind, referring
of course to black players, Coach Haskins looked past the color of the
players' skin and concentrated on winning games and eventually the
national championship.
Years later Coach Haskins would say, ``I just played my best guys
like any coach would do.'' That simple principled courage changed the
course of American athletics and provided an important advance in the
struggle of civil rights in our Nation.
The Texas Western's championship was an event defined by many as the
Brown v. Board of Education of athletics. Like many whose lives were
constrained by their appearance and background, I found extraordinary
significance in that 1966 game.
{time} 1515
I was a Texas Western student during the fall semester of 1965 and
had an opportunity to see these great players play. Shortly thereafter,
I was drafted into the Army and eventually went on to fight in Vietnam.
In March of 1966, I was still in El Paso, only stationed at Fort Bliss
doing basic training. For those of us who were in the military at the
time, the hypocrisy of America's racial policies were very clear. We
saw a country that would not hesitate to send black and Hispanic
soldiers to fight and die in foreign wars, but would not fight for us
back at home.
Coach Haskins' and the Miners' victory helped reveal to a nation the
absurdity of racism and the futility of segregation.
I returned from Vietnam and chose a career in public service and a
career in which my successes followed from my abilities and my own hard
work. Of course, I found that life does not abide by that perfect rule
of a game like basketball, but I remain inspired today by Texas
Western's win, and I know that I would not have had the opportunities I
did have had it not been for the courage of people like Don Haskins and
his Miners.
Today, a university, a city and a country are improved by the
achievement of that 1966 team. Soon after that championship, Texas
Western became the University of Texas at El Paso or, as we call it
now, UTEP, and its basketball program continued to thrive under Coach
Haskins until his retirement, as my colleagues have said, in 1999.
Coach Haskins eventually led UTEP to 32 winning seasons, seven Western
Athletic Conference championships, four Western Athletic Conference
tournament titles, and 21 post-season appearances.
Last year, the Miners won 27 games, 16 at our own Don Haskins Center
in El Paso, named after the great coach, and they also earned a spot in
the NCAA tournament. This year, they are again near the top of their
conference, a testament to the enduring tradition of college basketball
success created by Don Haskins.
The university itself has been transformed from a small mining school
into a hub of academic excellence and world-class research. El Paso,
long proud of its Miners and its NCAA championship, has enjoyed the
attention of a nation this year, as millions of Americans have fallen
in love with the Miners through the recently released film ``Glory
Road,'' which is currently being shown around the country.
It is especially important for us to honor the 1966 Miners today on
the eve of their accomplishment, here shown in that championship game
against Kentucky. We must revise our historical injustice, the
injustice of a group of men being judged by who they were, not how they
played.
[[Page H402]]
At the time, the Texas Western Miners were denied an opportunity to
appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, but just last week I want to commend
President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush as they honored this team at
the White House, shown here in this photograph with the President, the
original members of that 1966 championship team.
So this afternoon I want to congratulate Coach Don Haskins, Bobby Joe
Hill, Orsten Artis, Togo Railey, Willie Worsley, David Palacio, Dick
Myers, Harry Flournoy, Louis Baudoin, Nevil Shed, Jerry Armstrong,
Willie Cager, and David ``Big Daddy'' Lattin on the occasion of the
40th anniversary of their NCAA championship and for all of their
successes in their lives. Today, we also remember, of course, Bobby Joe
Hill who died and was unable to be in this photograph here in 2002.
So, Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H. Res.
668.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
(Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) for yielding me time, and I want to extend
serious, serious commendations to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes)
for his introduction of this resolution, for his keen insight and the
opportunity to note progress in our country.
Forty years ago, on March 19, 1966, the Texas Western basketball
team, the Miners, defeated the University of Kentucky at Cole Field
House in College Park, Maryland, to win the NCAA basketball
championship.
This victory marked the first time that an all-black starting lineup
appeared in a major championship athletic contest.
Often regarded as the Brown v. Board of Education of sports, the
Miners' victory over the heavily favored Wildcats ushered college
basketball specifically, and sports more generally, into the civil
rights movement. Prior to this event, athletics remained largely
insulated from the civil rights swell.
This bill recognizes the historic accomplishment of Coach Don Haskins
and the 12 players from the 1966 team. These players deserve
recognition today, and two of the gentlemen are close neighbors to my
congressional district, Orsten Artis and Harry Flournoy, both from
Gary, Indiana.
These men finished the basketball season with an impressive 28-1
record. Ultimately, Coach Haskins led the Miners to 33 winning seasons
and 21 post-season appearances.
This resolution recognizes the incredible effect that the 1966 NCAA
basketball championship of Texas Western, now the University of Texas
at El Paso, had on promoting diversity in sports and accelerating
racial integration in college sports. I am pleased to support this
resolution and urge its passage.
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I will
continue to reserve the balance of my time at this point.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
another good friend and colleague from the great State of Texas,
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee of Houston.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me thank my dear friend
from Texas, Congressman Hinojosa, and of course, allow me to add my
very, very, very sincere congratulations and appreciations to my friend
and Representative from El Paso, the Honorable Silvestre Reyes.
For those of you who are trying to get your eyes and your ears
focused on this debate, let me just remind you of a celebrated movie by
the name of ``Glory Road.'' Today, we have the opportunity to celebrate
the real deal, the real thing, and that team was known as Texas
Western, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso.
Just think of 40 years ago, 1966, or 2 years after the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, 1 year after the 1965 Voting Rights Act and 3 years after
the tragedy of the four little girls in Birmingham. This was a
tumultuous time in America's history, and so the idea of a coach,
albeit the right idea, to place on the court of a basketball
championship game five black boys, young men, to be able to play
against the favored team, the University of Kentucky, was in itself a
shocking, shocking occurrence.
But yet Don Haskins, a courageous or just a wise leader, decided to
put his best foot forward, and out of that came the 1966 Texas Western
team.
Might I congratulate all of the players: Bobby Joe Hill, Orsten
Artis, Togo Railey, Willie Worsley, David Palacio, Dick Myers, Harry
Flournoy, Louis Baudoin, Nevil Shed, Jerry Armstrong, Willie Cager, and
right from the great city of Houston, now the fourth largest city in
the Nation, David ``Big Daddy'' Lattin.
We are delighted to be able to join my colleagues from Texas to say
that we are proud of that measure of civil rights history. We salute
certainly the wisdom of Don Haskins, and remind America that sports and
the playing field, whether they be courts, or tennis courts, whether
they be the NFL playing field or whether they be the baseball field or
the soccer field, we know that sports generate character and integrity,
but it also develops teamsmanship. So the idea of the youngsters of
America today playing on the playing fields of athletic America
hopefully will create the new civil rights movement. And as a city that
just experienced the All Star Game, I can tell you the whole game of
basketball certainly represents diversity as we have our young men, and
many of those who have come from foreign lands, but it also is an
opportunity for young men and women to work together.
I want to congratulate the manager of this bill, Congressman
Hinojosa, and congratulate Congressman Reyes, for their wisdom in
saluting these young men, and I am delighted to have been an original
cosponsor.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the proposed bill, H. Res. 668,
``Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 National
Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Championship victory.''
On March 19, 1966, Coach Don Haskins and his Texas Western College
Miners advanced to the NCAA Championship game against the segregated,
all-White University of Kentucky Wildcats. Coach Haskins made the
decision to put in an all-Black starting lineup, something that had
never been done before.
He made the announcement prior to the game and was thought to be a
fool. It was the notion at the time that a team had to have at least
one White player on the lineup to have a shot at winning a game, let
alone the National Championship. Coach Haskins and his TW Miners
shattered that school of thought with their triumphant win against the
Wildcats.
The victory on the court was not only a victory for the Miners, but a
victory for civil rights. When Coach Haskins made the decision to start
an all-Black lineup, he did so not to make a statement about racial
equality, but in his own words to ``play my five best players. Race
didn't matter to me.''
The team's win was much more than simply a win on the basketball
court signaling that a change had taken place in collegiate sports. The
bold step taken by Don Haskins accelerated the pace that athletic teams
were being integrated throughout the South.
The team's success did not come without a price. After the win Coach
Haskins received over 40,000 hate mail letters, illustrating the
climate of hostility towards African Americans in the South during that
time.
The team's accomplishments both paralleled and contributed to the
landmark events being made in the civil rights movement at the time.
Basketball historian Neil Isaacs has called it the ``Brown v. Board of
Education of college basketball . . . Since that time, no pretender to
basketball eminence has ever drawn a color line in its recruiting.''
I am proud to say that one of the most influential players on the
team, David Latin, hails from my district of Houston. The massive 6'7"
Center, paved the way for the team, scoring 16 points in the title
game. As a testament to Latin's skill, he advanced to the NBA as a
first-round pick to play for the San Francisco Warriors.
The memory of the team and their magnificent 1966 NCAA Championship
win has recently been captured in the Disney film ``Glory Road.'' The
memory of Coach Haskins has been solidified by his induction into the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his remarkable achievements as a
coach.
As a Member of Congress deeply concerned with advancing the causes of
civil liberties and a co-sponsor of H. Con. Res. 59, a bill similar to
the one before us, which recognized both the teams and players of
African-American basketball teams for their achievement and
contribution to basketball and to the Nation prior to the integration
of the white professional leagues, I ask my colleagues to join with me
in support of H. Res. 668.
[[Page H403]]
Today we should rise and honor the memory of both the Texas Western
College team and their coach, Don Haskins, who led them to a National
Championship, and in doing so advanced the cause of civil rights and
decreased segregation in athletics.
Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res.
668 to give recognition where recognition is long overdue. With this
resolution, Congress applauds the groundbreaking significance of the
1966 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship in which Texas
Western upset the heavily favored University of Kentucky. That year,
the Miners had an all-Black starting line-up, a first in a national
championship competition that helped change the perception of Black
athletes.
Texas Western Coach Don Haskins and his players may not have set out
to change history, but they did. The 1966 championship game helped pave
the way for integration of athletics, opening sports to the civil
rights movement, often being dubbed, the Brown v. Board of Education of
sports. The next season, the Southwest Conference was integrated, and
in 1967-68, Vanderbilt broke the Southeast Conference color barrier.
Unfortunately, it has taken decades before Coach Haskins and his
players' achievements have been recognized. In 1966 there were no trips
to the White House or appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, both
customary for national champions. The team did not even receive
national championship rings until their 20-year reunion in 1986.
It is time to recognize the profound contribution to the civil rights
movement that this game spurred, and to recognize the 1966 NCAA
Division I men's basketball champions, the Texas Western Miners. I urge
my colleagues in joining me in supporting this bipartisan legislation.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to
honor the 1966 Texas Western Men's Basketball Team. Their NCAA
championship victory over Kentucky forever changed college athletics.
Even though it had been over a decade since Brown v. Board of
Education, many colleges had lagged behind on implementing integration
into their athletics programs. In 1966, college basketball players were
often recruited on the basis of their skin color rather than playing
ability. Texas Western coach Bob Haskins did not succumb to pressures
to start his White players. He simply played his best players
regardless of skin color.
This resulted in the first time an all-Black starting line-up
participated in a major athletic championship contest. The impact was
felt throughout the country when little-known Texas Western upset
legendary all-White Kentucky.
Perhaps most important in this victory was the stereotypes and
misconceptions that were broken down. For many, the assumption remained
that Black players would not be skilled or smart enough to successfully
compete against White players. Bob Haskins and Texas Western proved on
a national stage that Black players can win and are as smart and
talented as their White counterparts.
The 1966 Texas Western men's basketball team opened the doors for
schools that had stalled in implementing integration policies into
their athletics programs; breaking down barriers and forever changing
college athletics.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Congressman Silvestre
Reyes for offering House Resolution 668, a resolution which celebrates
this year's 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball
Championship.
The year of 1966 marked a number of ``firsts'' by African Americans.
The Honorable Robert C. Weaver became the first African American
Cabinet member with his appointment as Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, Edward Brooke became the first popularly elected African
American to the United States Senate, and it also marked the first time
a collegiate basketball team, the Texas Western Miners, sporting an all
African American line-up won the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball
Championship.
What made this victory important, and what we are commemorating here
today, is not the fact that a team starting all African American
student athletes beat a team of all White student athletes. We
commemorate rather, the closing of one more chapter of segregation and
bigotry to a new chapter where we judge an individual on the content of
their character and qualifications and not on the color of their skin.
The Texas Western Miners, in their victory over the University of
Kentucky Wildcats, opened up numerous opportunities for student
athletes of all races and creeds to attend college, participate in
sports, and become eligible for athletic scholarships. The fact that
the impact that this victory did so much to change the perception of
African-American athletes and to speed the desegregation of
intercollegiate sports, has lead many people to label this historic
event as the Brown v. Board of Education of athletics.
Finally, any tribute to the Minors would be incomplete without
acknowledging their coach, Don Haskins. Coach Haskins is to be
commended for his continued commitment to build on the foundation of
integration that he inherited at Texas Western--the first college in a
Southern state to integrate its athletic teams--and for his courage in
facing collegiate basketball's racial issues directly.
Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the 40th anniversary of
Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship. The title game had a
profound impact on the state of racial integration in sports and civil
rights in America.
On March 16, 1966, Coach Don Haskins led the first ever all-Black
starting lineup to play in a major championship contest in a victory
over the heavily-favored Kentucky Wildcats.
Coach Haskins played high school basketball in Enid, Oklahoma, and in
college at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State). He then became a
successful high school basketball coach in Texas. Haskins was a coach
at Dumas High School before becoming the head of the men's team at
Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso, in 1961.
Haskins coached the Miners to 33 winning seasons over the course of
his career with the Miners. He won seven Western Athletic Conference
championships, four Western Athletic Conference tournament titles, and
made 21 post-season appearances. He established a proud winning
tradition in the community of El Paso that still exists today. Coach
Haskins was voted in to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
in 1997.
The Texas Western Miners' victory was a watershed moment for
diversity in college athletics. It helped expand the civil rights
movement into the realm of sports. On January 13, 2006, Walt Disney
Pictures released Glory Road, which tells the story of the historic
1966 season and pays tribute to the dedication and bravery of Coach
Haskins.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I also yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Conaway). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 668, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
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