[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 140 (Monday, September 28, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H6293-H6303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
A TRIBUTE TO AMELIA BOYNTON ROBINSON, CONGRESSMAN LOUIS STOKES, AND
JULIAN BOND
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rouzer). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee)
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I am very
privileged tonight to lead the Special Order of the Members of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
Let me thank our chairman, Chairman G.K. Butterfield, for continuing
this tradition and for his continued leadership, encouragement, and
avocation for Members and for the stories of those who have been such
leaders in our Nation and such major issues that we have been able to
contribute to for the understanding of our colleagues.
Let me also make mention of my colleagues, Congresswoman Kelly and
Congressman Payne, who have led us on this Special Order for the
Congressional Black Caucus. I thank them for their leadership and
service.
A very special thanks to those of you who are watching at home and
have often watched at home and have followed the Congressional Black
Caucus through social media, social network, and also know that our
major issues of criminal justice reform, civil rights, the restoration
of the Voting Rights Act, and many others have been to speak to the
vulnerable. Tonight we again speak to you, but we speak of those heroes
that we have lost over the last couple of months.
Tonight we pay tribute to Amelia Boynton Robinson, Congressman Lou
Stokes, and, of course, Julian Bond. Our Nation was built on the values
of dealing with the issues of freedom, justice and equality, values and
principles that were perfectly embodied by the service and sacrifices
of these three leaders.
Mr. Speaker, over the last week we have watched the Pope make his way
through a number of American cities and use words that are music to the
ears of Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me take just one
of many citations that I will utilize to characterize these three
individuals:
``The complexities of history,'' said Pope Francis, ``and the reality
of human weakness notwithstanding, these men and women, for all their
many differences and limitations, were able, by hard work and self-
sacrifice, some at the cost of their lives, to build a better future.''
I would offer to say that Amelia Boynton Robinson, Congressman Lou
Stokes, and Julian Bond, through the sacrifice of their individual
families and their lives, were able to make a better future for us.
We know the civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson, 1965, was
a leader of the Bloody Sunday march and personified the optimism,
determination, and courage that are at the heart of the American
spirit. She truly made our lives better.
Known as the matriarch of our Nation's civil rights movement, Ms.
Boynton Robinson fought courageously to ensure that every American
citizen had the right to vote. Her drive to secure universal voting
rights was amazing, and certainly she risked her life when she crossed
the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In her words, her son said civil rights was
her entire life.
[[Page H6294]]
We now understand that Congressman Lou Stokes made an amazing and
impactful statement legislatively and throughout his life. He was a
consummate public servant, a trailblazer who broke down barriers for
generations of African Americans.
He was the first African American Congressman from Ohio who served 30
years. Representing a portion of Cleveland, he prioritized the
advancement of our Nation's most vulnerable populations.
He advocated for more funding of education, housing, development
projects, access to health care. He was one of the fiercest advocates
for public housing.
Mr. Stokes was a major proponent and leader that asked the Housing
and Urban Development to assess the poor, deleterious, horrible
conditions that children were living in as housing impacted their
health.
In fact, just recently I presented my housing authority a lead
poisoning grant which was instigated, was encouraged, was advocated for
by Congressman Lou Stokes. He has saved thousands upon thousands of
lives.
I thank him for organizing the Congressional Black Caucus Health
Braintrust, and I want to thank him personally for allowing me work for
him as a staff member of the Select Committee on Assassinations, which
he ultimately chaired. We thank him for his amazing service.
He once said, ``I am going to keep on denouncing the inequities of
this system, but I am going to work within it. To go outside the system
would be to deny myself, to deny my own existence. I have beaten the
system. I have proved it can be done. So have a lot of others.'' This
is, of course, the kind of leader that Lou Stokes was.
Our friend, Julian Bond, was a civil rights icon. He was a leader in
the fight for equality, freedom, and equal justice and opportunity. He
inspired generations of Americans to build a better future for all
people.
Julian Bond was considered the young one in the movement with Dr.
Martin Luther King. He stood as not only an original, but a fierce
advocate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the
founding president of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Elected to office, of course, he himself fought against
discrimination. He was discriminated himself. When he was refused a
seat in the Georgia State Legislature, it did not in any way demean or
undermine his courage or inspiration. He went on to be seated and to do
great things.
Tonight we are privileged to be able to honor and pay tribute to
these three heroes. We are called to follow the example they set, to
fight to ensure that all Americans have access to equal opportunity so
they will have a fair shot at economic prosperity, have the right to
vote, be free from mass incarceration, and do the things that America
bestows upon them.
Again, these individuals, at the cost of their lives or their own
futures, built a better future for us.
With that, I am delighted to yield to the chair of the Congressional
Black Caucus, Mr. G.K. Butterfield, a former high superior court
judge--I am calling him all kinds of names--but, in any event, a
dynamic leader of the Congressional Black Caucus. Again, I yield to the
gentleman from North Carolina.
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
Lee for her friendship, for her leadership, and I certainly thank her
for yielding time tonight.
Let me also thank the other Members who are on the floor this evening
to help in honoring the lives of Louis Stokes, Amelia Boynton Robinson,
and Julian Bond.
These three are icons, absolute icons, of the civil rights movement,
who in their own way paved the way for so many. I had the high honor of
calling Lou Stokes and Julian Bond personal friends.
As the first African American to represent Ohio in Congress,
Representative Lou Stokes was a pioneer in public service. He broke
down numerous barriers for African Americans during his extraordinary
career as an elected official on the local, State, and Federal levels.
First elected to Congress in 1969 and serving for 30 long years in
the U.S. House, he was a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus and
the first African American to serve on the House Appropriations
Committee. He was the founder of the CBC Health Braintrust, which
remains active today in protecting health, equity, and reducing health
disparities.
Congressman Stokes was the embodiment of a public servant. He
selflessly used his elected positions to increase opportunities for
millions of African Americans.
We will miss our dear friend Lou Stokes. But the impact of his legacy
of service and commitment to his constituents and to the African
American community will be remembered for generations.
Often referred to as the matriarch of the movement, Amelia Boynton
Robinson's role in Bloody Sunday, as you have already heard, and the
march from Selma to Montgomery is immortalized in the Oscar-nominated
film ``Selma.''
She also made history in 1964 by becoming the first African American
woman from Alabama to run for Congress. In her congressional election
that year, Mrs. Boynton Robinson garnered 10 percent of the vote
despite the fact that African Americans only made up 1 percent of the
voting population in Alabama's Seventh Congressional District.
Forty-six years later the CBC's very own representative, Terri
Sewell, whom we will hear from in just a few moments, now holds that
seat here in Congress.
This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, we remember the selfless actions of individuals like
Amelia Boynton Robinson who fought against systems of injustice so that
future generations would have opportunities that were not possible to
generations past. Tonight we honor Mrs. Boynton Robinson for her legacy
which continues in each of us.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, tonight we honor Julian Bond, a forefather of
America's civil rights movement and one of our country's greatest
advocates for freedom and equality and equitable treatment for all
people.
From his work as a student leader during the 1960s to his service in
the Georgia House of Representatives and the State Senate, Julian Bond
was a leader in the fight against racism and segregation.
{time} 1930
I first met Julian Bond at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., in 1968. As the founding president of the Southern Poverty Law
Center and chairman of the board of the NAACP, Julian Bond continued
his work educating citizens around the world of the struggles of
African Americans and the history of civil rights here in America.
Julian Bond spent his lifetime in public service, calling for equal
civil and human rights not only for African Americans, but for every
American. Until his untimely death, he was an advocate, activist, and
dedicated champion who fought for the most vulnerable individuals and
communities among us. We celebrate his life and his lasting legacy.
I want to thank Ms. Jackson Lee for her leadership and thank her for
yielding. I thank the Members for coming to the floor this evening.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman for his very
thoughtful statement and for leading us off today and setting the tone
for the Congressional Black Caucus that we will never forget our icons,
but we also know that to pay tribute is the highest honor for all of us
because we are here because of all of them. I thank Mr. Butterfield for
his leadership.
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield to Representative
Charles Rangel, who does not need a long introduction. It is important
to note that he has led on so many issues. He was not only the chairman
of the Committee on Ways and Means, but also a dear friend of
Congressman Lou Stokes and one of the founders of the Congressional
Black Caucus. If Congressman Rangel had not done what he did, we would
not be here today. I am delighted to yield to him at this time.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Jackson Lee for
pulling together this tribute. It is moving and emotional that we do
this after the visit to these Chambers by the Pope, who made it
abundantly clear how all of us, no matter how ordinary we are,
[[Page H6295]]
can do extraordinary things when we make a commitment to do the right
thing.
As some of the older Members know, it is almost unbelievable how
people that you know on an everyday basis that go through life with
their own problems still can find the time to try to improve the
quality of life for so many people.
I feel almost awkward looking at the Representative from Selma,
Alabama, this evening because, after Bloody Sunday, there was a call
all over the world for people to come to Selma. I was one of those
called, and I was one of those that did not think that me going to
Selma with my bad feet could make a contribution to anything, and this
is especially so after seeing what happened on Bloody Sunday.
But I did go down because of John Lewis and Andrew Young and Martin
Luther King and Ralph Bunche, because they said that if I could just
come down for the press conference, it would be appreciated. So I
dressed up and I went down for the press conference. I had a round trip
ticket back to New York. I was dressed pretty well, not ever thinking
that I would be going any further than Selma.
It started to rain, and I felt that this would be the appropriate
time for me to get a cab and to go to the airport. When I saw these
older people like Amelia Robinson putting plastic on their shoes and
starting to sing and starting to march, I said, well, maybe I could go
a couple of blocks. I did that, except I found out in Selma there
weren't any couple of blocks.
There were no television cameras. There was no one that recognized me
down there. I marched 54 miles, cussing every step of the way, trying
to figure out what the devil I was doing in Selma.
Congresswoman Sewell, it just proves that if you attempt just to do
the right thing, God can push you to do the rest.
I never did believe, like John Lewis, that that Supreme Court would
give us the voting rights and the civil rights. I never thought that
President Johnson would ever support these things. Today I tell this
very embarrassing story because you don't have to be a hero to be
counted on if you just try to start to do the right thing, and just
maybe God will push you to go further.
Certainly when a woman like Amelia Boynton Robinson is beaten
unconscious and someone like John Lewis, who constantly put his life on
the line, and of course the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who gave up
his life, and God doesn't ask us to do these extraordinary things, but
I do believe that the courage that these people have, that each of us
have just a grain of it that would allow us to contribute, as the Pope
said, to show our respect for God, allowing us to inherit this great
Earth to try to make the quality of life better.
Of course, when it comes to a young guy going to Morehouse, as Julian
Bond did, dropping out of school, coming from a professional family
where education had a higher standard than some of us from the inner
cities, it must have broken their heart to know that he was joining a
group that would then provide the leadership for our country for people
Black and White.
There is nothing that my heart would allow me to say about Lou
Stokes. I came to Congress not knowing that in the Congress was a giant
of a man from Cleveland, Lou Stokes, who motivated the 13 of us, who
led us to form the Congressional Black Caucus. I have walked in the
shadows of his giant footsteps since I have been privileged to serve in
this House.
Ms. Jackson Lee and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, it is
really extraordinary how God has given us the opportunity to say thank
you for the blessings that we have, and I do hope that maybe on both
sides of the aisle people can talk about those who allowed this country
to be so great, the sacrifices that so many people have made, and you
just don't have to be a giant to appreciate the fact that God has
blessed us all.
I thank her for her effort at bringing us together, not just tonight,
but on every committee, on every bill, and this floor. Sheila Jackson
Lee is here to continue to inspire all of us. I thank her for that.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we are so grateful for the special
wisdom and insight that Mr. Rangel brings to all of what we do. I know
that the late Lou Stokes, the late Amelia Boynton Robinson, and the
late Julian Bond are grateful that they knew him and that he is here to
tell his story. Even if he considers it embarrassing, I think it is a
wonderful testimony for anybody who has said, ``I can't do it.'' We
want him to keep telling us that wonderful statement over and over
again. I thank him so very much for what he provides to the
Congressional Black Caucus. I thank him for the kind words he mentioned
of Representative Terri Sewell.
I just say to Ms. Sewell, I don't know what kind of phone message
that she had to the Vatican, but I repeat now the words of Pope
Francis, as I yield to her. This is Pope Francis, as he spoke just a
few days ago at that very podium:
Here, too, I think of the march which Martin Luther King
led from Selma to Montgomery 50 years ago as part of the
campaign to fulfill his dream of full civil rights and
political rights for African Americans.
Representative Sewell, let me thank you for bringing and infusing
life into the wonderful city of Selma, all the wonderful people there,
including your dearly beloved mother and father, and having us walk
with you every step of the way.
As I yield to her, let me say that we should make a commitment right
here today, as we make changes in leadership, that we commit ourselves
to the restoration of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which she is
leading on. It is my delight to yield to her at this time.
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I thank our leader of the CBC,
Congressman Butterfield, so much for his exemplary leadership and the
courage that he exemplifies every day in fighting for the causes that
we all hold so dear.
I want to thank Congresswoman Jackson Lee for those wonderful words.
Sheila Jackson Lee has not only been an amazing Member of Congress, but
she has been a great mentor to me. I want to thank her for all she does
for so many of us and the mentoring she continues to provide the
younger generation.
What can I say to Charlie Rangel? To even have him know my name is an
honor. I know that, but for the remarkable lives of the three people
that we celebrate their lives and their legacies today, I would not be
in this auspicious Chamber, and but for his leadership and his courage,
I would not know how to behave in this Chamber. I thank him for doing
such a great job and continuing to serve the great people of Harlem and
New York, but also the great people of America--black, white, green,
yellow, all of us.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with my CBC colleagues in paying
tribute to the life and legacy of three great giants in American
history: Representative Louis Stokes, Amelia Boynton Robinson, and
Julian Bond. Our Nation collectively mourns the loss of each of these
trailblazing figures who departed from us way too soon this summer.
Their journeys paved the way for myself and so many others serving in
this august body. While our hearts are heavy today, we honor them for
their historic and notable contributions to this Nation.
Congressman Louis Stokes was the first African American to represent
the State of Ohio in Congress, where he served for more than 30 years.
He rose to prominence by breaking numerous barriers as the first in so
many areas. This included being named the first African American to
serve as chairman of the prestigious House Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence. As an African American who now sits on that committee,
I am deeply honored to follow in Louis Stokes' footsteps.
During his tenure on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
he stepped into the national spotlight as a vocal critic of the Reagan
administration's foreign policy. He spoke boldly on issues of national
security and created a legacy of being a fierce advocate for the
homeland. In honoring his memory, we must also commit ourselves
collectively to continue the fight to promote diversity within the
intelligence community. We must also be committed to supporting
policies that promote our national security in the face of growing
threats. It was Congressman Lou Stokes who taught us that our Nation
deserves nothing less.
[[Page H6296]]
Today we also honor an American treasure and one of my personal
heroes, the courageous Mrs. Amelia Boynton Robinson. Mrs. Robinson
passed away on August 26, 2015, at the age of 110--yes, 110, Mr.
Speaker. Mrs. Amelia Boynton Robinson was a key figure in the voting
rights movement in Selma, Alabama. She is often remembered for her
critical role in Bloody Sunday.
On that solemn day on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Robinson was savagely
beaten. A photo taken of her shortly after she was attacked and posted
in The New York Times became a powerful symbol of the injustices
suffered by those who were attempting simply to vote. Yet this
tireless, fearless foot soldier continued her work as a leader on the
front lines of securing the right to vote for all Americans.
Amelia is best known as the matriarch of the voting rights movement,
and it was her courage, along with John Lewis and so many other known
and unknown foot soldiers which led to the passage of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. Amelia was such an integral part of the process that the
contents of the bill, the voting rights bill, were drafted on her
kitchen table in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
Ms. Boynton not only trailblazed as a voting rights advocate, she put
her money where her mouth was and she, herself, ran for Congress. On
May 5, 1964, Amelia Boynton broke yet another barrier, when she became
the first woman in the State of Alabama and the first African American
woman in the State of Alabama to run for Congress. In 1964, she
garnered 10.7 percent of the vote during a time when very few Blacks
were registered to vote. Actually, only 1 percent of the registered
voters were African Americans at that time.
Her historic run further solidified her impact on the movement for
human rights and voting rights in Alabama and in this Nation. Without
her courageous campaign for the Seventh Congressional District of
Alabama in 1964, I know that my election to this seat in 2010, some 50
years later, would not have been possible.
{time} 1945
Her sacrifices paved the way for me to walk the Halls of Congress,
and I will carry my love and admiration for her in my heart each and
every day, for I get to do what she could not, and that is vote on
behalf of the members of the Seventh Congressional District of Alabama.
For that, I am eternally grateful.
In fact, one of my most memorable moments in this Chamber is the
night that she served as my special guest at the State of the Union on
January 20, 2015, this past year. I am grateful for the memories of her
greeting President Obama that night. I am so blessed to not only have
called her my constituent, but a beloved mentor and friend. As she is
remembered, and she reminds us every day by her life, there is still
much work to be done.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remember the shining
legacy of yet another giant figure in the fight for civil and human
rights: Mr. Julian Bond. This courageous voice held several titles over
the course of his impactful life, but he is most remembered for his
service as the NAACP chairman and the cofounder of the Southern Poverty
Law Center. He was also one of the original leaders of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, while he was a student at
Morehouse College. He later served in the Georgia General Assembly for
more than 20 years.
He was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965.
However, because of his longstanding legacy of fighting White
supremacy, White statehouse members tried unsuccessfully to block him
from taking his seat. This brave spirit was undeterred. He spearheaded
efforts to draft landmark legislation that spoke to the need of Blacks
in the State of Georgia.
In addition to his time as an eloquent speaker, he was a celebrated
writer, poet, television commentator, community advocate, as well as a
communication specialist. He did so much for the Southern Poverty Law
Center to set it on its course and so much for the lives of so many.
All three of these wonderful giants tell a story, a story of how
ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Working collectively, we
as a nation can achieve amazing heights, even if we don't think so. As
Congressman Rangel's story best exemplified, if we just take one step,
hopefully the Lord will give us the strength to take many, many more
towards that fight for justice and equality.
In closing, I am reminded of what Amelia Boynton would often say when
I and others would come up to her and say: ``We stand on your
shoulders. We stand on your shoulders.'' Well, Ms. Amelia Boynton was
so infamously known for saying, after hearing it over and over again:
``Get off my shoulders. There is plenty of work to be done.'' ``Do your
own work,'' is what she said.
And so I say to my colleagues gathered here tonight, my colleagues in
this wonderful body called the House of Representatives: We have plenty
of work to do. We have plenty of work to do. And while we walk in the
footsteps of giants such as Amelia Boynton and Louis Stokes and Julian
Bond, let us never forget that they, too, had to take a first step. And
as we follow in their footsteps, let us all take many steps towards
providing justice and liberty for all Americans, especially those that
are most vulnerable.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I think we can leave this evening with the words
that Congresswoman Sewell has just said, and we thank her so very much,
``do our own work.'' That message should carry for whether we are
Republicans or Democrats or Independents.
Congresswoman Sewell, we look forward to doing our own work on the
restoration of the Voting Rights Act, section 5, which you are leading
and all of us have signed onto. We thank you so much for that eloquent
statement and that statement of passion.
Speaking of passion, it is my privilege to introduce a Member who has
her own storied civil rights history, someone who has served as the
Commissioner on the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
and someone who has been in the trenches in civil rights, dealing with
voting rights cases, dealing with the right to vote in her own District
of Columbia. I think she will be the Florence Nightingale, she will be
the champion battler; because I believe that this Delegate,
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, will be successful as we fight for
the voting rights of the District through her leadership.
I yield to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms.
Norton).
Ms. NORTON. I thank my good friend, Representative Sheila Jackson
Lee, first, for her kind and generous words, but especially today for
her leadership of this Special Order, which is characteristic of her
leadership in this Congress. I am so pleased that our chair Rep. G.K.
Butterfield has been here and spoken and that we have heard from
several other Members.
I just want to say a few words about this troika of African Americans
who have written their signatures across our time. You have heard their
biographies. I don't want to recount their extraordinary bios, because
that is not the only reason we are honoring them with this Special
Order. I just want to say something about what they meant to me.
Two of them I knew personally: Representative Louis Stokes, whose
many years in the Congress happened to overlap with my first years
here; and, of course, Julian Bond, whom I knew best.
I was not fortunate to know Amelia Boynton. She may have been the
most courageous woman in the movement of the 1960s, who insisted upon
facing death, if necessary, in that march from Selma to Montgomery, and
nearly lost her life. I was privileged to be in her presence, as so
many Members of Congress were, when we went to Selma this past summer.
That was a privilege in and of itself.
I was fortunate to know Congressman Louis Stokes, who was a founder
of the Congressional Black Caucus long before I served. This was a man
of great accomplishment. Yes, he can speak about his firsts, and much
more.
He is the first African American to serve in Congress from his
hometown of Cleveland, as one of the two famous Stokes brothers--his
brother, Carl, the first African American mayor. There is something
about the way those men were raised and showed themselves in public
life. But it is Rep. Stokes' career in Congress that stands out for me.
[[Page H6297]]
I am not certain there has ever been a more distinguished Member of
this body. It looks as if when they were trying to ask somebody to do
something hard, they looked to Louis Stokes.
He was the first African American to serve on the Appropriations
Committee. My heavens. And then look at the committees he has chaired--
hard ones--the Ethics Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence. Then they needed someone to do something else that was
difficult, and that was to serve on the Iran Contra Committee, and
House Select Committee on Assassinations, nothing was more difficult
than that.
If you were looking for a Member whom the public would trust and who
this body would trust, who do you go to? They went to Louis Stokes. So
if you are trying to find out how to serve, recall the life of
Representative Louis Stokes.
In the District, we recall his life and his work. Much of his work
was done in the field of health. The Howard University Louis Stokes
Health Science Library is named for him here in the District of
Columbia at Howard University. So we will never forget him.
Of the three, the one I knew best, of course, was my colleague and
friend in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, later a client
of sorts, and then finally--for 25 years, a constituent.
I met Julian several years after he founded, along with a handful of
other students, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. You have
got to understand that that group was as different from any student
group since. They were not an offshoot of the civil rights movement.
They were a group that stood on its own.
I would go down in the summers. I was in law school. SNCC was the
equivalent of major civil rights organizations, every single one, right
alongside them. That is why John Lewis got to speak on the March on
Washington.
The reason that SNCC stood out is the quality of its leadership in
those early years. Julian became the spokesman. The reason he was the
spokesman was his way with words. He was a poet and a writer, and he
could explain what we were doing.
He served a most valuable role in these early years. So no one should
be surprised that he went after the zenith of the civil rights movement
to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives. What you may be
surprised to learn is that when he moved on to the senate, the Georgia
Senate, they refused to seat him because he had endorsed a SNCC
statement opposing the Vietnam war. Imagine denying a seat to a member
duly elected because of a statement he had made on an issue of great
moment.
This case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court. At that point,
I was a constitutional lawyer working for the American Civil Liberties
Union in New York. I got to write the amicus brief. We took very few
amicus briefs to the Supreme Court, but this one seemed to have the
makings of a landmark case. Indeed, it did become a landmark case. You
do not see anybody denying anyone else the right to sit in his seat--or
her seat, today--because of that person's views. The Julian Bond case
settled the matter.
What was Julian Bond to do with the rest of his life? First of all,
SNCC broke a fair number of people. And though they gave much to the
movement, you may not have heard about many of them since. What Julian
did was to give the rest of his life to the movement. For every single
day of his life as a man, after he left public service in the Georgia
Legislature, he was devoted to the civil rights movement he had entered
as a very young man.
He moved to the District of Columbia with his wife, taught at
American University and the University of Virginia, and became--and
this is a matter that makes me chuckle--became the chairman of the
NAACP.
At SNCC we thought the NAACP was way too conservative for us, the
young and foolish. It tells you how Julian grew. He grew to be the
long-time and devoted chairman of the NAACP.
He carried out his devotion to civil rights magnificently. Throughout
his entire life, he remained a major spokesman for the civil rights
movement and for progressive causes, his entire life speaking all
around the country, carrying the message.
When he moved here, I had a Black Caucus event with Julian and with
John Lewis simply discussing their lives as young men in the civil
rights movement. That was to be one of the most memorable moments since
I have been in Congress.
Just last February, during Black History Month, I asked Julian to
come to Howard University, where he and I engaged in an
intergenerational conversation with Howard students about the police
shootings in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City and what they meant
to this generation and how this generation had to have its own issues
and move in its own direction.
One of the things we indicated was that for all of the work of the
youth of the civil rights movement of our day, we never touched racial
profiling. It remained alive and kicking for a new generation, which
has taken it on.
I am, finally, particularly grateful that when Julian moved to the
District of Columbia, he really became a part of this city, lending his
civil rights celebrity to the great cause of this city for full
citizenship, for D.C. voting rights, yes, and for statehood for the
District of Columbia.
If you came into the District by taxis a few years ago, there was an
advertisement. Julian was speaking in a cab, informing you that you
were coming to the District of Columbia, where the residents were
trying to get their full citizenship.
Wherever he was, he had a way of touching upon the issue of freedom
of the day and of the people around him. I will always miss him. This
country will always miss him. We are grateful for the life he led. We
are grateful, especially, for this Congressional Black Caucus evening
devoted to his life and to the lives of two others, very divergent
lives but, in other ways, very similar.
I thank my good friend, Representative Jackson Lee, again, for her
leadership here.
{time} 2000
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank my good friend, Congresswoman Eleanor
Holmes Norton, for giving these three legends the vitality and vibrance
of a personal story.
And to just add to his coming to students at Howard University, I
want you to know that, at the University of Virginia, where he was, he
was the most popular professor with people standing in line because the
students sensed his passion and commitment, but they sensed his
realness.
Thank you so very much for that very vibrant and informative
presentation.
Mr. Speaker, as I introduce this next gentleman, who has his own
history, let me quote, again, as I indicated, Pope Francis from last
week, which captures all of what we are saying tonight: to respond in a
way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a
common temptation nowadays to disregard whatever proves troublesome.
Let us remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you.
The gentleman that I am going to yield to, Mr. Bobby Scott, is a
former chairman of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, now the
ranking member on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and has
led his professional, at least his Congressional life, as I have known
it, to be a champion for criminal justice reform, but, more
importantly, has been one who has said to us over and over again that:
We must do unto others as we would like them to do unto us. We must
change this criminal justice system to have it be a fair monitoring of
how we inspire and restore people's lives.
I yield now to the gentleman from Virginia, Congressman Bobby Scott.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in honor of the
lives of three civil rights luminaries. I thank the gentlewoman from
Houston for giving us this opportunity to honor their lives:
Congressman Louis Stokes, statesman and educator Julian Bond, both of
whom I knew personally, and activist Amelia Robinson.
These champions of social and economic justice lived their lives just
as Pope Francis challenged Members of Congress to do.
Specifically, the Pope reminded us of the Golden Rule--do unto others
as you would have them do unto you--and that that rule points us in the
right direction. He specifically reminded Congress that, if we want
opportunities,
[[Page H6298]]
then let us provide opportunities. The lives we honor today are the
personification of the Pope's call.
Congressman Stokes, the beloved son of the State of Ohio, was
affectionately called ``Lou'' when I served with him in the House. His
motto was to aim high, which he did even before he was a Member of
Congress when he argued the Supreme Court case challenging the abusive
stop-and-frisk policies and practices in the Terry v. Ohio case.
Lou's integrity was why he was selected to serve on the House Select
Committee on Assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., and the House investigation of the illegal arm sales during
the Iran-contra affair and, of course, his service on the Ethics
Committee.
His strive for social and economic justice was on full display when
he became the first African American to serve on the House
Appropriations Committee. There he directed Federal dollars to
eradicate injustice and inequities by funding programs such as
healthcare facilities for veterans, supporting the National Science
Foundation, and creating the first office of minority health at the
National Institutes of Health.
Statesman and educator Julian Bond dedicated his entire life to this
cause of social justice and equity. As a founding member of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, he led protests against
segregation.
In 1965, Julian Bond was elected to the Georgia House of
Representatives, but was denied a seat at the State House because of
his opposition to the Vietnam war. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0
that the Georgia House's refusal to seat Julian Bond violated the
United States Constitution.
He was subsequently elected for several terms, including service in
the Georgia Senate, despite efforts to redraw his district.
He was also the first African American nominated at a major-party
convention as a candidate for Vice President of the United States.
Beginning in the 1980s, Julian Bond taught at several universities,
including Harvard, Drexel, University of Virginia, and American
University.
For more than 20 years at UVA and American University, he taught
thousands of students about the role of the civil rights movement as a
seminal part of America's history.
He stated that the ``humanity of all Americans is diminished when any
group is denied rights granted to others.''
He served as chairman of the NAACP from 1998 to 2009. At the 2009
commencement at Virginia State University, he told the graduates that,
``We all hope that you do well, but I also hope that you do good.''
Activist Amelia Robinson was among the many foot soldiers who fought
for civil rights. As a girl, she championed the right to vote for
women. As an adult, she opened her home to Martin Luther King and James
Bevel and members of SNCC and others to help organize and strategize
for civil rights and the right to vote.
Despite the brutal beating she endured during the march for voting
rights in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago, she was unwavering in her fight
to end segregation and achieve full voting rights for all.
Reflecting on her life as an activist, she stated that, ``I have been
called rabble-rouser, agitator. But because of my fighting, I was able
to hand to the entire country the right for people to vote.''
These three American giants--the legislator, the educator, the
activist--were all driven to push towards a more just and equal
society. I am honored to recognize their lives and the gifts they gave
to our Nation.
Again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Houston for organizing
this Special Order so that we could pay appropriate tribute to these
fine Americans.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman from Virginia for citing, in
particular, the case law that Julian Bond particularly generated from
the horrific denial of his right to be seated.
Let me also indicate the importance of members of the Congressional
Black Caucus sharing the history of these icons, which I hope my
colleagues will appreciate these giants, for many times the history is
not remembered or it is not understood.
Certainly, it is my privilege to now yield to the gentlewoman from
Ohio, who has firsthand knowledge because she can say that she comes
from the State of which Lou Stokes and Carl Stokes were native sons.
She is, of course, an inspirational leader for her district in
Columbus, but, more importantly, someone who brings a wealth of
experience from her previous service in the Ohio State Legislature and
someone who has a passion for the improvement of lives of all people. I
believe, as Lou Stokes has said, she understands the value and
importance of improving the health of African Americans and all
Americans.
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from
Columbus, Ohio (Mrs. Beatty).
Mrs. BEATTY. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Mr. Speaker, tonight the Congressional Black Caucus honors the life
and legacy of three civil rights leaders, Congressman Lou Stokes,
Amelia Boynton Robinson, and Julian Bond, who dedicated their lives to
making our Nation a better place.
Countless more follow in their footsteps and continue to push for
civil rights and voting rights today.
We have come to these chambers tonight, Mr. Speaker, to continue
their work as members of the Congressional Black Caucus. We call on
Congress to immediately pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015.
The American people deserve to have real voting rights.
Thank you, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, not only for your
leadership tonight, but for being a leader, for walking in their shoes,
and for hosting the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order honoring
three giants.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Leaders
espoused words in 1965 that still hold true today, words because of the
work of these three giants, works like:
We have proved that great progress is possible. We know how
much still remains to be done. And if our efforts continue,
if our will is strong, if our hearts are right, and if
courage remains our constant companion, then my fellow
Americans, I am confident we shall overcome. Our objective
must be to assure that all Americans play by the same rules,
and all Americans play against the same odds. Who amongst us
would claim that that is true today?
Just last week His Holiness, Pope Francis, delivered a historic,
profound, provocative address to the Joint Session of Congress. This
address reminded us that the nation is ``considered great'' when ``it
fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all
their brothers and sisters.''
At the White House, he quoted from Martin Luther King, to use a
telling phrase of the Reverend Martin Luther King: ``We can say that we
have defaulted on a promissory note, and now is the time to honor it.''
These three individuals we honor tonight tirelessly contributed to
this culture of full rights and equality we are committed to achieving.
Tonight's roll call: Congressman Lou Stokes.
I am honored to be the third African American from Ohio to follow in
his footsteps, following my mentor and dear friend, Stephanie Tubbs
Jones, my colleague, mentor and friend, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who
said at his footsteps: I don't salute or get excited about a one hit
wonder because Lou Stokes was far from that.
Lou Stokes loved people. He loved the law. He loved the legislative
process. He loved his family. And he loved Cleveland, Ohio.
You have heard so much about him, I won't repeat it. I will submit it
for the Record, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, if that is okay.
But I will forever be grateful for his encouragement, his friendship,
his wisdom, and his leadership. I can't think of a time or a decision
in my life that I didn't pick up the phone and call Lou Stokes.
Love you, Lou Stokes.
Let me just briefly say we also salute Amelia Boynton Robinson, and
much has been said about her. I stand on her shoulders.
And then Julian Bond, another great civil rights icon, whose passion
and dedication to equality and justice propelled him to the Georgia
Legislature, the NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which he
co-founded.
[[Page H6299]]
His commitment to ending discrimination and injustice continues to
inspire us, and his legacy will guide us and the next generation of
civil rights leaders and activists to greatness.
He, like the other individuals we pay tribute to tonight, helped
change this country for the better.
Thank you, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Thank you to all my
colleagues with the Congressional Black Caucus for capturing and
reflecting on the lives of three great civil warriors as we took a walk
in their footsteps of greatness.
Tonight the Congressional Black Caucus honors the life and legacy of
three Civil Rights leaders--Congressman Louis Stokes, Amelia Boynton
Robinson and Julian Bond who dedicated their lives to making our nation
a better place.
Countless more follow in their footsteps and continue to push for
civil rights and voting rights today.
We have come to these chambers to continue their work as Members of
the Congressional Black Caucus; we call on Congress to immediately pass
the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015.
The American people deserve to have real voting rights now.
Thank you Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for hosting the CBC's
Special Order Hour paying tribute to Congressman Louis Stokes, Amelia
Boynton Robinson, and Julian Bond.
This year is the 50th Anniversary of Voting Rights Act. Leaders . . .
espoused words in 1965 that still hold true today. Words like:
We have proved that great progress is possible. We know how
much still remains to be done. And if our efforts continue,
and if our will is strong, and if our hearts are right, and
if courage remains our constant companion, then my fellow
Americans, I am confident, we shall overcome. Our objective
must be to assure that all Americans play by the same rules,
and all Americans play against the same odds. Who among us
would claim that that is true today?
Just last week, His Holiness Pope Francis delivered a historic,
profound, and provocative address to a Joint Session of Congress.
This address reminded us that a nation is ``considered great'' when
``it fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for
all their brothers and sisters.''
At the White House, he quoted words from MLK . . . to use a telling
phrase of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . we can say that we
have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it.
The three individuals we honor tonight tirelessly contributed to this
culture of full rights and equality we are committed to achieving.
Congressman Stokes
I am honored to be the third African-American from Ohio to follow
Congressman Louis Stokes who served for 30 years in Congress. I am
forever grateful for his encouragement, friendship, wisdom, and
leadership.
He earned a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, the
first person of color to ever do so, and focused on improving housing
and urban development for veterans, seniors, and the poor.
In 1971, along with our esteemed Dean of the House, Congressman John
Conyers, Congressman Stokes helped found the Congressional Black Caucus
to promote economic, educational, and social issues important to
African Americans: this is a purpose the CBC continues to fulfill to
this day, and a purpose I am honored to advance.
His indelible mark in history will continue to live on.
Amelia Boynton Robinson
It is also an honor to pay tribute to Amelia Boynton Robinson--the
matriarch of the voting rights movement.
As an African-American female serving in the U.S. Congress, I stand
on the shoulders of Mrs. Boynton Robinson.
Mrs. Boynton Robinson helped organize the Selma-to-Montgomery
marches, and walked at the front of the line that fateful day on March
7, 1965, which we now know as ``Bloody Sunday''.
On August 6, 1965, she was the guest of honor at the White House when
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
I had the privilege to join Mrs. Boynton Robinson this past March, as
thousands of Americans marched once again over the Edmund Pettus
Bridge, remembering the struggles and recommitting ourselves to
restoring voting rights protections, equality, and justice.
Julian Bond
Julian Bond was a civil rights icon whose passion and dedication to
equality and justice propelled him to the Georgia legislature, the
NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which he co-founded.
His commitment to ending discrimination and injustice continues to
inspire us and his legacy will guide the next generation of civil
rights leaders and activists to greatness.
He, like the other individuals we pay tribute to tonight, helped
changed this country for the better.
Thank you CBC for capturing and reflecting on the lives of three
great civil rights warriors as we took a walk in their footsteps of
greatness.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Congresswoman Beatty, thank you for letting us know
whose footsteps we walk in and for that celebratory statement.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman
from the U.S. Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), who has come with the
expertise of a renowned and trained lawyer, one who is a collaborator.
Ms. PLASKETT. Thank you so much to my colleague, Sheila Jackson Lee.
I want to thank you and the Congressional Black Caucus for this Special
Order Hour, a special tribute to the lives and legacy of Representative
Louis Stokes, Amelia Boynton Robinson, and Julian Bond.
Thank you, Ms. Jackson Lee, for your work here in Congress, your
tireless efforts to raise awareness to issues which many Americans may
have forgotten or not given thought to.
Thank you for your mentorship to us younger members here and your
tireless efforts to support not only the people of Houston, but the
people of America.
Thank you for allowing us this most important opportunity to pay
tribute to these remarkable individuals.
Mr. Speaker, today we gather in reverence and in solemn reflection to
honor the lives and legacies of some exceptional people, some
exceptional Americans, who we have lost in these recent months.
These were civil rights activists, statesmen and women, trailblazers,
members of a great generation of individuals who gave so much of
themselves to the Civil Rights Movement and to the advancement of
minorities in our country.
They are former Congressman Louis Stokes, former chairman of the
NAACP and Georgia State Senator Julian Bond, and civil rights icon Mrs.
Amelia Boynton Robinson.
A centenarian--Mrs. Robinson's 110 years of life, that in itself is a
great honor--she was dedicated to education, fighting state-sanctioned
discriminatory practices against African Americans, and voter
disenfranchisement.
{time} 2015
One can make the argument that her role in Selma's civil rights
demonstrations, including the infamous march on Bloody Sunday where she
was beaten unconscious by State police, paved the way, through the
subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, for both
Congressman Stokes and State Representative Bond to serve in elected
office.
As the first African American elected to Congress from the State of
Ohio, Congressman Stokes was a founding member of the Congressional
Black Caucus and spent his 30-year career in Congress advocating issues
of importance to Ohioans and to African Americans across the country.
Julian Bond, that great statesman from Georgia, was one of 11 African
Americans elected to the Georgia House of Representatives after the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965. Bond served 20 years in both legislative chambers in the State of
Georgia and served as the first president of the Southern Poverty Law
Center. He also served as chairman of the NAACP.
These individuals have impacted the lives of so many African
Americans and have undoubtedly advanced the rights and interests of
minorities in both our States' and our Nation's governments.
Similarly, I would like to just take a moment to recognize two
individuals from my own home district of the Virgin Islands who, like
Congressman Stokes, Julian Bond, and Amelia Robinson, have changed the
landscape of the Virgin Islands through their advocacy and education.
I would like to recognize a former judge and Lieutenant Governor of
the Virgin Islands, the late Julio A. Brady, who, like Julian Bond and
Congressman Stokes, used his training as an attorney to contribute to
his community outside of the courtroom. As a U.S. attorney, judge, and
attorney general, Judge Brady fought to remove barriers of injustice.
He was laid to rest this week. Like Congressman Stokes and
[[Page H6300]]
Amelia Robinson, Judge Brady's legacy of service will carry on.
Ursula Krigger was also a centenarian, like Amelia Robinson, and, at
age 113 was the oldest living Virgin Islander until her passing this
month. She was a griot, an educator whose longevity afforded a unique
perspective of witnessing the modern advancement of our territory.
The lives and legacies of these individuals are etched in the annals
of our history and their impact forever ingrained in the minds and
hearts of the many lives they touched. I am a better person; and,
indeed, we are a better nation through the work of these individuals.
I have listened to my colleagues tonight speak about Representative
Louis Stokes, Amelia Boynton Robinson, and Julian Bond and the personal
impact these individuals had on the work of my colleagues with whom
they served and have known personally.
Understand, that while many like myself may not have had the great
honor and pleasure of toiling and working with them shoulder to
shoulder in the struggle for civil rights and the advancement of
minorities in our country, Americans like myself understand and
appreciate their sacrifice, and we understand the work that must still
be done. We will continue their legacy here today and in Congress in
the future.
Thank you so much, Congressional Black Caucus, for this time. And
thank you again to my colleague from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee, for the
time that I have been afforded to speak on behalf of these great
Americans.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Congresswoman Plaskett, thank you so very much for
laying the groundwork for those who now step into those footsteps, and
you have done so with such leadership and certainly such passion. Thank
you so very much.
Mr. Speaker, what is my time remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Russell). The gentlewoman from Texas has
2 minutes remaining.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me conclude by thanking the chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus and my colleagues. It is so important for
the Congressional Black Caucus to be able to talk to America--
Representative Butterfield, Representative Rangel, Representative
Sewell, Delegate Holmes Norton, Representative Bobby Scott,
Representative Joyce Beatty, and, of course, Congresswoman Plaskett--to
be able to give life to why we are here representing all of America. We
have those special people that, without our voices, would not be able
to be heard.
I simply want to add these words of the Pope, again, to be able to
remind everyone why these icons that we are speaking of tonight in the
Congressional Black Caucus--46 of us, along with Senator Booker--have a
vital role in this place. As the Pope indicated, I would encourage you
to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in the cycle
of poverty. They, too, need to be given hope. The fight against poverty
and hunger must be fought constantly on many fronts, especially in its
causes.
I know that Americans today, as in the past, are working to deal with
this problem. That is the essence of Julian Bond, who never stopped
giving; that is the essence of Amelia Boynton Robinson, who continued
to fight for civil rights up until her death at the age of 104 on
August 6, 2015; that is the essence of Congressman Lou Stokes, a
legislative giant, the chairman of an appropriations subcommittee, a
person who went to public housing and places where children were and
told America that your children are dying because they are living in
substandard housing, lead poisoning was killing them, which gave me the
opportunity, Mr. Speaker, as I said before, to give a grant to my
public housing just this past week on helping with lead poisoning.
I worked for Lou Stokes, and I am very glad to note that, working for
him, I can say, truly a gentleman, truly a leader.
To this Congress, I beg of you, let us look at these icons and
celebrate not only their lives, but commit to the passion and justice
of their lives, and, as well, the words of Pope Francis that tell us to
do unto others as we would like them to do unto us.
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to again thank the members of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to speak in praise
of Louis Stokes, one of the greatest and most respected Members ever to
serve in this body, who died on Tuesday, August 18, 2015, at his home
near Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 90.
It is not unusual in these days for commentators and politicians to
talk of something called ``American Exceptionalism.''
But what is meant by the term?
Mr. Speaker, one way to understand the term: America is exceptional
because it produces and finds persons like Louis Stokes and affords
them the opportunity to utilize their talents to the fullest in the
service of their community and their country.
Think about it: in what other nation does a little African American
boy born in 1925 on the east side of Cleveland and raised in the
Outhwaite Homes housing project by a mother who worked as a domestic go
on to become a lawyer who argues and wins a landmark criminal justice
reform case (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)) in the United States
Supreme Court; become the first African American elected to Congress;
is selected to chair the powerful Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the
Select Committee on Assassinations, and an Appropriations Subcommittee
responsible for more than $90 billion annually in federal outlays?
Yes, America is an exceptional nation and Louis Stokes was an
exceptional human being.
Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes was born on February 23, 1925, in
Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles and Louise Cinthy (nee Stone) Stokes.
When he was three years old, his father, who worked in a laundromat,
died leaving young Louis and his younger brother, Carl, to be raised by
their mother, who worked as a domestic for affluent families in the
wealthy Cleveland suburbs.
Louis Stokes' maternal grandmother played a critical role in his life
because she took care of the Stokes boys while their mother was at work
and instilled in them ``the idea that work with your hands is the hard
way of doing things'' and encouraged them over and over ``to learn to
use their heads.''
Louis Stokes took the advice to heart so after attending Cleveland's
Central High School and serving in the U.S. Army during World War II,
he returned home to attend what is now Case Western Reserve University
on the G.I. Bill at night while working during the day for the Veterans
Administration and the Department of the Treasury.
After graduating from college in two years where he excelled as a
student, Louis Stokes was accepted for admission to Cleveland Marshall
School of Law, from which he graduated in 1953; three years later, his
brother Carl would also graduate from Cleveland Marshall School of Law
and the two of them would go on to form the law firm of Stokes & Stokes
specializing in the areas of civil rights and criminal law.
In 1964, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Reynolds v.
Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), which established the principle of ``one
person, one vote'' governing the reapportionment of legislative
boundaries.
The following year, working on behalf of the local branch of the
NAACP, Louis Stokes led the legal challenge to the Ohio legislature's
congressional redistricting, which had the effect of diluting African
American voting strength in Cleveland.
The challenge was unsuccessful in the federal district court but
undeterred, Louis Stokes, joined by Charles Lucas, an African American
Republican, successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court, which in an order handed down in 1967 ruled the redistricting
plan unconstitutional and ordered it redrawn, resulting in the creation
of Ohio's first majority-black district, the 21st Congressional
District of Ohio.
Ironically, Louis Stokes would defeat his one-time ally Charles Lucas
to win that seat in November 1968, capturing 75% of the vote, the
closest of his 15 successful elections to the U.S. House of
Representatives.
For the next 30 years, from 1969 to 1999, Congressman Stokes
tirelessly fought for his constituents in Cleveland and for the best
interests of the people of Ohio and the United States.
Louis Stokes, a founding member and Chair of the Congressional Black
Caucus from 1972-74, was the epitome of a public servant.
In his second term in Congress, he won appointment to the powerful
House Appropriations Committee, where he served for 28 years, later
becoming the second African American ``Cardinal'' in history when he
was selected to chair the VA, HUD, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Because of the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues and the
leadership, Louis Stokes would also later be selected to Chair the
House Permanent Select Committee
[[Page H6301]]
on Intelligence and the Select Committee charged with investigating the
assassinations of President Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
As Chairman of the House Ethics Committee and a person of
unquestioned integrity, Louis Stokes oversaw the committee's
investigation of the corruption scandal known as ABSCAM in 1979-80,
which eventually led to convictions of a senator and six House members.
Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes perhaps is best known for the national
attention he attracted in 1987 as a member of the House Select
Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran/(``Iran-
Contra''), the scandal involving the illegal sale of military weapons
to the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran to generate money to fund the illegal
contra war in Nicaragua.
In response to the claim by Colonel Oliver North that he acted out of
patriotism in engineering the illegal weapons sales and diverting the
proceeds to fund the contras, a stern Louis Stokes lectured the
misguided Colonel North on the rule of law, the true meaning of
patriotism, and, in the process American exceptionalism:
``I suppose that what has been most disturbing to me about your
testimony is the ugly part. In fact, it has been more than ugly. It has
been chilling, and, in fact, frightening. I'm not just talking about
your part in this, but the entire scenario, about government officials
who plotted and conspired, who set up a straw man, a fall guy.
Officials who lied, misrepresented and deceived. Officials who planned
to superimpose upon our government a layer outside of our government,
shrouded in secrecy and only accountable to the conspirators.
``Colonel, as I sit here this morning looking at you in your uniform,
I cannot help but remember that I wore the uniform of this country in
World War II in a segregated Army. I wore it as proudly as you do, even
though our government required black and white soldiers in the same
Army to live, sleep, eat and travel separate and apart, while fighting
and dying for our country. But because of the rule of law, today's
servicemen in America suffer no such indignity.
``My mother, a widow, raised two boys. She had an eighth-grade
education. She was a domestic worker who scrubbed floors. One son
became the first black mayor of a major American city. The other sits
today as chairman of a House intelligence committee. Only in America,
Col. North. Only in America. And while I admire your love for America,
I hope that you will never forget that others too love America just as
much as you do and that others will die for America, just as quick as
you will.''
Louis Stokes never wavered in his belief that America could fulfill
the promise of its Founders or his dedication to the principles of the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, stating:
``I'm going to keep on denouncing the inequities of this system, but
I'm going to work within it. To go outside the system would be to deny
myself--to deny my own existence. I've beaten the system. I've proved
it can be done--so have a lot of others.
``But the problem is that a black man has to be extra special to win
in this system. Why should you have to be a super black to get
someplace? That's what's wrong in the society. The ordinary black man
doesn't have the same chance as the ordinary white man does.''
Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes' commitment to fairness and equal treatment
started long before he was elected to Congress.
As a lawyer for the NAACP, he brought anti-discrimination lawsuits,
represented demonstrators arrested in antidiscrimination marches and
sit-ins, and took the cases of poor persons charged with crimes.
One of those criminal cases he took is known to every lawyer in
America and appreciated by every person who cherishes the protections
guaranteed by the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
I am speaking of the famous case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
won by Louis Stokes in which the Supreme Court held that a police
officer could ``stop and frisk'' an individual only where he could
articulate a reasonable basis that the person was, or was about to be,
engaged in criminal activity.
As a result of Terry v. Ohio, a police officer has the right to stop,
frisk, and question an individual he reasonably suspects to be engaged
in criminal activity, but cannot seize items from that person if the
pat down of the suspect's outer clothing does not reveal any weapons
posing a threat to the officer's safety.
Because of Louis Stokes' exceptional advocacy in Terry v. Ohio, the
right of every individual to secure from unreasonable searches and
seizures was preserved while at the same not impeding the ability of
law enforcement officers to perform their duties safely.
Mr. Speaker, every citizen benefits from this ruling and communities
that have a history of being harassed by law enforcement protected by
the Constitution from arbitrary and abusive treatment by law
enforcement.
But the fight for a criminal justice system that respects the rights
of all persons is not over.
That is why I am proud to be the Ranking Member of the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and
Investigations and a leader in the effort to reform the criminal
justice system so that all persons receive fair and equal treatment
regardless of their race, gender, religion, or national origin.
Louis Stokes fought tirelessly to fulfill the promise of the 14th
Amendment that ``no state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.''
It is a fight I am proud to continue today.
Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes will be mourned by friends and colleagues
on both sides of the aisle who had the privilege to serve alongside
him.
He was a mentor to me and I will always remember his commanding
presence and cherish the assistance he provided me and the example he
set for new Members to follow.
My thoughts and prayers are with his Jay, Louis' beloved wife of 55
years; to his children, Shelly, Louis, Angela, and Lorene; his
grandchildren; and the untold thousands of persons who touched and
whose lives were touched by one of Cleveland's greatest sons.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory
of Louis Stokes, an exceptional American, and the gentleman from Ohio
who served in this chamber for three decades with honor, integrity, and
distinction.
[From cleveland.com]
Lou Stokes Put Health Impacts of Substandard Housing on the National
Agenda, and in Cleveland: Terry Allan, Dorr Dearborn and Dave Jacobs
(Opinion)
In this file photo from 2012, Timothy Benner, then 8, looks
outside from his Maurice Avenuue home in Cleveland. After
Timothy and some of his siblings tested positive for lead
poisoning, traced to the soil around their home, their mother
restricted their outdoor play time. U.S. Rep. Lou Stokes, who
died earlier this month, championed national attention and
funding to address the problem of lead poisoning in inner-
city children.
Recent stories and opinion pieces have eulogized the many
accomplishments of the late U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, from
civil-rights champion to accomplished litigator, statesman
and lawmaker. We believe that Louis Stokes should also be
recognized as a national leader who clearly understood the
connection between substandard housing and health, and acted
to address the problem, at a time when very few did.
Back in the 1980s, the scope and magnitude of the childhood
lead-poisoning problem and its impact on our nation's
children was not fully recognized or well understood.
Subsequent efforts to increase blood screening in early
childhood revealed that Greater Cleveland had among the
highest rates of lead poisoning in the country, adding to the
compounding disadvantages of children living in poverty in
our community and across the United States.
Some of us have vivid memories from 1991, when Congressman
Stokes held up a Newsweek magazine cover story on threats
posed to children by lead paint, passionately advocating for
the voiceless in our society while educating the community
about this silent epidemic. He wanted all of us to understand
the debilitating consequences of childhood lead exposure in
the home environment and its impact on the life trajectory of
these vulnerable kids.
Congressman Stokes turned that message into action, by
using his formidiable legislative acumen to establish the
first Healthy Homes program in the country within the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
When he recognized in 1998 that young infants in his
district were suffering from sometimes fatal lung bleeding
associated with water-damaged, moldy homes, he asked HUD to
address the impact of inner-city homes on children's health.
He understood that houses are systems, and that independently
addressing lead paint problems, moisture intrusion and mold,
injury risks and other housing hazards was inefficient and
costly. He also had the vision to recognize that treating
children at the hospital, only to release them back into the
same substandard home that made them sick, created a vicious
circle with major public health consequences. He knew these
homes needed to be fixed.
The HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control had shown interest in
applying the experience of lead-poisoning prevention to
include other health hazards in the home, such as plumbing
problems and leaky basements, but lacked the authority.
Through his vision, the Congressman invited us and others
to testify at the House Subcommittee on HUD appropriations to
see what could be done. Lou Stokes convinced his fellow
committee members to provide the very first appropriation of
$10 million to HUD for `Healthy Homes' prevention programs in
low-income housing. His legacy has resulted in millions of
homes that are safer and healthier as a direct result of that
investment in our children. Since that time,
[[Page H6302]]
the HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes has
provided more than $175 million in competitively awarded
grants to communities across the nation to investigate and
address health hazards in homes.
The asthma home-visit program in Cleveland that decreases
the hospitalization rate of children with asthma, highlighted
in The Plain Dealer in June, is a direct outgrowth of
Congressman Stokes' work.
In 2012, HUD created the Louis Stokes Healthy Homes Award
and presented the first one to him at the City Club of
Cleveland. When he received the award, he pointed out that
much has been achieved and that much more remains to be done.
He also said that he really didn't know what all the fuss was
about, as he was just a kid who grew up in public housing,
who wanted to do the right thing for our children.
He was an inspiration to us all.
Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to speak in praise
of Julian Bond, one of the leading lights of the Civil Rights Movement,
who died on Saturday, August 15, 2015, at the age of 75.
While Julian lost his battle to the illness that claimed his life, it
is the struggle for civil rights and human dignity he helped to win
that he will forever remembered and revered.
Horace Julian Bond was born January 14, 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee
to Julia Agnes and Horace Mann Bond.
Julian's father was the first African-American President of Lincoln
University of Pennsylvania, the same institution attended by Thurgood
Marshall and Langston Hughes who would both go on to make substantial
contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of
African-Americans.
Julian's father later became president of Atlanta University and
Julian decided to attend Morehouse College, one of the leading black
colleges in the nation.
Julian Bond, who came from a long line of educators, determined at an
early age to put his journalistic and organizing talents in service of
the cause of civil rights and racial equality.
While a student at Morehouse College, Julian helped found The
Pegasus, a literary magazine, and led nonviolent student protests
against segregation in Atlanta parks, restaurants, and movie theaters.
Mr. Speaker, today it is difficult to imagine there once was a time
in our country when blacks and whites could not eat together in public
restaurants, use the same public restrooms, stay at the same hotels, or
attend the same schools.
Julian Bond answered the call to action and put his studies on hold
to devote all of his energies and efforts to ending segregation and
racial discrimination.
Mr. Speaker, it is not unusual these days for us to think of a
champion as someone who receives the highest accolades in sports.
Julian Bond was a champion of the people.
His success is measured not in the numbers of trophies, medals,
ribbons, and championship banners, but in the number of doors and
opportunities he helped to open for those who had been neglected,
marginalized, and disenfranchised.
Julian Bond knew that to bring about non-violent social change it was
necessary to organize so he co-founded the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
SNCC, which organized and mobilized the participation of students and
young people in the Civil Rights Movement, conceived the Freedom Rides
that challenged the practice of racial segregation in interstate
transportation and the Mississippi Freedom Summer project that
undertook the dangerous work of helping African Americans register to
vote in the state most committed to maintaining White supremacy by any
means necessary.
SNCC was not the first leadership role history and circumstance would
call upon Julian Bond to assume; nor would it be the last.
In 1965, after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, Julian Bond was elected to represent the residents
of the 32nd district in Georgia House of Representatives.
But on January 10, 1966, his white colleagues in the Georgia House
voted 184-12 not to seat him because he had publicly expressed his
opposition to the Vietnam War.
Julian Bond challenged the refusal of the Georgia House to seat him
and took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which
ruled in the unanimous decision of Bond v. Floyd, 385 U.S. 116 (1966),
that expressing opposition to the Vietnam War was speech protected by
the First Amendment and directed that he be seated as a duly elected
member of the state legislature.
Julian Bond would go on to serve three more terms in the George
House, where he co-founded the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, and
six terms in the Georgia State Senate.
In 1971, Julian Bond co-founded and served as president of the
Southern Poverty Law Center that tracks the actions of hate groups to
better inform and prepare communities about the dangers these groups
pose.
Julian Bond consistently identified issues of civil inequality and
provided solutions by gathering groups of community leaders,
professionals, and educators to protect what the laws and policies
would not, our basic civil rights.
In 1998, Julian Bond's commitment to justice and equality led him to
answer the call to serve and accept the position of Chairman of the
NAACP, a post he held until 2010.
Julian Bond was able to bring the earnest fight to achieve equality
into the modern era as he watched African-Americans achieve the highest
awards in their professions and continued to break down barriers.
In November 2008, Julian Bond witnessed the election of the first
African American President of the United States, a feat thought
impossible just a decade earlier.
Mr. Speaker, because of trailblazers like Julian Bond millions of
Americans gained access to opportunities previously denied to members
of their communities.
Julian Bond spent 5 years with SNCC, 8 years as president of the
Southern Poverty Law Center, 12 years as the president of NAACP, 20
years as a state representative, and 75 years an unwavering champion of
civil rights for all people, including the LGBT community.
My thoughts and prayers are with Julian's beloved wife Pamela, his
children and grandchildren; and the untold millions of persons whose
lives were touched by one of America's greatest sons.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory
of Julian Bond, a tireless and eloquent voice for justice, equality,
and human dignity who did so much to close the gap between the promise
of America's founding ideals and the reality of people's lives.
Civil Rights Giant Julian Bond Never Stopped Giving
(Posted By Edna Kane-Williams on August 31, 2015)
President Obama described him as a ``hero'' who ``helped
changed this country for the better.'' The Rev. Jesse Jackson
called him a ``leader with strength, character.'' NAACP
Chairman Roslyn Brock said he ``inspired a generation of
civil rights leaders.'' Teresa Sullivan, president of the
University of Virginia, where he taught history for many
years, called him a beloved retired professor who ``shaped
the course of history through his life and work.''
How ever you choose to describe Julian Bond, one thing is
for sure: He taught us all how to stand for what we believe.
And he believed in freedom, justice and equality.
For me, one of the most remarkable attributes of this civil
rights giant is the fact that he never stopped giving. Even
at the time of his brief illness and death on Aug. 15 at the
age of 75, he was still serving faithfully as chairman
emeritus on the NAACP board. Even after he retired from the
professorship at the University of Virginia, he continued to
mentor and remained a role model for students and others.
A writer, poet, television commentator, lecturer and
college teacher--and as a former politician--Julian Bond was
one of those rare people whose work became legendary while he
was still doing it. In fact, the Library of Congress once
called him a ``living legend.''
And because of the magnitude of his work, he leaves many
treasures that will simply keep on giving. UVA, where his
papers are housed, has announced its goal to establish a
Julian Bond Professorship in Civil Rights and Social Justice,
which ``will continue Bond's scholarly legacy.'' There will
certainly be many more designations in honor of his life's
work.
And surely some will rise, seeking to follow in his
footsteps. Mr. Bond believed in young people's ability to
take the civil rights and social justice baton and run with
it. Earlier this year, he told a group of Howard University
students, ``I think you know what the problems are. You know
what the solutions are, and I'm sure we will be glad to help.
But don't depend on us to tell you what to do. Just go out
and do it.''
Well, he left an amazing road map. From his pioneering
civil rights work as a cofounder of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee to all of his work and contributions
thereafter, Julian Bond was a model for anyone who aims to
make an impact and leave the world a better place.
In that regard, he was a role model for us all. What a
life. What a legacy.
Amelia Boynton was born on August 18, 1911, in Savannah, Georgia. Her
early activism included holding black voter registration drives in
Selma, Boynton spent her first two years of college at Georgia State
College (now Savannah State University), then transferred to the
Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. She graduated
from Tuskegee with a home economics degree before further pursuing her
education at Tennessee State University, Virginia State University and
Temple University.
In the 1930's, Boynton Robinson began her activist career by
registering African Americans to vote. In 1964, she ran for Congress to
represent Alabama. She was the first woman to have run for this
Democratic seat, and although she did not win, she received 10% of
[[Page H6303]]
votes. As the civil rights movement picked up, Boynton asked Martin
Luther King Jr., who had witnessed her arrest in January 1965 for
seeking to register Black voters, to visit Selma and empower the
community. King accepted, and joined Boynton Robinson and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference in planning the march from Selma to
Montgomery on March 17th, 1965.
As approximately 600 marchers walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
they were confronted by 200 state troopers and Alabama policemen, who
shot teargas and beat the non-violent protesters. This horrific event
came to be known as Bloody Sunday.
At least 17 protesters were sent to the hospital, including Boynton
Robinson. A picture of her unconscious body lying on the ground after
an officer shot tear gas into her throat spread through every news
media outlet across the globe, and quickly became a symbol for race
relations in the United States at the time.
The Selma to Montgomery march was a pivotal demonstration in the
civil rights movement, leading to future victories such as the Voting
Rights Acts of 1965 signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Amelia Boynton Robinson was an incredible activist, leader, and
woman, and is remembered for her courage and strength throughout the
civil rights movement. She worked for equality for all until her last
day on this earth.
[From the Two-Way, Aug. 26, 2015]
(By Bill Chappell)
Amelia Boynton Robinson, Survivor of `Bloody Sunday,' Dies at 104
Amelia Boynton Robinson, who went from being beaten on a
bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965 to being pushed across the
bridge in a wheelchair alongside the president of the United
States, has died at age 104.
Her daughter, Germaine Bowser, confirmed to Troy Public
Radio's Kyle Gassiott that Boynton Robinson died early
Wednesday morning. She had been hospitalized after suffering
several strokes this summer.
Born in Savannah, Ga., Boynton Robinson was a pioneer in
the voting rights movement who took part in the event that
came to be known as ``Bloody Sunday,'' when she and other
activists were attacked by state troopers as they tried to
march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Along with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Boynton Robinson held
hands with President Obama as the men walked across the
bridge this past March, marking the 50th anniversary of the
march in Selma.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports:
``Boynton Robinson asked Martin Luther King Jr. to come to
Selma to mobilize the local community in the civil rights
movement. She worked with the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and helped plan the Selma to Montgomery march. Her
role in the event was recaptured in the movie ``Selma,''
where she was portrayed by actress Lorraine Toussaint. She
was invited as a guest of honor to attend the signing of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.''
Boynton Robinson also ``made history in 1964 as the first
African-American to run for Congress in Alabama,'' Alabama
Public Radio reported earlier this year, when the civil
rights legend attended Obama's 2015 State of the Union
address in Washington, DC. She was the guest of Rep. Terri
Sewell, Alabama's first elected African-American
congresswoman.
general leave
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5
legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order. What a
grand opportunity to cite these great Americans: Amelia Boynton
Robinson, Congressman Lou Stokes, and Julian Bond.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Amelia Boyton Robinson was an
American hero who devoted her entire life to the fight for equal rights
for all. She was a child suffragette, who alongside her mother,
advocated for the women's vote and then as a young woman fought for the
right of blacks to have their say at the ballot box. After bold run to
represent Alabama in Congress, Mrs. Robinson helped organize the Bloody
Sunday March from Selma to Montgomery. She was hospitalized after being
knocked unconscious by a white officer on that perilous day, which left
her undaunted and even more determined to fight for the African-
American vote. It was my honor to nominate her for a Congressional
Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Award earlier this year, but sadly, she
died before I could present it to her. Thankfully, however, Mrs.
Robinson was able to share enough stories about her courageous
experiences to fill a history book and resonate for generations to
come.
____________________