Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The city of Memphis has played and continues to play a key role in securing American freedoms. (2)Because of its history, Memphis represents the struggle for freedom for millions of Americans and millions more across the world. (3)Memphis and its airport have long symbolized America’s fight for freedom—from Memphis female pilot Phoebe Omlie, who served our country well and broke gender barriers, to the city’s many great civil rights leaders who fought for freedom and equality, to our airport’s pivotal national security role on one of our Nation’s darkest days, 9/11. (4)The tower will serve as a tribute to the thousands of men and women who persevered throughout the Civil Rights Movement to fight for freedom for all men and women of America, no matter their race, gender, or creed. (5)Memphis is home to hundreds of freedom fighters including Benjamin Hooks, Vasco and Maxine Smith, Russell Sugarmon, and Jesse Turner, whose fight for freedom occurred throughout Memphis in the form of sit-ins at department store lunch counters and at the main public library. (6)Many of these heroic men and women demonstrated their desire for freedom, in spite of threats of violence and death, by riding buses in Memphis and throughout the South proclaiming their equality. (7)The tower will honor all of these freedom fighters as well as individuals throughout the Nation who marched, protested, and spoke out for civil rights, equality, and freedom for all. (8)The tower will safely guide thousands of individuals each year on their journey to the National Civil Rights Museum, which chronicles key episodes of the American Civil Rights Movement and maintains the legacy of this freedom movement to inspire participation in civil and human rights efforts globally. (9)The existing air tower at MEM is named the Omlie Tower after Phoebe Omlie, who led the way for women’s rights in the aviation industry and broke the glass ceiling to allow women the freedom to pursue careers traditionally reserved for men. (10)Named by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the twelve greatest women in the United States, Omlie is most renowned for being the first woman to hold an official aviation post in the U.S. Federal Government. (11)Omlie’s legacy of fighting for freedom and equality for women will be memorialized in the new tower. (12)The tower, located in the Volunteer State, will also serve as a tribute to those who have led, fought, sacrificed, and perished to secure and preserve American freedoms. (13)The tower will provide vital aviation services to the 164th Airlift Wing, located at the Memphis Air National Guard Base at MEM, who protect our country and guarantee our freedom. (14)The 164th Airlift Wing fights for our freedoms by providing the Air Mobility Command airlift in support of United States national defense and is capable of carrying fully equipped combat-ready military units to any point in the world. (15)On September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda attacked on American soil because of their opposition to our freedoms, MEM served a vital role by landing more aircraft than any other airport in America immediately after the FAA closed U.S. airspace on that fateful morning. (16)Given MEM’s and the city of Memphis’s long history of protecting freedom by advancing civil rights, women’s rights, and national security, it is appropriate that the new FAA control tower at MEM be named the Freedom Tower.