[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 90 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 90

Recognizing the 75th birthday of the Honorable Barbara Charline Jordan, 
    American politician, leader of the Civil Rights movement, first 
  African-American elected to the Texas Senate, first Southern Black 
   woman ever elected to the United States House of Representatives, 
inspirational figure in the Progressive movement, and recipient of the 
                  Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2011

 Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas (for herself, Mr. Hall, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Sam 
 Johnson of Texas, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. 
 Brown of Florida, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, 
  Ms. Fudge, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Moore, Mr. 
 Carson of Indiana, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, 
 Mr. Serrano, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, and Mr. Butterfield) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 75th birthday of the Honorable Barbara Charline Jordan, 
    American politician, leader of the Civil Rights movement, first 
  African-American elected to the Texas Senate, first Southern Black 
   woman ever elected to the United States House of Representatives, 
inspirational figure in the Progressive movement, and recipient of the 
                  Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.

Whereas Barbara Charline Jordan was born on February 21, 1936, in Houston, 
        Texas;
Whereas Barbara Charline Jordan was a United States politician elected as the 
        first African-American to the Texas Senate after reconstruction and the 
        first Southern African-American woman ever elected to the United States 
        House of Representatives, representing the 18th District of Texas;
Whereas in 1972, Barbara Charline Jordan served with distinction on the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;
Whereas Barbara Charline Jordan was and still remains an inspirational figure in 
        United States politics through her powerful public speaking and her 
        triumphant refusal to be defined by disability;
Whereas Barbara Charline Jordan became the voice of inspiration during a time of 
        a national challenge and called for integrity from United States 
        leadership, stating before the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
        of Representatives that ``common sense would be revolted if we engaged 
        upon this process for petty reasons. Pettiness cannot be allowed to 
        stand in the face of such overwhelming problems. So today we are not 
        petty. We are trying to be big, because the task we have before us is a 
        big one.'';
Whereas in 1975, a leading national magazine surveyed 700 political opinion 
        leaders who ranked Barbara Charline Jordan at the top of a list of women 
        they would like to see become President of the United States;
Whereas in 1976, Barbara Charline Jordan was mentioned as a possible running 
        mate to Jimmy Carter, and that same year became the first African-
        American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National 
        Convention;
Whereas despite not being a candidate, Barbara Charline Jordan received one 
        delegate vote for President at the convention;
Whereas in the summer of 1976, Barbara Charline Jordan's speech in New York was 
        ranked fifth in the ``Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th Century'' 
        list and is considered by many historians to be the best convention 
        keynote speech in modern history;
Whereas in 1979, Barbara Charline Jordan left Congress to join the faculty of 
        the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Policy at the University of 
        Texas, where she held the endowed Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in 
        National Policy;
Whereas in 1993, Barbara Charline Jordan received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award 
        from Hobart and William Smith Colleges;
Whereas in 1994, Barbara Charline Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of 
        Freedom by President William Jefferson Clinton for being ``the most 
        outspoken moral voice of the American political system'', adding to her 
        other prestigious honors, namely, the Texas and National Women's Halls 
        of Fame and the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award;
Whereas today, the main terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is 
        named after her, as are an elementary school in Odessa, Texas, a middle 
        school in Cibolo, Texas, Barbara Jordan High School in Houston, Texas, a 
        YMCA in Martinsville, Indiana, and a United States Postal Service 
        facility in Houston, Texas; and
Whereas Barbara Charline Jordan's papers are held at the Barbara Jordan Archives 
        at Texas Southern University, and her speeches are collected in a 2007 
        publication from the University of Texas Press entitled, ``Barbara 
        Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder'': Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives celebrates and honors 
the continuing legacy of the late Honorable Barbara Charline Jordan, on 
the occasion of the 75th anniversary of her birth, to allow the memory 
of her resounding voice to continue to speak the truth with eloquent 
thunder.
                                 <all>