[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       FREEDOM SUMMER REMEMBERED

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. The Speaker, I am pleased to reserve this 
special order in tribute to the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964 and 
the efforts of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, 
three civil rights workers who were murdered in Mississippi that 
summer.
  During that period of history, there was a coalition of conscience 
that worked together in a struggle to create a truly interracial 
democracy in America--to create what I like to call the beloved 
community. People from all walks of life, especially young people, and 
from around the country struggled together during Freedom Summer to 
make the State of Mississippi and our Nation a better place.
  Earlier today I presented House Resolution 457 to the House under 
unanimous consent to commemorate the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964 
and the efforts of the three slain civil rights workers by designating 
June 21, 1994--the 30th anniversary of their deaths--as Freedom Summer 
'94 Day.
  This resolution also acknowledged Freedom Summer '94. This summer, 
youth organizations throughout the country are planning to establish 
creative partnerships among youth activists and help build a national 
infrastructure of youth leadership.
  At that time, the State of Mississippi had a black voting age 
population of more than 450,000, but only about 18,000 were registered 
to vote. Almost 200,000 people turned out to participate in a mock 
election that SNCC had sponsored in 1963, and that election spurred us 
to organize the Mississippi Summer Project. After the election, we 
started recruiting students to come and be a part of the Mississippi 
Summer Project.
  These three young men gave their lives to advance the cause of 
freedom for every American. They were fighting and struggling for a 
universal right to vote. We must never forget these three men and what 
they died for.
  After the murders, we lived in Mississippi with the constant 
possibility that something could happen to any of us. During the 
summer, many churches were bombed and burned, particularly black 
churches in small towns and rural communities that had been 
headquarters for freedom schools, voter registration rallies, and 
workshops. There were shootings on homes, so we lived with constant 
fear.
  Despite being attacked by racial violence, we tried not to become too 
preoccupied with the fear. We came to feel that we were part of a 
nonviolent army, and, within the group, you had a sense of solidarity. 
You knew you had to move on despite the fear. I will never forget some 
of the problems and trauma that some of the SNCC people went through. 
It was a trying time for all of us.
  I think for many of us that summer in Mississippi was like guerilla 
warfare. You knew that you had to prepare yourself, condition yourself, 
if you were going to be there. You knew that you were going to stay for 
a period of time, and there were going to be some disappointments and 
some setbacks. What we tried to instill, particularly in the SNCC staff 
and into the young people coming down, was that even as they came 
there, we weren't going to change Mississippi in 1 summer or 1 year, 
that it was a much longer effort. In a sense we went down to help the 
people there, but no doubt they helped all of us a great deal; there's 
no question about that. Some of us, no doubt, literally grew up 
overnight because of being in positions of responsibility where we had 
to make tough decisions, we had to act. Our main purpose was empowering 
the local, indigenous black people of Mississippi.
  I think Freedom Summer helped many of us to reaffirm our commitment 
to nonviolent struggle. While nonviolence was, for some, merely a 
tactic for social change, for many of us it became a philosophy of 
life--a way of living. When we suffered violence and abuse, when we 
were arrested and jailed, our concern was not for retaliation. We 
sought to understand the human condition of our attackers and to accept 
suffering in the right spirit.
  As I worked throughout the South during the 1960's I saw civil rights 
workers and indigenous people whom we were trying to help with their 
heads cracked open by nightsticks, lying in the street weeping from 
tear gas, calling helplessly for medical aid.
  I saw old women and young children in peaceful protest, who were run 
down by policeman on horses, beaten back by fire hoses, and chased by 
police dogs. Yet these people were still able to forgive, understand, 
and sing, `Ain't going to let nobody turn me around.''
  We saw young blacks and young whites working, struggling, fighting, 
and shedding blood together 30 years ago. We stood together during 
times of difficulty. We must continue to do so now. As Americans, we 
should be about the business of building a truly interracial democracy, 
rather than dividing people along racial, ethnic, and religious lines 
in 1994.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that so many of my colleagues have agreed 
to participate in this special order.

                              {time}  1640

  Mr. Speaker, what I would like to do right now is call on two of the 
Members of this great body who were in Mississippi during the summer of 
1964.
  It is my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to both thank and acknowledge the 
leadership of the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis, who I met 
more than 30 years ago as a compatriot in the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee, for calling us to account around the lives of 
three young men whose names will always be remembered together as 
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney, who died together and gave new meaning 
to the words ``black and white together,'' because they died together 
in Neshoba County 30 years ago.
  Mr. Speaker, I had spent 1963, or part of it, in the delta preparing 
for the Mississippi Freedom Summer, in the prototype of what was to 
become that summer, teaching in the freedom schools, encouraging 
youngsters and adults to vote. It was the most eventful summer of my 
life. It was a summer when I also helped write the Mississippi Freedom 
Democratic Party brief, with Joe Rauh, and ran the lobbying operation 
that ultimately resulted in changes that introduced people into the 
party ranks and delegations without regard to race and gender.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember a point in the summer when we were told that 
the three were missing. They had just gotten there. The summer had just 
begun for the students. Mickey Schwerner's brother was a classmate of 
mine in college. His wife was in Washington working with us. We waited 
on a watch we hoped would not be a death watch, and it was.
  We should remember today, Mr. Chairman, not only because of the 
sacrifices of these extraordinary young men, and we should remember not 
for memory's sake, or for the sake of nostalgia. For two reasons we 
should remember. One has to do with continuing discrimination, the 
other with new and troubled intergroup relations.
  The continuing discrimination is sometimes clear in its rawest form, 
as we see openly racist cults forming in the United States. They do not 
hide their disagreement with 30 years of progress in race relations in 
this country.
  There is also bitter feeling in the black community about under-the-
table discrimination, the kind of discrimination that nobody or most of 
us dare not practice openly, but which is practiced covertly every day. 
Particularly do young black men feel this because of the stereotyping 
that comes from the fact that so much crime is committed by black 
youngsters, and so all young black men are often considered to be 
potential criminals. That is the kind of stereotyping that Schwerner, 
Goodman, and Chaney died to remove.
  The second reason, of course, has to do with intergroup relations. 
This has always been part and parcel of the raison d'etre of the civil 
rights movement. It has always been an all-inclusive movement. I never 
thought we would get 30 years after the triumph of that movement and 
find that there was name-calling across racial and ethnic lines and a 
tension that we did not see even then.
  Yes, we must not forget, Mr. Speaker, that Schwerner and Goodman and 
Chaney were not all black, that two of them were white and Jewish, and 
only one of them was black, and that they died together for a cause 
they all believed in.
  When we separate ourselves and do not communicate with ourselves, 
when there is self-segregation, it is easy, it is easy for us to forget 
the high principles of the civil rights movement, the high principles 
for which Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney died. Kids are self-
segregating themselves, and increasingly groups around the country are 
self-segregating themselves. That kind of self-segregation, as opposed 
to the normal kind of fraternization among groups who are from the same 
background, but rigid self-segregation, Mr. Speaker, is the breeding 
ground for intergroup tension, deprecation, and hatred.

  Out of the Mississippi Freedom Summer the person I shall remember the 
most is Fannie Lou Hamer, who thereafter become my own mentor, though 
she had a sixth grade education and I had just graduated from law 
school. She always took me back to first principles. When she died, her 
town, before that day, had declared Fannie Lou Hamer Day, and that was 
Rulevlle, MS. Fannie Lou Hamer had brought together the blacks and the 
whites in that most segregated part of Mississippi to work together on 
raising food, plants, and animals, so they could all relieve themselves 
of the hunger that characterized Sunflower County.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to invoke the spirit of Fannie Lou 
Hamer, and I thank the gentleman also for invoking the spirit of 
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney.
  I want to mention, Mr. Speaker, finally, that this weekend the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] and I and a number of Members shall 
be in Mississippi, because there is a reunion this weekend of those of 
us who were there then, designed to call us all to account and to bring 
us and help bring our community to its senses on the sensitive and 
tragic and overriding issue of race in this country.
  We shall have fun together, we shall sing together the old freedom 
songs, and there shall be more serious business at the table, the 
business of reminding ourselves and helping to remind our country that 
we have a long way to go, and we have got to go there together, to both 
end discrimination, and while respecting our individual backgrounds, 
bring us all together, for after all, this is one country, and we, too, 
are one.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton], my friend and colleague, 
for participating in this special order.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank], 
who was in Mississippi in 1964.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for yielding to me. It was an honor to follow his 
leadership 30 years ago, because he was then one of the leaders of the 
party of conscience in this Nation, those who were genuinely dedicated 
to making the constitutional principles that we profess a reality. He 
continues to be a leader. I continue to be honored to follow him and to 
be associated with him.
  Mr. Speaker, as I look to him and to the gentlewoman from Washington, 
DC [Ms. Norton], who was also in Mississippi, it becomes particularly 
poignant to think of the murder of James Chaney and Andrew Goodman and 
Michael Schwerner, because we were all about the same age 30 years ago. 
We all had the same kind of motivation.
  As I look at my colleagues who were leaders then, and are leaders 
now, I wonder if people of the dedication of those three who were, and 
let us remember, they were murdered, they were murdered with the 
participation of law enforcement officials of the State of Mississippi, 
they were murdered brutally, with the Federal Government standing idly 
by at the time. The question naturally arises, what further 
contribution would these three people have made.
  Mr. Speaker, it is very important to contrast where we were in 1964 
and where we are today. We have a long way to go in making our 
constitutional principles realities for everyone, but we have 
accomplished very significant progress. The fact, for instance, that we 
stand on this floor today with a colleague from Mississippi, Mr. Bennie 
Thompson, who will be joining us, and others indicates that we are 
capable of significant improvement.
  In 1964, as the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] has pointed out, 
the vast majority of African-Americans in Mississippi might as well 
have lived in South Africa, for all the rights that they had as 
individuals. There was a degree of deprivation of individual rights 
within the United States 30 years ago that was unimaginable to people 
outside. I saw that because I went to Mississippi from Massachusetts, 
and it was, while I thought of myself as well-read and well-informed, 
as extraordinary revelation to understand how little black people in 
that State could enjoy the rights that I had taken for granted all my 
life. We continue to make that fight.
  It is important, both that we remember that progress has been made, 
and that we remember that a good deal of progress has yet to be made. 
In particular, I was pleased that my colleagues who spoke before me 
noted that by accident, it could have been a different combination, but 
Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman happened to be one black and two Jewish 
Americans. There was any conceivable combination that you could have 
put together out of that, but that is important, because we are at a 
time now when there are people who would try to inflame relations in 
this country. Even as we move to diminish the prejudices that have 
plagued us, there are people who would like to fan new ones, who would 
like to expand old ones.

                             {time}   1650

  I was very proud to be in Mississippi in 1964, and I felt I was there 
as an American, fighting hard for the principles of our Constitution. I 
also felt, being Jewish, that I was fulfilling an important part of the 
tradition I had been born into and cherish, the Jewish tradition, both 
as a matter of self-interest because a society in which minorities are 
mistreated is one in which Jews will not do well, and as a matter of 
commitment to broader principles that both as an American and as a Jew 
I had been brought up to treasure. And I am very pleased to join again 
today with my colleague from Georgia, and others to reaffirm all 
aspects of that, to reaffirm first of all our solemn duty as Americans 
to make the Constitution real for everybody, to make that glorious 
statement of principle a glorious reality. We are coming closer and 
closer but we cannot slack off.
  And I also want to have the chance to celebrate the working together 
of the African-American and Jewish communities as part of the broader 
American community, as we work with others, stressing those things 
which we have in common with each other as well as those things which 
all of us as Americans have a commitment to.
  Thirty years has seen a lot of progress. We have a ways to go. It is 
important for us on occasions such as this to rededicate ourselves to 
making that progress. This is a nation which is capable of even more 
greatness than we have achieved. This is a nation capable of genuinely 
fulfilling the promise we have made and have been carrying forward.
  We, in particular, in this body are especially lucky because we have 
been given a particular opportunity to carry that out. Being able to 
serve in the democratically elected legislative body of the greatest 
representative government that has ever been known in the history of 
the world is an extraordinary honor for all of us. I think it is very 
appropriate on this occasion, 30 years after three young Americans were 
murdered because they dared to think that the Constitution could become 
a reality, it is very appropriate for us to use the privileged position 
we have been given to dedicate ourselves to continuing their work.
  I thank my friend from Georgia.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I want to thank my friend and my colleague, Mr. 
Speaker, and I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. 
Frank] for his participation and for his being in Mississippi in 1964, 
30 years ago and being here today and for keeping his eyes on the 
prize.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is fitting and proper that I yield to one of 
the real leaders in the struggle for civil rights and social change 
long before I came to this body, the gentleman from California Don 
Edwards, who visited the South, Mississippi, Alabama, particularly 
Jackson, Selma, Greenwood.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California Don Edwards an 
outstanding Member of this body.
  Mr. EDWARDS of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Georgia for arranging this series of discussions tonight and the 
gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. Frank]. Mr. Lewis is one of the 
great heroes of the dark days of American apartheid and our war against 
it, and may be the most prominent of all of the great men and women who 
risked their lives in Mississippi.
  Yes, I went to Mississippi as a member of the House Judiciary 
Committee in late 1963. My son, Leonard Edwards, now a superior court 
judge, was living with Fanny May Hamer in Ruleville in Sunflower County 
where he was one of the leaders in encouraging young black Americans in 
Mississippi to register to vote. It was a dangerous summer; it was a 
dangerous country, dangerous times. People would follow you in their 
cars. Threats. My son and I left Ruleville to go to another city where 
there was a freedom house with young Americans who were living 
together, working all day every day to register voters. Fifteen minutes 
after we left the house the next morning to go on to McComb, MS the 
house was bombed and several young men and women were seriously 
injured.
  But the young people who died, whose contribution we are celebrating 
today, with President Kennedy, were key elements in our success in 
enacting the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Acts. We could not have been 
successful if it had not been for the sacrifice of the lives of many, 
including President Kennedy, because, Mr. Speaker, we did not have the 
votes in the Judiciary Committee in 1963 to report favorably the civil 
rights bill. After that dreadful day in November 1963, when President 
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Lyndon Johnson, the new President, 
came to the Congress and asked us in the name of President Kennedy to 
enact the civil rights bill that he so lovingly had fostered. And we 
did.

  But we could not have done it without the sacrifice of the three 
young people, whose bodies were buried outside of Philadelphia, MS 
under 12 feet of mud and stone in that awful dam.
  So we celebrate their contribution today, but we must remember also 
that the emancipation is not over, it has a long way to go. Up until 
1980 or 1981 civil rights bills could come to the floor of this House 
and the floor of the Senate and quite readily pass. We had a 
bipartisan, nonpartisan understanding that it was our duty as American 
legislators to end the remnants of apartheid in this country.
  I regret to say that since the early 1980's, there has been almost a 
reversal in our success. More than 11 Supreme Court decisions have not 
assisted or encouraged the emancipation. They have worked against, and 
weakened, the precious civil rights bills. And I suppose, Mr. Speaker, 
that Shaw versus Reno was almost the crowning blow, the dagger in the 
heart of civil rights, when you think that the seats of six fine 
African-American Members of the House of Representatives are in peril 
now because of Shaw versus Reno. This completely unnecessary decision 
of the court showed the attitude of the court toward civil rights, and 
to a certain extent that of America today, because we do not fight for 
civil rights anymore. We are having trouble with the crime bill in 
getting a very modest proposal accepted called the Racial Justice Act.
  So let us use the celebration of the contributions of the three young 
Americans whose bodies were found under the dam to declare that we must 
continue the emancipation. We cannot live, as Lincoln said in his 
debate with Stephen Douglas in 1857, as a divided America. A nation 
divided against itself cannot stand. And, Mr. Speaker, we are divided 
and we can only be brought together by efforts of all of us to continue 
the civil rights struggle, to perhaps include economic rights and 
social rights as American ideals in future work.
  I thank the gentleman from Georgia for arranging this very important 
series of speeches tonight.

                              {time}  1700

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and 
colleague, the gentleman from California [Mr. Edwards], for his long 
service in the cause of civil rights and social justice and for 
participating in this special order tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Hastings].
  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I have prepared remarks, but I would like 
to speak for a moment from the heart.
  First, I would like to thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] 
and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank] for allowing this 
special order, for this special order occasion that is being 
undertaken, I would also like to thank the previous speaker who, in the 
next session of Congress, will have left us an immense legacy to try 
and live up to the type of reputation that he, Don Edwards, has put 
forward here in the House of Representatives on behalf of this Nation.
  It is fitting on an evening like this, even though there will be many 
more celebratory times when we will say to our colleague, Don Edwards, 
thank you for all of his work, at least this evening I think he would 
appreciate being praised for being there when it counted for all of us.
  As the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank] said, it is true that 
30 years ago there were difficulties that brought many races together 
to fight for freedom, and yet 30 years hence, we are still in that 
struggle notwithstanding substantial progress that has been made, so it 
is in the memory of Goodman and Schwerner, and Chaney, a trilogy of 
names that will always be connected, that we come together today and 
celebrate the 30th anniversary of freedom summer.
  Today, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of freedom summer, we are 
painfully reminded that freedom has its price.
  On this day 30 years ago, three courageous, dedicated selfless, young 
men-Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney--paid the 
ultimate price for freedom. They gave their lives, so that all 
Americans can truly enjoy ``Liberty, Peace and the Pursuit of 
Happiness.''
  Our American dream, sadly enough, is marred by the nightmare of so 
many of their kind, who sacrificed to their bitter ends, for the 
realization of justice and equality in this country. They crossed 
racial, religious, cultural, gender, political, geographic, social, and 
economic lines in their unyielding quest for freedom. They marched for 
freedom--they died for freedom.
  Just as Goodman, Schwerner, Chaney, and countless other freedom 
fighters united to address racial injustices, we too--as Members of the 
very institution tasked with being agents for change--must unite to 
address crime, homelessness, health care, and welfare.
  We can take our example from those who participated in freedom 
summer--who put aside their varied differences for a much bigger cause. 
We can likewise put aside our political differences, to accomplish a 
much bigger cause, in the summer of 1994.
  As we commemorate the heroics of the civil rights class of 1964--of 
which we have the good fortune of serving with one of its most 
distinguished alumni, our friend and colleague, Representative John 
Lewis--let us rededicate ourselves to the tenets that these Americans 
espoused and pledged their lives to--securing the rights of all 
Americans, as guaranteed under the Constitution of these United States 
of America.
  Then perhaps, we can say with straight faces, relieved hearts, and 
genuine sincerity, the immortal words of Dr. King, ``Free at Last, Free 
at Last, Thank God Almighty, We're Free at Last.''
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and my 
colleague, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Hastings], for his words, 
his leadership, for his sense of vision over the years, and for 
participating in this special order this afternoon.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure and delight to yield to the 
majority whip of the House, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior].
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, one day, decades from now, when a new generation of 
American schoolchildren sits down to study the fight for justice and 
equal rights in America they will learn about a woman named Rosa Parks, 
and her courageous ride on a bus;
  They will learn about Martin Luther King, and his simple and 
inspiring dream;
  They will learn about the freedom riders and the thousands of men and 
women who braved dogs and hoses and batons to cross the bridge at 
Selma.
  But as they learn about these inspiring people and places, they will 
notice that one name continues to surface at every juncture, one bright 
light continues to shine at every crossroads showing the way with his 
leadership and his courage, and his bravery.
  They will learn, Mr. Speaker, about a compassionate and committed 
young man from the State of Georgia named John Lewis, who in one long 
summer helped bring a Nation to its senses and brought injustice to its 
knees.
  Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honored this evening to be on this floor on 
the anniversary of the freedom summer of 1994 with the man who as much 
as anyone helped mobilize students against injustice in the South back 
in 1964, who helped raise the consciousness of America and who 
continues to inspire us today with his leadership and his courage.
  Mr. Speaker, John Lewis is a hero to me and millions of other people 
around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, a young African-American boy growing up in Mississippi 
today might find it hard to believe that there was a time when blacks 
would be beat up if they tried to vote.
  He might find it hard to believe that there was a time when people in 
America would disappear without a trace, simply for expressing the 
right guaranteed to them under the Constitution of the United States.
  And he might find it impossible to believe that 30 crowded summers 
ago, three young men were arrested, jailed, beaten, shot and killed, 
simply because they tried to extend hat basic right to other Americans.
  But it did happen, Mr. Speaker. And we are here today to honor those 
three heroes, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who 
answered the call 30 years ago to go to Mississippi and extend the 
cause of freedom for every American.
  Like thousands of other students like them, including Congressman Bob 
Filner, who led other students from his school, Congresswoman Eleanor 
Holmes Norton, who spoke so eloquently on the floor who continues today 
to provide leadership and who was there, my friend and colleague who 
has been a champion of civil liberties and civil rights in this 
institution, Don Edwards, whom we will miss so dearly because of his 
incredible leadership, my wife Judy, who spent the hot summer of 1964 
working with John Lewis to end over 200 years of discrimination and 
abuse, they believed that what they were doing was right, that 
everybody deserved an equal chance at the American dream, and they put 
their lives on the line to extend that right.
  We should never forget that 30 years ago, a group of inspired and 
committed young Americans, working together, nonviolently, helped 
change the world.
  Today, we can't forget that to advance the cause of freedom in the 
world, to advance the cause of human rights, sometimes we have to take 
risks, sometimes we have to stand on principle, not because our 
consciences tell us to, not because our history tells us to, but 
because it is right.
  We have come a long way since 1964, we have made a lot of progress, 
but we still have a long way to go.
  We still live in an America that is separate and unequal.
  We still live in an America where basic justice is being denied to 
millions of Americans.
  We honor the memories of these three men today not just to remember 
their sacrifices, not just to remember their experiences, but to remind 
ourselves that we are the heirs of their sacrifice, and we must remain 
eternally vigilant to end the discrimination and prejudice they fought 
against, here and around the world.
  Because in the end, that's the highest tribute we can pay.

                              {time}  1710

  I thank my colleague from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for leading us this 
evening on this very important anniversary.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the majority whip, 
the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior], for participating in this 
special order. I want to thank him for his commitment, his dedication 
to the cause of justice and social change. I also want to thank him for 
those kind and moving words.
  Mr. Speaker, I count the majority whip as a friend and as a brother.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time it is my pleasure to recognize the 
gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Thompson]. This gentleman is a living 
example of the progress that we have made in the State of Mississippi 
and in the South during the past 30 years.
  I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Thompson].
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis].
  Mr. Speaker, today marks the 30th anniversary of the murder of three 
civil rights workers in Philadelphia, MS, by the Neshoba County deputy 
sheriff and fellow members of the Klu Klux Klan. These young men, James 
Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were brutally murdered 
for attempting to register African-Americans to vote. These deaths 
signaled to the country that civil rights activists were willing to put 
their lives on the line to end legal segregation in America.
  Chaney, through his extraordinary courage as a teenager in the 
1950's, began to inspire his family and neighbors in the community of 
Meridian to help transform Mississippi from a State that forced 
African-Americans to live as second-class citizens to a society 
offering equal opportunity to all.
  As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of Freedom Summer 1964 let's 
not forget these three young men who gave their lives in the struggle 
for civil and human rights. Their loss should continue to serve as a 
special call to this Nation to work together to end the racism, 
poverty, and violence that plague our communities.
  Mississippi can proudly boast about having the highest number of 
African-American elected officials. However, we must always be reminded 
that we had to fight to be granted the right to vote. I, along with 
many of my colleagues, am here today as a direct result of the 
struggles of the sixties. To borrow an overused, but appropriate 
saying, if you don't remember your history, you are doomed to repeat 
it. We must remember that freedom has been and will continue to be a 
constant struggle.

              [From the New York Times, October 21, 1967]

 Mississippi Jury Convicts 7 of 18 in Rights Killings--All-White Panel 
      Acquits 8 and Rules a Mistrial on 3 in Klan Conspiracy Case

                          (By Walter Rugaber)

       Meridian, Miss., Oct. 20.--A Federal Court jury of white 
     Mississippians convicted seven men today for participating in 
     a Ku Klux Klan conspiracy to murder three young civil rights 
     workers in 1964.
       Guilty verdicts were returned against Cecil R. Price, 29 
     years old, the chief deputy sheriff of Neshoba County, and 
     Sam H. Bowers Jr., 43, of Laurel, identified as the Imperial 
     Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
       Also convicted were Horace D. Barnette, a one-time Meridian 
     salesman; Jimmy Arledge, 30, a Meridian truck driver; Billy 
     Wayne Posey, 30, a Williamsville service station operator; 
     Jimmie Snowden, 34, a Meridian laundry truck driver; and 
     Alton W. Roberts, 29, a Meridian salesman.


                         Maximum Term 10 Years

       The maximum penalty for the conspiracy convictions is 10 
     years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
       Eight other men were acquitted by the panel of five men and 
     seven women. The jurors were unable to reach a verdict on 
     three of the 18 defendants, and mistrials were declared. . . 
     .
       Murder is generally not a Federal crime unless committed on 
     Government property. The conspiracy charges, filed under a 
     Reconstruction era law, were brought after the state courts 
     failed to take action.
       The convictions were said to be the first in a civil rights 
     slaying in Mississippi. The state has had a series of 
     unpunished racial killings in recent years, starting with the 
     murder in 1955 of Emmett Till, a Negro from Chicago.
       But the lynching in nearby Neshoba County of the three 
     young rights workers occurred at the height of the direct 
     assault on segregation in the South and has been one of the 
     most widely followed criminal cases of the decade.
       The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation fought in court for more than three years. 
     Informed estimates of the prosecution's cost ranged upward 
     from $1 million.
       The dead youths were Michael H. Schwerner, 24 of New York, 
     a white field worker for the Congress of Racial Equality; 
     Andrew Goodman, 20, of New York, a white college student, and 
     James E. Chaney, 21, of Meridian, a Negro plasterer.
       They disappeared June 21, 1964, after driving to Neshoba 
     County from Meridian to investigate the burning of a Negro 
     church. Price arrested them and placed them in the county 
     jail that afternoon.


                          3 Held for Lynching

       The Government found that Price held the three until a Klan 
     lynching party could be assembled, then released them, 
     recaptured them on the highway and turned them over to the 
     gunmen for execution.
       The bodies were found Aug. 4, 1964, buried about 15 feet 
     beneath the earthen dam of a small farm pond in Neshoba 
     County. Prosecution witnesses told how the three had been 
     buried in a common grave and covered with the aid of a 
     bulldozer.
       The defendants who pulled the triggers were never 
     identified in court. Horace Barnette presumably named them in 
     a signed confession.
       Many newsmen, Government sources and other longtime 
     observers of the state were surprised by the news of the 
     guilty verdicts and predicted that the jury's decision would 
     have a substantial effect here.
       Several observers said that the convictions would not only 
     restrain terrorist activities in Mississippi but also make it 
     easier for the prosecution to obtain convictions in future 
     cases.

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and 
colleague, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Thompson], for 
participating in this special order, and I look forward to being with 
him and the good people of Mississippi this weekend in visiting his 
district.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from 
Ohio [Mr. Fingerhut].
  Mr. FINGERHUT. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank], 
the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis], for organizing this opportunity 
for us to come to the floor and remember freedom summer. Let me say to 
the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] that I will not occupy much of 
this time because in some ways I feel inadequate to the task.
  I played no personal role in these events, was but a young man 
growing up in Ohio at the time. But I grew up being taught that one 
man, one person, can make a difference, that if we believe enough, we 
can change the world all by ourselves. The reason I was taught that is 
because of the example of people like the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis], and people like Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, James 
Chaney, who are not here to tell the story. But I was taught that 
because of such people who did, when the time came and they were 
called, did stand up and did singlehandedly change the world.
  I had the opportunity, I say to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis], on Friday to go back to my alma mater, Northwestern University, 
in Evanston, IL, to address the students there on the occasion of the 
commencement of the Class of 1994, as so many of our colleagues have 
had a chance to address students at this time of graduations and 
commencements.
  I asked them to believe, and I told them that I hoped they do 
believe, that they are so good and so smart and so idealistic that they 
can really change the world. And as evidence of their abilities, I 
submitted to them what happened 30 years ago almost to the day they 
graduated and that is that three young men, certainly not willingly, 
but were ready to give their lives for a simple idea, that all people 
can be equal, that all people in this democracy have the right to vote 
and to exercise and be part of all the cherished freedoms.
  Mr. Speaker and I say to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] I 
thank you for what you have given to me as a legacy. I thank you for 
your continued leadership, and I thank you for reminding us every 
single day that each and every one of us is a Member of this body and 
each and every person listening at home and those not listening can, if 
they so desire and if they have the strength of will and the strength 
of character, can change the world, can make a difference even today 
because you have done so.
  I thank you for giving us this opportunity as a country to remember 
how 30 years ago three young men also made a difference.

                              {time}  1720

  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Fingerhut] for participating in this special order, and I thank 
him for those kind words.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania [Ms. Margolies-Mezvinsky].
  Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues have heard, it 
was 30 years ago today that a young African-American man from 
Mississippi and two young Jewish men from New York were arrested, taken 
to jail, beaten, shot, and killed because they were registering voters 
in Mississippi.
  Thinking of these three young men who gave their lives in the cause 
of freedom, I reflect on that seminal summer when more than 1,000 young 
men and women from colleges and universities across the Nation went to 
Mississippi to participate in voter registration drives.
  I also reflect on the alliance between African-Americans and Jewish-
Americans, which was an important piece of the summer project's 
success.
  This alliance during freedom summer was typical of the battle for 
human rights--a battle which Jewish-Americans and African-Americans 
fought side by side, risking their lives--and sometimes dying for the 
cause.
  Thus on this night that we honor James Cheney, Mickey Schwerner, and 
Andrew Goodman, I ask that we also remember the long and productive 
alliance between Jewish-Americans and African-Americans.
  When extremists on both sides today try to break that alliance, let 
us remember our past accomplishments and the common goals and 
objectives of both groups--for they have more in common than not. Both 
share experiences that make them revere tolerance--that make them 
understand, and fight for--even die--for freedom.
  What is more important?
  It is for us to cherish their legacy and make sure we make it live.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania [Ms. Margolies-Mezvinsky] for participating in this 
special order.
  Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for giving me the opportunity to do so.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Engel].
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis] for yielding to me, and may I, first of all, say that it is a 
pleasure to be a colleague of the gentleman who I certainly read about 
for many years before I ever had the pleasure of meeting with him and 
serving with him, and I said this many times before, and I will say it 
again:
  When we think of a true American hero, the gentleman from Georgia 
[Mr. Lewis] is certainly my idea of a real American hero, someone who 
has really done so much to further justice in this country and someone 
who, despite the way he had been treated, emerged with no sense of 
bitterness or hostility whatsoever.
  I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure to be the 
gentleman's colleague and his friend.
  Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago today three young men, committed to the 
righteous cause of racial justice and equality, were brutally murdered 
while they prepared for the Freedom Summer of 1964 in Mississippi. 
Despite differing backgrounds, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and 
Andrew Goodman shared a strong unwavering commitment to democracy and 
civil rights for all Americans. Their barbaric murders served as a 
solemn, but jarring, reminder of the social and political battles which 
were fought in our Nation's cities, suburbs, and countryside not so 
long ago. Black and white, Jewish people and Christian people, men and 
women worked together toward the fulfillment of common goals, often 
risking their personal safety.
  Recently there has been increased national attention focused on 
certain groups and individuals who denounce the important and shared 
role in an alliance that African-Americans and Jewish-Americans have 
played in our Nation's history. Mr. Speaker, throughout our country's 
history blacks and Jews have shared much and have had much in common. 
Both have been persecuted and have faced discrimination. Both have been 
in the forefront of pushing for social justice and social equality in 
this country and, indeed, the world. Some hatemongers would attempt to 
drive the two groups apart with falsehoods, hatemongering, revisionist 
history and appeals for prejudice, but they will not succeed.
  Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were two Jewish-Americans from 
my city, New York City, and James Chaney was a black man in 
Mississippi. They shared a dream of equality and a better life for all 
Americans, and today, Mr. Speaker, we still share that dream. The 30th 
anniversary of the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman provides 
an historic opportunity to highlight our shared commitment to civil and 
human rights and social justice. The alliance between African-Americans 
and Jewish-Americans in this country has been a strong one and 
continues to be strong because there still is much in common. We must 
continue to work together. All Americans must continue to work together 
toward the betterment of our society for all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis].
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I want to thank my colleague and friend, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Engel], for participating in this special 
order tonight.
  It is now my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. 
Klein].
  Mr. KLEIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis] for yielding to me, but I particularly thank the gentleman for 
his leadership, not only this evening in connection with this special 
order remembering those events of 30 years ago, but, most importantly, 
for his leadership 30 years ago in the cause and the fight for the most 
important and cherished right of all Americans.
  I never participated in the work in Mississippi. I did have the 
privilege, however, of joining with half a million other Americans when 
I heard the great Reverend Martin Luther King say, ``I have a dream,'' 
and I remember that cherished dream, and I know that the three men who 
we remember tonight shared that dream just as a thousand others who 
worked in Mississippi shared that dream, just as millions of other 
Americans throughout our Nation shared that dream. It was a dream and a 
fight for the most precious right that we possess as American citizens, 
the right to vote, the right to determine our own destiny, the right to 
exercise power at the ballot box.

                              {time}  1730

  I think it is particularly fitting that we remember that the 3 people 
who died in Mississippi, one black and two Jews, although they came 
from very different backgrounds and very different heritages, shared a 
common bond, shared a common goal and a common ideal. On this 30th 
anniversary, let their memories serve as a reminder to all Americans 
and a clarion call of what they died for, and that they did not die in 
vain. They died to fight bigotry and hatred wherever it existed. They 
died to ensure that every American could vote and could exercise the 
right at the ballot box. Let all Americans now gather around and 
continue to honor that ideal by exercising their right to vote so that 
the efforts of these 3 men shall not have been in vain.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Georgia, for 
giving me this opportunity to participate in this event.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
New Jersey [Mr. Klein] for participating in this special order.
  Mr. Speaker, in the past three decades, our society has made a great 
deal of progress. Because of the Mississippi freedom summer and the 
sacrifices made by Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner, our Nation is a 
better place. We have witnessed what I like to call a nonviolent 
revolution, a revolution of values, and a revolution of ideas. The 
Mississippi summer project gave many of us hope that the building of an 
interracial democracy was possible even under the most adverse and 
daunting conditions. The civil rights movement instilled in many of us 
the dream that we could through disciplined nonviolent action transform 
this Nation into the beloved community. This has been a conscious goal, 
and, though it may be a distant one, the Mississippi summer project 
strengthened my conviction that we can make that dream a reality.
  Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in 
honoring the memory of three courageous young Americans who, 30 years 
ago today, paid the ultimate price for their belief in a freer, more 
just America--Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Mickey Schwerner.
  As an activist myself during that era, I attended the famous march on 
Washington in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous ``I 
Have a Dream'' speech and I also marched in Selma, AL. During freedom 
summer of 1964, I well remember the shock waves sent through our entire 
community at the news of the terrible fate met by these three young 
men.
  In the midst of the horror and outrage we felt at the news of the 
murders, there also emerged a great sense of determination that these 
young lives would not have been given in vain--that the movement for 
freedom and justice would march forward. The sacrifice that these young 
men made, their unwavering commitment and idealism, sustained us 
through many dark days and we remembered them with special gratitude in 
times of victory.
  As we pay tribute to these three brave Americans today, let us pledge 
never to forget the lessons they left us. Let us never underestimate 
the right to vote and to participate in the political process. The door 
which is open now was once boarded shut for millions of Americans.

  Let us also remember the lesson these young men taught us about the 
value of friendship between people of all backgrounds committed to a 
common cause. In a time when there is too much division and mistrust 
among groups in our Nation, we should reflect upon these three young 
men, two Jewish and one African American, united by the bonds of 
friendship and a common passion for justice.
  Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner remain true 
American heroes. They undertook a dangerous and ultimately deadly 
mission to ensure that all of their fellow citizens, regardless of 
race, would be guaranteed the basic rights of democracy. Mr. Speaker, 
let us honor their memory and renew our commitment to the ideals for 
which they sacrificed their precious young lives.
  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, today, June 21, 1994, marks the 30th 
anniversary of the murder of three civil rights pioneers: Andrew 
Goodman, Mickey Schwerner, and James Chaney.
  It was the summer of 1964. Waves of college students gathered 
together in Mississippi to join other civil rights groups in the summer 
project of 1964. This project established schools, clinics, and voter 
registration programs. The purpose of this project was to assist 
African-Americans in exercising their voting power.
  Shortly after the project began three civil rights workers, two 
Jewish and one African-American, came together to help create a better 
society for future generations. Mickey Schwerner, a 24-year-old Jewish-
American, arrived in Meridian, MS 6 months before the project began in 
order to set up community centers to help African-Americans with the 
democratic process. James Chaney, a 21 year old African-American, was a 
native of Meridian and had been active in civil rights movement for the 
majority of his life. Andrew Goodman, a student of Oxford University, 
met Chaney and Schwerner at a training session for volunteers in 
Oxford, OH on the 19th of June. On the 20th they rode to Meridian, MS 
together. On the 21st they were murdered.
  The trio set out on Sunday, June 21, 1964, to investigate the burning 
of a church in Neshoba County. As they headed back home, a deputy of 
Neshoba County stopped them under the guise of a speeding charge. They 
spent 5 hours in jail and were released late that night. The men were 
then led into a trap of blood-thirsty klansmen and bigoted police 
officers, including the town sheriff. Goodman and Schwerner each 
received a bullet to the chest at point blank range. Chaney, however, 
was shot three times. We don't know whether he was punished more for 
his skin color or his relentless struggle. What we do know is that Mr. 
Chaney was shot once in the abdomen, once in the back, and a final shot 
to the head.
  Three men from different backgrounds came together for one common 
goal that summer of 1964. To promote justice and equality of all 
individuals. They worked together, suffered together, and gave their 
lives together so that we all could stand today and participate in the 
democratic process that is every American's birthright. Their lives 
symbolize the dream of unity among all citizens of this Nation, 
regardless of race, religion, and culture.
  Now, I ask that we all remember the courage and dedication of 
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. Let this commemoration of their lives 
inspire us to dedicate our lives to the ideas of justice, equality, 
citizenship, and community.
  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues, my good 
friend from Georgia, John Lewis, and the distinguished gentleman from 
Massachusetts, Barney Frank, for reserving this special order. I join 
them for this hour which is dedicated to three individuals who, even in 
memory, continue to embody the struggle for civil rights in this 
country.
  Thirty years ago today, on June 21, 1964, Andrew Goodman, James 
Chaney and Mickey Schwerner were brutally murdered in rural Neshoba 
County, MI. On that day, these three young men--two Jews and one 
African American--gave their lives for the cause of freedom.
  We know their lynchings marked a turning point in the civil rights 
movement, as the names Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were splashed 
across newspapers and television screens throughout America. For many 
of us who were a part of the civil rights movement, this brutal act of 
violence is as vivid in our minds today as it was 30 years ago.
  We recall that even as the search intensified for evidence in the 
disappearance of these young men, here in Washington, ceremonies were 
underway to mark President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the landmark 
Civil Rights Act of 1964. When the murder case unfolded in Mississippi, 
no fewer than 21 individuals, ranging from a 17-year-old gas station 
attendant, to a 71-year-old retired police officer, were implicated in 
the plot to murder the young volunteers.
  Mr. Speaker, the cause which drove these young men to work together 
for freedom is well known. Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were part of 
the Mississippi summer project, a campaign which brought college 
students to Mississippi in an effort to register black voters. The 
slogan for the project was, ``If you can crack Mississippi, you can 
crack the south.''
  We know the job undertaken by these young men, and many other like 
them, was not an easy one. Like most of the South during that period, 
the State of Mississippi was hostile, filled with racial tension, and 
extremely resistant to change. Yet, hundreds of dedicated students 
immersed themselves in these settings in the hopes of bringing about 
positive change. The young men we honor this evening paid the ultimate 
sacrifice for their belief that others were entitled to a better life.
  Mr. Speaker, when we reflect upon the interwoven lives of Goodman, 
Chaney and Schwerner, we are reminded of the unique partnership that 
existed between the black and Jewish communities during the struggle 
for civil rights in America. We are reminded that blacks and Jews 
marched on Selma, participated in sit-ins and demonstrations, and, in 
many instances, gave their lives for freedom. During that turbulent 
period, we recognized that fact that the only way to eradicate 
inequality and injustice was by working together.
  The need for a continued close working relationship between the black 
and Jewish community is just as critical in today's world. We must be 
mindful that forces exist that would rather tear apart a historical 
partnership than build upon a relationship that has successfully 
benefitted both races.
  Mr. Speaker, the deaths of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey 
Schwerner, mark a pivotal event in our Nation's history. I commend my 
colleagues for bringing us together, not only to remember these young 
men, but to remind us of the lesson symbolized by their deaths.

                          ____________________