[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1688-E1689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION'S 70TH ANNUAL CONVENTION

                                 ______


                          HON. ROBERT C. SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 4, 1995
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
congratulate the members of the National Bar Association and outgoing 
President H.T. Smith, as they convene this week in Baltimore, MD. The 
theme of the NBA's 70th Annual Convention is ``Economic and Political 
Empowerment, Justice for Our Time.''
  During the first quarter of the 20th century, 12 African-American 
pioneers with a mutual interest and dedication to justice and the civil 
rights of all, helped structure the legal struggle of the African-
American race in America. The National Bar Association [NBA], formally 
organized in Des Moines, IA, on August 1, 1925, was conceived by George 
H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, Gertrude E. Rush, James B. Morris, Charles P. 
Howard, Sr., Wendell E. Green, C. Francis Stradford, Jesse N. Baker, 
William H. Haynes, George C. Adams, Charles H. Calloway, and L. Amasa 
Knox.
  When the NBA was organized in 1925, less than 120 belonged to the 
association. By 1945, there were nearly 250 members representing 25 
percent of the African-American members of the bar. Today, the NBA is 
the Nation's oldest and largest national association of predominantly 
African-American lawyers and judges. It has 79 affiliate chapters 
throughout the Nation and represents a network of over 16,000 lawyers, 
judges, and law students.
  In its 70 year history, the National Bar Association has been at the 
forefront of the battle for increasing access to legal representation 
for all citizens. Legions of African-American lawyers affiliated with 
the NBA ushered in the rule of law through the turbulent 1920's through 
the 1950's. African-American lawyers such as Judge James A. Cobb, T. 
Gillis Nutter, and Ashbie Hawkins fought the famous segregation case of 
Louisville and the Covenant cases of the District of Columbia. In 

[[Page E1689]]

1940, when the number of African-American lawyers barely exceeded 1,000 
nationwide, the NBA attempted to establish ``free legal clinics in all 
cities with a `colored' population of 5,000 or more.'' The NBA was only 
25 years old when the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in Brown 
versus Board of Education. This decision culminated a long struggle by 
African-American lawyers such as Thurgood Marshall, the first African-
American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and U.S. District Court Judge 
Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American female Federal 
judge.
  In the 1980's, the NBA was signatory on two amicus curiae briefs in 
cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court: a title VII case in which a 
female associate brought suit against a large law firm and the justices 
ruled that partnership decisions must comply with Federal employment 
discrimination laws; and a brief protesting the criminal contempt 
conviction of Howard Moore, Jr., a nationally prominent civil rights 
attorney cited for criminal contempt and fined $5,000 on the basis of a 
single question asked of a witness to determine racial bias during his 
cross-examination in the case. The conviction of Mr. Moore, if allowed
 to stand, would have had a chilling effect upon the African-American 
lawyer's right to fairly and strenuously advocate on behalf of his 
client.

  In recent years, the membership of the National Bar Association have 
been concerned with a wide range of projects:
  Conducted commercial law seminars in urban centers throughout the 
U.S. pursuant to a grant from the Minority Business Development Agency, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.
  Condemned South African apartheid and called for immediate economic 
sanctions against this racist regime.
  Held the first national black-on-black crime conference.
  Launched the NBA minority bar involvement project, with funding from 
the Legal Services Corporation, which awarded grants to 12 subgrantee 
organizations for the delivery of pro bono or reduced legal fee 
services.
  Cosponsored a voting rights conference with Operation PUSH and the 
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which was aimed at mapping litigation and 
enforcement strategies.
  The National Bar Association deserves to be commended for its efforts 
as they continue to labor in the vineyard for equal justice under the 
law. Members of the NBA serve their communities as judges, legislators, 
and public servants. Today, I congratulate the National Bar Association 
and its membership for their leadership role in the legal profession 
and their respective communities across the country.


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