[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO JUDGE RONALD DAVIES

 Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, in recent weeks we have mourned the 
passage of two great Americans, former Senator and Secretary of State 
Edmund Muskie, and Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown.
  However, little note was given to the passage of another man whose 
contribution to America's history and future may rival those of the 
better known men mentioned above.
  I refer to Judge Ronald Davies, who died in Fargo, ND, April 18.
  Appointed to the Federal bench in 1955 by President Eisenhower, Judge 
Davies served the Federal judicial district of North Dakota for 35 
years. But his career will be remembered most by a decision he handed 
down nearly four decades ago.
  In September 1957, Judge Davies was called to Arkansas to make a 
difficult ruling--one that has changed America forever. Mr. President, 
on September 7, 1957, Judge Ronald Davies of North Dakota ordered the 
immediate integration of the Little Rock, AR school system.
  What followed that ruling was, and is, history. Many angry white 
residents of Little Rock, incited by anti-integrationists such as Gov. 
Orville Faubus, opposed the order and kept their children home from 
school. They vowed to keep African-American children out of the all-
white high school--by violent force, if necessary. President Eisenhower 
responded by ordering Federal troops to Arkansas to keep order and 
escort the nine young African-American students to Little Rock's 
Central High School.
  That decision, Mr. President, by a North Dakota judge in an Arkansas 
courtroom, began a new era of race relations in America. No longer were 
separate but equal schools--which were always separate but seldom 
equal--good enough in America. All citizens were entitled to equal 
treatment under the law, and that included an equal opportunity in 
public education.
  Today, Mr. President, race relations in this country are far from 
ideal. However, few of us can imagine a return to the legalized 
segregation that existed before Judge Davies made his ruling in 1957.
  Judge Davies was buried Monday, April 22, in Fargo. North Dakota lost 
a man of courage and conviction. America lost a piece of its history.
  To the 5 children and 20 grandchildren he leaves behind, I send my 
deepest condolences, and our country sends her thanks. 

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