[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H4913-H4917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SELMA TO MONTGOMERY NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1129) to amend the National Trails Systems Act to designate
the route from Selma to Montgomery as a national historic trail, as
amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1129
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C.
1244(a)) is amended by adding at the end thereof the
following new paragraph:
``( ) The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail,
consisting of 54 miles of city streets and United States
Highway 80 from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma to the
State Capitol Building in Montgomery, Alabama, traveled by
voting rights advocates during March 1965 to dramatize the
need for voting rights legislation, as generally described in
the report of the Secretary of the Interior prepared pursuant
to subsection (b) of this section entitled `Selma to
Montgomery' and dated April 1993. Maps depicting the route
shall be on file and available for public inspection in the
Office of the National Park Service, Department of the
Interior. The trail shall be administered in accordance with
this Act, including section 7(h). The Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the National Park Service, which
shall be the lead Federal agency, shall cooperate with other
Federal, State and local authorities to preserve historic
sites along the route, including (but not limited to) the
Edmund Pettus Bridge and the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah [Mr. Hansen] and the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Richardson]
will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen].
(Mr. HANSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1129 designates the route from Selma to Montgomery,
AL, as a national historic trail. This route is the site of one of the
most significant protest demonstrations of the modern civil rights
movements, which led directly to the passage of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965. The National Park Service, pursuant to a previous act of
Congress, has studied the trail and found that it merits designation as
a national historic trail. It is important to note that the National
Park Service felt the events which took place at this site were so
significant that it warranted waiving the customary 50-year waiting
period for designation of historic sites.
The language including in the bill by the subcommittee makes it clear
that by enactment of this legislation, Congress will not be
establishing the Selma to Montgomery Trail as a new unit of the
National Park System. Only 2 of the approximately 15 congressionally
designated trails are currently units of the park system. However, the
definition of what constitutes a unit of the park system is so unclear,
that the other trails could be easily added at a later date by
administrative action. In this case, there are no Federal lands in the
area, and it makes good sense of the NPS to work with other co-
operators in the administration of this trail. It is important to point
out that in making this amendment, it is not my intention that this
trail should receive any less financial or administrative support than
any other trail where the NPS currently serves as the lead agency.
This is an important bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H4914]]
(Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis], the hero of the civil rights
struggle, the author of this bill.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that I am pleased
and delighted to stand here today as this bill is voted on. I want to
thank the Chairman Young and Chairman Hansen for their support of this
bill. I also want to thank the ranking members of the committee, Mr.
Miller and Mr. Richardson. I also want to recognize Mr. Hilliard who
represents Selma and Montgomery. I also want to recognize Mr. Vento for
all of his help since we began this process. I want to thank all of you
for your help and support.
This bill is very important to me and to many others. I believe that
designating the route from Selma to Montgomery as a National Historic
Trail is very fitting and appropriate. The march from Selma to
Montgomery was a turning point in the journey to the Voting Rights Act
of 1965. It was a long and difficult journey.
Before the civil rights movement, most blacks in the South could not
vote. There were certain political subdivisions in the South--from
Virginia to Texas--where 50 to 80 percent of the population was black,
but there was not a single black registered voter. The few who were
allowed to register were harassed, intimidated, and even beaten when
they tried to exercise their precious right to vote.
In Lowndes County, AL, between Selma and Montgomery, the county was
more than 80 percent black, and there was not a single registered black
voter. In Selma, the county seat of majority black Dallas County, only
2.1 percent of voting age blacks were registered to vote.
So, to dramatize the need for voting rights legislation, a peaceful,
nonviolent march from Selma to Montgomery was planned.
On Sunday, March 7, 1965, in the afternoon, a group of people left
the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, walking in two's. It was a silent,
nonviolent, peaceful protest, walking through the streets of Selma.
When we reached the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, we saw a sea of
blue--Alabama State troopers. The Governor of Alabama, at that time,
George Wallace, had issued a statement the day before saying the march
would not be allowed. The sheriff of Dallas County, a man by the name
of Jim Clark, on the night before the march, had requested that all
white men over the age of 21 come down to the Dallas County Courthouse
to be deputized to become part of his posse to stop the march.
As we cross over the bridge on that Sunday afternoon, we faced the
State troopers and a man identified himself and said:
I am Major John Cloud of the Alabama State Troopers. I give
you 3 minutes to disperse and go back to your church. This is
an unlawful march, and it will not be allowed to continue.
In less than 1\1/2\ minutes, Major John Cloud said, ``Troopers
advance,'' and we saw the troopers put on their gas masks. They came
toward us, beating us with nightsticks, bullwhips, trampling us with
horses, and using tear gas.
That day became known as Bloody Sunday. There was a sense of
righteous indignation all across the country. People could not
understand what they saw on television and read in the paper.
Two days later, the marchers, joined by religious leaders from around
the country, made a second attempt but turned back to avoid more
bloodshed. After that march, a young white minister from Boston, James
Reed, was beaten by the Klan and later died.
One week later, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the Nation and
called for passage of the Voting Rights Act. He said:
I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of
democracy. At times, history and fate meet at a single time
in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending
search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it
was a century ago in Appomattox. And so it was last week in
Selma, Alabama.
It was one of the most moving speeches I ever heard an American
President make.
Finally, on March 21, 1965, the marchers were allowed to proceed.
However, during that week of marching, Viola Liuzzo, a housewife from
Detroit, was shot and killed.
As a direct result of these events, the Voting Rights Act was signed
into law on August 6, 1965.
The history along this route is precious. It is imperative that we
preserve and interpret this history. Even more than 30 years later,
standing at the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge is a powerful
experience. The trail reminds us of where we were in 1965 and how far
we have come as a Nation and as a people.
Today, too few people cherish the right to vote. In the 1992
Presidential election, only 56 percent of the voting age population
voted. In 1994, in the congressional elections, only 38 percent voted.
This trail will remind people that Americans--black and white, young
and old, from the North and South--shedded blood. Some even gave their
lives--to win the right for every American to vote.
It is my hope and belief that the history told along this trail will
inspire more people to become involved in the democratic process.
By designating the route from Selma to Montgomery as a national
historic trail, we will help educate and remind people of the right and
responsibility to vote. We will also give well-deserved recognition to
the men and women who sacrificed so much for voting rights for all
Americans.
So I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill to designate the trail
and help preserve the important sites along the trail for future
generations.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I hope the body realizes the gentleman from
Georgia was actually there and part of it, so it is a very historic
time for the gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Alabama [Mr. Hilliard], in whose district we are celebrating today.
Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, of course we realize that this fantastic
event took place about 50 years ago. This is a bill that would help
memorialize this event and give it some national historical impact so
that everyone will be able to realize that it is a part of history. I
wish to thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for his
forethought and his tenacity in continuing this effort to make this
bill one that will pay recognition to all of those who marched with him
from Selma to Montgomery.
The communities of Selma and Montgomery began this project years ago
in recognition of the importance of this 50-mile stretch from the steps
of Brown Chapel in Selma to the Alabama State Capitol Building. The
struggle of those brave men and women, numbering almost 25,000 near the
end, inspired this Nation and in fact inspired this Congress to start
righting the wrongs of the past. That journey has already begun and
significant progress has been made. Today we hope to reaffirm that
progress by remembering the beginning.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we show all Americans, as well as
visitors to our great Nation, our belief in those who came before us
and for what they did. This trail will cement a place in history for
the leaders of our movement. Selma and Montgomery will become
historical designations, along with Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and even
Washington, DC, to be surveyed by historians in the future. They will
come and study. Hopefully they will learn about our mistakes so that
those mistakes will never be repeated again, so that the future will be
able to be from those mistakes what it ought to be and what we hope it
to be.
Mr. Speaker, by allowing this vote, we have demonstrated an awareness
and appreciation for this cause. In passing this bill, we grant these
communities the means by which to carry out their mission of
commemorating the past and honoring the men and women who brought us a
better future.
I am very happy to serve in Congress not only with John Lewis, who
marched behind Dr. King and who became a part of history and who made
this country what it is today. Hopefully with this bill we will be able
to commemorate an event that has a significant place in our national
history.
[[Page H4915]]
{time} 1445
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
California [Mr. Filner].
Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time
to me, and I rise in strong support of designating the road from Selma
to Montgomery as a national historic trail. I thank the gentleman for
allowing the bill to come to a vote, the bill sponsored by the
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] and the gentleman from Alabama [Mr.
Hilliard].
We have a lot to thank people from 30 years ago. I was working in
Washington at that time right across the street at the Library of
Congress. I could not believe what I saw on television, saw the
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] and others beaten badly, saw the
sacrifices that were made, and turned to my colleagues and said what is
going on there? All people are asking for are equal rights, the right
to vote, the most precious vote, the most precious freedom that we
have.
So several of us said that sacrifices that those people were making
in Alabama deserve support from people all around the Nation. Thousands
of people joined them. I joined the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis]
a few miles outside of Montgomery. Thousands of people marched into
Montgomery. It was an incredible testimony to people who saw that
democracy could be made better in this Nation, that the right to vote
was something literally that one struggled to die for.
That march, as we know, bore great fruit; the Voting Rights Act was
passed a few months later, resulting in the largest increase in
democratic rights in this country in about 50 years.
We have, as I said, Mr. Speaker, a lot to thank for the sacrifices
that those at the Edmond Pettus Bridge, as the gentleman from Georgia
[Mr. Lewis] was at, for sparking all of us into a consciousness and a
realization of what was going on. That march, I think, inspired
democracy all over this Nation because it showed that people taking
direct action could, in fact, move Congress, and in different
Congresses, to taking the right and moral actions.
So, we designate this trail from Selma to Montgomery as a national
monument, we dedicate that trail to the lives of people who were
sacrificed, we dedicate ourselves and recommit ourselves to the
democracy to which they took action, and we will remember that terrible
price that people had to pay for all of us to have democracy in this
Nation, for all of us to have the right to vote, and we have to remind
all of us every time.
So, Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for allowing us to rededicate
ourselves to increasing democracy in America for all our citizens.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland [Mr. Cummings].
(Mr. CUMMINGS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Mexico for
yielding this time to me, and I commend his work and leadership on this
piece of legislation.
Mr. Speaker, the trail that Dr. Martin Luther King walked when he led
a march for black voting rights in 1965 is as meaningful as the route
Paul Revere took when he rode through Boston, it is as historic and
symbolic as the expedition led by Lewis and Clark. I am pleased that
the Selma to Montgomery path has been recognized as a national historic
trail. This trail is a testament to the courage that Dr. King and the
civil rights marchers exemplified. It will stand as a monument to their
tireless efforts to provide and extend fundamental civil rights to all
Americans regardless of their gender, race or creed.
The young people in my district of Baltimore and across this great
country will walk the steps of these civil rights marchers. They will
cross the Edmond Pettus Bridge, and they will remember the blood, sweat
and tears and determination that the marchers embodied so that all
generations will enjoy freedoms and rights that the Founders of this
great Nation envisioned.
The route from Selma to Montgomery, Mr. Speaker, is 54 miles long.
Each step that Dr. King and the marchers took brought freedom closer.
In 1965 freedom was 54 miles away. Today the distance is shorter, but
there are still civil rights injustices to overcome. It is my sincere
hope that one day there will be no distance between the citizens of
this great country, that all will be afforded basic enumerated freedoms
without prejudice.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the swift passage of this bill and am hopeful
that we in the Congress of the United States of America will recognize
the need to provide full funding for this historic and important
landmark.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend, the
gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds].
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time. I had not intended to speak; I am not one to speak very often on
the floor, but when I heard the words of our colleague from Georgia, I
simply had to rise to pay tribute to him as a leader in that march and
in that movement and to pay tribute to the gentleman from Utah who
pointed out the historical significance of what the gentleman from
Georgia and what his colleagues did at that time.
I was a young person also, like my colleague from California, working
in Washington at the time. I was among many hundreds from Washington
who chartered a train to go from Union Station to Montgomery. Some of
my colleagues may remember that train was stopped in Atlanta, and the
crew walked off when they discovered why it was we were headed to
Alabama, and they were promptly ordered back on by the Attorney General
of the United States, Robert Kennedy, and for a young white man who had
grown up in an overwhelmingly, almost totally, white environment in New
England, it was, to put it mildly, an eye opener. For the first time in
my life to feel safe only in the company of black people and to have
spent two nights in a black church in the outskirts of Montgomery and
to make the final 2 days of that walk into the city led by men such as
Martin Luther King and our colleague from Georgia was an extraordinary
experience.
I hope Members understand that in this Hall, where language is so
often cheapened and demeaned and overused and where there is a shortage
of masters of the spoken word, that we are in the presence of one
gentleman from Georgia, that these words are real, and they are
historic.
I would also finally close by citing the gentleman from Maryland, our
newest Member here, who pointed out that the chapters of civil rights,
there are some that still remain to be written, and I want to pay a
particular tribute again to the gentleman from Georgia, who has focused
not only on the struggle over the centuries of his own race and people
of color, it was 102 years after President Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation that that bridge was crossed, literally and
figuratively, and that march was made and that bill was signed.
Fourteen years after that, I would just say to my colleagues, the
first march on Washington for lesbian and gay rights occurred, and I
was a Member of Congress, and I was too frightened to even go near it.
A lot has changed; there is still a chapter to be written.
I would like to pay special tribute to the gentleman from Georgia
[Mr. Lewis] for being a champion and leader in that fight as well. All
of these fights belong to all of us, and I hail the gentleman from
Georgia and those who have been with him.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
American Samoa [Mr. Faleomavaega].
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I first would like certainly to
commend the gentleman from Utah, the chairman of the Subcommittee on
National Parks and Public Lands, for his leadership and working
cooperatively with the Members of this side of the aisle, for bringing
this very important piece of legislation for the Members to consider
and approve. I also offer my commendation to the gentleman from New
Mexico, who is our ranking member of the subcommittee, but certainly
the author of the legislation now before us, the gentleman from
Georgia.
I want to say to my colleagues that 6 years ago I was, along with
other Members of the Congress, going to Selma, AL, to commemorate the
25th anniversary of that historic march that took
[[Page H4916]]
place in 1965. Mr. Speaker, I realize that coming from the other part
of the world, I guess those islands out there in the Pacific are
somewhat isolated at times, where we out in the Pacific do not seem to
know what is going on in the continental United States. But seeing the
extent of what had happened in watching this on television and seeing
that one of our Members here, as the author of this very important
legislation who participated in this important march knows, I want to
share with my colleagues that one of the most spiritual experiences I
have had was going down there to Selma, AL, and participating in a
church service of that little chapel where it all started. All I was
thinking of was the great and the late Martin Luther King, Jr., the
advocate and certainly the leader of that momentous occasion and where
our own Member, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] was part of that
great march, and I hope that every Member of this Chamber will have an
opportunity to go to Selma, AL, and see what it was like and to feel
the problems and inequities that existed in the civil rights, not only
of our black brothers and sisters, but certainly for all Americans. I
think this is what this legislation is all about, to serve as a
reminder that there are inequities despite what it says in the
Constitution. We still have problems that are human, and as I certainly
endorse the comments made by the gentleman from Massachusetts, we need
to look a little deeper in terms of the problems that we still face in
this Nation.
Again I commend the gentlemen from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for sponsoring
this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I
commend the gentlemen from Georgia and New Mexico, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
(Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, we have heard orally the courage of men
like the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] today, but graphically,
too. I would like to commend to my colleagues the National Trail Study
that was done by the Park Service, Selma to Montgomery, and there are
captions in this book that capture what we are doing here today. There
is a photograph, 1965, Selma, highway patrolmen attack John Lewis, and
other peaceful marchers, with clubs and tear gas on Bloody Sunday,
March 7, 1965, UPI photo.
Mr. Speaker, what we are doing here is marking an important
historical event for this country, a significant milestone in the civil
rights movement. This was the impetus for the Voting Rights Act; again
the hero of the Voting Rights Act, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr.
Lewis], and it is only fitting that we commemorate this event with this
trail study, and I want to commend the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen]
for the speed with which he undertook this legislation.
It is also fitting that the sponsor of this important legislation is
the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis], probably an authentic hero here
in the U.S. Congress before he came to Congress and now also as a
Member of this body.
When the civil rights marchers were attacked on the Edmond Pettus
Bridge on March 7, 1965, John was there suffering serious injury at the
hands of law enforcement officials, and what the Nation saw that day, a
day that has been known as Bloody Sunday, had a profound effect on
American society. The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] and the many
other marchers, men and women like the gentleman from California [Mr.
Filner] and others, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds],
remembering the impact that this day had on him, has been an
inspiration to us all.
Mr. Speaker, although 31 years have passed since the march, time has
not diminished the importance of this event. Rather its importance
continues to grow. The National Historical Trail designation contained
in this bill will provide an ongoing tribute to the struggle for voting
rights in this country. It will also help serve to educate new
generations to the work of men like the gentleman from Georgia [Mr.
Lewis] and others in standing up for our most basis freedoms.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the unanimous support of this House for this
historic bill.
Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
for H.R. 1129, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the
route from Selma to Montgomery, AL, as a national historic trail.
For the moment let us forget the fact that this bill meets all the
criteria for historic trail designation under the National Trails
System Act of 1968, and instead, let me focus on the extraordinary
significance of that historic march led by one of the world's greatest
advocates for human and civil rights, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
On March 7, 1965, as Dr. King attempted to lead a voting rights march
from Selma to Montgomery, AL, he was confronted by a sheriff's posse
and State troopers on the Edmond Pettus Bridge. After first blocking
the path of the marchers, law enforcement officials drove the marchers
from the bridge in an attack which we now know as Bloody Sunday.
A later march was scheduled to afford Dr. King and others with
Federal protection by an order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. On
August 6, 1965, less than 5 months after the Selma to Montgomery march,
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law.
While this 54-mile route remains essentially unchanged from its
appearance in 1965, its impact has dramatically altered the American
political landscape. This march illustrated to Congress and to all
America that after almost a century blacks were still being denied the
right to vote in most southern States or parts of these States.
When this 1965 law was enacted, the States of Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia,
were still using the literacy test as a mean-spirited device to
restrict black voting. Since their emancipation from slavery, blacks
have encountered both public and private resistance to their efforts to
exercise their rights as citizens and members of the American
community. The right to vote has always ranked high on the list of
disenfranchised Americans, even though throughout the years, to
exercise this right, for blacks, was often met with violence.
Mr. Speaker, had Dr. King and many others not made that historic and
dangerous walk from Selma to Montgomery, perhaps I would not be
standing before this body today. And, perhaps, neither would any of my
distinguished African-American colleagues, women, and other minorities
be here either.
Historic trail designation has more typically been associated with
westward expansion and exploration. We have blazed this trail of human
rights. Existing criteria require that in order to determine that an
event or building is historically significant, it be at least 50 years
old or of extraordinary significance. How much more extraordinary can
this event be perceived before it is given its due? The National Park
Service recommends the trail be designated by Congress. Therefore,
given this recommendation, given the blood that was shed for American
civil rights, Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle to vote in favor of H.R. 1129, designating the route from
Selma to Montgomery, AL, to be a national historic trail.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend and
support the commemoration of this Nation's civil rights movement
through the designation of a national historic trail.
This legislation will recognize a turning point in the history of
this country's struggle for civil rights. The well-documented story of
how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began a peaceful and historic march
for black voting rights from Selma, AL, on March 7, 1965, can be
appreciated by each of us. We know that when the marchers attempted to
leave Selma they were beaten by law enforcement officers as they
crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Two weeks later, under the protection of the Alabama National Guard,
Dr. King was able to lead the march successfully, and in August of that
same year President Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of
1965.
This legislation will make a 54-mile route, beginning at the Brown
Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and ending at the State Capitol Building
in Montgomery, a part of the National Historic Trail Registry.
With the support of this body, generations to come can know and
appreciate those early steps in the civil rights movement that began
the road to making the Constitution of this country extend its rights
and protections to all of its citizens. For some this will be freedom
at last. Freedom from that bloody day to the recognition of today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Combest). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen] that the House suspend
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1129, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof)
[[Page H4917]]
the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________