[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING ARNOLD ARONSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RONALD V. DELLUMS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 11, 1997

  Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 87th 
birthday of Arnold Aronson, an ardent crusader for civil rights. Arnold 
Aronson's distinguished career in civil rights transcends several 
generations including Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Mr. Aronson, with 
Roy Wilkins launched the National Emergency Civil Rights Mobilization, 
an organization, which later became known as the Leadership Conference 
on Civil Rights. This civil rights organization marched on Washington 
to protest intolerable race-based injustices and lobbied for greater 
civil rights protections for Black Americans. Arnold Aronson drafted a 
report assessing needs of Black Americans which later became the 1957 
Civil Rights Act.
  While at the helm of the Leadership Conference for the first 13 years 
of its origin, this champion of civil rights also was the program 
director of the National Jewish Community Relations. Throughout his 
activist career, Aronson allied the Jewish and Black communities in the 
struggle for civil rights. He is one of the original 10 organizers and 
leaders of the 1963 March on Washington. A tremendous amount of 
legislation was initiated under his direction at the Leadership 
Conference. Most notably included are the 1957 and 1964 Civil Rights 
Acts, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
  In the early days of the Leadership Conference, Mr. Aronson worked 
closely with my uncle, C.L. Dellums, and A. Phillip Randolph the 
legendary president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, to 
prompt President Roosevelt to issue an Executive order which barred 
discrimination on the basis of race, creed, or national origin in any 
war-related industries.
  I proudly join with others to salute the efforts of Arnold Aronson to 
bring civility to the United States through positive action. To date 
Arnold Aronson is an active member of the Leadership Conference. 
Largely due to Mr. Aronson's perseverance and coalition building, 
today's Leadership Conference includes nearly 200 organizations and 
continues to confront all fronts of racial, religious, national origin, 
gender and sexual orientation bigotry and discriminations.

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