[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1845
               THE LIFE OF MS. JEWEL LAFONTANT MANKARIOUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tiahrt). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Davis] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as the Chicago Sun Times put it, 
``A jewel has died.'' That is Jewel Lafontant Makarious. I rise to pay 
tribute to a great woman, a great lady, a great Chicagoan, an 
accomplished lawyer, civil rights advocate, a great American, friend of 
Presidents and mother of John Rogers who is President of the Chicago 
Park District and President of Ariel Mutual Funds.
  Active in Republican politics, Mrs. Mankarious was a close friend of 
Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Bush. She was a longtime civil rights 
activist and broke down barriers for blacks and women in both 
government and corporate America.
  During the Eisenhower administration, she was assistant U.S. 
Attorney, the first black woman to hold that post. She was a good 
friend of Richard Nixon and seconded his nomination for President at 
the Republican National Convention in 1960. In 1972, she became the 
Deputy Solicitor General in the Justice Department and later served as 
U.S. Ambassador at Large for 4 years in the Bush administration and 
finished her government career as Coordinator of Refugee Affairs.
  Her longtime friend, George Johnson, founder and chairman of Johnson 
Products, described her this way:

       She gave her legal services to the downtrodden people who 
     could not fight for themselves. She fought for people who 
     could not fight the system. She was a wonderful woman of 
     great accomplishments.

  Mrs. Lafontant was a trial lawyer, recognized for being one of the 
best. She was a founding member of the Congress of Racial Equality, 
participated in demonstrations and sit-ins. By 1969, she had sat on the 
board of 15 major corporations, including Jewel Foods, Mobile Oil and 
Trans World Airlines. She held office in the NAACP and was on the board 
of the American Civil Liberties Union.
  I express my condolences to her son, John Rogers, and his family, and 
to her husband, Mr. Naguib Mankarious.
  The Chicago Sun Times is indeed correct, she was indeed a jewel. 
America has benefited greatly from her life and her contributions. The 
annals of history will always remember the impact of Jewel Lafontant 
Mankarious.

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