[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 103 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S7778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HANLEY JAMES NORMENT

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise today to salute Mr. Hanley 
Norment, a great civil rights leader and dedicated family man who died 
Thursday, July 10, 1997.
  In 1966, Hanley James Norment came to Washington and a year later, he 
became a civil rights officer with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 
About that time, he started volunteering on the local level, rising 
from director of media relations to president of the Montgomery County 
branch of the NAACP. Mr. Norment's political and professional successes 
were a direct measure of his character. He was an unselfish man, one 
who put aside the personal for the common good. As his son, Julian, 
commented, Regardless of philosophical differences, he got along with 
you, he respected your opinions.
  Throughout the course of his career as a civil rights leader, Hanley 
Norment relentlessly championed educational causes, pushing for higher 
standards and equal opportunities for all children, regardless of race. 
He knew firsthand the value of a good education. Born in Marianna, AR 
on January 16, 1932, to Ruby and Samuel Norment, Hanley received his 
early education in the Arkansas public school system in the Jim Crow 
era. Undaunted by the circumstances of time and place, Norment earned 
two B.A. degrees and nearly finished a doctoral degree in political 
science at the University of Michigan. He used his talents and 
knowledge generously. For more than 20 years, he tutored individual 
students through various organizations such as the Alpha Phi Alpha 
fraternity and the NAACP.
  Mr. Norment was extremely proud of the contributions of his wife, 
Christa, former principal of Montgomery Knolls Elementary School in 
Silver Spring, MD, to the field of education. Their children, Camille 
and Julian, continue the family tradition of academic achievement and 
public service. Camille is pursuing her second master's degree at New 
York University and I am proud to have Julian working on my Washington 
staff. The fruit does not fall far from the tree.
  Mr. Norment retired in September as director of the Office of Civil 
Rights at the U.S. Department of Transportation. At the time of his 
tragic death, he was president of the Maryland State Conference NAACP 
branches. Hanley James Norment fought the good fight, finished the 
course, and kept the faith. We all feel his loss.

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