[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         JAMES FARMER AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

 Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, while this Congress was in recess, 
the President of the United States awarded the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom, our country's highest civilian honor, to James Farmer. The 
Medal was given to Mr. Farmer on January 15, 1998, the birthday of the 
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., in a symbolic gesture that reminded 
us again of the value of freedom, and the debt we owe those who 
sacrificed greatly for racial equality in America.
  Mr. President, James Farmer was one of the six major civil rights 
leaders of the civil rights era, joining A. Philip Randolph, Roy 
Wilkins, Whitney Young, John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. He 
helped establish, and later lead, the Congress of Racial Equality 
(CORE). He was the father of the famous Freedom Rides through the 
South. He organized and inspired. He placed himself in great personal 
danger again and again. Today, he teaches civil rights history to some 
very lucky students at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, 
Virginia.
  Last year, I was pleased to join Congressman John Lewis and others in 
asking that the President award the Medal of Freedom to James Farmer. 
Last month, Lynda and I were privileged to be at the White House when 
President Clinton officially presented the Medal to Mr. Farmer.
  Before the White House ceremony, Congressman Lewis and I prepared a 
tribute to James Farmer, which I ask be printed in the Record following 
my remarks today. In this tribute, we thank James Farmer for a lifetime 
of fighting for racial equality in America. We challenge our nation to 
continue to learn from this great American hero--to continue to reach 
for a truly colorblind society--to finally lay down the burden of 
race.

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