[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 143 (Sunday, October 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LITTLE ROCK NINE MEDALS AND COINS ACT

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                               speech of

                        HON. HAROLD E. FORD, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 9, 1998

  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2560, a bill 
to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Jean Brown Trickey, 
Carlotta Walls Lanier, Melba Patillo Beals, Terrence Roberts, Gloria 
Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed Wair, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, 
and Jefferson Thomas--better known to the nation as the Little Rock 
Nine.
  When I read, hear, and think about the personal sacrifices that these 
young men and women were forced to make in the struggle to give real 
meaning to our nation's founding principles of freedom, opportunity, 
liberty, equality, and justice for all, I am humbled and forever 
thankful.
  With a display of honor, dignity, and integrity well beyond their 
years, each one of these pioneers for progress endured and overcame 
unthinkable emotional, verbal, and physical abuse as they fought to 
breakdown an entire nation's legacy of prejudice and racial hatred at 
the schoolhouse door.
  Mr. Speaker, as we seek to begin paying America's debt of gratitude 
to these heros and heroines--known as the Little Rock Nine--by awarding 
them the Congressional Medal of Honor, let us not forget that we stand 
on the brink of a new millennium with the chance to learn from the 
lessons and legacies of our past and contemplate the challenges and 
choices that lie ahead.
  As we recognize the contributions of the Little Rock Nine and 
consider how their lives have made the future brighter for today's 
young people, I am reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, 
that: ``we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied 
in a single garment of destiny. What affects one directly affects all 
indirectly.'' Mr. Speaker, bearing in mind this undeniable principle, I 
believe if America is to fulfill the legacy of the Little Rock Nine and 
move from what has been in the 20th century to what can be in the new 
millennium, then--as a nation--we must strive to acknowledge, embrace, 
and realize our diversity to its fullest.

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