[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SALUTE TO A. LEON HIGGINBOTHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 3, 1999

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as I witness attacks 
on affirmative action in education and a legal system that overlooks 
police brutality among African-Americans, I realize that our country is 
experiencing a huge gap in fairness and equality under the law with the 
passing of Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.
  Mr. Speaker, Judge Higginbotham spent his life vigorously protecting 
and championing the causes of equality and opportunity for African-
Americans.
  The French philosopher Montesquieu once said that ``In the state of 
nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in 
this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by 
the protection of the laws.''
  In confronting racial injustice, violence and inequality through the 
legal system, Judge Higginbotham recovered and secured equality for 
countless African-Americans. His life long commitment to eliminating 
discrimination forced our society to recognize the equality inherent in 
all men and women, despite their race or ethnicity.
  In his capacity as special deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, 
judge of the U.S. District Court for the eastern district of 
Pennsylvania and judge of the U.S. Third-Circuit Court of Appeals, many 
men and women regained their rights taken away from them by society.
  His zeal in tearing down the walls of injustice and erecting the 
walls of opportunity began after he earned his law degree at Yale Law 
School by working in Philadelphia as an assistant district attorney. 
Six years later after becoming a special deputy attorney general for 
Pennsylvania, President John F. Kennedy named him to the Federal Trade 
Commission (FTC). This appointment was notable in the fact that it made 
him the FTC's first black commissioner and its youngest as well.
  In 1977, after serving as a district court judge in Philadelphia from 
1964 to 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him judge of the U.S. 
Third-Circuit Court of Appeals where he served with distinction as 
judge, chief judge and senior judge until his retirement in March 1993.
  Throughout the years, U.S. Chief Justice Warren, Burger and Rehnquist 
appointed Judge Higginbotham to various judicial conferences. In 
addition, the Congressional Black Caucus benefitted from his excellent 
legal mind in a series of voting rights cases brought before the U.S. 
Supreme Court.
  Current South African President Nelson Mandela also called upon his 
knowledge and wisdom during the country's historic 1994 national 
elections where Judge Higginbotham served as an international mediator.
  Mr. Speaker, the aforementioned feats and accomplishments mark this 
important fact: when he was called upon by presidents, world leaders, 
Members of Congress and citizens to defend civil rights, Judge 
Higginbotham answered with vigor and passion.
  Millions of Americans saw him protect the tenets of the Constitution 
during the recent House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings. This 
was just two weeks before his passing on December 14, 1998.
  Like so many times during his stellar legal career, he was a 
steadfast advocate and defender of the true meanings and intents of the 
law and our Constitution. During the hearings, it was not partisan 
winds that steered his testimony that the President should not be 
impeached. Rather, it was scholarly and intellectual interpretation of 
the Constitution and the separation of powers between the Judicial, 
Executive and Legislative branches of our government.
  For those viewers of the hearings, that was their first contact with 
the great judge. However, I have constantly been a witness to--and a 
beneficiary of--Judge Higginbotham's passionate and eloquent defense of 
justice.
  On behalf of the constituents of the 30th congressional district of 
Texas, I would like to tell his family what a great equalizer in this 
society he was to us. He served an extended family of poor, powerless 
and downtrodden individuals in this society. His advocacy for their 
causes meant a great deal to them and strengthened our principles as a 
country.
  In particular he leaves his wife, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham; two 
daughters, Karen and Nia; and two sons, Stephen and Kenneth. I would 
like to thank them for allowing the country to share and benefit from 
his mind, heart and soul.

                          ____________________