[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 54 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
 GOLD MEDAL FOR ROSA PARKS IN RECOGNITION OF HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 
                                 NATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gary Miller of California). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in support of H.R. 
573, a bill to authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf 
of the Congress to Rosa Parks in recognition of her contributions to 
the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Ms. Carson), for introducing this important piece of 
legislation to honor a true American heroine and, indeed, a great 
American.
  Forty years ago, Rosa Parks risked everything when she refused to 
abide by the Jim Crow laws of segregation. In 1955, blacks were 
considered secondary human beings. Everything was segregated, Mr. 
Speaker, in 1955, schools, parks, restaurants, rest rooms and 
neighborhoods. I lived through that time, Mr. Speaker. This was just to 
name a few of the areas where segregation reigned.
  In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks became a pioneer of black people, 
being the catalyst that changed the course of history. Rosa Parks spoke 
out for every black person throughout the Nation who was being denied 
equality and freedom. Mrs. Parks refused to move and relinquish her 
seat to a white man because she was tired. She was tired of the 
foolishness, she was tired of the selfishness, of the rudeness, and she 
was tired of the disrespect, and the day that Mrs. Parks refused to 
move was a turning point, was a turning stone in America that changed 
the unfair, indiscriminate laws that were made for blacks in the United 
States.
  In one simple act of defiance, Mr. Speaker, Rosa Parks, on December 
1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, history was made. I am a part of that 
history, Mr. Speaker, and so is every other African American that we 
see in the Congress. Because of the courageous act of Rosa Parks, I 
stand before my colleagues today as the first African American from 
Florida elected to the Congress since Reconstruction. It was Rosa Parks 
who made this happen, Mr. Speaker, and we want America to understand 
this. This will help America understand, to see the fight that Rosa 
Parks put up so that the rest of us could have a better chance.
  This award perhaps should have been bestowed on Rosa Parks several 
years ago because her deeds have paved the way for generations of 
African Americans today. My daughters and my son, Mr. Speaker, will 
have a better chance now of coming to Congress or even being President 
of these great United States because of Rosa Parks.
  I ask my colleagues to join me and urge our President to award a gold 
medal on behalf of the Congress to Rosa Parks in recognition of her 
outstanding contributions to the Nation. She gave to the world the best 
she had, and now the best will come back to her.

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