[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9396-S9397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 165--A RESOLUTION IN MEMORY OF SENIOR JUDGE FRANK M. 
  JOHNSON, JR. OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH 
                                CIRCUIT

  Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
Grassley, Mr. Biden, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kohl, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Feingold, 
and Mr. Fitzgerald) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 165

       Whereas Frank M. Johnson, Jr. was appointed a United States 
     District Judge in Alabama by President Eisenhower in 1955;
       Whereas Judge Johnson was elevated to the United States 
     Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by President Carter 
     in 1979;
       Whereas in a time when men of lesser fortitude would have 
     avoided direct confrontation of the highly unpopular issues 
     of school desegregation and voting rights for African-
     Americans, Judge Johnson stood firm in upholding the 
     Constitution and the law;
       Whereas Judge Johnson struck down the Montgomery, Alabama 
     law that had mandated that Rosa Parks sit in the back of a

[[Page S9397]]

     city bus, because he believed that ``separate, but equal'' 
     was inherently unequal;
       Whereas Johnson upheld the constitutionality of federal 
     laws granting African-Americans the right to vote in Alabama 
     elections, because he believed in the concept of ``one man, 
     one vote'';
       Whereas despite tremendous pressure from Governor George 
     Wallace, Judge Johnson allowed the voting rights march from 
     Selma to Montgomery to proceed, thus stirring the national 
     conscience to enact the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas today, around a courthouse that bears Frank 
     Johnson's name in Montgomery, Alabama there are integrated 
     schools, buses and lunch counters, and representative 
     democracy flourishes in Alabama with African-American state, 
     county, and municipal officials who won their offices in fair 
     elections with the votes of African-American and white 
     citizens;
       Whereas in part because of Judge Johnson's upholding of the 
     law, attitudes that were once intolerant and extreme have 
     dissipated;
       Whereas the members of the Senate extend our deepest 
     sympathies to Judge Johnson's family and the host of friends 
     that he had across the country;
       Whereas Judge Johnson passed away at his home in 
     Montgomery, Alabama on July 23, 1999;
       Whereas the American people will always remember Judge 
     Frank M. Johnson, Jr. for exemplifying unwavering moral 
     courage in the advancement of the wholly American ideal that 
     ``all men are created equal'' and deserve ``equal protection 
     of the laws'' and for upholding the law: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate, That--
       (1) The Senate hereby honors the memory of Judge Frank M. 
     Johnson, Jr. for his exemplary service to his country and for 
     his outstanding example of moral courage; and
       (2) when the Senate adjourns on this date it shall do so 
     out of respect to the memory of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.

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