[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1428-H1430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AARON E. HENRY FEDERAL BUILDING AND UNITED STATES POST OFFICE
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1279) to designate the Federal building and the United
States post office located at 223 Sharkey Street in Clarksdale,
Mississippi, as the ``Aaron E. Henry Federal Building and United States
Post Office,'' as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1279
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.
The Federal building and United States courthouse located
at 236 Sharkey Street in Clarksdale, Mississippi, shall be
known and designated as the ``Aaron E. Henry Federal Building
and United States Courthouse''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper,
or other record of the United States to the Federal building
and United States courthouse referred to in section 1 shall
be deemed to be a reference to the ``Aaron E. Henry Federal
Building and United States Courthouse''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill, H.R. 1279, as amended, designates the Federal
Building and United States Courthouse located in Clarksdale,
Mississippi, as the Aaron E. Henry Federal Building and United States
Courthouse.
Dr. Henry was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1921, and attended
local schools. He served in the United States Army, after which he
returned to school and earned a degree in pharmacy from the Xavier
University in 1950.
In 1953, Dr. Henry organized the local branch of the NAACP, and
served as the State NAACP president from 1960 until 1993. He was
instrumental in creating an integrated political system in Mississippi.
He also participated in the Freedom Rider Movement, which led to the
passage of the public accommodations sections of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964.
In 1979, Dr. Henry was elected to the Mississippi House of
Representatives, and held this office for 2 additional terms.
The naming of this Federal complex is a fitting tribute to a
distinguished African-American. I support the bill. I urge the passage
of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1279 is a bill to designate the Federal building in
Clarksdale, Mississippi, as the Aaron Henry Federal Building and United
States Courthouse.
Dr. Aaron Henry was a civil rights pioneer, a thoughtful mentor,
scholar, and great humanitarian. He led an active, committed, exemplary
life.
After attending local public schools, he joined the Armey in 1942 and
was a veteran of World War II. After the war, he attended and graduated
from Xavier University in New Orleans. In 1953, Dr. Henry organized the
Coahoma County Branch of the NAACP, and served as the State NAACP
president from 1960 to 1993.
During the 1960s, he participated in the Freedom Rider Movement and
in the Mississippi Freedom Summer's nonviolent campaigns of public
protest.
Dr. Henry served on numerous boards, such as the Executive Committee
of the NAACP, the Federal Council on Aging, and the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference. Acknowledging his contributions as a
[[Page H1429]]
civil rights leader in 1979, the citizens of Coahoma County elected him
to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where he was reelected in
1983 and 1987.
Dr. Henry was instrumental in securing passage of legislation that
created the Office of Economic Opportunity, and was a strong advocate
and spokesman for the Job Corps and Head Start.
Dr. Henry was an active member of the Haven United Methodist Church,
serving as its lay leader. He was committed to his community and
educational and civic issues throughout his life.
It is most fitting and proper that we support the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) and honor the great contributions of Dr.
Henry. I urge passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate our colleague, the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), for bringing this important legislation to
the floor of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the sponsor of this bill.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, today is a very special day
for me. Today we will vote on the passage of H.R. 1279, a bill to
rename the Federal Building and Post Office in Clarksdale, Mississippi,
after one of Mississippi's most notable pioneers in the civil rights
movement, Dr. Aaron E Henry.
I might add that I have known Dr. Henry all of my adult life. Until
his untimely death, Dr. Henry served as a role model for all of us in
the State of Mississippi and the country as a whole for those who
believed in fair play and justice.
Dr. Henry's role in the civil rights movement is well documented. His
role in the political arena in the State of Mississippi is well
documented. His legacy lives on.
Many of us could not, as early public officials, go on TV locally.
Dr. Henry, through his efforts, challenged the license of local
stations in order for African-Americans to buy time on TV. His legacy
is one that we all are proud of.
Mr. Speaker, as the sponsor of this legislation and also the
Representative of Clarksdale, Mississippi, I am happy to see this
legislation move forward. I am happy to see the bipartisan support that
it has received. I look forward to the passage of this bill.
Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time to
me.
Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be able to join the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) and all of the others who are supporting
this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I first saw Aaron Henry in action in the 1960s, in the
battle within the Democratic Party, and at the convention of the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party for Equality and for Integration.
In the early 1970s, I had the opportunity to work with him in
Mississippi as part of what we called the Mississippi-Michigan
Alliance. It was an effort to spark registration within Mississippi,
and to try to make sure that all voices there were heard.
During those joyful days that I spent with him at his home with his
beloved family and at his drugstore on Fourth Street, I had the chance
to come to know him firsthand.
Aaron Henry had a dream, a dream of an integrated America, a dream
where everybody counted. He lived to achieve that dream. He lived a
life of good works. He was instrumental in the founding of the NAACP in
Mississippi. He also, as we know, as we have heard, ran for office in
Mississippi and was elected to the House of Representatives, which was
a proud day for Mississippi.
Aaron Henry came a good long way in his life, and America has come a
considerable way on that path of an integrated America because of the
likes of Aaron Henry. Today we take another step along that path. I am
honored to join the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) and the
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. LaTourette).
Mr. Speaker, I close by just briefly referring back to what I had the
chance to enter into the Record after the passing of Aaron Henry.
{time} 1515
I said at that point, ``Hopefully, his native State will mourn him
across its cities and its farms. He was born in its rural land, toiled
in one of its important towns, and journeyed it throughout from border
to border. His legacy is his hopefulness. The task now of his beloved
State, of his beloved Nation, and of all of us who loved him is to keep
his faith and continue his battle.''
Today, with the naming of the building in Clarksdale in his honor, it
is another small step in the battle that involved and really enmeshed
the life of Aaron Henry.
Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms.
Berkley) for yielding me this time, and I thank and congratulate the
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) for sponsoring this bill.
Mr. Speaker, there are many ways to mark a Nation's milestones.
Naming a public building for Dr. Aaron Henry is one such way for me.
I first met Aaron Henry in 1963 when, as a law student and member of
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, I went into the delta in
Mississippi to work in the civil rights movement one summer. The civil
rights movement had circled the South, but had not penetrated the
``Black Belt'' deep in the Mississippi Delta.
I met the President of the NAACP at the time, Aaron Henry. To be
President of the NAACP in Mississippi was itself an act of conspicuous
courage. It marked a man, both as a marked man and a brave man.
The next year I graduated from law school and became one of the
lawyers that summer for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, of
which Aaron Henry was the chairman. I went to my files and discovered
the brief I filed before the Credentials Committee on behalf of Aaron
Henry and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to be admitted into
my party, the Democratic Party, on behalf of these Mississippi
citizens.
What Aaron Henry and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party did is
itself a milestone in the Nation's history, because it assured that
both parties would now be open to delegates of all races.
Aaron Henry lived such a life to go from the very outside as the head
of the NAACP, all the while a working pharmacist in his own drugstore
in Clarksdale, to becoming a member of the Mississippi House of
Representatives. From the NAACP and civil rights leader, fighting
words, in Mississippi, to representative of the people of Clarksdale,
Mississippi.
When I went back to Mississippi a number of years later as Chairman
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Aaron Henry had become
a true insider. Aaron Henry arranged for a reception for me sponsored
by the Governor in the Governor's mansion. Mr. Speaker, when I first
met Aaron Henry, the closest he and I could get to the Governor's
mansion was to picket it.
Aaron Henry had gone from challenger to change-maker and had himself
created much of the change in the State of Mississippi.
He lived to see a peaceful revolution occur in his State, including
his own election to the State legislature. All of this was simply
unthinkable in the Mississippi in which Aaron Henry was born in 1922.
So was naming a building for Aaron Henry.
But naming a Federal building by this body is normally an estimate of
the man. However, the Aaron E. Henry Federal Building and Post Office
is likely to be regarded as far more than that. The naming of a
building for Dr. Henry evokes a milestone in the history of Mississippi
and of our country. The triumph of racial struggle and harmony over
racial segregation and division. There is no better way, no better
person to symbolize this progress than Aaron Henry.
Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
[[Page H1430]]
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1279, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to
designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at
236 Sharkey Street in Clarksdale, Mississippi, as the `Aaron E. Henry
Federal Building and United States Courthouse'.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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