[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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