[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 97 (Monday, July 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7471-S7472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO FORMER SENATOR EDWARD W. BROOKE

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a former member of 
this body, Senator Edward W. Brooke. Senator Brooke has served the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts as both a Massachusetts Attorney General 
and United States Senator. Recently, I had the privilege of attending 
the dedication of the New Chardon Street Courthouse in Boston on June 
20th, named in honor of Senator Brooke. Given the former Senator's 
prestigious record of service to both the citizens of Massachusetts and 
the Nation, it is fitting that this honor be bestowed upon him.
  During his distinguished career which spanned the course of two 
decades, Senator Brooke earned the prominent distinction of being the 
first African-American directly elected to both a State Attorney 
General position and the United States Senate. While in each office, 
Senator Brooke spearheaded efforts to achieve civil rights and equality 
for women, minorities, and the poor.
  Elected Massachusetts Attorney General in 1962, Senator Brooke earned 
his reputation as a crime-fighter through his extensive work with the 
newly created Massachusetts Crime Commission. He actively combated 
corruption in State government and singlehandedly organized and 
completed the extensive investigation of the infamous ``Boston 
Strangler'' homicides.
  Only 4 years later, he became the first African-American Senator to 
serve since Reconstruction, and the first and only to be re-elected. 
During his two terms in Congress, Senator Brooke figured prominently 
into all aspects of the Senate. He vigorously opposed escalation of the 
Vietnam war and supported arms control treaties like the MIRV and ABM 
proposals that would eventually become the catalysts in establishing 
improved relations and recognizing the People's Republic of China. 
Senator Brooke was the first Republican Senator to call for President 
Nixon's resignation after the Watergate scandal. In addition, Senator 
Brooke was a tireless champion of the poor. He authored the ``Brooke 
amendment,'' which provided that public housing tenants pay no more 
than one-fourth of their income for housing.
  Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the text of Senator 
Brooke's comments at the New Chardon Street Courthouse dedication 
ceremony be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Edward W. Brooke Courthouse Dedication

       I respectfully ask that you join me in a moment of silence 
     in memory of a dear and cherished friend, Roger H. Woodworth, 
     a former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, who served 
     his country in war, and his fellow man all the days of his 
     life.
       I could not write nor can I speak words which adequately 
     convey the appreciation of my wife, Anne, our daughters, son, 
     grandchildren and all of our family for this splendid 
     recognition. It is, of course, an honor for me, but, more 
     importantly, the naming of this courthouse also recognizes 
     the exemplary service of the men and women with whom I was 
     privileged to work in the Boston Finance Commission, the 
     Office of the Attorney General and in the United States 
     Senate.
       I am particularly grateful to Senator Brian Lees, Governor 
     Paul Cellucci, Senate President Thomas Birmingham, House 
     Speaker Thomas Finneran, the 200 members of the Great and 
     General Court, and all of the people of the Commonwealth of 
     Massachusetts for this honor.
       I also want to thank Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood, for their 
     architectural vision and creativity and the contractors 
     O'Connor & Dimeo & O'Connor for building this magnificent 
     structure.
       Thanks also go to those who labor within, Chief Justice 
     Barbara Dortch-Okara, the judges who dispense justice, 
     clerks, administrators, and especially those who secure and 
     maintain this courthouse and who bear the responsibility for 
     present and future safety, cleanliness and decorum.
       I extend my warmest appreciation to all who have organized 
     and participated in this ceremony, the clergy, the officials, 
     the speakers, the singers, the band, the color guard, the 
     police, the Metropolitan District Commissioner David Balfour 
     and the dedication committee, and to all of you who have come 
     from Maine to California, from the Berkshires to the Cape and 
     Islands, and from the Caribbean.
       My association with Massachusetts began on Pearl Harbor 
     Day, December 7, 1941, when I received a telegram from the 
     United States Army ordering me to report to the 366th 
     Infantry Combat Regiment at Fort Devens, in Ayer, 
     Massachusetts. It was to be the first time for me to set foot 
     on Massachusetts soil.
       I could not possibly have foreseen that after the war I 
     would have returned to Massachusetts to study law at the 
     Boston University School of Law, to practice law in Roxbury 
     and in Boston and to serve in public office. Nor could I have 
     known that the people of Massachusetts were to give me the 
     greatest opportunities and challenges of my life.
       This building and its location have special meaning for me. 
     In my law school days I lived a stone's throw away, at 98 
     Chamber Street in the West End of Boston before I moved to 
     Roxbury to live with my old Army buddy Al Brothers and his 
     wife, Edith. I attended classes at Boston University Law 
     School at 11 Ashburton Place, a few blocks up the hill from 
     here and studied contract and constitutional law on a bench 
     in the Boston Commons just behind the Robert Gould Shaw 
     Monument. I practically boarded at Durgin Park, over there, 
     near Faneuil Hall, where the servings of pot roast, mashed 
     potatoes and cornbread were generous and the price was right.
       Later, after practicing law on Humbolt Avenue in Roxbury, I 
     practiced law in Pemberton Square across the street from the 
     old Boston Municipal Court just up the hill. It was during 
     those days that I practiced in the same probate, land and 
     juvenile, now the more civilly named family court, all now in 
     this new building. And, at first, to make a living, I 
     searched many a title in the musty volumes upstairs in the 
     office of the old Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, Later, I 
     worked in the offices of the Boston Finance Commission, just 
     down the street from the Parker House, and still later, in 
     the Office of the Attorney General in the old bullfinch State 
     House, all within a short walking distance of this new 
     building.
       My relationship with Boston has now come full circle within 
     the naming of this courthouse and my involvement in the 
     restoration of another old Bullfinch Building built in 1804 
     at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets. It was also in 
     Boston close by, where my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, 
     inducted a

[[Page S7472]]

     young Boston University Divinity School student named Martin 
     Luther King.
       In order to be on time for this ceremony, Anne and I came 
     to Boston last Friday morning, which enabled me to lunch at 
     the famous Doyle's Pub in Jamaica Plains with some of the 
     retired newspapermen of yesteryears. Having been married 21 
     years, and still being young lovers and on Saturday Anne and 
     I strolled hand-in-had Saturday through the historic Boston 
     Commons, founded in 1634, and the beautiful Boston Gardens 
     with its spectacular beds of flowers. We walked over the 
     footbridge and looked down at the ducks and the swan boats. 
     We later ate streamed mussels and broiled bluefish at Legal 
     Seafoods just behind the Four Seasons Hotel. We continued our 
     walk up Newbury and Boylston Streets, miraculously without 
     incurring major debt, and at noon, sat in silence, prayed and 
     listened to the beautiful rehearsal music of the choir of 
     Trinity Church in old Copley Square where I worshipped years 
     ago, heard the wonderful sermons of the rector, Dr. Theodore 
     Ferris, and where my daughters were confirmed. I shall always 
     remember election night 1966 when I received my first 
     congratulatory telegram. It simply read: ``Hallelujah'' and 
     was signed Ted Ferris.
       It has been said that this may well be the first state 
     courthouse named for an African-American and perhaps the only 
     one in Massachusetts named for a living person. If true, both 
     are sad commentaries. It would be shameful with all of the 
     qualified and talented African-American men and women in this 
     country, that it has taken 137 years since the Emancipation 
     Proclamation to give such recognition. And as for the 
     recognition of the living versus the dead, I, of course, vote 
     for the living.
       In fact, in the present case, the new name of this building 
     was approved by the Massachusetts legislature on a budget 
     bill to which it had been attached by Senate President 
     Birmingham and Senate Minority Leader Lees, and signed into 
     law by Governor Cellucci on November 22, 1999. The Governor 
     is his wisdom, wanting to have an outdoor ceremony and being 
     assured of perfect weather, set the date for this dedication 
     ceremony for June 20th, 2000. Of course, politicians always 
     claim credit for things with which they had nothing 
     whatsoever to do. So with due respect, Governor Cellucci, I 
     give credit for the beautiful weather to Richard Winkleman, a 
     dear friend who goes to church every day of his life, and who 
     has been praying continually for good weather for today. 
     During the interim between the passage and the signing of the 
     budget bill, when told that this might be the first for a 
     living person, my response was, ``Well, you'd better hurry up 
     or your record may stay in tact.''
       Today is not one to dwell on criticism of the past no 
     matter how valid that criticism may be. It is a day of joy, a 
     day of celebration and a day of acknowledgement and 
     appreciation for what has been accomplished. It is also a day 
     for a commitment to accelerate our efforts for greater 
     progress in the present and in the future. Massachusetts 
     Governors Michael Dukakis, William Weld and Paul Cellucci are 
     to be commended for having appointed many highly-qualified 
     women, African-Americans, Jews and representatives of other 
     minorities to the judiciary and elsewhere in their 
     administrations. I trust that successor governors will 
     continue that record including the appointment of Hispanics, 
     Asians and Native Americans. Like justice, appointments and 
     recognition should be racial and gender-blind, and I 
     respectfully urge other states across the country to follow 
     the example set by this Governor, this legislative body, and 
     the citizens of Massachusetts.
       As we look to the future and the generations to come who 
     will avail themselves of equal justice under law in this 
     gleaming symbol of civil society, let us all pledge to work 
     for a nation in which barriers of race, religion and ethnic 
     origin do not stand in the way of achievement or recognition, 
     a nation that continues to strike down the barriers that make 
     us weak and lives up to the noble principle that make us 
     strong. In the strength of unity and purpose may we recall 
     the words of that old hymn:
       ``God of justice save the people from the wars of race and 
     creed, from the strife of class and friction make our nation 
     free indeed.
       ``Keep her faith in simple manhood, stronger than when she 
     began, till she finds her full fruition in the brotherhood of 
     man.''
       For this high honor, thanks be to Almighty God and the 
     people of Massachusetts.

                          ____________________