[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 21, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1056-H1057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THIRTY-SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MARCH ACROSS EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE

  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
address the House for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Ms. Carson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I am very humbled by this 
opportunity to join with my colleagues who had the invaluable 
experience of journeying to Montgomery in terms of a reenactment of the 
Montgomery boycott that was led by the gentleman from

[[Page H1057]]

 Georgia (Mr. Lewis), my distinguished colleague, who was born in what 
used to be the sovereign State of Alabama, and certainly the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Houghton). The gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Houghton) did not have to be there because of his situation, but he 
was.
  I want to give praise and compliments to all of the Members who took 
time away from their districts to go to revisiting that situation. I 
remembered it very well. Even though I was not personally present, I 
was prayerfully present and watched in horror how the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Lewis) was attacked by dogs while he sought justice and 
equality for the people and their particular movement.
  Those before me have given the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton) much praise, for which it 
was deserved.
  Let me use another example I often tell students when I talk to them. 
Just last week I had the privilege of speaking to 11,000 black 
engineering students who had convened in Indianapolis for their 
national conference. They could have easily been on a beach or having a 
party, but they were there trying to further their knowledge in the 
field of the math and engineering, and I loved them very much for 
devoting that time to their upward mobility.
  There is a situation that I often described to children and young 
people, because I do not want them to not know about it, and that was 
during the early years of the movement, they were what they call chain 
gangs. They would assemble men, strong men, in chains and make them 
work on public projects.
  There was a chain gang that busted out the mountains in Chattanooga, 
Tennessee, in the Lookout Mountains in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to 
enable the engineers of that time to build a highway through the 
Lookout Mountains in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
  They had to bust out the mountains. They used chisels. They sang 
songs. They were on a chain gang. They were enslaved, but they did 
their jobs so that a highway could be planned and laid by engineers.
  As we travel through this life, whether we are in Congress or whether 
we are in various professions, we can never forget those who paved the 
way for us, who shared the sweat and the tears and had the commitment 
for the future generations to have an opportunity to move on.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to praise again the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Lewis), my colleague. And as my colleagues know, I was the one that 
bought the idea of a Congressional Gold Medal to the United States 
House of Representatives on behalf of the mothers of civil rights 
movement for Ms. Rosa Parks, and I did that as an inspiration to those 
who would not forget the people that paved the way for us.
  While she sat there, the whole world stood up and brought people 
together, brought the name of Dr. Martin Luther King to the ears and 
eyes of America. While Rosa Parks just sat there, the whole world stood 
up.
  Let me end, Mr. Speaker, by reminding us that, in order to have 
harmony in this world, there has to be harmony between the black and 
the white. That is why the creators of the piano made both black and 
white keys, one tune cannot be harmonious without the other.
  As we move forward and we have resistance in this country and in this 
world now toward equal opportunity, toward affirmative action, toward 
Americans with disabilities, toward women who seek medical assistance 
despite their economic circumstances, lest we forget that this is 
supposed to be one Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all 
people, not just in the preamble, not just in some written script, but 
in the spirit of liberty for everybody.
  I want to close, Mr. Speaker, by again giving my heart-felt gratitude 
to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), who is from what used to be 
the sovereign State of Alabama, I am from what used to be the sovereign 
State of Indiana, for all of the sacrifices that he made and those who 
were with him and those who followed after him that paved the way for 
many of us.

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