[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 112 (Monday, September 9, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING DR. JERRY DONAL JEWELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to add my voice to those 
acknowledging the passing several weeks ago of State Senator Jerry 
Jewell in Arkansas.
  I served with Senator Jewell from 1991 to 1993 as Congressman Davis 
noted, who, by the way, is an Arkansas native. He left Arkansas when he 
was 19, but he has never forgotten where he came from.
  It was my pleasure also to serve with Senator Jewell in the State 
Senate. He certainly made history by being the first African American 
since Reconstruction to be elected to the State Senate. He was the 
first African American president pro tem and he became acting Governor. 
In Arkansas the way our Constitution works is if the Governor or 
lieutenant governor leaves the State, they lose their power as 
Governor, so Senator Jerry Jewell became acting Governor.
  He had a very colorful civil rights history. I attended his funeral a 
couple weeks ago, and Dr. Roosevelt Brown told this story how when they 
were young men the efforts to try to desegregate a swimming pool during 
the summertime in Little Rock that basically involved Senator Jewell 
talking to the young person at the gate and two or three other young 
African American men running past and jumping in the pool and 
immediately all the white folks jumping out, the kind of story now that 
we think is humorous but at the time was deadly serious. It was a sign 
of his courage that he participated in those kinds of events.
  The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) and I want to acknowledge the 
passing of Senator Jewell, the part of history he played in Arkansas, 
and the loss to his friends and family.

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