[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 45 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO REPRESENTATIVE DON EDWARDS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 20, 2003

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, today we rise to recognize the achievements 
and life of former Congressman Don Edwards. We are proud to have known 
Representative Edwards for many years.
  Born and raised in San Jose, California, Representative Edwards 
received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University where he later 
studied law. He became an F.B.I. agent during the Depression, and went 
on to serve in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer and gunnery 
officer at sea in World War II.
  He was first elected to represent what was then California's 9th 
Congressional District in 1962. In Congress, Representative Edwards 
served on the House Judiciary Committee and for 23 years he served as 
the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. He 
also sat on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
  Last year, Representative Edwards received the American Bar 
Association's Thurgood Marshall Award for his ``unswerving devotion to 
the Constitution and its values throughout his career.''
  One of the foremost defenders of civil liberties in Congress, 
Representative Edwards in the 1970s--along with Senator Frank Church 
and his committee--exposed the pervasive abuses of civil liberties in 
J. Edgar Hoover's COINTEL PRO, which monitored, infiltrated and 
disrupted entirely lawful civil rights and anti-war organizations. He 
also fought to abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee.
  Representative Edwards was one of the first seven Members of the 
House of Representatives to oppose the Vietnam War in 1965 and became a 
leader in the anti-war movement.
  In the 1960s he was floor leader of the Omnibus Civil Rights Act, the 
Voting Rights Act and the Equal Rights Amendment. Outside of Congress, 
he took part in civil rights marches in the South; visited Dr. Martin 
Luther King Jr. in the Birmingham, Alabama jail and spoke against 
apartheid while visiting South Africa.
  Every year, he introduced an ERA bill to the House, and in 1989, he 
argued ``women are entitled to their birthright to full rights of 
citizenship.''
  In 1968, he introduced legislation creating the San Francisco Bay 
Wildlife Refuge. With the efforts of other Bay Area Representatives, he 
was instrumental in establishing the largest urban wildlife refuge in 
the country. The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge 
covers 25,902 acres and spans 12 cities and 3 counties.
  Representative Don Edwards left a legacy in Congress of supporting 
civil rights, advocating for those less fortunate in our society and 
being a strong defender of our Constitution. He is a visionary public 
servant and a valued friend.

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