[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 93 (Monday, June 23, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5686-H5687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO A DEAR FRIEND, MAYNARD JACKSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of my dear 
friend who passed this morning, Maynard Jackson. Maynard Jackson was a 
dear and treasured friend. He was a man that I worked very closely 
with. He was a man that I had the greatest respect for. I held him in 
high esteem because he was a learned individual who loved politics and 
who loved public policy, and demonstrated his ability to lead.
  As my colleagues know, Maynard Jackson was a young man that graduated 
from Morehouse College when he

[[Page H5687]]

was but 18 years old. He went on to get his law degree, and he was 
inspired by the death of Martin Luther King to enter politics, and 
enter politics he did.
  He first ran against Mr. Talmadge, Herman Talmadge, and he lost that 
race. But he proved that there was a need for a new direction. He won 
the votes in Atlanta. He did that when outside of Atlanta, as a matter 
of fact, he lost by 3 to 1. But that really did launch his political 
career. Maynard Jackson went on to serve as Mayor for 3 terms in 
Atlanta.
  I loved Maynard Jackson because he was a man of impeccable integrity. 
Not only did he provide a new kind of leadership for Atlanta, he opened 
up opportunities for African Americans and people of color. When 
Maynard Jackson, the first African American mayor to be elected in 
Atlanta, took office, African Americans were not really a part of the 
business community, and he actually alienated some of the white 
business community, because he insisted on opening up these 
opportunities. When I look at the airport there, I know the stories 
about how Maynard Jackson helped to implement affirmative action, and 
when we see some of the concessions that are there, they are there 
because Maynard Jackson led the way for much of that to take place.
  Maynard Jackson loved the Democratic Party, and he served on the 
Democratic National Committee for many years. And as many folks know 
and understand, I encouraged him to run at our last winter meeting to 
be head of the DNC. Even though he started late, we created a 
conversation and discussion about what kind of leadership we needed for 
the DNC. Maynard Jackson certainly did not win that election. As a 
matter of fact, he bowed out and he supported Terry McAullife.
  The debate that we created had to do with the direction of the party. 
Where are we going? Where is this party going? Maynard had a plan: the 
southern strategy plan. Maynard knew and understood that unless we 
increased the turnout and understand the importance of the South to the 
Democratic Party, then we could not win, and we will not win.
  When we were in our struggle for Maynard to lead the Democratic 
National Committee, we finally agreed that Maynard would take over a 
new position that we created in the Democratic Party called the 
National Development Commission, of which he would be chairman. Under 
that, he would have the Voting Rights Institute. And Maynard set about 
with that designation to increase the awareness about what was wrong 
with the voting systems in this country.
  We had just come out of Florida where votes had been stolen, where 
people had been turned away from the polls, where folks were identified 
as felons and put on lists who had never been to jail, and Maynard was 
convinced that we had to clean that up. And he begged the DNC to take 
this as their number one issue and their number one priority. Maynard 
identified people who were to serve with him as he tried to carry out 
his vision of this Voting Rights Institute. But, for whatever reasons, 
it did not happen. Maynard called me and he said, I am going to resign 
the position. I do not think that it is going to happen in the way that 
we thought it would happen. And I consider that one of the greatest 
losses for the Democratic Party. Maynard went on back to Atlanta, to 
Jackson Securities, a company that he had founded where he did 
tremendously well.
  He was a fine businessman, and he worked well with so many elected 
officials around this country in order to achieve the kind of success 
that he was able to achieve in the bond business.
  I am going to miss Maynard. He was a dear and close friend, and the 
Democratic Party and all of us who wish to see this party go in a new 
direction, understanding the significance of the South, are going to 
miss him, and unless his thoughts and his ideas are accepted by this 
party we are going to continue to lose.

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