[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2925-H2933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT ALL AMERICANS OBSERVE THE 50TH 
    ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH A COMMITMENT TO 
             CONTINUING AND BUILDING ON THE LEGACY OF BROWN

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the 
House, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 414) 
expressing the sense of the Congress that, as Congress recognizes the 
50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, all 
Americans are encouraged to observe this anniversary with a commitment 
to continuing and building on the legacy of Brown, and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of H. Con. Res. 414 is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 414

       Whereas on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court 
     announced in Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 483) that, 
     ``in the field of education, the doctrine of `separate but 
     equal' has no place'';
       Whereas the Brown decision overturned the precedent set in 
     1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537), which had declared 
     ``separate but equal facilities'' constitutional and allowed 
     the continued segregation of public schools in the United 
     States on the basis of race;
       Whereas the Brown decision recognized as a matter of law 
     that the segregation of public schools deprived students of 
     the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;
       Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for plaintiff 
     Linda Brown, an African American third grader who had been 
     denied admission to an all white public school in Topeka, 
     Kansas;
       Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for those 
     plaintiffs similarly situated to Linda Brown in the cases 
     that were consolidated with Brown, which included Briggs v. 
     Elliot (103 F. Supp. 920), Davis v. County School Board (103 
     F. Supp. 337), and Gephardt v. Belton (91 A.2d 137);
       Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for those 
     that had successfully dismantled school segregation years 
     before Brown through legal challenges such as Westminster 
     School District v. Mendez (161 F.2d 774), which ended 
     segregation in schools in Orange County, California;
       Whereas the Brown decision stands among all civil rights 
     cases as a symbol of the Federal Government's commitment to 
     fulfill the promise of equality;
       Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the repeal of 
     ``Jim Crow'' laws and the elimination of many of the severe 
     restrictions placed on the freedom of African Americans;
       Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of 
     the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination 
     on the basis of race, religion, or national origin in 
     workplaces and public establishments that have a connection 
     to interstate commerce or are supported by the State;
       Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of 
     the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which promotes every American's 
     right to participate in the political process;
       Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of 
     the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that prohibits discrimination in 
     the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other 
     housing-relating transactions, on the basis of race, color, 
     national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or 
     disability; and
       Whereas in 2004, the year marking the 50th anniversary of 
     the Brown decision, inequalities evidenced at the time of 
     such decision have not been completely eradicated: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 
     Brown v. Board of Education decision;
       (2) encourages all Americans to recognize and celebrate the 
     50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision; 
     and
       (3) renews its commitment to continuing and building on the 
     legacy of Brown with a pledge to acknowledge and address the 
     modern day disparities that remain.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) each will 
control 15 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner).

                              {time}  1030


                             General Leave

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on House Concurrent 
Resolution 414, currently under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Is there objection to the request 
of the gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support today of House Concurrent Resolution 
414, which recognizes the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 
decision in Brown v. Board of Education and calls on Americans to 
observe this anniversary with a commitment to continuing and building 
on the legacy of Brown.
  In 1896, the Supreme Court decided Plessy v. Ferguson, which held 
that separate but equal public facilities were lawful. This decision 
paved the way for the systematic segregation of America based on race. 
In the wake of that decision, State legislatures felt vindicated 
passing a number of laws, including the infamous Jim Crow laws, which 
ensured that the right to equal protection of the laws was a right in 
name only for African Americans and other minorities.
  Many fought for years to try and reverse this pattern of 
discrimination. Some met with limited success, such as Gonzalo and 
Felicitas Mendez, who in 1947 prevailed in their efforts to allow 
students of Mexican ancestry to attend the same California public 
elementary schools as attended by white children, but it was not until 
Oliver Brown and his brave fellow plaintiffs from Kansas, Virginia, 
South Carolina, and Delaware successfully challenged the school 
segregation policies in those States that this pattern of inequality 
began to change for all persons.
  As Chief Justice Earl Warren, who had recently been appointed to the 
Supreme Court by President Eisenhower, stated for a unanimous majority, 
``We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 
`separate but equal' has no place.''
  In the 50 years since the Brown decision, much has changed in this 
country. Brown provided the spark for the Eisenhower administration to 
push through the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts. These acts, in turn, 
provided the blueprint for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
  All of these acts served to further dismantle the barriers to 
equality that African Americans and other members of minority groups 
had faced in the decades after Plessy. It is for this reason that 
Congress, and indeed, all Americans, should celebrate the anniversary 
of Brown and take this opportunity to reflect anew on the importance of 
equality in society.
  I would like to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Ranking Member 
Conyers) for introducing this resolution and would also like to thank 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Ryun), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), and 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for their own resolution which 
helped inform the measure we have before us today. I am pleased to note 
that most of the leadership of both parties have signed on as 
cosponsors of this resolution, and I urge all my colleagues to join me 
in supporting it.

[[Page H2926]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, this is indeed a historic moment in the 
history of this country and in the Congress as well.
  I begin by really lifting up the name of the chairman of the 
Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner), who, with me, was able to get a unanimous resolution on 
this matter celebrating Brown v. the Board from the Committee on the 
Judiciary. I sincerely thank him.
  I have two colleagues that I want to mention because they had 
resolutions that we worked into ours, and we came up with one. The 
first was the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), who 
brought to our committee's attention that in California they had worked 
out, in effect, a Brown v. Board-type solution even before the Brown 
decision, and we will hear from her later on this matter.
  The other person was the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who 
is on the floor now, who had an important resolution as a ranking 
member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. His interests 
on this were very large, and we were able to all work these regulations 
out.
  What is the significance of Brown? It reversed an 1896 decision, 
Plessy v. Ferguson, which indicated that under the 14th amendment 
separate and equal was acceptable. Of course, there is very little in 
real-time that separate can be equal, but that was the law up until 
1954 when a unanimous Supreme Court decision changed it.
  But the Brown decision went further. It was a decision about 
education; but thanks to the civil rights movement, Dr. King, Rosa 
Parks and even our own gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) in the 
Congress, it was expanded to cover all forms of social life in the 
country.
  Finally, this resolution seeks to renew our commitment. Everything is 
not okay, as our colleagues all know and as this resolution which we 
are to support makes clear. So I am very happy to be with all of my 
colleagues today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), who represents Topeka, Kansas, 
that led the way to get the Brown decision decided by the Supreme 
Court.
  Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 50th anniversary of the Supreme 
Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that 
desegregated schools in America. This Monday, May 17, 2004, I will be 
pleased to welcome people from across this Nation to my district for a 
celebration of this anniversary.
  On Monday, we will look back over 50 years of work to bring equality 
to America, specifically to our public education system.
  May 17 will also mark the culmination of an effort I began 3 years 
ago to honor the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board. In the 107th 
Congress, I was privileged to author legislation to establish a Federal 
commission tasked with educating the public about this decision. With 
the help of my colleagues in Congress, the commission became a reality 
and has played a vital role in planning for next week's anniversary.
  Recently, I was also pleased to draft language calling on Congress to 
honor the anniversary of Brown v. Board. I am grateful that the 
resolution we consider today accomplishes this goal, and I am pleased 
to lend it my support.
  I would like to thank the Brown Foundation, located in Topeka, 
Kansas, for its leadership in helping America remember its struggle for 
equality. I want to specifically thank Cheryl Brown Henderson for her 
undying dedication to this issue. Cheryl's assistance has been 
invaluable, and I am grateful for her contributions.
  President Bush's presence in Topeka on Monday will lend national 
significance to this occasion and also indicates his ongoing commitment 
to the ideals embodied in Brown v. Board. I am grateful for the 
President's support, and I look forward to welcoming him to Kansas.
  Finally, I encourage all Americans to take this opportunity to 
rededicate themselves to the ideals set forth in our Constitution that 
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by our Creator with 
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the opportunity to highlight 
this monumental anniversary on the floor. I thank the chairman for his 
work, and I urge my colleagues to lend their support to this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) seek to control the time?
  Mr. PAYNE. Yes, I do, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
Jersey will control the time.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me commend the gentleman from Wisconsin 
(Mr. Sensenbrenner) for bringing this resolution and certainly the 
gentleman from Michigan (Ranking Member Conyers), who is a living 
history of what is great about this country with his own history in the 
House of Representatives, being the second-longest-serving Member here.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H. Con. 
Res. 414, a resolution which urges Congress to renew its commitment to 
continuing and building on the legacy of Brown v. the Board of 
Education.
  This month marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. the 
Board of Education decision, declaring segregation of public schools 
unconstitutional. The chain of events began in Topeka, Kansas, where an 
African American third grader by the name of Linda Brown had to walk 1 
mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her segregated elementary 
school, even though a white school was only seven blocks away.
  Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white 
elementary school, but the principal refused to admit her. Mr. Brown, 
along with other parents, went to the Topeka NAACP, filing a request 
for an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public 
schools. In the initial trial, the court sided with the Board of 
Education saying that the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, passed in 
1896, allowed separate but equal school systems.
  Led by Thurgood Marshall, who later, of course, became the first 
African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court, the case 
was brought before the Nation's highest Court. At first, in 1952, the 
Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court. The case came back 
to the High Court in 1953 and was heard along with others from South 
Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.
  Interestingly, in September of 1953, with the courts seemingly split, 
and the cases sent back down, the cases were in jeopardy; but what 
happened was that Chief Justice Fred Vinson died in his sleep. 
President Eisenhower, therefore, nominated a new Supreme Court Justice, 
the Republican Governor of California, Earl Warren. It was under Earl 
Warren's leadership that he brought the Court together; and he 
persuaded the Court, after the persuasive arguments of Brown v. the 
Board of Education, to have a unanimous decision. He wanted no dissent, 
and a unanimous decision was given by the Supreme Court under the 
leadership of Earl Warren. It surprised many Americans, but he lived up 
to that great title.
  So separate but equal was thrown out, and Thurgood Marshall's 
argument that the 14th amendment equal protection clause precluded 
States from imposing distinctions based on race had prevailed.
  So I conclude, I believe that Brown v. the Board of Education was one 
of the

[[Page H2927]]

most significant cases regarding segregation. The Brown case provided 
momentum for increased civil rights advocacy and legislation, opening 
equal opportunity to education to all in our society and then to other 
public accommodations.
  However, we should remember that Brown was neither the beginning nor 
the end of the struggle for justice and equality. Today, equal 
education opportunities for all children are still a dream for many. In 
both the North and South, segregation has been thrown into reverse gear 
with 70 percent of the Nation's African American students in 
predominantly minority schools, and so I urge my colleagues to support 
H. Con. Res. 414, which commemorates the historic Brown v. the Board of 
Education decision and encourage Congress to continue to build on the 
legacy of Brown.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee).
  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished 
gentleman for the time.
  Let me congratulate the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the 
ranking member, and the chairman of the full Committee on the Judiciary 
for this joining together of a unanimous consent order to bring this 
historic civil rights resolution to the floor of the House. This is 
historic; and allow me to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) for not only his knowledge but also the work he has done on the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce in trying to implement the 
Brown decision; and my good friend and colleague the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) for working and informing us and 
adding to the history of the Brown decision as it relates to California 
and our many friends around the Nation.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor, and I stand to acknowledge 
that Brown did open the door. As was stated in Grotter v. Bollinger: 
``We have repeatedly acknowledged the overriding importance of 
preparing students for work and citizenship, describing education as 
pivotal to `sustaining our political and cultural heritage' with a 
fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of society.''
  Why the case was so important is because the Court in Brown said this 
Court has long recognized that education is the very foundation of good 
citizenship and, might I say, opportunity.
  So, as the Grotter case concluded, we still recognize even with Brown 
that in this Nation race unfortunately still matters.

                              {time}  1045

  And so it is imperative that all of the Nation on May 17, 2004, lift 
up the song of Brown v. Board of Education to be able to announce, if 
you will, the vitality of that case and yet where we have to go.
  It is important to note that after Brown, there is still work. Even 
with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, we must in fact follow 
through on getting rid of the alternative schools, poor test scores in 
the minority community, and poor physical conditions of those schools.
  As Dr. Martin Luther King said, ``There are at least three basic 
reasons why segregation is evil. The first reason is that segregation 
inevitably makes for inequality. There was a time that we attempted to 
live with segregation. There was always a strict enforcement of the 
separate, without the slightest intention to abide by the equal.''
  But even so, we must promote equality. I thank Dr. Martin Luther King 
and for all those who worked so hard, and I give thanks to the decision 
rendered in Brown v. Board of Education.
  Mr. Speaker, let me begin to honor a great decision out of the 
highest Court in the land with an excerpt from its progeny, the 2003 
decision of Grotter v. Bollinger:

       We have repeatedly acknowledged the overriding importance 
     of preparing students for work and citizenship, describing 
     education as pivotal to ``sustaining our political and 
     cultural heritage'' with a fundamental role in maintaining 
     the fabric of society. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 221 
     (1982). This Court has long recognized that ``education . . . 
     is the very foundation of good citizenship.'' Brown v. Board 
     of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954). For this reason, the 
     diffusion of knowledge and opportunity through public 
     institutions of higher education must be accessible to all 
     individuals regardless of race or ethnicity. Effective 
     participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in 
     the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one 
     Nation, indivisible, is to be realized. . . . diminishing the 
     force of such stereotypes is both a crucial part of the Law 
     School's mission, and one that it cannot accomplish with only 
     token numbers of minority students. Just as growing up in a 
     particular region or having particular professional 
     experiences is likely to affect an individual's views, so too 
     is one's own, unique experience of being a racial minority in 
     a society, like our own, in which race unfortunately still 
     matters. (emphasis added)

  It is with great pride and hope that I rise in support of H. Con. 
Res. 414 to recognize the 50th anniversary of a historic piece of 
jurisprudence in the name of education, civil rights, human rights, 
democracy, and diversity. Yesterday, in a markup of the Full Committee 
on the Judiciary, we voted 27 yeas and 0 nays--unanimously to report 
this resolution out favorably and to move to conference, and I would 
expect to see the same kind of alliance at the full House scale, the 
Senate scale, the joint conferee scale, and on a worldwide scale to pay 
tribute to the spirit of a decision that changed the structure and 
focus of U.S. education and began the process of meeting the challenges 
and opportunities of equal opportunity and a quality education for all 
students.
  I joined the distinguished Ranking Member from Michigan as an 
original co-sponsor of this important resolution celebrating the 50th 
anniversary of some of the most profound and meaningful jurisprudence 
in the history of the United States. On May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of 
Education of Topeka Kansas reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, which 
established the ``separate but equal'' doctrine that stamped African 
Americans with a badge of inferiority as articulated by Judge John 
Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenter in that case.
  With the Brown decision, the meaning of ``equal protection of the 
laws'' took on real meaning for African Americans and other minorities. 
It fueled the momentum of the Civil Rights Movement that spurred 
America's realization of change.
  I take a special interest in supporting Brown and its progeny both in 
the courtroom and out on the battlefields of society. We should all 
recall the recent threat to affirmative action that was defeated in 
Grutter v. Bollinger. It is shameful that almost a century from the 
great decision, the principles of equality were again challenged by way 
of college admissions criteria. It is shameful that the Board of 
Regents at Texas A&M University chose to abandon the jurisprudence of 
Brown and Bollinger and refused to utilize affirmative action to repair 
its significantly disparate racial student body ratio--this fall, it 
was 82% white, 2% black, 9% Hispanic, and 3% Asian-American.
  At Prairie View A&M University, a District Attorney challenges 
students' right to vote in a local primary election based on domicile. 
Ultimately, the student body, Waller County activists, elected 
officials, educators, spiritual leaders, and many other supporters were 
successful in bringing about a settlement offered by the challengers. 
Nevertheless, from that experience, we learned that this Nation is 
still a long way from where it should be in terms of providing equal 
opportunity and access to education, voting rights, and civil rights.
  The sentiment and mentality that threaten to erode our progress are 
not always as clear as at Prairie View or in a blatantly anti-
affirmative action admissions policy. Socioeconomic status plays a role 
in rendering meaningless the promise of Brown v. Board of Education. 
When children are poor, expectations are lower. Unfortunately, if your 
mother or father works in the sweatshops in East Harlem or picks 
broccoli in Northern California, you are likely receiving a sub-
standard and slower-paced education. Teachers have a duty to show these 
children that their neighborhoods do not define who they are and what 
their futures hold.
  On the third anniversary, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made one of his 
first important addresses to discuss the implications of the Supreme 
Court's decision in Brown. He referred to that decision as ``simple, 
eloquent and unequivocal'' and a ``joyous daybreak to end the long 
night of enforced segregation.'' At that address, Dr. King said the 
following profound words:

       There are at least three basic reasons by segregation is 
     evil. The first reason is that segregation inevitably makes 
     for inequality. There was a time that we attempted to live 
     with segregation. . . . there was always a strict enforcement 
     of the separate without the slightest intention to abide by 
     the equal. . . .
       But even if it had been possible to provide the Negro with 
     equal facilities in terms of external construction and 
     quantitative distribution we would have still confronted 
     inequality . . . in the sense that they would not have had 
     the opportunity of communicating with all children. You see, 
     equality

[[Page H2928]]

     is not only a matter of mathematics and geometry, but it's a 
     matter of psychology. . . . The doctrine of separate but 
     equal can never be. . . .
       But not only that, segregation is evil because it scars the 
     soul of both the segregated and the segregator. . . . It 
     gives the segregated a false sense of inferiority and it 
     gives the segregator a false sense of superiority. . . . It 
     does something to the soul. . . .
       Then there is a third reason why segregation is evil. That 
     is because it ends up depersonalizing the segregated. . . . 
     The segregated becomes merely a thing to be used, not a 
     person to be respected. He is merely a depersonalized cog in 
     a vast economic machine. And this is why segregation is 
     utterly evil and utterly un-Christian. It substitutes an ``I/
     It'' relationship for the ``I/Thou'' relationship.

  We should be moving ahead instead of backward. Mr. Speaker, as Dr. 
King said of the great decision that we now honor, I challenge this 
nation to also be unequivocal about committing to equality. I support 
the Ranking Member's resolution and encourage the Members of this 
Committee to do the same.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Conyers) and the chairman, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner) for bringing to the floor this important resolution 
recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of 
Education, and I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that this resolution calls upon 
Congress to do more than just noting the historical significance of the 
50th anniversary of the Brown decision. It asks Congress to renew its 
commitment to continue building on the legacy of Brown with a pledge to 
acknowledge and address the modern-day disparities that perpetuate a 
separate but unequal society.
  Yet while we celebrate the Brown I decision, we must candidly discuss 
the many challenges that remain in the quest to achieve equal 
opportunity for all Americans. Professor Charles Ogletree of the 
Harvard Law School has written a very powerful book on the legacy of 
the Brown decision, entitled ``All Deliberate Speeds: Reflections on 
the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education.'' Professor 
Ogletree reminds us the second Brown case, decided on December 31, 
1955, was every bit as important as the first Brown case, which was 
decided on May 17, 1954.
  While the first case contains the powerful language that we all know, 
declaring that separate but equal educational facilities were 
inherently unequal and no longer had a place in American society, in 
the Brown II decision the Court called for school desegregation to 
proceed, and I quote, ``with all deliberate speed.'' Mr. Speaker, 
deliberate means slow, and, unfortunately, while we surely are making 
progress, the last 50 years of history demonstrates that our progress 
toward a color-blind, racially equal society has been slow indeed.
  Mr. Speaker, let me briefly quote Professor Ogletree's powerful 
words. He said, and I quote, ``Brown v. Board of Education was 
important because it ended legal segregation. However, the Court's 
decision, though unanimous, contained a critical compromise which 
undermined the broad purposes of the campaign to end racial segregation 
immediately and comprehensively.''
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez).
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman 
from Wisconsin for introducing this resolution, and, in particular, I 
want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) for 
including in this important bill a reference to Mendez v. Westminster.
  I rise today in support of this resolution recognizing the importance 
of Brown v. Board of Education. But Brown v. Board of Education was 
actually built on a few important cases, one of which is the Mendez v. 
Westminster, which happened, if you can believe this, in Orange County, 
California.
  In 1945, Felicitas Mendez took her child, Silvia, and her niece and 
her nephew down the block to the local school to enroll them. The niece 
and the nephew were lighter skinned; they could go to that school. She 
was told that her own daughter, who was darker skinned, would have to 
go across town to the Mexican school. Felicitas Mendez was a Puerto 
Rican.
  The Mexican school took the Asians and the blacks and all the other 
dark-skinned people, like Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Well, Gonzalo and 
Felicitas Mendez decided to fight that, and they filed a lawsuit, along 
with four other families, against Westminster, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and 
El Modena districts, seeking an injunction against all schools in 
Orange County.
  On February 18, 1946, Mendez v. Westminster was decided in favor of 
the Mendez family, and on April 14, 1947, the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals ruled in favor of the Mendez family's case. It was the first 
case in Federal Court of the doctrine of separate but equal, naming it 
unconstitutional. California Governor Earl Warren signed desegregation 
of California, 8 years ahead of the rest of the Nation.
  Of course, 8 years later Thurgood Marshall would use that case as he 
argued Brown v. Board of Education, and Warren sat on that Supreme 
Court. The bravery and the dedication of Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez 
opened the doors for better education to all children in the United 
States, and I thank this Congress for acknowledging how important Brown 
v. Board of Education is.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). The gentleman from New Jersey has 
2 minutes remaining.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey yields 2 
minutes and the gentleman from Wisconsin yields 1 minute.
  The gentlewoman from the District of Columbia is recognized for 3 
minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee 
for his generosity, and I thank him for his leadership, and I thank the 
ranking member, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) as well for 
his leadership on this important issue. I also thank the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for his leadership on education issues in our 
Congress.
  I think it is fair to say that the Brown decision is the most 
important court decision in American history. The decision saved our 
country from catastrophic racial division that could have come to race 
war rather than to a nonviolent revolution led by Dr. Martin Luther 
King that began with the peaceful overthrow of legal discrimination 
with Brown v. Board of Education.
  Most shamefully, our country tolerated segregated schools here in the 
Nation's Capital as well. I attended those segregated schools. We pay 
tribute and I offer my personal thanks to the plaintiffs in Bolden v. 
Sharp, the decision which was one of the cases that went to the Supreme 
Court grouped together under Brown v. Board of Education.
  But, Mr. Speaker, Brown is much larger than school desegregation, as 
large a mission as that decision took on. After Brown, public funding 
of segregated policies or programs became constitutionally untenable. 
Brown did more than we had the right to expect from any one court 
decision, but Brown could not prevent resegregation through white 
flight, or discriminatory housing. Brown could not fund our Nation's 
schools. And Brown cannot raise test scores of children.
  On this 50th anniversary, let us remember that Brown did its job, and 
it left the Congress and the American people with work still to do.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, if one looks back at the history of the consideration of 
civil rights bills in the Congress, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the 
Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting 
Rights Act 1 year later, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, these were 
all passed due to bipartisan support on the floor of the House and the 
Senate and bipartisan cooperation with whichever administration was in 
office at the time, the Eisenhower administration, the Kennedy 
administration, or the Johnson administration.
  This resolution is in the spirit of bipartisanship because there is 
no difference between Republicans and

[[Page H2929]]

Democrats, historically, as well as today, in their commitment to equal 
rights for all Americans.
  The Constitution is color-blind. We should not discriminate based 
upon race, creed, color, national origin, gender or disability, and 
those are the types of protections that this Congress, through 
bipartisan effort, was able to enact into law, but more importantly to 
get the American public, even those who held out almost to the bitter 
end, to support today.
  And that is why America is so much different than countries in the 
rest of the world, because we faced up to our discriminatory history, 
and we were able to overcome that first legally, but the hearts of 
America followed the law in this case.
  Yes, there is more work to do. Nobody argues that point. But the 
framework that provided the tremendous progress that has been made in 
the last 50 years since the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of 
Education has been because people of differing political ideologies and 
people of differing political party affiliations have gotten together.
  We can make that progress in the next 50 years, like we did in the 
last, if that type of bipartisan cooperation continues. This is a 
bipartisan resolution, and I am happy, on behalf of the majority party 
on the Committee on the Judiciary, to bring this resolution to the 
floor, a resolution that has been offered by our ranking minority party 
member. It is a good resolution, and it ought to be approved 
unanimously.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 
upcoming 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. It was 50 
years ago that the Supreme Court unanimously decreed segregated public 
schools unconstitutional. The effects of that decision live on in 
myriad ways, and yet, in much of America, equality and integration 
remain ideals rather than realities.
  In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court stated that separate is inherently 
unequal. The Court concluded, ``that in the field of public education, 
the doctrine of `separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational 
facilities are inherently unequal.'' The Court found that the evils of 
racial segregation affected students' motivation and retarded 
educational and mental development.
  Education is a right, not a privilege. The Court wrote: ``. . . it is 
doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life 
if he (or she) is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an 
opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right 
which must be made available to all on equal terms.''
  In the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, CEO 
of the Cleveland Municipal School District continues this legacy Brown 
v. Board of Education, championing the rights of our young people and 
working to ensure that they are afforded the best education possible. 
Six years ago, in 1998, the Cleveland Municipal School District ranked 
last among Ohio school systems, and was placed in academic emergency 
status. Under the direction of Ms. Byrd-Bennett the Cleveland Municipal 
School District now stands as one of Ohio's ``most improved school 
districts.''
  Under Ms. Byrd-Bennett's leadership academic successes are clear:
  Reading scores have increased by more than 30 percent;
  Children have breakfast and lunch at school at no cost, and over 93 
percent are immunized;
  Graduation rates have increased by 10 percent and 74 percent of last 
year's graduates went on to college;
  Suspensions are down nearly 45 percent, expulsions are down 9 percent 
and assaults on students are down 13 percent;
  Fourth and 6th grade reading results were up 19 percent and 28 
percent, respectively, in 1 academic year; and
  Only 22 percent of 4th grade students passed the State reading test 
in 1998 compared to 59 percent passed, in 2003, an increase of 37 
percent from 5 years ago. Reading performance at the 6th grade has 
improved by 32 percent.
  I believe that education is the key to success. I am working on 
behalf of all the constituents of the 11th Congressional District in 
Ohio to make sure that public education remains the number one issue in 
America. I want for those who have a desire to go to college to be 
prepared and equipped with the tools necessary for success.
  While highlighting successes and recognizing achievements, we must 
also focus on current realities to further aid us in shaping national 
education priorities. According to the National Education Association:
  Poor and minority children risk doing poorly in school. Contributing 
factors include: rigorous curriculum, teacher preparation/experience/
attendance, class size, technology-assisted instruction, school safety, 
parent participation, student mobility, birth weight, lead poisoning, 
and nutrition;
  In 1994, 31 percent of black, 24 percent of Hispanic, and 35 percent 
of American Indian high school graduates took remedial courses, 
compared to 15 percent of whites and Asians;
  Few minorities have access to or are enrolled in Advanced Placement 
courses,
  Student achievement gap still wide; and
  Only 5 percent of African American 4th grade students and 4 percent 
of 8th grade students met national proficiency standards in 1996.
  In addition, under the Bush budget $9.4 billion less for education 
than was promised in the No Child Left Behind Act; this means that 2.4 
million children will not get the help with reading and math they were 
promised. Under the Bush budget 56,000 teachers won't get trained and 
1.3 million children won't get the after school programs they were 
promised.
  According to the National Education Association, the budget 
eliminates funds for 38 programs, including dropout prevention and 
gifted and talented education, and once again fails to increase Pell 
Grants for our Nation's poorest college students. Yet, incredibly, the 
President wants $50 million for a national experiment with school 
vouchers, which take away much needed resources from public schools, 
and trillions more in tax cuts continue to flow to the wealthy.
  According to Barbara Bowman, professor of early childhood education 
at the Erikson Institute, ``We're still quite a long way from a 
concerted national effort. What Brown did was make for a concerted 
national effort, but it required people to change. We haven't gotten 
that kind of centering of interest right now.''
  America's public schools are dealing with a level of linguistic and 
cultural diversity unknown 50 years ago, when the Supreme Court 
outlawed school segregation in its Brown v. Board of Education decision 
of May 17, 1954.
  Today, public schools struggling to fulfill the spirit of the Brown 
decision, equal access to educational opportunity for all now we have a 
task made more complex and difficult by an ever-growing number of 
students who aren't even native English speakers.
  In this information-based economy, the stakes are increasingly high 
for those who don't get the education they need--potentially hundreds 
of thousands of dollars in earning power over the course of a lifetime, 
middle class vs. minimum wage.
  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 
3.7 million public school students were offered English language 
learner services in the 2001-2002 academic year.
  Segregated housing patterns make racially mixed schools a rarity. New 
York City schools, for example, have grown more segregated over the 
last decades. And with de facto segregation comes separate and unequal 
education.
  Cheryl Brown Henderson, one of the children who helped desegregate 
public schools, brought her message to Cleveland earlier this month. 
Brown says over the years she's watched schools become more integrated 
but feels we're not there yet. ``The country is far more inclusive than 
it has ever been and obviously we have some unfinished business to do 
because not all of our schools are functioning as they should be; not 
all our communities are as open and inviting as they should be.''
  We have come a long way; however, we still have a long way to go.
  Today I rise to celebrate the anniversary of Brown v. Board of 
Education. I am proud to be an American. I saluted African Americans 
like Barbara Byrd-Bennett who believed in the fight for justice, 
believed in their dreams for equality and continue to pave the way for 
a better tomorrow.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 414, a 
resolution celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Brown. v. Board of 
Education Supreme Court decision, brought to the floor by my very good 
friend; a pioneer for civil rights in this House and the ranking member 
of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers. Mr. 
Conyers, I thank you for your continued leadership on issues that 
affect the center of people's lives.
  May 17, 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court 
decision that unanimously held that racial segregation of public 
schools violated the 14th amendment. The legacy of the Brown decision 
lives on throughout the Nation, and I, as well as million of Americans 
throughout the country, are the direct beneficiaries of this monumental 
court decision.
  In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the 
norm across America. But in 1954, the United States Supreme Court 
affirmed that separate facilities are indeed inherently unequal. The 
court determined that the segregation in public schools based solely 
upon race deprives minority children of equal

[[Page H2930]]

opportunity. As such, the Court concluded that in the field of public 
education, the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' has no place.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this historic 
groundbreaking case it is incumbent upon us to reflect and assess where 
we stand today. As students of history know, we study the past in order 
to learn about the present and build a better future.
  However, for many Americans Brown's promises to seem unfulfilled. 
America's schools remain imperiled by segregation. Poor children living 
in disadvantaged urban communities of color overwhelmingly attend re-
segregated schools, as more affluent white families have departed for 
the suburbs. Methods of school funding virtually assure that wealthy 
district will offer superior educational opportunities. In addition, 
the one compelling pledge that this administration has made to raise 
standards in our schools, the No Child Left Behind Act, remains under 
funded to the tune of $9 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, we must not allow this nation to return to a time before 
Brown. The lesson of Brown is that segregation clearly does not work. I 
encourage my colleagues to use this opportunity to renew their 
commitment to eradicating all vestiges of segregation by voicing their 
support for H. Con. Res. 414.
  Furthermore, I call upon my colleagues and the administration to 
fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act. Unless we ensure that every 
child in this nation receives an equitable and quality education, this 
Nation's children will be suffocated once again by the legacy that 
segregation has left behind in our schools.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to explain my objection to H. Con. Res. 
414, the resolution commending the anniversary of the decision in Brown 
v. Board of Education and related cases. While I certainly agree with 
the expression of abhorrence at the very idea of forced segregation I 
cannot, without reservation, simply support the content in the 
resolution.
  The ``whereas clauses'' of this resolution venture far beyond the 
basis of Brown and praise various federal legislative acts such as the 
Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965. This final Act was particularly pernicious because 
it was not applied across the board, but targeted only at certain areas 
of the country. As such, it violates the spirit of the very equal 
protection it claims to promote. Moreover, we certainly should ask what 
constitutional authority lies behind the passage of such legislation.
  The history of racism, segregation and inferior facilities that led 
to Brown cannot be ignored, and should not pass from our condemnation. 
Still, thinking people must consider the old adage that ``two wrongs do 
not make a right.'' Simply, the affects of Brown have been, at best, 
mixed. As this anniversary has approached there have been a large 
number of events and articles in the media to celebrate the decision 
and analyze its impact. Most people, regardless of their opinion of the 
decision, seem to be aware that it has not achieved its goals.
  In many places in our country the public school system continues to 
fail many American children, particularly those in the inner city. 
Research shows that our schools are more segregated than at any point 
from the 1960s. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the affects of the 
Brown decision. Do we really mean to celebrate the failures of forced 
busing? Forced integration largely led to white flight from the cities, 
thus making society even more segregated. Where children used to go to 
different schools but meet each other at the little league field, after 
Brown these people would now live in different cities or different 
counties. Thus, forced integration led only to even more segregation. A 
recent Washington Post article about McKinley High School makes this 
very point. Worse still, prior to this re-segregation racial violence 
was often prevalent.
  We need also to think about whether sacrificing quality education on 
the altar of equality is not a terrible mistake, especially as it 
applies to the opportunities available to those who are historically 
and economically disadvantaged. For example, research has shown that 
separating children on the basis of gender enhances academic 
performance. Attempts to have such schools have been struck down by the 
courts on the basis of Brown. Just last night Fox News reported the 
academic successes at schools separating children based on gender, as 
approved by this body is the so-called ``No Child Left Behind Act.'' 
Yet the National Organization of Women continues to oppose this policy 
on the basis of Brown's ``separate is inherently not equal'' edict, 
despite the statistically evident positive impact this policy has had 
on the achievement of female students in mathematics and science 
classes.
  Mr. Speaker, in short forced integration and enforced equality are 
inimical to liberty; while they may be less abhorrent than forced 
segregation they are nonetheless as likely to lead to resentment and 
are demonstrably as unworkable and hence ineffective.
  While I completely celebrate the end of forced segregation that Brown 
helped to bring about, I cannot unreservedly support this resolution as 
currently worded.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education 
decision and to draw a parallel from this historic ruling to the 
landmark No Child Left Behind education reform law.
  The words penned by Chief Justice Earl Warren on May 17, 1954 still 
ring true today and provide a clear roadmap for improving America's 
public education system in the future. Fifty years ago, Mr. Warren 
wrote:

       In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably 
     be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the 
     opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the 
     state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be 
     made available to all on equal terms.

  By striking down the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' as 
unconstitutional, the Brown decision flung open wide the doors of 
public education for all children, regardless of their color or back 
ground. It ensured every child a seat in an integrated classroom. It 
guaranteed access to an equal education for everyone. No longer could 
students be refused an opportunity to receive a quality education 
simply because the color of their skin.
  Two years ago, Congress--in a bipartisan vote--enacted that No Child 
Left Behind Act as the logical step to improving education for all 
students. We promised to increase federal education funding while 
demanding high standards and accountability for all students. As a 
result of the law, parents are receiving more information than ever 
before about the quality of their local schools and are realizing new 
opportunities to improve their children's education.
  What was once an unattainable dream for so many parents stuck on the 
wrong side of the tracks has now become a reality. Parents with 
children trapped in underperforming schools may now transfer them to 
better performing schools.
  A report released yesterday by the Citizens' Commission on Civil 
Rights found that the No Child Left Behind Act is already creating new 
educational opportunities for minority students. According to the 
Commission's report, at least 70,000 students in 47 states are 
benefiting for the law's school choice provision.
  The Commission understands--just as Congress did--the importance of 
providing parents new options to improve their children's education. 
They also understand how added school choice options will help the 
whole education system get better, not worse.
  The Commission's findings are fortified by a recent Chicago Sun-Times 
analysis showing that of the students who were allowed to transfer to a 
better performing school under NCLB made greater strides on state-
designed reading and math tests than students in their former school. 
The paper also determined that other students' scores did not drop as a 
result of the incoming students, as many education reform opponents 
predicted would happen.
  However, these are not the only signs of No Child Left Behind's early 
success. Students are showing considerable improvement in the nation's 
largest urban schools. A recent report by the Council of Great City 
Schools attributed much of this improvement to the No Child Left Behind 
Act.
  Earlier this week, Florida and Michigan reported decreases in the 
achievement gap between African-American students and their Caucasian 
peers.
  There is still much work to do before America fully realizes the 
dream of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, but we are on the 
right track. By holding the line against education reform opponents and 
allowing states and school districts to implement the full scope of No 
Child Left Behind's reforms, we will ensure a higher level of student 
academic performance than we have ever achieved.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we celebrate the 
50th Anniversary of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. African 
Americans and other minorities have been affected tremendously by this 
landmark decision and have benefited from it over several decades. We 
would like to think that our country now benefits from the inclusion of 
having a more enriched and diverse classroom, workplace, and community. 
We now have more black doctors, lawyers, Members of Congress, CEOs, 
scientists, astronauts, teachers and the list continues.
  There is no doubt Brown represents the power and potential of masses 
united in struggle for justice and equality. The larger question before 
us today is, has Brown achieved its goal of equality in education and 
educational opportunity for African Americans? The sad answer, after so 
many decades of struggle, remains: No.
  When compared to their White counterparts, African American children 
were three times as likely to be labeled mentally retarded or 
emotionally disturbed. The number of African

[[Page H2931]]

Americans attending graduate, medical or dental school slowly has been 
declining. There are more black males in our prison than in our 
institutions of higher education.
  Although there are 39 African American Members of Congress in the 
House of Representatives, there is not one black man or woman serving 
in the U.S. Senate. Out of our 50 states that make up our great 
Nation--not one has a black man or woman at the top as Governor.
  Mr. Speaker, data from the 2000 census makes it clear that the ridged 
lines of ethnic and racial segregation persist across the entire 
country. This year is not only a celebration of the step forward in 
freeing the minds of African-American children but a reflection that in 
50 years we have failed as a Nation to provide equal education and 
opportunities to minority children in our country. After 50 years of 
``separate but equal'' being ruled unconstitutional, it is evident it 
still exists in our schools and communities today.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commemorate the 50th year 
anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of 
Education of Topeka. The Nation's highest court spoke almost half a 
century ago, but it seems that we have not received the message.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe segregation has taken on a new face. It is now 
a matter of access to quality education; it is now a matter of 
accountability to our children for the unfulfilled promises made 50 
years ago; and it is now a matter of addressing disparities in school 
funding formulas.
  In my own State of Illinois, a black child is about 50 times more 
likely than a white child to attend one of Illinois' worst-of-the-worst 
``academic watch'' schools. That number for white children is less than 
one percent.
  I stand in strong support of this important resolution, because I 
believe a stronger America is an educated America. And I believe the 
only way to continue the legacy of Brown is to engage in an honest 
discussion about the current state of public schools in America. Then 
and only then we will be able to address the change promised by the 
legacy of Brown. Mr. Speaker, segregation was and still is present in 
our schools today.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 
414, it gives me great pleasure to support this important resolution 
today.
  On Monday we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of 
Education, which found that, ``in the field of education, the doctrine 
of `separate but equal' has no place,'' thus guaranteeing every 
American student a seat in the classroom. Truly a landmark decision, 
Brown did not end in the classroom. It helped pave the way for the 
enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 
1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
  Enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, built upon the educational 
progress made in Brown by ensuring every student will not only have 
access, but will also receive a quality education. While progress has 
been made since the Brown decision, a huge gap still remains when it 
comes to ensuring all children actually learn. Significant academic 
achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and their more affluent 
peers still exist in key subjects such as reading and math. In effect, 
we have allowed a two-tiered educational system--one with low 
expectations for poor or minority students and high expectations for 
others.
  Nationally, the achievement gap between African-American and 
Caucasian fourth-graders in reading is 28 percentage points. The 
achievement gap between Hispanic and Caucasian fourth-graders is 29 
percentage points. We have allowed ourselves to believe that some 
children are simply beyond our reach, and, as a result, this Nation has 
suffered.
  Not unlike Brown, No Child Left Behind is rooted in the belief that 
all students--regardless of race, background, income, geography, or 
disability--can learn, and must be given the chance to do so.
  No Child Left Behind has its skeptics, and change is never easy. 
Despite complaints, all parties involved are answering to the 
requirements of No Child Left Behind. States, school districts, 
teachers, parents and without doubt the students are meeting the rigors 
of the law. This response shows that we all are dedicated and believe 
in the goals of the law.
  We are already seeing positive results. According to a 2004 study by 
the Council of Great City Schools, the achievement gap is narrowing in 
both reading and math between African-American and Caucasian and 
Hispanic and Caucasian students in our Nation's inner-city schools--and 
they attribute the positive change in part to No Child Left Behind.
  I am honored to be a cosponsor of this resolution, encourage us all 
to celebrate the anniversary of Brown, and reflect on how far we have 
come in ensuring educational access. We must also recognize that the 
job is not done; we must see to it that all children are learning. No 
Child Left Behind is a step in this direction and we must stay the 
course.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to 
support this resolution encouraging all Americans to observe the 
anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education with a commitment to 
continuing and building on its legacy.
  Brown v. Board of Education is one of the most important decisions 
our Supreme Court has ever made. It's important to celebrate the 
progress that has been made over the past 50 years in eliminating 
discrimination and inferior education for low-income and minority 
children--but it's also important to take a good, hard look at how far 
we still have to go.
  Sadly, we are still light years away from providing the equal 
education envisioned by Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren. Today, as in 
1954, the quality of a child's education is still all too often linked 
to the color of his or her skin.
  Just as the United States has the best health care in the world for 
those who can afford it, we have one of the best public education 
systems in the world if you happen to grow up in a predominantly white 
or wealthy community. But what if you don't?
  If you are one of the millions of children who attend predominantly 
minority schools, our society continues to fail you. And that 
shortchanges not only the children, but the future of this nation.
  It is shameful that poor and minority children are often assigned to 
less-challenging classes and less qualified teachers. The best teachers 
are often across town, a virtual world away from the students who need 
them desperately.
  Black students are assigned disproportionately to special education, 
and low-income students are less than half as likely to be assigned to 
``college prep'' courses. Overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated school 
buildings also send a powerful message to poor and minority students 
about what is expected of them.
  Just yesterday, a judge with a sense of history in Kansas reminded us 
of the importance of school equity by ordering schools closed for not 
adequately serving the needs of poor, minority, disabled and non-
English speaking children.
  This lack of access to an equal education affects academic 
achievement. Seventy-four percent of white 4th graders read well, 
nearly twice the rate of the black classmates; and their Latino and 
Native American classmates are only slightly better. It is a national 
shame that half a century after this Nation committed itself to 
equality in education, fewer than half of minority children can read 
proficiently.
  And that failure plays out in high school graduations. When millions 
of students get their diplomas a few weeks from now, only about half 
the minority children who began high school will graduate. That is an 
unacceptable rate of failure that in most cases, dooms those young 
people to a life of second class opportunities. That was not the lesson 
of Brown v. Board of Education.
  It was to end that two-class education system once and for all that 
we passed No Child Left Behind three years ago, to end the racial and 
economic disparities that divide our schools and divide our country.
  The No Child Left Behind law--if fully funded--would put a qualified 
teacher in every classroom. If all students were assigned highly 
qualified teachers for 5 years, evidence shows that test-score gaps 
separating poor and middle-class students would disappear. Not just 
narrow, but disappear.
  But the President has turned his back on this law and underfunded it 
by nearly $27 billion. And our children are paying the price for yet 
another dream deferred.
  The foundation of the civil rights struggle of 2004--as in 1954--is 
in the classroom. Civil rights pioneer Dr. Dorothy Height said it well: 
``The surest path to success is through education.''
  Like Dr. Height, we must keep fighting and keep fighting so that 50 
years from now--when our grandchildren celebrate the 100th anniversary 
of Brown--they will be able to point with pride to an education system 
that lives up to the ideals of Brown v. Board of Education once and for 
all.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. 
On May 17, 1954, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the 
Court's unanimous decision that ended the legal racial segregation in 
our Nation's public schools.
  Without the courage and determination of the families that made up 
the 5 cases under Brown and the team of attorneys from the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), our Nation's 
public schools would have continued to operate under the ``separate but 
equal'' doctrine.
  All parents want to ensure their children are safe, happy and 
healthy. They also want to give them the opportunities that were not 
afforded to them. Access to safe public schools that have the necessary 
resources for their children to succeed later on in life is important

[[Page H2932]]

to every parent, regardless of race, color or creed. As a proud father 
of 4 children, I recognize the link between education, good paying 
jobs, and securing our children's future in the 21st century.
  I have long been an advocate for education in my State. I know the 
importance of providing our public schools with the necessary 
technology improvements that will help children compete in the 21st 
century. I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary 
tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.
  I congratulate the children, parents, and the NAACP attorneys who 
pursued this case for their role in ensuring all children have the 
right to receive a quality education. Thank you for pursuing and 
believing in your fundamental rights under the Constitution, which 
guarantees every citizen the right to the pursuit of happiness, 
liberty, and equal opportunity.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 50th 
Anniversary of the Supreme Court's courageous decision in Brown vs. the 
Board of Education.
  I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the team of lawyers 
from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall who had the 
courage to pursue this case. I want to thank the legal scholars and 
strategists at Howard University School of Law, led by Charles Hamilton 
Houston, who had the intellect to map out this winning strategy. I want 
to thank the sociologists and psychologists, led by Kenneth and Mamie 
Clark who undertook the challenge of gathering evidence of the harm 
done to African American children when society branded them with a mark 
of inferiority. And I want to thank the parents and students who risked 
homes, livelihoods, and underwent physical threats and harassment to be 
a part of this lawsuit. Fifty years after Brown, this country owes a 
debt of gratitude to each of these people who played a part in bringing 
about the end of legal segregation based on race. In the face of 
violence, intimidation and governmental resistance, they pressed 
forward to move this country closer to the realization of its stated 
creed--freedom, equality and justice for all.
  Yet 50 years later, we know that the work they started is not 
finished. We must remember that their goal was not only to end legal 
segregation of the public schools, but to assure that a quality public 
education is available for all children. We are still involved in that 
struggle. On this anniversary of Brown, many will point to the fact 
that many schools are still segregated and are rapidly re-segregating. 
I join them in these concerns.
  As people talk about the Brown decision, many will talk about the 
meaning of the decision and others will talk about the promise the 
decision represented. The theoretical underpinning of Brown was that 
public schools must be supported adequately. The lawyers in Brown 
wanted to dismantle segregation for many worthwhile reasons. But they 
also wanted to emphasize that as practiced, separate was inherently 
unequal. While we have legally abolished the separateness required 
before Brown, we have not yet addressed the problem of equality of 
funding.
  We are still operating state-based educational systems in which 
schools attended by racial minorities receive less money that those 
located in primarily white areas. This inequality in funding must be 
abolished to complete the mission of Brown. We must focus on the 
perpetual under-funding of inner-city schools. We must recognized that 
the achievement gap is inextricably linked to the economic gap. Low-
performing schools are almost always situated in communities that are 
pockets of poverty. We must realize the importance of teacher and 
administration accountability but not forget that Congressional 
accountability requires that we make school funding a priority. 
Congress must assure that there is adequate money for school 
construction to reduce class size and purchase educational materials. 
We must ensure that teachers are paid for the professional and 
important job that they do. And finally, we must provide funding which 
allows local communities to build a supportive infrastructure that 
values the role of education in the community.
  To me, the message of the Brown decision was simple--education is a 
vehicle of upward mobility. If we have heard Brown's message, we must 
fulfill its promise--that every child can succeed, if given the 
opportunity of a quality public education. We still have not fulfilled 
the promise. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that we in this House 
dedicate ourselves to hear the message of Brown and fulfill its promise 
by working to provide the opportunity for a quality public education 
for all of America's children.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as the Representative for 
Virginia's Third Congressional District, and the state's first and only 
Black Congressional Representative since Reconstruction, I take 
personal pride in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the landmark 
decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Virginia played a prominent 
role in the case. The Davis v. Prince Edward County Public Schools 
case, one of the cases decided with Brown, was a Virginia case. Also, 
two of the nation's premier constitutional lawyers in the Brown case 
came from Virginia. Attorney Oliver Hill, who continues to fight for 
equal justice for all, and the late Judge Spottswood Robinson, argued 
the case on behalf of the student plaintiffs in the Davis case.
  In the Brown decision, the United States Supreme Court unanimously 
struck down the legal and moral footing of racially segregated public 
education in this country. The decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, 
an 1896 case which held that a state could maintain ``separate but 
equal'' public accommodations based on race. When Homer Adolph Plessy, 
who was one-eighth Black, entered a railroad car reserved by law for 
whites, he was arrested. He challenged the constitutionality of the 
law, but the Supreme Court, by a vote of seven to one, found it valid. 
Although Plessy concerned public accommodations, the policy rationale 
was applicable to public education, as well. Indeed, the court opined 
on that point as follows:

       [W]e cannot say that a law which authorizes or even 
     requires the separation of the two races in public 
     conveyances is unreasonable, or more obnoxious to the 
     fourteenth amendment than the acts of congress (sic) 
     requiring separate schools for colored children in the 
     District of Columbia, the constitutionality of which does not 
     seem to have been questioned . . .

  Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter in the 7 to 1 
decision. He wrote an opinion containing the following:

       The destinies of the two races in this country are 
     indissolubly linked together, and the interests of both 
     require that the common government of all shall not permit 
     the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanction of 
     law. What can more certainly arouse race hate, what more 
     certainly create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between 
     these races, than state enactments which in fact proceed on 
     the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded 
     that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied 
     by white citizens? That, as all will admit, is the real 
     meaning of such legislation as was enacted in Louisiana . . . 
     The thin disguise of ``equal'' accommodations for passengers 
     in railroad coaches will not misled anyone, or atone for the 
     wrong this day done.

  In overturning Plessy, the Brown Court not only confirmed Justice 
Harlan's ``thin disguise'' dissenting opinion in Plessy, but also held 
that even if the tangible features of a segregated public education 
system were equal, a constitutional violation would still exist. The 
reasoning of the Court then is still valid today:

       Today, education is perhaps the most important function of 
     state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance 
     laws and the great expenditures for education both 
     demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to 
     our democratic society. It is required in the performance of 
     our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the 
     armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. 
     Today it is a principle instrument in awakening the child to 
     cultural values, in preparing him for later professional 
     training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his 
     environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may 
     reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the 
     opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the 
     state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be 
     made available to all on equal terms.
       We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of 
     children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even 
     though the physical facilities and other ``tangible'' factors 
     may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of 
     equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.

  The Court then discussed the impact segregation has on minority 
children:

       To separate them from others of similar age and 
     qualifications solely because of their race generates a 
     feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community 
     that may affect their heart and minds in a way unlikely ever 
     to be undone. The effect of this separation on their 
     educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the 
     Kansas case by a court which nevertheless felt compelled to 
     rule against the Negro plaintiffs: ``Segregation of white and 
     colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect 
     upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has 
     the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the 
     races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of 
     the negro (sic) group. A sense of inferiority affects the 
     motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction 
     of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational 
     and mental development of negro (sic) children and to deprive 
     them of some of the benefits they would receive in a 
     [racially] integrated school system.''

  Unfortunately, Virginia led the resistance to the Brown decision. 
Ironically Virginia used language in the Brown decision as legal 
grounds for its resistance actions:

       Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to 
     provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on 
     equal terms.


[[Page H2933]]


  Virginia reasoned that it could avoid integrating its schools by not 
having any schools at all. As a result, Prince Edward County closed its 
schools for several years, Norfolk, Front Royal and Charlottesville 
also closed some of their schools.

  We overcame ``massive resistance'' and, today, Prince Edward County 
has one of the most integrated public school systems anywhere. Yet, 
five decades after Brown, a recent study by the Harvard Civil Rights 
Project revealed that many students in this country still attend 
schools and classes that are virtually segregated. So, while we have 
desegregated public schools, we have not achieved the integration that 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., envisioned when he dreamed of the day 
``little black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little 
white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers''. 
In fact, the Harvard study data indicates that 70 percent of African 
American children attend schools that are predominately African 
American, about the same level as in 1968 when Dr. King died.
  So, the struggle for equal educational opportunity continues. The 
promise of equal educational opportunity envisioned by the Brown 
decision remains unfulfilled. For example, equal educational 
opportunity does not occur when one jurisdiction spends substantially 
more per student than an adjacent jurisdiction because of the relative 
differences in wealth between the two. Unequal funding resources also 
results in unequal educational opportunity when you consider studies 
that show that one half of low income students who are qualified to 
attend college do not attend because they can't afford to. Another 
example of the educational inequality is the current debate over 
publicly financed school vouchers which will provide educational 
opportunities to a privileged handful, but deprive public schools of 
desperately needed resources. Also in this vein is the inappropriate 
use of ``high stakes'' tests, many of which are culturally biased and, 
therefore, diminish opportunities for some students based on their 
ethnicity.
  A final important equal opportunity issue in education is the current 
attack on civil rights in the Head Start program. A slim majority of 
the members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to 
weaken the 40-year ban on discrimination in hiring in the Head Start 
program.
  Obviously, we have work to do to complete the promise of the Brown 
decision and Dr. King's dream for our nation. The upcoming celebration 
of the 50th anniversary of the decision offers us an opportunity to 
rededicate ourselves to achieving these lofty ideals.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of Wednesday, May 12, 2004, the 
concurrent resolution is considered as having been read for amendment 
and the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the concurrent resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion are postponed.

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