[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 86 (Monday, June 21, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H4604-H4606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H4604]]
 RECOGNIZING AND ENCOURAGING ALL AMERICANS TO OBSERVE 40TH ANNIVERSARY 
 OF THE DEATHS OF ANDREW GOODMAN, JAMES CHANEY, AND MICHAEL SCHWERNER, 
                        CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZERS

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 450) recognizing the 
40th anniversary of the day civil rights organizers Andrew Goodman, 
James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner gave their lives in the struggle to 
guarantee the right to vote for every citizen of the United States and 
encouraging all Americans to observe the anniversary of the deaths of 
the 3 men by committing themselves to ensuring equal rights, equal 
opportunities, and equal justice for all people.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 450

       Whereas Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner 
     were civil rights organizers who participated in the Freedom 
     Summer Project organized by the Council of Federated 
     Organizations to register African Americans in the Deep South 
     to vote;
       Whereas on June 21, 1964, after leaving the scene of a 
     firebombed church in Longdale, Mississippi, Andrew Goodman, 
     James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered by members 
     of the Ku Klux Klan who opposed their efforts to establish 
     equal rights for African Americans;
       Whereas June 21, 2004, is the 40th anniversary of the day 
     Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner 
     sacrificed their lives in the fight against racial and social 
     injustice while working to guarantee the right to vote for 
     every citizen of the United States;
       Whereas the deaths of the 3 men brought attention to the 
     struggle to guarantee equal rights for African Americans 
     which led to the passage of monumental civil rights 
     legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 
     Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas the courage and sacrifice of Andrew Goodman, James 
     Chaney, and Michael Schwerner should encourage all citizens 
     of the United States, and especially young people, to 
     dedicate themselves to the ideals of freedom, justice, and 
     equality; and
       Whereas citizens throughout the United States will 
     commemorate the 40th anniversary of the deaths of Andrew 
     Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner to honor the 
     contributions they made to the Nation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the 40th anniversary of the day civil rights 
     organizers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 
     Schwerner gave their lives; and
       (2) encourages all Americans to observe the anniversary of 
     the deaths of the 3 men by committing themselves to the 
     fundamental principles of freedom, equality, and democracy.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Miller) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 450, and to include extraneous 
material on the concurrent resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ``Injustice anywhere 
is a threat to justice everywhere.'' And during the Freedom Summer of 
1964, a great injustice took place outside the small town of 
Philadelphia, Mississippi.
  On June 21 of 1964, members of the Ku Klux Klan attacked and murdered 
three participants of the Freedom Summer project, an African American 
voter registration drive. Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 
Schwerner were attacked after driving away from the scene of a 
firebombed church. The murders drew national attention to the civil 
rights movement taking place in the deep south.
  Today, 40 years to the day after their murders, we remember the 
contributions to America and to the Civil Rights movement by Andrew 
Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.
  Mr. Speaker, four decades ago, poll taxes, overly-complex voting 
tests, and mental and physical attacks terribly discouraged African 
Americans from voting in Mississippi during the 1960s. The Freedom 
Summer project was launched to help combat this reality, and Goodman, 
Chaney and Schwerner were active organizers of this effort. Sadly, it 
was not until news coverage of their murders that many Americans became 
aware of the unbelievable violence that was taking place here in our 
own country. The brutal murder of these three brave men was indeed a 
momentous event. In fact, it provided the basis for the 1988 film 
``Mississippi Burning.''
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my distinguished colleague, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), for his work to bring this solemn 
anniversary to all of our attention. House Concurrent Resolution 450 is 
an important reminder of America's volatile past, and it aims to help 
all Americans work to assure that such atrocities will never happen 
again.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge the resolution's adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, and pursuant to unanimous 
consent, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) will control the time.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity yesterday to visit the State of 
Mississippi and to visit the city of Philadelphia in Neshoba County.

                              {time}  1500

   Hundreds of black and white citizens gathered in Neshoba County in 
the city of Philadelphia. The mayor of the city of Philadelphia, the 
Governor, former Governor Winters, the former Secretary of State, Dick 
Molpus, and hundreds and hundreds of other citizens gathered to pay 
tribute to these three young men.
  Forty years ago today, three courageous young Americans, Andy 
Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, paid the ultimate price for 
trying to secure voting rights for all of our citizens. These three 
young men, simply because they were black and white working together to 
expand democracy, were arrested by the sheriff and his deputy. Later 
that same evening, they were taken to jail and turned over to the Klan 
where they were beaten, shot, and killed.
  As I said yesterday, and I will say it again today, it is 
unbelievable, it is unreal, but it did happen. These three young people 
did not die in Europe, they did not die in Africa, in Vietnam or the 
Middle East, but right here in our own country, in the heart of the 
South, in the State of Mississippi. As a Nation and as a people we must 
never, ever forget the sacrifice they made. Their blood helped to 
cultivate and grow the seeds of our democracy.
  Forty years ago in the State of Mississippi, that State had a black 
voting age population of more than 450,000, but only about 16,000 
blacks were registered to vote. People had to pass a so-called literacy 
test and interpret some section of the constitution of the State of 
Mississippi. On one occasion there was a man who had a graduate degree, 
a Ph.D. degree, and he flunked the so-called literacy test. On another 
occasion in an adjoining State, the State of Alabama, a man was asked 
to give the number of bubbles in a bar of soap.
  These three brave and courageous citizens, young citizens of America, 
must be looked upon as the founding fathers of the new America. James 
Chaney, Mickey Schwerner, and Andy Goodman helped beat down one of the 
mightiest walls of resistance to equal justice in America. We must 
never, ever forget their sacrifice for the freedom of us all. They made 
it possible for many of us to stand here today in this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure and my delight to yield such 
time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton), who came to Mississippi as a young lawyer, 
brave, courageous, to work during the summer of 1964 with those of us 
in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for 
yielding me this time.

[[Page H4605]]

  At the time that I was in Mississippi, the gentleman was Chair of the 
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. And while in 1964, I guess I 
had become a lawyer because I had graduated, I first came to 
Mississippi in 1963 in order to prepare for the summer of 1964 when 
students would come to the South and help the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee to register African Americans to vote in large 
numbers in the South.
  The gentleman from Georgia and our Southern colleagues in the Student 
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had, in fact, essentially opened up 
much of the Southeast and they wanted to tackle Mississippi, the 
hardest territory in the civil rights struggle. In the summer of 1963, 
we experimented with freedom schools, which is what we were about doing 
in 1964. We were going to bring African Americans, the sharecroppers 
out of the cotton fields, talk about how they should prepare themselves 
to pass the test, and try to register people.
  The summer of 1964 was a summer of both heartbreak and hope because 
no sooner had the students arrived than we lost three of them in one of 
the worst atrocities in the entire history of our country in 
Philadelphia, Mississippi, an unforgettable sacrifice of three young 
people, one a native of Mississippi, the other two from the North who 
had simply come to peacefully register people.
  We must not forget the summer of 1964, because while it was the 
summer of great sacrifice, it was also the summer when, in fact, at the 
Democratic National Convention, we broke the notion that delegations to 
political conventions could be discriminatory. It was the summer when 
we were passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Indeed, a bill on suspension 
to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act will 
be on the floor.
  But it is important for us not to forget how we got to these great 
landmarks, particularly the civil rights legislation. We got to them 
through a lot of sacrifice, some sacrifice by very young people who 
helped our country reach one of its greatest aspirations, and that is 
that everybody should be treated the same way and have the right to 
vote.
  We remember Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner today for the tragedy, to 
be sure, but for the way in which their sacrifice reminded people that 
we could overcome this greatest flaw in our democracy. We are still in 
the process of overcoming. But we will have a much better chance of 
achieving a more perfect society with racial discrimination gone if we 
remember the sacrifices of such Americans as these very young men, 
Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Let me also say that we certainly honor the gentleman from Georgia as 
well as the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia. They have earned 
all the respect of every American. They certainly are some of the 
greatest civil rights leaders that this Nation will ever have seen. Let 
me say that we honor them both as well.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her 
kind remarks.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 40th 
anniversary of the devastating murder of three courageous civil rights 
heroes. We must preserve the memory of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, 
and Michael Schwerner, who boldly fought for African American suffrage 
and helped strengthen the historic alliance between African Americans 
and Jews. The initial disappearance of these three leaders spurred new 
efforts to register African Americans to vote. Later on, national 
indignation over their murders provided the final impetus for the 
passage of President Johnson's 1964 Civil Rights Act. Together with the 
Voting Rights Act passed the following year, legally mandated 
segregation in Mississippi and throughout the South was abolished.
  The Congress of Racial Equality, (CORE) called the summer of 1964 
``Freedom Summer'' and led a massive voter registration and 
desegregation campaign in Mississippi. This summer was filled with the 
promise of implementing successful civil rights reforms. On June 21st 
as part of the Freedom Summer activities, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner 
drove to Neshoba County to express sympathy with the congregation of 
Mt. Zion Church, which had been recently demolished by the Klu Klux 
Klan. In a conspiracy between elements of the local law enforcement and 
the Ku Klux Klan, the activists were arrested, and upon their release 
taken to a remote area, brutally beaten, and shot to death.
  James Chaney, an African American civil rights worker from 
Mississippi, had recently begun to volunteer at the new CORE office in 
Meridian, Mississippi. Chaney had rapidly become the chief aide, guide, 
and companion to the CORE director, Matt Suarez. He was only 21 when he 
was murdered.
  Andy Goodman, a white, Jewish, civil rights worker from New York, had 
arrived earlier that morning in Mississippi to participate as a 
volunteer in the Mississippi Summer Project. Goodman was known as an 
intelligent, unassuming, happy, and outgoing youth, and had arrived 
excited and anxious to improve the rights of African Americans. He was 
only 20 when he was murdered.
  Michael Schwerner, another white, Jewish, civil rights worker from 
New York, was on a mission in Mississippi to reorganize the community 
center as well as other programs. Schwerner was the first white civil 
rights worker to be permanently based outside of Jackson, Mississippi. 
Although he came under attack, including hate mail, threatening phone 
calls, and police harassment for his determined efforts to register 
African Americans to vote, his dedication to fostering tolerance was 
unwavering. He was only 24 when he was murdered.
  Since their tragic murder, the family members of these three 
activists have continued to preserve both their memory as individuals 
and their legacy within United States history. To honor the 25th 
anniversary of the murders, their family members spoke at an African 
American--Jewish communal relations Seder. James Chaney's brother, Ben, 
has dedicated his life to ensuring the civil rights of all Americans. 
This year, as founder of the James Earl Chaney Foundation, he created 
the Freedom Summer 2004 Ride For Justice. The 20-bus caravan embarked 
on June 10th and is currently traveling around the country to visit a 
variety of historically important civil rights memorial sites, 
including the grave of his brother. Ben is also continuing the mission 
of voter registration for which the three men were murdered.
  These three civil rights workers are among the few of the brave 
leaders who led our country out of the darkness of intolerance and 
discrimination, allowing future generations to live without fear. All 
of us as Americans must take the time today, and every day in the 
future, to make a firm commitment to honor their memory by fighting 
even harder to safeguard the ideals for which they stood. We can learn 
from what they embodied and continue their work to stamp out prejudice 
forever. It is our duty to remember by guaranteeing that the African 
American voice be heard through the ballot box. We must preserve the 
historic ties of oppression that bind the African American and Jewish 
communities together. For the three who died, we will still continue 
the struggle for justice.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reflect on the passing of James 
Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, and to honor them by 
promoting tolerance and preserving the civil liberties and right to 
equality to which every American, regardless of their race, gender, 
ethnicity or religion, is entitled.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
the bill before us, H. Con. Res. 450, and thank the gentleman from New 
York, Mr. Owens, for his hard work in bringing it to the floor for 
passage. I am an original co-sponsor of this legislation because it 
calls us to recognize three young men who were in fact civilian 
soldiers. They knew the grave dangers that faced them and yet they 
entered a hostile area to ensure that all men and women in our Nation 
would have equal access and opportunity to exercise the fundamental 
right to vote. These young men lived lives of peace, but unfortunately 
their lives were taken away from them through violence. Every young 
person in this country can take Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and 
James Chaney as role models, true examples of self-sacrifice and 
courage, individuals who not only served others, they in fact changed 
the course of our Nation through their actions.
  The solidarity that these noble men displayed despite the pressures 
that existed to keep African Americans and Whites divided was 
unprecedented and evidence of pure leadership. Michael Schwerner, 
Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney knew that their actions to increase 
voter rights and the fact that they were a coalition of two White and 
one African-American men would incite hatred, disgust, and violent 
reaction. Their deaths ultimately facilitated the passage of one of the 
Civil Rights bills and showed America that the two races could unite. 
Therefore, we will always remember them as martyrs of an honorable 
cause in the same ilk as Dr. Martin Luther Kind, Jr., and Malcolm X.

[[Page H4606]]

  I want to take a moment to talk about these three young men as 
individuals. I hope that through the retelling of their lives we will 
be able to understand that these three men were normal individuals with 
families who loved them and hopes for the future, but instead of living 
a safe life they took an extraordinary chance to fulfill justice and 
now today they have rightfully assumed the mantle of greatness.
  James Chaney was born May 30, 1943 in Meridian, Mississippi to Ben 
and Fannie Lee Chaney. In 1963, he joined the Congress of Racial 
Equality (CORE). In 1964, CORE led a massive voter registration and 
desegregation campaign in Mississippi called Freedom Summer. Chaney had 
begun volunteer work at the new CORE office in Meridian in October, 
1963, his work ranged from constructing bookshelves at the community 
center to traveling to rural counties to set up meetings. Chaney, being 
black, was able to go places while CORE members were afraid to go. 
Chaney was only twenty-one when he died on Rock Cut Road.
  Andrew Goodman was only 20 when he died on Rock Cut Road on June 21, 
1964, near the end of his first full day in Mississippi. Goodman had 
arrived in the state early the previous morning after attending a tree-
day training session in Ohio for volunteer for the Mississippi Summer 
Project. Goodman arrived in Mississippi excited and anxious to get to 
work. Goodman was intelligent, unassuming, happy, and outgoing. While a 
high school sophomore, Goodman traveled to Washington, DC to 
participate in the ``Youth March for Integrated Schools.'' Although not 
seeing himself as a professional reformer, Goodman knew that his life 
had been somewhat sheltered and thought that the experience would be 
educational and useful.
  Michael Schwerner was the most despised civil rights worker in 
Mississippi. Klan Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers ordered Schwerner's 
``elimination'' in May, 1964. The Klan finally got their chance to 
carry out the elimination order on June 21. Because they were with 
Schwerner, and would know too much if they were not killed, James 
Chaney and Andy Goodman also had to die. Schwerner had come to 
Mississippi in January of 1964 with his wife Rita after having been 
hired as a CORE field worker. In his application for the CORE position, 
Schwerner, a native of New York City, wrote ``I have an emotional need 
to offer my services in the South.'' Schwerner added that he hoped to 
spend ``the rest of his life'' working for an integrated society. On 
January 15, 1964, Michael and Rita left New York in their VW Beetle for 
Mississippi. After talking with civil rights leader Bob Moses in 
Jackson, Schwerner was sent to Meridian to organize the community 
center and other programs in the largest city in eastern Mississippi. 
Schwerner became the first white civil rights worker to be permanently 
based outside of the capital of Jackson. Once in Meridian, Schwerner 
quickly earned the hatred of local KKK by organizing a boycott of a 
variety store until the store, which sold mostly to blacks, hired its 
first African American. He also came under heavy attack for his 
determined efforts to register blacks to vote. After a few months in 
Meridian, despite hate mail and threatening phone calls and police 
harassment, Schwerner believed he made the right decision in coming to 
Mississippi. Mississippi, he said, ``is the decisive battleground for 
America. Nowhere in the world is the idea of white supremacy more 
firmly entrenched, or more cancerous, than in Mississippi.'' Michael 
Schwerner was only twenty-four when he was killed in Meridian.
  Mr. Speaker, we must work to ensure that Michael Schwerner, Andrew 
Goodman, and James Chaney did not die in vain. The Civil Rights 
movement exists only as much as we act and these three young men are 
the epitome of that idea. I support this legislation and hope that my 
colleagues will do the same to send the message that the great 
sacrifices of these heroic individuals will never be forgotten.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
450.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________