[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 4, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H2945-H2946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING JUDGE ANDREW L. JEFFERSON, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, often we do rise on the floor 
of the House to begin a debate that may not end itself in a positive 
outcome. It is not often that you have the opportunity to raise and 
salute an outstanding member of your community knowing that his life is 
already exhibited a positive outcome, and, of course, we honor him as 
he still lives.
  My friend and our friend, and the friend of Houston and Texas and the 
Nation, Judge Andrew Jefferson, brings me to the floor this evening. 
And I am delighted to be able to rise this evening to honor a great 
legal scholar, as well as a great institution of legal education 
located in the 18th Congressional District of Texas. The institution 
about which I speak is the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas 
Southern University, established in 1947, and the scholar and friend is 
Judge Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr.
  At a time when the future of Houston's public school system is in 
jeopardy, I am especially pleased to deliver this statement in honor of 
a scholar and a product of our own Jack Yates High School.
  On Friday, May 6, 2005, I will join my constituents and friends to 
honor Judge Jefferson on the establishment of an endowment for trial 
advocacy in his name, the first endowed chair, called the Andrew L. 
Jefferson endowment for trial advocacy, at Texas Southern University, 
the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas.
  I wish all of us had the opportunity to meet this distinguished 
gentleman. He is truly distinguished, regal in his build, deep in his 
commitment. The Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, a native of Dallas, 
Texas, graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1959 
after earning his Bachelor's degree from Texas Southern University, was 
president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and became a partner with 
Washington and Jefferson, attorneys at law in Houston, Texas.
  He served as an assistant criminal district attorney for Bexar 
Country, a chief assistant United States Attorney for the Western 
District of Texas, and a trial counsel and labor relations counsel for 
Humble Oil and Refining Company.
  Each time he was a pioneer, he explored new ground, and certainly as 
an African American, getting his degrees in the late 1950s, going 
through the 1960s before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
and 1965, the Voting Rights Act, he truly braved new areas and stood 
for the dignity and respect of all, all in our community.
  Judge Jefferson served in the judge advocate general corps in the 
U.S. Army Reserve where he is honorably discharged as a captain. He has 
as his lovely bride, another civic leader, his wife, Mary Jefferson, 
who I have the pleasure of serving with on a number of organizations. 
She believes in education. She advocates for quality education for our 
young people, and promotes the opportunities for young people to go to 
college.
  In 1970, Judge Jefferson was appointed to preside over the Court of 
Domestic Relations number 2 for Harris County. In 1974, he was elected 
to Judge of the 208th District Court. That too was one of the many 
firsts in his career, but as well, he is one of the first African 
Americans to serve on that court.
  He decided to reenter the active practice of law in 1975, and was 
admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for Fifth, Sixth and 
Eleventh Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States of 
America. A long time active committee member of the State bar, Judge 
Andrew L. Jefferson is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member 
of American Bar Foundation, the Texas Trial Lawyer's Association, Texas 
Constitutional Revision Commission. He is an outstanding jurist, and 
even after he left the bench, he was constantly requested to give his 
expertise on broad legal issues.
  He represented many of the underserved and unempowered. He became 
active in many organizations and particularly the National Bar 
Association, the Family Law Institute, where he was asked to speak 
many, many times. He was an arbitrator, he was a mediator. He had the 
ability to bring people together. And so a lot of his practice 
developed around that on the domestic court.
  But, he was skilled as a jurist, and as an advocate, but his 
personality was one that was firm but understanding. He served, of 
course, in the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, and he was 
respected by presidents, both Democrats and Republicans. He received 
many honors and awards: The Anti-Defamation League National

[[Page H2946]]

Torch of Liberty Award, the Forward Times Community Service Award, the 
League of United Latin American Citizens Service Award, Community 
Service Award, the La Raza Award.
  In addition, he was a Presidential nominee to sit on the United 
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, indicating our great 
respect for him at the Federal level.
  Let me suggest to you that he had many friends. I am reminded of my 
conversation with the Honorable Barbara Jordan. When I was returning to 
Texas, I asked who should we engage, and who should we find out about 
Texas, its mood, its needs, its struggles, its trials, its 
tribulations?

                              {time}  1715

  Barbara Jordan, as I sat in her office, said, ``Judge Andrew 
Jefferson.'' He was her friend, her advisor and counselor.
  They were strong friends together because they believed in the 
empowerment of all. They fought for civil rights one and all. As she 
believed in the empowerment of the Voter Rights Act of 1965, expanding 
it to Texas in 1968, Judge Jefferson was right along her side.
  This is a fitting honor, an endowed chair that will be bestowed upon 
him on May 6. I believe it is more than his choice, but our desire to 
be able to honor him, to be able to salute him as he is being endowed 
by a chair on May 6, 2005. He is a great Texan, a great American. God 
bless him and God bless the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to honor a great legal scholar and a 
great institution of legal education in the Eighteenth Congressional 
District of Houston, Texas. The institution about which I speak is the 
Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University (TSU), 
established in 1947 and the scholar is Judge Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr. 
At a time when the future of Houston's public school system is in 
jeopardy, I am especially pleased to deliver this statement in honor of 
a scholar who is the product of our own Yates High School.
  On Friday, May 6, 2005, I will join my constituents to honor Judge 
Jefferson on the occasion of the establishment of an endowment for 
trial advocacy in his name as the first endowed Chair, called the 
``Andrew L. Jefferson Endowment for Trial Advocacy'' at Texas Southern 
University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas.
  Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, a native of Dallas, Texas, graduated 
from the University of Texas School of Law in 1959 after earning his 
bachelor's degree from TSU where he was the president of Alpha Phi 
Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and became a partner with Washington and 
Jefferson, Attorneys at Law, in Houston. He served as an assistant 
criminal district attorney for Bexar County, a chief assistant United 
States attorney for the Western District of Texas, and a trial counsel 
and labor relations counsel for Humble Oil & Refining Company. In 
addition, Judge Jefferson served in the Judge Advocate General Corps in 
the United States Army Reserve where he was honorably discharged as a 
Captain.
  In 1970, Judge Jefferson was appointed to preside over the Court of 
Domestic Relations #2 for Harris County, and in 1974, he was elected 
judge of the 208th District Court, Harris County. In 1975, he decided 
to re-engage in private practice and is admitted to practice in the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh 
Circuits and the Supreme Court of the United States.
  A longtime active committee member of the State Bar of Texas, Judge 
Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr. is also a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, 
a member of the American Bar Foundation, the Texas Trial Lawyers 
Association, and the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission. This 
outstanding jurist, who is renowned for his expertise in legal 
practice, is a highly sought-after speaker throughout his career and 
has frequently shared his experience and knowledge with the Criminal 
Law Institute for the Houston Bar Association and the San Antonio Bar 
Association. Furthermore, Judge Jefferson has spoken at conventions for 
the National Bar Association and the Family Law Institute.
  Aside from the respect that he has earned as a skilled jurist and 
advocate, Judge Jefferson's leadership and sound judgment has merited 
tenures as chairman of the board of the Houston Branch of the Federal 
Reserve Bank and of the Texas Southern University Foundation. Moreover, 
he is a life member of the Houston Area Urban League and the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

  He has received numerous awards and honors, among them the Anti-
Defamation League National Torch of Liberty Award, the Forward Times 
Community Service Award, the League of United Latin American Citizens 
National Community Service Award, and the Community Service Award from 
La Raza. In addition, he was a Presidential Nominee to sit on the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
  To honor Judge Jefferson on this occasion will be momentous for the 
City of Houston, for Texas Southern University, and for minorities 
worldwide who aspire to study and practice law or for minority students 
who lack confidence in their potential to succeed. I congratulate and 
thank the State of Texas for its contribution to the overall accrual of 
the resources that were required for the endowment.
  The establishment of a Trial Advocacy program at the Thurgood 
Marshall School of Law will be both an actual and a symbolic landmark. 
As recently as last year, I joined the students, legislators, and 
community leaders at Prairie View A&M University on the birthday of Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr. to fight for fair and unobstructed voting 
rights for those students. It was the skilled advocacy of the Lawyer's 
Committee that produced a statement by the Secretary of State in favor 
of the students. Furthermore, the well-settled jurisprudence of caselaw 
such as Symm v. United States and United States v. Texas, which made 
important pronouncements as to the adequacy of students' residency/
domicile status to determine eligibility to vote were the product of 
skilled trial advocacy. Without the work of the skilled advocates who 
argued those cases, we would have an even longer journey to equality of 
the right to vote in this nation.
  Therefore, the endowment that will be established in the name of the 
Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr. will provide a legacy and will 
produce legal scholars who will contribute to the achievement of 
equality in the United States of America. I congratulate the Thurgood 
Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University and I thank Judge 
Jefferson for his service.

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