[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         TRIBUTE TO REVEREND JOHN H. SCOTT, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2005

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay tribute to 
one of this country's great civil rights leaders, Rev. John H. Scott. 
On May 7, I had the opportunity to attend a tribute to Rev. Scott, 
honoring the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the John H. Scott Memorial 
Fund in Tallulah, Louisiana. This living memorial was started at the 
request of Rev. Scott at the end of his life, and now provides 
scholarships to young people, as well as supporting other projects that 
advance the aims and ideals of the Reverend's life.
  Rev. Scott was a minister and a civil rights leader who was devoted 
to improving the quality of life for African-Americans in this country. 
He was born in 1901, in a small, almost all-black parish in Louisiana, 
where black schools, businesses, and neighborhoods were thriving, but 
existed in almost total isolation from their white neighbors. He came 
to see that this seeming independence was not commensurate with 
equality, and he dedicated his life to the pursuit of that equality for 
all people, of all color, in all places.
  He was a farmer, as well as a pastor for twenty-five years, president 
of the local NAACP for thirty-three years, and chairman of the East 
Carroll Ministerial Alliance for five, while still finding time to make 
regular visits to hospitals, senior citizens' homes, and prisons. His 
twenty-five year struggle for full voting rights for African-Americans 
is an exemplar of how individual people can indeed change the world. 
Armed with a passion for justice and ready to fight no matter what the 
cost, his local, grassroots efforts became a national movement that 
ultimately convinced Attorney General Robert Kennedy to join his 
crusade for equality for all. Despite growing up under the oppressive 
injustice of Jim Crow laws, and knowing the risks it presented to his 
own life and the lives of his friends, neighbors, and family members, 
he was unfaltering in his quest for progress.
  His book, Witness to the Truth, which was compiled by his daughter, 
Cleo Scott Brown, is a collection of his writings and transcripts of 
his interviews; and I recommend it to all who wish to know more about 
the history of race relations in this country. We must understand the 
truth about our past struggles if we are ultimately to see success, 
because, in the words of Rev. Scott, ``So much of what we will become 
depends on how we start.'' And Rev. Scott helped us start well. His 
life is a testament to the tenacity and courage that daily fortified 
our civil rights leaders and sustained them in their struggle to ensure 
human rights for every person, regardless of race, gender, or economic 
circumstance.

  We all owe a debt of gratitude to Rev. John H. Scott, and I 
acknowledge my own indebtedness here today. He once wrote, ``History is 
of little value unless it inspires one to greater endeavors, or serves 
to guide against the mistakes of the past.'' As the first African-
American elected to this great body from my State, I know that I have 
been inspired to greater endeavors by people like Rev. Scott, whose 
lives paved the way for my accomplishments.
  I'd also like to thank Dr. Elsie Scott for bringing this 
extraordinary Foundation to my attention and to commend the other Scott 
family members including Jewel Scott, Johnita Scott, and Louis G. 
Scott.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish today to honor the memory of Rev. John H. Scott, 
and I know that all of my colleagues here join me in paying tribute to 
this man of uncommon distinction who history will remember as a great 
warrior in the struggle for civil rights.

                          ____________________