[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1939-E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MARY M. CROSS: A POINT-OF-LIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2005

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, as a result of recent events related to the 
E-Rate the education community pauses to honor Dr. Mary Cross for her 
unwavering commitment to the development and implementation of the E-
Rate program, which is making the most advanced communications 
technologies available to children and adults across the nation, 
regardless of their race, ethnicity, social or economic status. Before 
the E-Rate program was implemented in 1997, very few American 
classrooms had the necessary wiring to connect many children and 
educators to the world of information outside textbooks and small 
school library collections. As a result community libraries lacked much 
of this needed infrastructure to serve the needs of but a few patrons 
at a time.
  The role played by Dr. Cross in the early fights to establish the E-
Rate was a critical one which established Dr. Mary M. Cross as a Point-
of-Light for all Americans.
  After Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the E-Rate 
program started to help schools and libraries install and pay for 
advanced telecommunications resources, giving greatest priority for 
funding to economically disadvantaged schools. As a result of 
persistent advocacy and commitment over its 8-year life, the program 
has provided over $2 billion annually to districts. This has meant 
accelerating the pace at which technological innovations have entered 
America's classrooms, a pace that was unimaginable before the E-Rate 
program.
  Unfortunately, some corporate giants tried to kill the E-Rate program 
by trying to cut services. In addition, many education groups were not 
in total agreement about key issues, which resulted in the E-Rate wars. 
We appreciate Dr. Cross's work at the American Federation of Teachers, 
as she fought vigorously in establishing and implementing this vital 
program by working tirelessly with her education group colleagues, the 
administration, the Congress, and friendly business interests.
  We are equally thankful for her responsiveness by giving updates at 
several Education Braintrust meetings over the years. Her work assured 
that African American leadership and the community at-large were aware 
of and engaged in the advocacy needed to launch this program.
  Mary Cross was born and raised in my hometown of Memphis, TN during 
the overt and brutal era of legal segregation in America. By tackling 
racial and gender barriers, she was part of the third class of women 
ever admitted to Lincoln University (PA) and later

[[Page E1940]]

went on to graduate school at Princeton University. She became the 
first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology from 
Princeton in 1976, where she studied the psychology of learning. Dr. 
Cross now serves in the AFT's Human Rights and Community Relations 
Department where she does research, member education, advocacy, and 
coalition-building on civil and human rights issues.
  It is clear that the efforts of Dr. Cross and her colleagues paid 
off, as the E-Rate program has become a $10 billion investment in our 
schools and libraries. Although the battles for the E-Rate program are 
by no means over, we stop to take a moment to recognize Mary M. Cross 
as a tireless Champion for Education and Technology. Dr. Cross is a 
Point-of-Light for all Americans.

                          ____________________