[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 144 (Thursday, November 3, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING ROSA PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB SIMMONS

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 2, 2005

  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mrs. Rosa Lee 
Parks.
  Mrs. Parks's refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in 
Alabama in 1955 triggered a 381-day boycott of buses, organized by the 
then little-known Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. She did so 
without knowing the support she would rally.
  Her single act of quiet courage and defiance on that December day 
undeniably became a watershed moment in the history of U.S. civil 
rights.
  It's most fitting that at today's funeral in Detroit, R&B legend 
Aretha Franklin sang ``The Impossible Dream'' in honor of Mrs. Parks. 
It was that action nearly 50 years ago that sparked what seemed at the 
time to be the impossible dream of the modern civil rights movement, 
culminating in the 1964 federal Civil Rights Bill.
  In 1996, Mrs. Parks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
awarded to civilians who make outstanding contributions to American 
life. In 1999, she was awarded the Congressional gold medal, the 
nation's highest civilian honor.
  Mr. Speaker, with the permission of this House, I would like to enter 
into the Record the words of a civil rights leader in my community, the 
Rev. Dr. Benjamin K. Watts, Pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church in New 
London (CT).

       ``Rosa Parks was a woman of character, commitment and 
     courage. When she sat down the world stood up against 
     injustice, bigotry and hatred. Mrs. Parks was not the first 
     to refuse to live down to the status quo of inequality yet 
     because of her unimpeachable character she unwittingly became 
     a spark that ignited the flame of passion that created 
     ultimate change. Like Jackie Robinson breaking the color 
     barrier in baseball, the right character was necessary in 
     order to break the back of racism. Her commitment to social 
     justice gave her iconoclastic status as the epitome of 
     courage and commitment. Her passing leaves a void in civil 
     society that each one of us should seek to fill by living 
     lives of high moral value always refusing to sit at the back 
     of the bus of life and ready to accept our place at the 
     forefront of the battle for social change.''--Rev. Dr. 
     Benjamin K. Watts

  Mrs. Rosa Lee Parks, this great American hero, deserves not only our 
tributes and gratitude, but our continuing commitment to peace, 
justice, equality, and freedom for all.
  May God rest her soul.

                          ____________________