[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 93 (Monday, July 17, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1419-E1420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ON THE RESOLUTION HONORING WESLEY BROWN, THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN 
                   GRADUATE OF THE U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2006

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the first African American 
graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a venerable District of Columbia 
resident, Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Brown. On the Fourth of 
July, I urged District residents to commemorate the day by celebrating 
the service of Wesley Brown as a tribute to his historic achievement 
and as a way of reminding the nation on this day of liberty that 
thousands of men like Wesley Brown have served their country in the 
armed forces without equal representation in Congress and that the 
pending District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act 
affords a way to begin to right this wrong.
  Wesley Brown is an alumnus of Dunbar High School, and upon 
graduation, entered the United States Naval Academy. There, he not only 
met the tough academic and military requirements to graduate from the 
Naval Academy in 1949, but also prevailed over racial discrimination 
and physical and mental abuse at the Academy. Mr. Brown served 
honorably in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He 
retired from the Navy at the rank of lieutenant commander. In 
recognition of his achievement, the Academy named a building after Mr. 
Brown last year. His remarkable life story is chronicled in the book 
``Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black 
Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' by Robert Schneller. 
I am particularly and personally grateful to Mr. Brown, who chaired my 
first Service Academy Selection Board, which assists me in nominating 
D.C. high school students for appointments to the military academies, 
and remains Chairperson Emeritus.
  Wesley Brown has become a historical figure living among us. His 
graduation was a pivotal moment in the nation's efforts to integrate 
the armed forces of the United States and to improve racial conditions. 
His leadership paved the way for over 1,600 African Americans who have 
since graduated from the Naval Academy. Today, nearly 23 percent of the 
Academy's students are from minority groups.
  Wesley Brown deserves special recognition for this pioneering 
accomplishment, and the service he rendered to the cause of equal 
treatment for all Americans by courageously accepting unusually 
difficult challenges for a young Black man before the armed forces 
themselves were integrated. He did so as generations of Washingtonians 
have done for the past 230 years in serving the Armed Forces of the 
United States, always without equal representation in the Congress of 
the United States and always paying taxes without representation, 
notwithstanding that this form of tyranny was one of the major causes 
of the War for Independence which led to the founding of the United 
States of America.
  In the spirit of another great Washingtonian, Frederick Douglass, who 
challenged the nation in a July 4th address to live up to its stated 
ideals of freedom and equality, I recognize

[[Page E1420]]

and honor other District veterans and remind the nation of the 
necessity to pass H.R. 5388, the Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act 
which would afford the full vote in the House of Representatives for 
the first time in American history. Passage of this legislation would 
be the optimal way to recognize the service of Mr. Brown, D.C. 
residents who are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 
44,000 D.C. veterans who have honorably served our nation in the United 
States Armed Forces.

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