[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2190-H2191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1400
                 R. JESS BROWN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 399) to designate the United States Courthouse to be 
constructed in Jackson, Mississippi, as the ``R. Jess Brown United 
States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 399

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The United States Courthouse to be constructed at the site 
     bounded on the north by Court Street, on the west by West 
     Street, on the south by South Street, and on the east by 
     President Street in Jackson, Mississippi, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the courthouse 
     referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the ``R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rothman). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material concerning H.R. 399.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise to support H.R. 399, a bill to designate the courthouse to be 
constructed in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  R. Jess Brown was born in Coffeyville, Kansas on September 2, 1912. 
He was educated in the Muskogee, Oklahoma, public schools and received 
a bachelor of education degree from the Illinois State Normal 
University in 1935 and a master of education degree from the University 
of Indiana in 1943. He attended Texas Southern Law School.
  In 1953, he was admitted to the bar for the State of Mississippi and 
admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the 
Southern District of Mississippi. In 1955, he cofounded the Magnolia 
Bar Association, and he later served on the board of the National Bar 
Association for nearly 15 years. In 1958, he was admitted to practice 
before the United States Supreme Court.
  As associate counsel for the NAACP Defense and Educational Fund, Mr. 
Brown filed the first civil rights suit in Mississippi in the 1950s in 
Jefferson Davis County, seeking the enforcement of the right of black 
citizens to become registered voters. In 1961, Mr. Brown represented 
James H. Meredith in a suit to enter the University of Mississippi. 
This victory in this case opened the doors to that university to all 
Mississippi citizens. While an associate with the NAACP Legal Defense 
Fund, he played a major role in fighting discrimination in 
transportation and other public accommodations, working together with 
Thurgood Marshall, who would later become Associate Justice of the 
United States Supreme Court.
  Mr. Brown also served as counsel to the American Civil Liberties 
Union, where he was successful in obtaining reversals of convictions of 
black defendants because of discrimination in jury selection. He also 
represented numerous black defendants in cases where the State sought 
the death penalty. As a result of these appeals, none of these 
defendants were ever executed.
  R. Jess Brown died in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 2, 1990. He is 
remembered as a brave American, brilliant attorney, civil rights 
leader, and devoted family man. It is both fitting and appropriate that 
the United States courthouse, soon to be constructed in Jackson, 
Mississippi, would be designated the R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 399 designates the United States courthouse, which 
is to be constructed in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown 
United States Courthouse. This bill honors R. Jess Brown's work as an 
attorney and civil rights leader.
  As was so eloquently pointed out, and I think Chairman Norton went 
through it very well, Mr. Brown was the associate counsel for the Legal 
Defense and Education Fund for the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People, where his work was well documented.
  He worked alongside Thurgood Marshall, who would later become 
Associate Justice to the United States Supreme Court. And as Mr. Brown 
was working for the NAACP in that capacity, he filed the very first 
civil rights suit in Mississippi in the 1950s.
  Mr. Brown died in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 2, 1990.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the author of the 
bill, who represents the district in Jackson, Mississippi, where this 
courthouse will be located.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
399, the bill naming the soon-to-be-constructed courthouse in Jackson, 
Mississippi, after attorney R. Jess Brown.
  For most of those individuals here, I represent Jackson, Mississippi. 
I knew R. Jess Brown. Most of the African American attorneys in the 
State of Mississippi would not be there had it not been for R. Jess 
Brown's tenacity and perseverance to encourage other people to 
participate.
  Both speakers have talked about his ability as a lawyer; but the one 
thing that I would like to share is, while he did not graduate from law 
school, when he was practicing, you could practice law if you could 
pass the bar. He taught himself law and ultimately became one of the 
great lawyers in our State. He represented James Meredith. He 
represented Medgar Evers. He represented teachers who were trying to 
get equity in pay. He represented other students trying to go to the 
University of Southern Mississippi, a number of schools.
  But the good thing about R. Jess Brown, Mr. Speaker, he also was a 
teacher. He always had time for young people. He taught at Alcorn State 
University as well as Lanier High School at a time where practicing law 
was not as beneficial as it is perhaps now.
  I am happy to join the support of H.R. 399, this bill nominating the 
soon-to-be-constructed courthouse after R. Jess Brown.
  The Brown family in Jackson, Mississippi, is well known. The widow of 
attorney Brown will be quite pleased with this. Oftentimes we don't 
give flowers to people while they are living, but perhaps this legacy 
in naming this Federal courthouse after attorney R. Jess Brown is 
fitting and proper.
  So R. Jess Brown, Mr. Speaker, will be remembered more than as a 
brilliant attorney and civil rights leader. He will be remembered as a 
great American. As such, it is very appropriate that the United States 
courthouse soon be built in Jackson, Mississippi, is designated the R. 
Jess Brown United States Courthouse.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 399, a 
bill to designate the United States Courthouse to be constructed in 
Jackson, Mississippi, as the ``R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse''.
  R. Jess Brown was born in Coffeeville, Kansas, on September 2, 1912. 
He was educated in the Muskogee Oklahoma public schools and received a 
Bachelor of Education Degree from Illinois State Normal University in 
1935, and a Master of Education Degree from the University of Indiana 
in 1943. He attended Texas Southern Law School.
  In 1948, he was a co-plaintiff in a suit for equal salaries for 
Jackson, Mississippi school teachers.
  In 1953, he was admitted to the bar for the State of Mississippi and 
admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the 
Southern District of Mississippi. In 1955, he co-founded the Magnolia 
Bar Association, and he later served on the Board of the National Bar 
Association for nearly 15 years. In 1958, he was admitted to practice 
before the United States Supreme Court.

[[Page H2191]]

  As associate counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 
Fund, Brown filed the first civil rights suit in Mississippi in the 
1950s in Jefferson Davis County, seeking the enforcement of the right 
of black citizens to become registered voters. In 1961, Brown 
represented James H. Meredith in his suit to enter the University of 
Mississippi; his victory in this case opened the doors of that 
university to all of Mississippi's citizens. While an associate with 
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he played a major role in fighting 
discrimination in the areas of transportation and other public 
accommodations working along side Thurgood Marshall, who would later 
become Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
  Brown also served as counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, 
where he was successful in obtaining reversals of convictions of black 
defendants because of discrimination in jury selection. He also 
represented numerous black defendants in cases where the State sought 
the death penalty. As a result of these appeals, none of these 
defendants were ever executed.
  R. Jess Brown died in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 2, 1990.
  R. Jess Brown will be remembered as more than a brilliant attorney 
and civil rights leader; he will also be remembered as a great 
American. As such, it is very appropriate that the U.S. Courthouse in 
Jackson, Mississippi, be designated the ``R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse''.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 399.
  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to support this 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I think this bill deserves the unanimous 
vote of Members on both sides of the aisle. I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 399.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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