[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 111 (Thursday, July 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9153-S9154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 269--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE
CITIZENS' STAMP ADVISORY COMMITTEE SHOULD RECOMMEND TO THE POSTMASTER
GENERAL THAT A COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP BE ISSUED IN HONOR OF FORMER
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA JORDAN
Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Menendez, Mr.
Specter, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Durbin,
Mr. Biden, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Boxer, and Ms. Landrieu)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:
S. Res. 269
Whereas, in 1966, Barbara Jordan became the first African
American since 1883 to serve in the Texas Senate, where she
served with distinction until 1972;
Whereas Barbara Jordan became the first African American
United States Representative from Texas when she won election
to represent Texas's 18th District in the United States House
of Representatives in 1972;
Whereas, from 1979 to 1996, Barbara Jordan served as a
distinguished professor at the University of Texas Lyndon B.
Johnson School of Public Affairs, where she also held the
Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy;
Whereas President Bill Clinton awarded Barbara Jordan the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian
honor, in August 1994; and
Whereas Barbara Jordan was a pioneer whose devotion to
civil rights for all people in the United States resonates to
this day: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the
Postmaster General that a commemorative postage stamp be
issued in honor of former United States Representative
Barbara Jordan.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I submit today a resolution calling on
former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan to be honored with a commemorative
stamp. Congresswoman Jordan was the first African American and the
first woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National
Convention, which was delivered exactly 31 years ago today.
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was a pioneer whose devotion to civil
rights certainly warrants recognition. She was born in Houston on
February 21, 1936, educated in Houston's public schools, and received a
B.A. in political science and history from Texas Southern University in
1956. Congresswoman Jordan graduated from Boston University School of
Law in 1959, after which she was admitted to the Massachusetts and
Texas bars.
In 1966, Congresswoman Jordan became the first African American since
1883 to serve in the Texas Senate, where she served with distinction
until 1972. That year, she won election to represent Texas' 18th
District in the U.S. House of Representatives and became the State's
first African-American Representative. In August 1994, President Bill
Clinton awarded Congresswoman Jordan the Medal of Freedom, the Nation's
highest civilian honor.
Overcoming some of the most difficult odds imaginable, Congresswoman
Jordan always fought hard for what she believed in, devoting herself to
improving the quality of life for all Americans. I am pleased that the
Senate is considering this resolution which is cosponsored by 14 other
Senators, including the 2 distinguished Senators from Texas,
Congresswoman Jordan's home State.
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