[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 137 (Monday, September 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H10415-H10416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H10415]]
IN PRAISE OF RENAMING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HEADQUARTERS BUILDING 
              IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
President Lyndon Baines Johnson. We have the honor today of having his 
name placed on the building of the United States Department of 
Education. I was not able to attend because of a health crisis in one 
of my middle schools in Houston. I believe that President Johnson would 
understand.
  As an original cosponsor of the legislation and certainly proud of 
him as a Texas President on the educational issues that he worked on, I 
am here today to call him the greatest education President in the 
history of our Nation.
  It is appropriate this day when we honor our Constitution, which 
begins in this little book by saying, ``We have organized to form a 
more perfect union,'' to be able to salute the education President. It 
is by no exaggeration that we watched the legislative history of 
President Johnson and have seen his commitment to education. He truly 
understood the importance of providing opportunities for those from 
prekindergarten to postgraduate school. It makes perfect sense, 
therefore, to name the headquarters building of the U.S. Department of 
Education in his honor. I congratulate my colleague Congressman Gene 
Green for leading on this legislation.
  Lyndon Baines Johnson is one of the leading figures of the 20th 
century. He started as a teacher at San Marcos State College, and he 
then became President of the United States. He also was lieutenant 
commander in the United States Navy during World War II, and served in 
both Houses of Congress and as Vice President of the United States and 
as the 36th President of the United States as well.
  He put his words into deed, making him a valuable asset to the 
education of our young people in America. He was known as ``Landslide 
Lyndon'' because of the narrow win that he achieved in 1948. He put 
that behind him and went forward to approve the Higher Education 
Facilities Act in 1963 as President, which authorized a 5-year program 
of Federal grants and loans for construction or improvement of public 
and private higher education academic facilities.
  He laid the groundwork for prioritizing as important to Americans the 
education of its young people. The legislation was the largest 
education program enacted by Congress since the National Defense 
Education Act of 1958. It was a broad education bill enacted in post-
World War II, a period that was not tied to national defense.
  In 1964, Lyndon Johnson signed the Library Services Act to make high 
quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and rural 
residents, and today our children are able to go to our urban and rural 
libraries where those who don't have an access not only to books but 
now the Internet can participate in the Nation's libraries.
  We know President Johnson as well through the era of the Civil Rights 
Movement, a very turbulent movement, a tough time, a time when he stood 
back and then he stood up. He signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He 
signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act and created opportunities for 
southerners and all Americans to vote and allowed for the redistricting 
to create the district in Atlanta for Andy Young and the district of 
Barbara Jordan in Texas.
  We are delighted as well that he was instrumental in the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act that allowed the furtherance of secondary 
and elementary education. This was the first general aid to education 
program ever adopted by Congress. He started in 1965 Project Head 
Start, where we have seen now the reauthorization of a very important 
and very needed head start to our young people.
  Just this week, I participated in a newly opened Head Start program, 
the legacy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, the opportunity for low 
income families, low income children to have the jump-start that they 
need, creating the next presidents and astronauts and teachers.
  In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
amendments establishing bilingual education programs for non-English-
speaking children and providing more funds for special education for 
disabled children.
  He continued, even after his leaving the White House, the 
organization of his own library, to focus on education. Certainly he 
was one of the strong supporters and encouragers of the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan, who then became a Member of Congress in 1972 pursuant 
to the Civil Rights Act and the Voter Rights Act of 1975.
  I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Claudia Alta Taylor, who 
became affectionately known as Lady Bird, his wife, who then started 
our great Capitol Beautification Project, the Society for a More 
Beautiful National Capital, and worked, of course, to beautify America. 
They made a good partnership. As they continued in their life, they 
never forgot education; they never forgot beautification.
  President Johnson is someone who understood power, but he understood 
compassion. I am very delighted today, Mr. Speaker, to salute Lyndon 
Baines Johnson, who today now has his name on a very important 
building, the U.S. Department of Education. We salute you, we thank you 
to the late Lyndon Baines Johnson, President of the United States of 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, earlier today the headquarters building of the United 
States Department of Education was renamed in honor of President Lyndon 
Baines Johnson. As an original co-sponsor of the legislation and as a 
proud Texan, I rise today to commend this action and to pay tribute to 
Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States and the 
greatest ``Education President'' in the history of our nation.
  President Lyndon Baines Johnson was a consequential president. It is 
no exaggeration to say, Mr. Speaker, that Lyndon Baines Johnson's 
record of extending the benefits of education to all Americans in every 
region of the country, of every race and gender, irrespective of 
economic class or family background, remains unsurpassed. Lyndon 
Johnson recognized that the educated citizenry is a nation's greatest 
economic asset and most powerful guardian of its political liberties.
  Mr. Speaker, Lyndon Johnson did more than any single American, living 
or dead, to make the federal government a partner with states and 
localities in the vitally important work of educating the people of 
America, from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate school. It makes 
perfect sense, therefore, to name the headquarters building of the U.S. 
Department of Education in his honor.
  Mr. Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of the leading figures of 
the 20th century. The teacher from San Marcos State College who became 
a president served his country in numerous, distinguished ways, 
including as Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, as a 
Member of both houses of Congress, as Vice President of the United 
States, and as the 36th President of the United States.
  Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, 
Texas. In 1927, he enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College 
at San Marcos, Texas (Texas State University-San Marcos). He took a 
leave of absence for a year to serve as principal and teach fifth, 
sixth, and seventh grades at Welhausen School, a Mexican-American 
school in the South Texas town of Cotulla. He graduated with a Bachelor 
of Science degree in August 1930. After graduation he taught at 
Pearsall High School in Pearsall, Texas, and taught public speaking at 
Sam Houston High School in Houston, Texas. In the spring of 1931, his 
debate team won the district championship.
  In a special election in 1937, Johnson won the U.S. House of 
Representatives seat representing the 10th Congressional District of 
Texas, defeating nine other candidates. He was re-elected to a full 
term in the 76th Congress and to each succeeding Congress until 1948.
  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Johnson became 
the first Member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the armed 
forces (U.S. Navy), reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941. 
Johnson received the Silver Star from General Douglas MacArthur for 
gallantry in action during an aerial combat mission over hostile 
positions in New Guinea on June 9, 1942. President Roosevelt ordered 
all Members of Congress in the armed forces to return to their offices, 
and Johnson was released from active duty on July 16, 1942.

  In 1948, after a campaign in which he traveled by ``newfangled'' 
helicopter all over the state, Johnson won the primary by 87 votes and 
earned the nickname `Landslide Lyndon',

[[Page H10416]]

and in the general election was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was 
elected Minority Leader of the Senate in 1953 and Majority Leader in 
1955. He served in the U.S. Senate until he resigned to become Vice 
President in January 1961.
  Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on 
November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. 
Kennedy.
  During his administration, education was one of the many areas where 
President Johnson blazed new ground. He pursued numerous education 
initiatives, and signed many landmark education bills into law.
  In 1963, President Johnson approved the Higher Education Facilities 
Act (P.L. 88-204) which authorized a five-year program of federal 
grants and loans for construction or improvement of public and private 
higher education academic facilities. This legislation was the largest 
education program enacted by Congress since the National Defense 
Education Act of 1958, and it was the first broad education bill 
enacted in the post-World War II period that was not tied to national 
defense.
  In 1964, Johnson signed the Library Services Act (P.L. 88-269) to 
make high quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and 
rural residents. The funds made available under this Act were used to 
construct as well as operate libraries, and to extend this program to 
cities as well as rural areas. Later that year, President Johnson 
signed the Civil Rights Act (P.L. 88-352), which among its landmark 
provisions authorized federal authorities to sue for the desegregation 
of schools and to withhold federal funds from education institutions 
that practiced segregation.
  In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act (P.L. 89-10) at the former Junction Elementary School in 
Stonewall, Texas, where he first attended school. Sitting beside him as 
he signed the bill was his first teacher, Mrs. Kathryn Deadrich Loney. 
This legislation was the first general aid-to-education program ever 
adopted by Congress, and it provided programs to help educate 
disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas. Later that year, he 
also signed the Higher Education Act (P.L. 89-329), which was the first 
program approved by the U.S. Congress for scholarships to undergraduate 
students.
  In 1965, President Johnson launched Project Head Start, as an eight-
week summer program, to help break the cycle of poverty by providing 
pre-school children from low-income families with a comprehensive 
program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and 
psychological needs. Recruiting children from ages three to school-
entry age, Head Start was enthusiastically received by education and 
child development specialists, community leaders, and parents across 
the nation. Currently, Head Start continues to serve children and their 
families each year in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the 
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories, as well as 
many migrant children.
  In 1966, President Johnson signed the International Education Act 
(P.L. 89-698), which promoted international studies at U.S. colleges 
and universities.
  In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
Amendments of 1967 (P.L. 90-247), establishing bilingual education 
programs for non-English speaking children, and providing more funds 
for special education for disabled children. Later that year, he also 
signed the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act (P.L. 
90-538), which authorized experimental programs for disabled children 
of pre-school age.
  After leaving office, Lyndon Johnson returned to his native Texas and 
continued his involvement in public education. His presidential papers 
are housed at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum at the 
University of Texas, which in 1970 established the Lyndon Baines 
Johnson School of Public Affairs, The ``LBJ School,'' as is commonly 
known, pioneered what was then regarded as a novel approach to training 
for public service. Because of her respect and admiration for President 
Johnson, the late Barbara Jordan, the first woman and African American 
to represent the citizens of the Eighteenth Congressional District of 
Texas, joined the LBJ School upon her retirement from Congress and was 
one of its most distinguished faculty members from 1979 until her death 
in 1996.
  The curriculum combined courses in theory with courses that took 
students into government agencies to work and conduct research; the 
faculty included academics from various disciplines as well as 
practitioners from various levels of government; public service 
programs included an academic publishing program as well as workshops 
for government officials. This blend of the academic and the practical 
remains the distinguishing characteristic of the LBJ School and this 
highly effective approach to training for public service is today an 
accepted model for public affairs graduate programs across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who died January 22, 1973, will 
be remembered not only as a great President and Member of Congress, but 
also as the greatest champion of accessible and affordable quality 
education for all. President Johnson truly understood the importance of 
leaving no child behind, and he didn't.
  Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I failed to note one of President 
Johnson's greatest achievements and that was winning the hand and heart 
of Claudia Alta Taylor, affectionately known by all simply as ``Lady 
Bird.'' As First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson started a capital 
beautification project (Society for a More Beautiful National Capital) 
to improve physical conditions in Washington, D.C., both for residents 
and tourists. Her efforts inspired similar programs throughout the 
country. She was also instrumental in promoting the Highway 
Beautification Act, which sought to beautify the nation's highway 
system by limiting billboards and by planting roadside areas. She was 
also an advocate of the Head Start program. Throughout his life, Lady 
Bird was LBJ's most trusted advisor and confidant. And our nation is 
better for it.
  Robert A. Caro, author of ``Path to Power,'' the Pulitzer Prize 
winning biography of Lyndon Johnson, has written that what set Lyndon 
Johnson apart from nearly every other politician of his era is that he 
alone possessed a ``natural genius for politics.'' LBJ understood that 
politics was the art of the possible but he knew how to transform 
possibilities into realities. That is why we have a Civil Rights Act, a 
Voting Rights Act, Head Start, Public Broadcasting Systems, Higher 
Education assistance. That is why Thurgood Marshall was nominated and 
confirmed as a member of the Supreme Court. That is why the first 
African American to head a Cabinet department, Dr. Robert C. Weaver, 
was nominated by Lyndon Johnson.
  For all these reasons, Mr. Speaker, it is most appropriate that the 
headquarters building of the Department of Education located at 400 
Maryland Avenue Southwest in the District of Columbia will now and 
forevermore be known as the ``Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of 
Education Building.''

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