[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 17 (Monday, February 4, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF A. LEON HIGGINBOTHAM, JR.

  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 442, which was 
submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 442) commemorating the life of A. 
     Leon Higginbotham, Jr.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or 
debate, and that any statements relating to this measure be printed in 
the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 442) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 442

       Whereas the late A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., dedicated his 
     life to eliminating racial barriers in the society of the 
     United States;
       Whereas, having grown up during the Great Depression and 
     the era of Jim Crow laws, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., overcame 
     a childhood marked by economic hardship and segregation;
       Whereas, having personally experienced the effects of 
     racism, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., sought an education and 
     career in law during which he fought institutionalized racism 
     in the United States judicial system;
       Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., began his legal career 
     as a law clerk to Justice Curtis Bok of the Superior Court of 
     Pennsylvania and soon became the youngest and first African-
     American Assistant District Attorney in the city of 
     Philadelphia;
       Whereas, in 1954, when African Americans were largely 
     excluded from professional opportunities, A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., became a founding member of Norris, 
     Schmidt, Green, Harris, & Higginbotham, the first African-
     American law firm in Philadelphia;
       Whereas, while still in private practice, A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., served as Special Deputy Attorney General 
     for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Special Hearing Officer 
     in the Department of Justice, President of the Philadelphia 
     chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of 
     Colored People, a member of the Executive Board of the 
     Governor's Committee of One Hundred for Better Education, 
     Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Fair Employment Practices 
     Commission, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Human Rights 
     Commission, and a member of the board of directors for 
     various legal, political, and nonprofit organizations within 
     Pennsylvania;
       Whereas, having been appointed by President John Fitzgerald 
     Kennedy to the Federal Trade Commission in 1962, A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., became not only the first African American 
     to serve on a Federal regulatory commission but also the 
     youngest person to be named as a Commissioner of the Federal 
     Trade Commission;
       Whereas, having recognized A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s 
     gifts as both a lawyer and a public servant, both President 
     Kennedy and President Lyndon Baines Johnson nominated A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., as a Federal judge on the United States 
     District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;
       Whereas, upon confirmation as a Federal judge at the age of 
     35, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., became the youngest person 
     appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern 
     District of Pennsylvania and one of the youngest ever 
     appointed to a Federal bench;
       Whereas, in his role as a Federal judge, A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., served as a mentor to numerous young 
     attorneys, affording them the opportunity to gain critical 
     exposure to the legal profession;
       Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., played an extraordinary 
     role in the civil rights movement as an advisor to President 
     Johnson after the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther 
     King, Jr., and as a member of the National Commission on 
     Causes and Prevention of Violence;
       Whereas, as the first African-American member of the Yale 
     University Board of Trustees, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., 
     successfully fought to allow women to enroll as 
     undergraduates in Yale College;
       Whereas, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter acknowledged A. 
     Leon Higginbotham Jr.'s work as both a judge and a scholar 
     and appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for 
     the Third Circuit;
       Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr,. sat on the Court of 
     Appeals for 16 years and served as Chief Judge from 1989 
     until 1991 and as Senior Judge through the completion of his 
     public career in 1993;
       Whereas, through his rulings and subsequent writing, A. 
     Leon Higginbotham, Jr., vigorously fought racial bias and 
     prejudice;
       Whereas, upon retirement from the bench, A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr., became the Public Service Jurisprudence 
     Professor at Harvard University, dedicating the remainder of 
     his life to educating and empowering future generations to 
     continue the pursuit of equal justice under the law;
       Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as the chairman 
     of an American Bar Association panel that in 1993 issued the 
     landmark report ``America's Children at Risk: A National 
     Agenda for Legal Action'', studying the status of children in 
     the society and legal system of the United States;
       Whereas, in 1993, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as 
     counsel to the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & 
     Garrison, where he litigated a host of pro bono matters, 
     including voting rights in Louisiana, and advocated free 
     elections in South Africa;
       Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., brought his passion for 
     equal justice into the international arena as a consultant to 
     the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, on the 
     formation of the Constitution of South Africa, and as an 
     advocate for grass roots democracy education in South Africa;
       Whereas, in 1995, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., continued his 
     commitment to public service when appointed by President 
     William Jefferson Clinton to the United States Commission on 
     Civil Rights;
       Whereas, as an author and contributor to more than 100 
     publications and academic works, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., 
     left a legacy as a renowned scholar of racial and social 
     justice issues in the United States;
       Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s critically acclaimed 
     historical works, including ``In the Matter of Color: The 
     Colonial Period'', published in 1978, and ``Shades of 
     Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions in the American 
     Legal Process'', published in 1996, continue to provide 
     invaluable insight into the history of race relations in the 
     United States;
       Whereas, as a sought-after public speaker, after his 
     retirement A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., delivered more than 100 
     speeches annually to motivate the next generation of people 
     in the United States to continue the fight for racial 
     justice;
       Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., received numerous honors 
     and awards during his lifetime, including the Presidential 
     Medal of Freedom, the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award, 
     the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
     People Spingarn Medal, the American Civil Liberties Union 
     Medal, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia 
     Bar Association, the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar 
     Association, America's Ten Outstanding Young Men of 1963 from 
     the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, and honorary 
     degrees from more than 60 universities; and
       Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s work as an esteemed 
     jurist, scholar, and public servant helped transform the 
     Nation's perception of race: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the life of the late A. Leon Higginbotham, 
     Jr.;
       (2) salutes the lasting legacy of A. Leon Higginbotham, 
     Jr.'s achievements; and
       (3) encourages the continued pursuit of A. Leon 
     Higginbotham, Jr.'s vision of eliminating racial prejudice 
     from all aspects of our society.




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