[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6095-S6096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING THE 44TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATHS OF CIVIL RIGHTS 
      WORKERS ANDREW GOODMAN, JAMES CHANEY, AND MICHAEL SCHWERNER

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 600, which was 
submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 600) commemorating the 44th 
     anniversary of the deaths of civil rights workers Andrew 
     Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner in Philadelphia, 
     Mississippi, while working in the name of American democracy 
     to register voters and secure civil rights during the summer 
     of 1964, which has become known as ``Freedom Summer.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, our Nation owes a tremendous debt of 
gratitude to all of those who risked their lives in the pursuit of 
making America a more perfect union. This week, we commemorate the 44th 
anniversary of the day three brave civil rights workers--James Chaney, 
Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman--paid the ultimate price in the 
struggle to secure civil rights and expand our democracy for all 
Americans.
  On June 21, 1964, these three young men were abducted, brutally 
beaten, and shot to death by Ku Klux Klansmen for simply attempting to 
register African-Americans voters. Their deaths touched the conscience 
of our country and inspired events that changed the course of our 
history. The public outcry over the initial disappearance of these 
workers drew national and international attention to the violence 
associated with efforts to register African-American voters. It spurred 
efforts to desegregate the voting delegates at political party 
conventions. And it served as a catalyst for Congress to pass the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, key legislation 
that would eliminate segregation and usher in a new era of equal 
opportunity and access to our democracy for all Americans.
  Unfortunately, our march toward equal justice under law is not yet 
complete. Three years ago, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted for the 
deaths of the three civil rights workers we honor today. Almost two 
dozen other men were involved in this crime; some are still alive, yet, 
none have ever been held charged with this murder. Even more troubling, 
the families of hundreds of other Americans who lost their lives in the 
fight for equal rights still await justice.
  As we pass this resolution, we must recognize that it is long past 
time to pass the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which 
would strengthen our ability to track down those whose violent acts 
during a period of national turmoil remain unpunished. Last year, the 
House overwhelmingly passed this bill. Yet, one lone Republican Senator 
has prevented this important bill from passing. As we commemorate the 
deaths of three of the most celebrated civil rights activists of the 
past, let us remember this does not obviate our need to solve the 
hundreds of less recognized civil rights crimes of that era.
  Today's resolution is an important gesture for us to remember the 
civil rights misdeeds of the past. But it is also an opportunity for 
Congress to show the country that we will not tolerate similar 
offenses. As we pass this resolution, it is fitting to carry this 
principle to the present and act in kind to prevent hate crimes and 
civil rights abuses occurring now in this country and around the world.
  The powerful inscription on the grave of James Chaney reads: ``There 
are those who are alive, yet will never live; there are those who are 
dead, yet will live forever; great deeds inspire and encourage the 
living.'' By remembering Mr. Chaney, Mr. Schwerner, and Mr. Goodman 
today, I hope we all can be inspired to renewed action in this 
Congress. Let us pass the Till bill to ensure that those who sacrificed 
their lives in pursuit of justice are not forgotten and the 
perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. 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 the resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 600) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 600

       Whereas 44 years ago, on June 21, 1964, Andrew Goodman, 
     James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in 
     Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working in the name of 
     American democracy to register voters and secure civil rights 
     during the summer of 1964, which has become known as 
     ``Freedom Summer'';
       Whereas Andrew Goodman was a 20-year-old White anthropology 
     major at New York's Queens College, who volunteered for the 
     ``Freedom Summer'' project;
       Whereas James Chaney, from Meridian, Mississippi, was a 21-
     year-old African-American civil rights activist who joined 
     the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1963 to work on 
     voter education and registration;
       Whereas Michael ``Mickey'' Schwerner, from Brooklyn, New 
     York, was a 24-year-old White CORE field secretary in 
     Mississippi and a veteran of the civil rights movement;
       Whereas in 1964, Mississippi had a Black voting-age 
     population of 450,000, but only 16,000 Blacks were registered 
     to vote;
       Whereas most Black voters were disenfranchised by law or 
     practice in Mississippi;
       Whereas in 1964, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 
     Schwerner volunteered to work as part of the ``Freedom 
     Summer'' project that involved several civil rights 
     organizations, including the Mississippi State chapter of the 
     National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 
     the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student 
     Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and CORE, with the purpose 
     of registering Black voters in Mississippi;
       Whereas on the morning of June 21, 1964, the 3 men left the 
     CORE office in Meridian and set out for Longdale, 
     Mississippi, where they were to investigate the recent 
     burning of the Mount Zion Methodist Church, a Black church 
     that had been functioning as a Freedom School for education 
     and voter registration;
       Whereas on their way back to Meridian, James Chaney, Andrew 
     Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were detained and later 
     arrested and taken to the Philadelphia, Mississippi, jail;
       Whereas later that same evening, on June 21, 1964, they 
     were taken from the jail, turned over to the Ku Klux Klan, 
     and beaten, shot, and killed;
       Whereas 2 days later, their burnt, charred, and gutted blue 
     Ford station wagon was pulled from the Bogue Chitto Creek, 
     just outside Philadelphia, Mississippi;
       Whereas the national uproar caused by the disappearance of 
     the civil rights workers led President Lyndon B. Johnson to 
     order Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to send 200 active 
     duty Navy sailors to search the swamps and fields in the area 
     for the bodies of the 3 civil rights workers, and Attorney 
     General Robert F. Kennedy to order his Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation (FBI) director, J. Edgar Hoover, to send 150 
     agents to Mississippi to work on the case;
       Whereas the FBI investigation led to the discovery of the 
     bodies of several other African-Americans from Mississippi, 
     whose disappearances over the previous several years had not 
     attracted attention outside their local communities;
       Whereas the bodies of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and 
     Michael Schwerner, beaten and shot, were found on August 4, 
     1964, buried under a mound of dirt;
       Whereas on December 4, 1964, 21 White Mississippians from 
     Philadelphia, Mississippi, including the sheriff and his 
     deputy, were arrested, and the Department of Justice charged 
     them with conspiring to deprive Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, 
     and Michael

[[Page S6096]]

     Schwerner of their civil rights, since murder was not a 
     Federal crime;
       Whereas on December 10, 1964, the same day Dr. Martin 
     Luther King, Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize, a United 
     States District judge dismissed charges against the 21 men 
     accused of depriving the 3 civil right workers of their civil 
     rights by murder;
       Whereas in 1967, after an appeal to the Supreme Court and 
     new testimony, 7 individuals were found guilty, but 2 of the 
     defendants, including Edgar Ray Killen, who had been strongly 
     implicated in the murders by witnesses, were acquitted 
     because the jury came to a deadlock on their charges;
       Whereas on January 6, 2005, a Neshoba County, Mississippi, 
     grand jury indicted Edgar Ray Killen on 3 counts of murder;
       Whereas on June 21, 2005, a jury convicted Edgar Ray Killen 
     on 3 counts of manslaughter;
       Whereas June 21, 2008, was the 44th anniversary of Andrew 
     Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner's ultimate 
     sacrifice;
       Whereas by the end of ``Freedom Summer'', volunteers, 
     including Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael 
     Schwerner, helped register 17,000 African-Americans to vote;
       Whereas the national uproar in response to the deaths of 
     these brave men helped create the necessary climate to bring 
     about passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner 
     worked for freedom, democracy, and equal justice under the 
     law for all; and
       Whereas the Federal Government should find an appropriate 
     way to honor these courageous young men and their 
     contributions to civil rights and voting rights: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) encourages all Americans to pause and remember Andrew 
     Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner and the 44th 
     anniversary of their deaths;
       (2) commemorates the life and work of Andrew Goodman, James 
     Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and all of the other brave 
     Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of 
     civil rights and voting rights for all Americans; and
       (3) commemorates and acknowledges the legacy of the brave 
     Americans who participated in the civil rights movement and 
     the role that they played in changing the hearts and minds of 
     Americans and creating the political climate necessary to 
     pass legislation to expand civil rights and voting rights for 
     all Americans.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, a few weeks ago, our colleague in the other 
Chamber, John Lewis, joined us for lunch and brought along several 
Freedom Riders who knew very well the wonderful young people we are 
recognizing by this resolution who lost their lives in the quest for 
freedom and democracy during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. It 
was a moving opportunity to listen to these remarkable individuals who, 
today, are gray in hair and getting older, but in their youth they 
stood up for democracy and freedom. It is worthy that this institution 
is recognizing them. I wanted to mention that this evening, as we 
agreed to this resolution.

                          ____________________