[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.
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