[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H437-H440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MEDGAR EVERS

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1022) honoring the life and sacrifice 
of Medgar Evers and congratulating the United States Navy for naming a 
supply ship after Medgar Evers.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1022

       Whereas Medgar Evers was born on July 2, 1925, in Decatur, 
     Mississippi;
       Whereas Mr. Evers was hired by Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason 
     Howard to sell insurance for the Magnolia Mutual Life 
     Insurance Company;
       Whereas Mr. Evers was inducted into United States Army in 
     1943 and fought in the Battle of Normandy;
       Whereas Dr. Howard, as President of the Regional Council of 
     Negro Leadership, helped to introduce Mr. Evers to civil 
     rights activism;
       Whereas Mr. Evers applied to the then-segregated University 
     of Mississippi School of Law in February 1954;
       Whereas Mr. Evers' application was rejected resulting in a 
     National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
     (NAACP) campaign to desegregate the school;
       Whereas Mr. Evers was hired as a field secretary for the 
     NAACP;
       Whereas Mr. Evers was the target of a number of death 
     threats as a result of his activism;
       Whereas, on May 28, 1963, a Molotov cocktail was thrown 
     into the carport of Mr. Evers's home and five days before his 
     death Mr. Evers was assaulted by a car outside of an NAACP 
     office;
       Whereas Mr. Evers was assassinated in the driveway of his 
     home in Jackson after returning from a meeting with NAACP 
     lawyers on June 12, 1963;
       Whereas this assassination occurred just hours after 
     President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in 
     support of civil rights;
       Whereas the death of Mr. Evers helped to prompt President 
     John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a comprehensive civil 
     rights bill;
       Whereas that bill, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was signed 
     into law by President Lyndon Johnson;
       Whereas Mr. Evers' assassination has been memorialized in 
     numerous popular songs, movies, and written pieces;
       Whereas in 1969, Medgar Evers College was established in 
     Brooklyn, New York, as part of the City University of New 
     York;
       Whereas, on June 28, 1992, the city of Jackson, Mississippi 
     erected a statue in honor of Mr. Evers;
       Whereas in December 2004, the Jackson City Council changed 
     the name of the city's airport to Jackson-Evers International 
     Airport; and
       Whereas, on October 9, 2009, Secretary of the Navy Ray 
     Mabus announced that the United States Naval Ship (USNS) 
     Medgar Evers (T-AKE-13), a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo 
     ship, will be named after Mr. Evers: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) honors the life and sacrifice of Medgar Evers;
       (2) recognizes the important role Mr. Evers played in 
     securing civil rights for all people in the United States; 
     and
       (3) congratulates the United States Navy for honoring 
     Medgar Evers by naming the United States Naval Ship Medgar 
     Evers after him.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Johnson) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks, 
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as we begin Black History Month, I rise in support of H. 
Res. 1022, to honor the life of Medgar Evers and congratulate the 
United States Navy for naming a ship in his honor.
  Medgar Evers was born in Decatur, Mississippi, on July 2, 1925, and 
he was murdered on June 12, 1963, in the driveway of his Jackson, 
Mississippi, home. His upbringing was marked by the racism and violence 
of that time. Before Evers even reached high school, he had endured the 
lynching of a close family friend.
  As a young man, Mr. Evers was determined to get his education. He 
earned his high school diploma, enduring taunts and abuse from white 
schoolchildren.
  In 1943, he was drafted into the Army, and he bravely fought for his 
country

[[Page H438]]

at the Battle of Normandy and was honorably discharged in 1946.
  Upon his return home, Mr. Evers completed a degree in business 
administration at Alcorn State University. He played football, ran 
track, joined the debate team, and sang in the university choir. He 
married his classmate, Myrlie Beasley, in 1951.

                              {time}  1500

  Beside me is a photograph of Medgar Evers. He looks to be very fit 
and focused, and I daresay Herschel Walker has a slight resemblance to 
Mr. Evers. And that is a compliment, by the way.
  After completing that degree and getting married, Mr. Evers then 
moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, and joined the Regional Council of 
Negro Leadership. He helped organize a boycott of service stations that 
denied African Americans use of their restrooms. In 1954, the year I 
was born, Mr. Evers applied to the segregated University of Mississippi 
School of Law. When his application was rejected, he became the focus 
of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school.
  He was hired as the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Mr. 
Evers was instrumental in desegregating the University of Mississippi, 
and gained prominence through his work with the NAACP. As his fame and 
success grew, so did the danger that he faced. Death threats became 
commonplace. But he persisted, a true American pioneer. In May of 1963, 
a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the carport of his home. And then 5 
days before his death, he was nearly run over by a car outside of a 
NAACP office.
  On June 12, 1963, while carrying T-shirts that read, quote, ``Jim 
Crow Must Go,'' Medgar Evers was assassinated in the driveway of his 
home in Jackson, Mississippi. Just hours earlier, President John F. 
Kennedy had delivered his speech in support of civil rights legislation 
on national television. Evers' assassination is said to have helped 
prompt President Kennedy to ask for a comprehensive civil rights bill, 
which became the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and which was an historic 
and mighty blow to the institutionalized racism in America. Mr. Evers 
was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and received full military 
honors in front of a crowd of about 3,000 people.
  This resolution, Mr. Speaker, not only honors the life and sacrifice 
of Mr. Evers, but it also commends the Navy for its recent decision to 
name a ship in his honor. On October 9, 2009, Secretary of the Navy Ray 
Mabus announced the United States Naval Ship Medgar Evers, a Lewis and 
Clark-class dry cargo ship.
  For decades, Medgar Evers' legacy has inspired Americans. He fought 
diligently for what was right, and gave his life to the cause of civil 
rights. His life has been memorialized in song, in film, in sculpture, 
and now by the United States Navy.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert at this point in the Record an 
exchange of letters between House Judiciary Committee Chairman John 
Conyers and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton. I am 
privileged to serve on both of these very important committees.
                                      Committee on Armed Services,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                 Washington, DC, January 28, 2010.
     Hon. John Conyers, Jr.,
     Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: On January 20, 2010, the House 
     Resolution 1022, ``Honoring the life and sacrifice of Medgar 
     Evers and congratulating the United States Navy for naming a 
     supply ship after Medgar Evers,'' was introduced in the 
     House. As you know, this measure was referred to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee 
     on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 
     by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
     provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
     concerned.
       Our Committee recognizes the importance of H. Res. 1022 and 
     the need for the legislation to move expeditiously. 
     Therefore, while we have a valid claim to jurisdiction over 
     this legislation, the Committee on Armed Services will waive 
     further consideration of H. Res. 1022. I do so with the 
     understanding that by waiving further consideration of the 
     resolution, the Committee does not waive any future 
     jurisdictional claims over similar measures.
       I would appreciate the inclusion of this letter and a copy 
     of your response in the Congressional Record during 
     consideration of the measure on the House floor.
           Very truly yours,
                                                      Ike Skelton,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                 Washington, DC, February 2, 2010.
     Hon. Ike Skelton,
     Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your letter regarding your 
     Committee's jurisdictional interest in H. Res 1022, Honoring 
     the life and sacrifice of Medgar Evers and congratulating the 
     United States Navy for naming a supply ship after Medgar 
     Evers.
       I appreciate your willingness to support expediting floor 
     consideration of this important resolution today. I 
     understand and agree that this is without prejudice to your 
     Committee's jurisdictional interests in this or similar 
     legislation in the future.
       Per your request, I will include a copy of your letter and 
     this response in the Congressional Record in the debate on 
     the resolution. Thank you for your cooperation as we work 
     towards passing this resolution.
           Sincerely,
                                                John Conyers, Jr.,
                                                         Chairman.

  I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I support House Resolution 1022. This resolution honors the life and 
sacrifice of Medgar Evers, and also it congratulates the United States 
Navy for naming a supply ship after Mr. Evers in 2009. Known today for 
his struggles in the civil rights movement in Mississippi and his 
untimely death at the hands of an assassin, Medgar Evers left behind an 
impressive record of achievement.
  He was born in 1925 near Decatur, Mississippi, and he entered the 
United States Army in 1943 and served in Normandy in World War II. He 
received a B.A. degree in 1952, and began to establish local chapters 
of the NAACP. He organized boycotts of gasoline stations that refused 
to allow blacks to use the restrooms there. In 1954, he applied to the 
then-segregated University of Mississippi School of Law. And when his 
application was rejected, he filed a lawsuit against the university. He 
became the focus of the NAACP effort to desegregate the school, a case 
aided by the United States Supreme Court in a ruling of Brown v. Board 
of Education that segregation was unconstitutional.
  Evers and his wife eventually moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where 
they worked together to set up an NAACP office. Evers began 
investigating violent crimes committed against African Americans, and 
sought ways to prevent them in the future. His boycott of Jackson, 
Mississippi merchants in the early 1960s attracted national media 
attention. And his efforts to have James Meredith admitted to the 
University of Mississippi in 1962 led to much needed Federal help. Due 
in part to Mr. Evers' work, Meredith was admitted to the University of 
Mississippi.
  On June 12, 1963, Evers returned home just after midnight from a 
series of NAACP functions, and he was leaving his car with a handful of 
T-shirts that read, ``Jim Crow Must Go.'' When he was leaving his 
vehicle, he was shot in the back by an assassin. His wife and children, 
who had been waiting for him, found him bleeding to death on the 
doorstep some 30 feet from where he was gunned down. Shortly 
thereafter, he died.
  The death of Mr. Evers helped prompt President John F. Kennedy and 
others to ask Congress to pass a comprehensive civil rights bill. And 
in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. In the years 
following his death, a number of songs, books, and movies paid tribute 
to Mr. Evers' sacrifice and his peaceful pursuit of justice and 
equality for all Americans. Mr. Evers is quoted as saying, ``When you 
hate, the only one that suffers is you, because most of the people you 
hate don't know it, and the rest don't care.'' He also continually 
advised that violence is not the way.
  His life serves as an inspiration to all Americans on how citizens 
can use peaceful and democratic means to effect a positive change 
within our democracy. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the 
great city of Washington, D.C. I would point out that she is a civil 
rights legend of her own accord.
  Ms. NORTON. I thank the generous gentleman from Georgia and our 
colleague on the other side as well for

[[Page H439]]

their words and for bringing forward this resolution honoring the 
United States Navy, and especially honoring Medgar Evers.
  There is some context that is necessary here. Mississippi was not 
only late to the civil rights movement, Mississippi was last to the 
civil rights movement. And there was a reason for that. Because it was 
delayed. Remember the sit-ins began February 1960, just 50 years ago. 
That was celebrated just yesterday with the opening of a civil rights 
museum in Greensboro. Years passed. And you did not see young people 
coming forward in Mississippi, young and foolish, and a young law 
student, because Mississippi was so heralded for its reputation for 
violently opposing civil rights. That is where I wanted to be.
  From my first day in Mississippi in June of 1963, I was baptized by 
crisis. I spent the day with Medgar Evers. I was only a second-year law 
student, but there were so few people with the skills associated with 
lawyers who had been in the movement, that he tried to get me to stay 
in Jackson. But I had committed to Bob Moses, the legendary head of a 
tiny movement in the delta area of Mississippi, to go to the 
Mississippi delta.
  I spent the day with Medgar Evers taking me around to meet members of 
the movement, to try to get me to remain, and finally depositing me 
at--was it a Greyhound or a Trailways bus station? I do not recall. But 
he put me on that bus, he went home, and he was assassinated in his own 
driveway. I had learned about it the next morning when a tiny little 
girl came to wake me up in a sharecropper's house who had accommodated 
me as a member of the movement to say that Mr. Evers has been shot. The 
moment exists in my brain and in my heart to this very moment, that 
unspeakable moment.
  Mr. Speaker, I was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 
Committee. John Lewis was the chair of SNCC at that time. Young people 
had come forward to risk arrest and beatings literally in every State 
of the union except Mississippi. But there was nobody like the four 
young students in Greensboro who stepped forward in 1960. And yet I 
come to Mississippi in 1963, and I assure you not to sit in. But there 
hadn't been a single sit-in in Mississippi. So here came a middle-aged 
father and husband and said, ``Okay, I will lead the sit-ins in the 
biggest city in Mississippi.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.
  Ms. NORTON. Medgar Evers was not a student. He was not young and 
foolish the way the students were. He had a lot to risk, and he risked 
it all. He and a very few others stepped forward to do that first sit-
in at a Woolworth's. He paid a price that day. They were beat horribly. 
And he paid the ultimate price when they took his life in that 
driveway.
  It is time for the United States of America now to step forward, as 
Medgar Evers did, and recognize this one of a kind American hero. I 
applaud our country and our Navy for naming a United States Naval ship 
the Medgar Evers.
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Res 1022, to honor the life and sacrifices of Medgar Evers as well as 
his contributions to the African American Civil Rights Movement.
  Evers was born in segregated Decatur, Mississippi, on July 2, 1925, 
and had to deal with daily threats, insults and institutionalized 
discrimination and racism. Like many of his fellow African Americans, 
Evers returned to the United States after serving in France during 
World War II only to learn that nothing had changed for African 
Americans.
  Despite this, Evers went to Acorn College in Lorman, Mississippi, and 
received his BA in Business Administration, an amazing accomplishment 
for any African American at the time. He went on to marry his classmate 
and sweetheart, Mrylie Beasley.
  The young couple moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, where Evers 
worked at the Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. The president of 
the company, Dr. T.R.M. Howard, also served as president of the 
Regional Council of Negro Leadership, and helped to introduce Mr. Evers 
to civil rights activism. Evers became heavily involved in successful 
boycotts of service stations that denied Blacks to use their restrooms 
throughout the state.
  Evers went on to work as a member of the Mississippi NAACP as its 
field secretary and had an instrumental role in the desegregation of 
the University of Mississippi, which led to constant threats against 
his life and his family. On June 12, 1963, at the age of 37, Medgar 
Evers was shot outside his home. He died 50 minutes later in the 
hospital. His murderer, Bryan De La Beckwith, went to trial twice 
before finally being found guilty of murder and being sent to prison on 
February 5, 1994, three decades after Evers' death.
  Medgar Evers, in life and in death, left an impact on America. His 
death helped prompt President John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a 
comprehensive civil rights bill, one that would be passed during the 
Johnson administration and finally ended legal segregation in the 
United States.
  I commend Representative Henry Johnson of Georgia's Fourth 
Congressional District for introducing this important piece of 
legislation to the House and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting 
for this measure.
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today, we recognize a brave 
martyr of the civil rights movement, Medgar Evers, who also is being 
honored by the U.S. Navy with the naming of a dry cargo ship after him.
  Medgar Evers served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II 
and fought to liberate Europe at the Battle of Normandy. After he was 
honorably discharged in 1946, he returned home to Mississippi to find 
racial discrimination and rampant prejudice. This injustice compelled 
him to fight another battle, this time for civil rights and racial 
equality at home. As NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, he 
played a leading role in desegregating the University of Mississippi in 
1962, as well as led a public investigation into the murder of Emmett 
Till.
  Medgar Evers received numerous death threats, yet he was never 
deterred. He once said, ``You can kill a man, but you can't kill an 
idea.'' There is bittersweet truth to his words as Evers was murdered 
in 1963 by one intent on maintaining segregation. Although Evers' 
dedication to ensuring equality cost him his life, his sacrifice was 
not in vain. Following Medgar Evers' death, there was a renewed impetus 
toward passing a civil rights bill, allowing Medgar Evers' ideas to 
live on.
  Two months after Evers' murder, President John F. Kennedy, while 
addressing the U.S. Naval Academy, said, ``any man who may be asked in 
this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can 
respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: `I served in the 
United States Navy.' ''
  With the christening of the USNS Medgar Evers, there is now a 
physical link between honorable naval service and the courageous life 
of Medgar Evers. I hope that as this ship sails from port-to-port, it 
will remind all nations, including our own, of the ultimate sacrifice 
Evers made in the pursuit of justice.
  I want to commend my friend and colleague from Georgia, Hank Johnson, 
for introducing this resolution, and I urge its adoption by the full 
House.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today in 
support of H. Res. 1022 ``Honoring the life and sacrifice of Medgar 
Evers and congratulating the United States Navy for naming a supply 
ship after Medgar Evers.''
  I would like to begin by thanking my colleague Representative Hank 
Johnson for introducing this resolution in the House, as it is 
important that we honor and remember Medgar Evers for his service to 
the United States both on the battlefield as an Army sergeant in World 
War II as well as his service to the United States through his 
leadership in the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th Century.
  Evers was born in Decatur, Mississippi, to Jessie and James Evers in 
1925 and grew up on his father's small farm. After reaching 
adolescence, Evers had a difficult time in obtaining the high school 
level education he so desperately wanted. Evers however was determined. 
Every day he would walk 12 miles, each way to school and frequently had 
objects thrown at him by White children passing by in school buses.
  In addition to the heckling he frequently received on his way to 
school, Evers suffered several other seriously traumatic events as a 
child. In one such instance, a close family friend was kidnapped, 
beaten up and lynched by a group of White supremacists. Evers was 
shocked when there was no response to this horrible attack by any local 
law enforcement officers and no subsequent legal action was taken up in 
the judicial system.
  Evers witnessed several other brutal actions taken against local 
blacks in Decatur, Mississippi, as a youth. He was once quoted as 
saying: ``I used to watch the Saturday night sport of White men trying 
to run down a Negro with their car, or White gangs coming through town 
to beat up a Negro.'' Evers said that sometimes the attackers would 
even leave the dead bodies of Black men out in the streets and would 
hang the bloody clothes in public to leave a message of fear.
  Fortunately, Evers was able to keep his head high and eventually 
earned his high

[[Page H440]]

school diploma in Decatur, Mississippi, before joining the U.S. Army. 
Evers joined the Army during World War II, fought in France, the 
European Theatre of WWII and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a 
Sergeant after admirably serving his country.
  After being discharged, Evers attended Alcorn College, (now known as 
Alcorn State University) in Lorman, Mississippi and participated in a 
wide variety of activities from debate team to the track and football 
teams. At Alcorn College, Evers met and began dating Myrlie Beasley. 
The two were eventually married on December 24, 1951.
  Soon after marriage, the couple moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, 
where Evers began selling insurance for the Magnolia Mutual Life 
Insurance Company. It was there that Evers met Dr. Theodore Roosevelt 
Mason Howard, the president of the Regional Council of Negro 
Leadership, RCNL, a civil rights and pro self-help organization. Evers 
soon became a dynamic member of the RCNL and thus began his political 
activism career.
  When his application to the then-segregated University of Mississippi 
Law School was rejected, Evers filed a lawsuit against the university, 
and became the focus of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the 
university. That same year, due to his involvement, the NAACP's 
National Office suggested he become Mississippi's first field secretary 
for the NAACP.
  On November 24, 1954, Evers was appointed Mississippi's first field 
secretary for the NAACP. After becoming field secretary, Evers was 
involved in a boycott campaign against White merchants and was 
instrumental in eventually desegregating the University of Mississippi 
when that institution was finally forced to enroll James Meredith in 
1962.
  Sadly, Evers was assassinated outside his home on June 12, 1963, just 
after returning from a meeting with several NAACP lawyers. Though he 
was killed in this tragic attack, the legacy that Evers left behind 
helped to change the course of history and left a strong impact on the 
Civil Rights Movement.
  Designated T-AKE 13, Medgar Evers will be the 13th ship of the class, 
and is being built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego. As a combat 
logistics force ship, Medgar Evers will help the Navy maintain a 
worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition, food, fuel, and 
other dry cargo to U.S. and allied ships at sea.
  As part of Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, 
Medgar Evers will be designated as a United States Naval Ship, USNS, 
and will be crewed by 124 civil service mariners and 11 Navy sailors. 
The ship is designed to operate independently for extended periods at 
sea, can carry a helicopter, is 689 feet in length, has an overall beam 
of 106 feet, has a navigational draft 30 feet, displaces approximately 
42,000 tons, and is capable of reaching a speed of 20 knots using a 
single-shaft, diesel-electric propulsion system.
  Because of the extensive role Evers had in the Civil Rights Movement 
and because of his exemplary service in the Armed Forces during World 
War II, it is important that we recognize this hero for his service to 
our Nation. I ask my colleagues for their support of this resolution 
and ask for their continued support of similar national heroes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, before I yield back I will say 
that if Medgar Evers were alive today, he would be fighting alongside 
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for freedom in Washington, D.C. What I 
am talking about is the ability of residents of Washington, D.C., to be 
able to vote, to have a Congressperson who has full voting rights in 
this body.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I will yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1022.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________