[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.
____________________