[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 55 (Monday, April 19, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2429-S2431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR. BENJAMIN L. HOOKS

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 489, which was submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 489) honoring the life and 
     achievements of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, on April 15, Benjamin Hooks died in 
the city where he was born 85 years ago, the city of Memphis. Later 
this afternoon, Senator Burris, Senator Corker, and I will introduce a 
resolution honoring the life and achievement of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
  Benjamin Hooks was certainly one of Tennessee's most distinguished 
citizens and one of America's leaders in this last half century. He was 
a patriot, a family man, a visionary, a lawyer, a storyteller, a 
preacher, and for my wife and me, he and his wife Frances were close 
and good friends.
  There will be a funeral service in Memphis on Wednesday. I will 
attend it and will make remarks there. But I wanted to say a few words 
about my friend Dr. Hooks on the floor of the Senate today.
  Ben Hooks was born January 31, 1925. He leaves his wife Frances and 
his daughter Patricia Gray and two grandsons. He was the fifth of seven 
children born to Robert B. and Bessie Hooks. Right from the beginning, 
he was part of a pioneering family. He was the grandson of Julia Hooks, 
the second Black woman in the United States to graduate from college.
  Young Ben Hooks went on to LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and 
graduated from Howard. He served in the U.S. Army. He was a patriot. 
While in the Army, he learned something more about injustice when he 
found that some of the prisoners of war he guarded had more rights than 
he did to eat in a restaurant. His pioneering continued when he went 
back home to Memphis after the war.
  First, he had to get a law degree. At that time, no Tennessee law 
school would accept an African-American law student. It was the same in 
Arkansas. I remember George Haley, the brother of Alex Haley--that is 
another Tennessee family, the Haleys--George Haley was able to go to 
the University of Arkansas at about the same time and was required to 
sit by himself in a separate room because they simply didn't know what 
to do with an African-American student.
  Ben Hooks choose to go to DePaul University in Chicago, where he 
received his law degree in 1984, and came back to Memphis. He kept 
pioneering. He was one of the few African-American lawyers to set up 
his own practice in Memphis. He was appointed to the Shelby County 
Criminal Court by Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee in 1965, making 
him the first Black criminal court judge in the history of our State.
  He and Dr. Martin Luther King worked together. He lived to see Dr. 
King go over from being someone who was reviled to someone who was 
honored by having a national holiday in his name.
  In 1972, Benjamin Hooks became the first Black appointee to the 
Federal Communications Commission. That was at the recommendation of 
Senator Howard Baker, a Republican Senator, and a Republican President, 
Richard Nixon. Ben Hooks was able to support leaders of both parties. 
He supported the 1972 Presidential Republican ticket. He supported 
Senator Baker in his

[[Page S2430]]

races. His wife Frances supported me every time I ran for public office 
in Tennessee, which has been a lot, five different times. Everybody 
knew that Frances Hooks would not have been supporting me if Ben Hooks 
did not know about it. In fact, it is hard to think of Ben Hooks 
without Frances. I cannot think of a time I talked with him when I did 
not start with her. She was his sweetheart, his ally, his secretary, 
his assistant, his adviser, and all of us send to her and her family 
our thoughts during these days. I talked with her for a few minutes a 
while ago.
  Benjamin Hooks became best known in this country when he was elected 
executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People, NAACP, in 1976. He served in that role until 1992. 
During that time the NAACP grew by hundreds of thousands of members due 
to Ben Hooks' leadership.
  Ben Hooks was an ordained minister. He delivered sermons for more 
than half a century. They were sermons well worth hearing. Ben Hooks 
had the combined gifts of a Southern preacher, a Southern lawyer, and a 
Southern politician, and he could turn a phrase and turn the audience 
inside out and upside down with his phrases as well as anyone I have 
ever heard.
  One of his most touching speeches was his eulogy at the funeral of a 
former Tennessee Senator, Albert Gore, Sr., which I heard in Nashville.
  In March of 2001, Benjamin and Frances Hooks renewed their wedding 
vows after almost 50 years of marriage.
  In November of 2007, just about 2\1/2\ years ago, Benjamin Hooks was 
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor 
in the United States, by President George W. Bush.
  He helped to establish, in his hometown of Memphis, the Benjamin 
Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. In 
talking with some of the faculty members at that institute a few years 
ago, one of them said Ben Hooks understands our country is a work in 
progress. He had seen the hard parts of it. He had seen the injustice 
of it. Before he died, he was still sad and angry about some of the 
injustices that exist today. But he had also seen the promise of it as 
well. Through his lifetime, he had lived through the King days; the 
sit-ins; the days of the first Black criminal court justice, where it 
was commonplace for African Americans to graduate from law school; the 
election of the first African-American President; the rise of the 
NAACP. Ben Hooks saw the great promise of American life.
  After he was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2007 by the President, I 
hosted a lunch for him in the Senate Dining Room downstairs. Those who 
come to the Senators' dining room are accustomed to seeing 
distinguished visitors. In fact, that is why most people go the 
Senators' dining room--to be seen. But that day Ben Hooks took over the 
dining room. He was by far the most distinguished visitor there. Some 
very well known people came to pay respect to him. One of them was the 
late Jack Kemp, who worked with Dr. Hooks on civil rights issues for 
many years. But the greatest commotion was caused by the people who 
work in the Senators' dining room--those who serve, those who wait 
tables, those who cook in the kitchen. They all wanted to shake Ben 
Hooks' hand. They wanted to say hello to him. They wanted his 
autograph. And most wanted his picture.
  We will miss Ben Hooks' leadership. We will miss his vision. We will 
miss his capacity to work with Republicans as well as Democrats. 
Tennessee has lost one of its most distinguished citizens. But we are 
grateful for that life, and in Memphis on Wednesday we will celebrate 
the life of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
  Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I do want to say that Tennessee has lost 
a great human being in Dr. Benjamin Hooks, and I want to join with my 
friend and colleague from Tennessee, Senator Alexander, in being part 
of a resolution to talk about his wonderful life. I know we will be 
having ceremonies in Tennessee this Wednesday, but certainly he was a 
wonderful individual who did much to benefit our country, and we all 
are saddened by his passing.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today to honor the life of the 
Reverend Benjamin Lawson Hooks. I join all Americans in expressing my 
sadness at his passing and gratitude for his lifetime of service. Ben 
Hooks was a man of faith who was dedicated to nonviolent change. He 
will be remembered as one of the great civil rights champions of our 
time.
  Ben Hooks was born in Memphis, TN, at the height of the Jim Crow era 
in 1925. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army to fight for his 
country, a segregated nation that denied him access to many public 
venues. Stationed in Italy, he was ordered to guard Italian prisoners 
of war, and like so many African-American soldiers at that time, he was 
utterly shocked to find that the very prisoners he guarded were 
admitted to the all-White cafeteria, while he had to eat elsewhere. 
Upon returning to the United States, Ben Hooks completed his studies at 
Howard University and attended DePaul University College of Law in 
Chicago.
  But he never forgot his roots or the civil rights violations that he 
had witnessed. After the war, he returned to his hometown of Memphis, 
TN, to open up a law practice and dedicate himself to the fight for the 
equality of all Americans. Of those years, he recalled: ``At that time 
you were insulted by law clerks, excluded from white bar associations 
and when I was in court, I was lucky to be called `Ben.' Usually it was 
just `boy.' '' He also became a Baptist minister, joined the NAACP and 
participated in many civil rights protests. He joined Dr. Martin Luther 
King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which went on to 
spearhead the civil rights movement through famous nonviolent protests.
  By 1965, Ben Hooks had made his mark on his home State, and was 
appointed to the Tennessee Criminal Court, making him the first Black 
judge since Reconstruction in a State trial court anywhere in the 
South. In years to come he would capture the attention of lawmakers in 
Washington, and in 1972, President Nixon nominated Hooks to the Federal 
Communications Commission. He became the first Black Commissioner on 
the FCC, and served for 5 years. During his time there, he fought for 
underrepresented minorities in the media and helped to increase the 
number of African-Americans employed at the FCC.
  Despite all these accomplishments, Ben Hooks is likely to be best 
remembered for his 15 years as executive director of the NAACP. In 
2007, when President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom, one of our country's highest civilian honors, saying: ``Dr. 
Hooks was a calm yet forceful voice for fairness, opportunity and 
personal responsibility. He never tired or faltered in demanding that 
our Nation live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality.''
  His time at the NAACP was transformative. When he first arrived, 
membership was down and the organization was saddled with debt, but he 
declared ``the civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that 
we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone 
thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the 
courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and 
protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks.'' When he retired in 
1992, membership had dramatically increased and the organization had 
been completely reinvigorated and continues to be at the forefront of 
the civil rights movement today.
  The Reverend Jesse Jackson eloquently noted: ``Ben Hooks did it all, 
did it well, and he did it over a long period of time. He fought 
tirelessly to tear down walls that make today's bridges possible. He 
took us from racial battleground to economic common ground, across 
lines of race and religion.''
  Today, I add my voice to the chorus of praise for Ben Hooks. He was 
an honorable man who fought for equality and justice for all Americans 
and to fulfill the promise of our great Nation.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 489) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.

[[Page S2431]]

  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 489

       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was born in Memphis, Tennessee on 
     January 31, 1925;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks died April 15, 2010, at the age of 
     85 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is survived by his wife, 
     Frances Hooks, his daughter, Patricia Gray, and 2 grandsons;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was the fifth of 7 children born to 
     Robert B. and Bessie Hooks, and was the grandson of Julia 
     Hooks, the second Black woman in the United States to 
     graduate from college;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks attended LeMoyne-Owen College in 
     Memphis and, in 1944, graduated from Howard University;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks joined the United States Army during 
     World War II and was promoted to staff sergeant;
       Whereas in 1948, Benjamin Hooks received his law degree 
     from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and returned to 
     Memphis, Tennessee to help breakdown segregation;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks set up his own law practice and was 
     one of a few Blacks practicing law in Memphis from 1949-1965;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was appointed to a vacancy on the 
     Shelby County criminal court, by Governor Frank G. Clement in 
     1965, making him the first Black criminal court judge in the 
     history of Tennessee;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was a leader in the civil rights 
     movement and joined the Southern Christian Leadership 
     Conference of Reverend Martin Luther King in 1956;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks became the first Black appointee to 
     the Federal Communications Commission in 1972, when he was 
     appointed by President Richard Nixon, and, in that capacity, 
     worked towards minority employment and involvement in 
     broadcasting;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was elected executive director of 
     the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
     People (NAACP) on November 6, 1976, and served in that role 
     until 1992;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was an ordained minister and 
     delivered sermons for 52 years at the Greater Middle Baptist 
     Church and as pastor at Greater New Mountain Moriah 
     Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks was honored in 1996 with the 
     dedication of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social 
     Change at the University of Memphis, which he helped to 
     create;
       Whereas Benjamin Hooks and Francis Hooks renewed their 
     wedding vows on March 24, 2001, after almost 50 years of 
     marriage;
       Whereas in November 2007, Benjamin Hooks was awarded the 
     Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in 
     the United States, by President George W. Bush; and
       Whereas the passing of Benjamin Hooks is a great loss: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the outstanding contributions of Dr. 
     Benjamin L. Hooks to the civil rights movement, the ministry, 
     his family, and the community of Memphis, Tennessee; and
       (2) pays tribute to Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, his passion for 
     life, dedication to service, and commitment to equality.

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