[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 120 (Thursday, September 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN PRAISE OF DR. THOMAS F. FREEMAN: EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND LEGENDARY 
                 COACH AND TEACHER OF THE ART OF DEBATE

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this is a great opportunity to rise 
today to salute and praise Dr. Thomas F. Freeman: educator, scholar, 
and legendary coach and teacher of the art of debate at the historic 
Texas Southern University, supporting the historic Texas Southern 
University debate team.
  For those of you who have not heard of that team, I ask you to look 
closely at the number of awards it has received because of this great 
educator. He comes from a great family with a great wife, who is also 
an educator.
  Today I rise to salute him as a first-rank scholar, but also as a 
person of great eloquence, talent, and oration, someone who was 
inspirational to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 
honorable late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, my predecessor.
  A prodigy himself, Dr. Freeman graduated from Virginia Union 
University at 18 and went on to become a professor at Virginia Union 
before his 30th birthday. He would later receive degrees from Andover 
Newton Theological School, Harvard University, Chicago Divinity School, 
the University of Vienna in Austria, and the University of Liberia in 
Africa. Dr. Freeman was among a group of accomplished academics of 
color hired by Texas Southern University.
  What I want to say most about Dr. Freeman is that he is a renaissance 
man. He's a man of courage. He's a man who broke color lines, teaching 
at Rice University for 23 years. He is a man that has a number of 
sayings that are so vital. One is:

       There is an ethical dimension to leadership. If you do not 
     consider ethics, then your leadership is hollow.

  I thank Dr. Freeman for being the kind of icon that America can 
honor. His leadership will be rewarded by the many students who have 
gone on to greatness because of his tutoring. In fact, even Denzel 
Washington was tutored by Dr. Thomas Freeman.
  He is 95 years old and will be honored in his retirement at Texas 
Southern University tomorrow, Friday, September 13, 2013. However, his 
light will continue to shine, for he will continue to work with 
students and to provide light to those who are willing to learn.
  Thank you, Dr. Freeman, for being a great American and a great leader 
and a man of ethics, passion, Christianity, and courage.

                          ____________________