[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 92 (Friday, June 13, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E985-E986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    AUTHORIZING THE USE OF ROTUNDA FOR CEREMONY COMMEMORATING 50TH 
        ANNIVERSARY OF ENACTMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 9, 2014

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. 
Res. 100, which authorizes the use of the Rotunda of the Capitol for a 
ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is fitting and proper that the Rotunda of 
the Capitol is the venue for the commemoration for one of the 
consequential governmental actions since the issuance of the 
Emancipation Proclamation.
  On July 2, 1964, fifty years ago next month, President Lyndon B. 
Johnson signed the act that profoundly changed our country and brought 
about the greatest reduction in economic and social inequality among 
Americans in history.
  Mr. Speaker, today it is difficult to imagine there once was a time 
in our country when blacks and whites could not eat together in public 
restaurants, use the same public restrooms, stay at the same hotels, or 
attend the same schools. It is hard to believe today that just 50 years 
ago, discrimination on the ground of race was a legal and socially 
accepted practice.
  But the Civil Rights Act of 1964 changed that.
  The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination and segregation in 
employment, public accommodations, and education on the ground of race, 
gender, religion, or national origin. This act became the soil from 
which our country flourished; opportunities were bred and dreams were 
born.
  This change did not happen overnight or by accident. It took hard 
work and courage and an unwavering faith that America could live up to 
the true meaning of its creed. Fortunately for our country, there were 
such men and women who had that faith and courage. People like the Rev. 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Young, Rosa Parks, and John Lewis 
are just a few of the many noble leaders who took a stand for freedom 
and risked their lives

[[Page E986]]

to make real the promise of America for all Americans.
  Today, 50 years later, we continue to preserve the rights and 
freedoms that so many fought for and could only dream of before the 
Civil Rights Act.
  On the evening of June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed 
the Nation and uttered the words that would echo in history:

       It ought to be possible for every American to enjoy the 
     privileges of being American without regard to his race or 
     his color. But this is not the case.
       We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as 
     old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American 
     Constitution.
       The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to 
     be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we 
     are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be 
     treated.
       One hundred years of delay have passed since President 
     Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, 
     are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of 
     injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic 
     oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its 
     boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are 
     free.
       Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its 
     promise.

  And a better country, we have become.
  Although we have come a long way, we must not become complacent on 
the issues of civil rights. Our Nation is a growing melting pot, and we 
must continue to make sure American citizens, regardless of their 
religion, race, or gender, are granted the right to freedom and 
equality.
  This Nation prides itself on the abundance of individual freedom. 
Through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we have nurtured a land where 
every American citizen is born free, and with the opportunity to chase 
their own American dream.
  Mr. Speaker, before signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President 
Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed the Nation on the significance of the 
bill he was about to sign:

       We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are 
     denied equal treatment.
       We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. 
     Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights.
       We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of 
     liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings--
     not because of their own failures, but because of the color 
     of their skin.
       The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition 
     and the nature of man. We can understand--without rancor or 
     hatred--how this all happened.
       But it cannot continue.
       Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids 
     it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids 
     it.
       And the law I will sign tonight forbids it.

  It is most fitting that the Rotunda of the Capitol be venue of the 
ceremony commemorating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was passed 
by the Congress of the United States and has for 50 years ensured and 
protected the right of all Americans to live their dreams in a land 
where equal opportunity is the birthright of all.

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