[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 148 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8844-H8845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
R. JESS BROWN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 579) to designate the United States courthouse located at 501
East Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the ``R. Jess Brown
United States Courthouse.''
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 579
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.
The United States courthouse located at 501 East Court
Street in Jackson, Mississippi, shall be known and designated
as the ``R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper,
or other record of the United States to the United States
courthouse referred to in section 1 shall be deemed
[[Page H8845]]
to be a reference to the ``R. Jess Brown United States
Courthouse''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 579.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 579 designates the United States courthouse located at 501 East
Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United
States Courthouse.
Mr. Brown was a civil rights lawyer who worked against racial
discrimination and was credited in the 1950s with filing the first
civil rights lawsuit in the State of Mississippi.
A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown attended Illinois State University,
Indiana University, and the Texas Southern University Law School. In
the 1960s, he was one of only four African American lawyers in the
State of Mississippi and one of three who took civil rights cases.
In 1962, he worked on behalf of James Meredith, whose successful
lawsuit allowed him to be the first African American student to enroll
at Ole Miss. Later, Mr. Brown worked to fight against discrimination in
transportation and other public accommodations.
Given his dedication to the law and his work in civil rights, it is
appropriate to name this courthouse after him.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by yielding such time
as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the
opportunity to speak on behalf of this bill, H.R. 579, a bill to
designate the United States courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, as the
R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse.
Mr. Speaker, Richard Jess Brown was born on September 12, 1912, in
Coffeyville, Kansas. His parents, Ernestine and Joe Brown, were jazz
musicians and performed in and managed a local theater.
R. Jess Brown received a bachelor's of science in industrial arts
from Illinois State Normal University and a master's of science in
industrial education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
After teaching at Alcorn State University, R. Jess Brown moved to
Jackson, Mississippi, where he taught industrial arts at Lanier High
School, the only Black high school in the city at the time. While
teaching at Lanier, R. Jess Brown became an intervening plaintiff in a
lawsuit that sought equal pay for Black teachers in Jackson.
After teaching in Jackson, Jess attended Texas Southern University
law school. Jess left the law school before receiving his juris
doctorate but was able to return to Mississippi and pass the
Mississippi Bar in 1953.
Beginning his career in Vicksburg, Mississippi, R. Jess Brown
confined his practice to cases involving divorces, deeds, land titles,
and other practices that did not agitate White members of the bar.
However, after the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling in
1954, Jess felt compelled to defend the civil rights of African
Americans.
In the fall of 1955, the conditions and hardships endured by Black
lawyers in the courts led Mr. Brown and seven other Black attorneys to
establish the Magnolia Bar Association.
Mr. Speaker, R. Jess Brown is credited with filing the first civil
suit on behalf of African Americans in the State of Mississippi. That
lawsuit, on behalf of a Jefferson County minister, challenged laws that
prevented Blacks from voting.
Mr. Speaker, Jess Brown has an extensive record as a civil rights
lawyer. His list of clients included Clyde Kennard, who was charged
with and convicted of a fictitious crime while attempting to
desegregate the University of Southern Mississippi; James H. Meredith,
whose litigation ultimately led to the integration of the University of
Mississippi; Dr. Gilbert Mason, who led the effort to end racial
segregation on the beaches of Biloxi, Mississippi; and civil rights
icons Medgar Wiley Evers and Dr. Aaron Henry.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Brown was admitted to practice law before all
Mississippi court systems, the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Mississippi, the United States District Court for
the Southern District of Mississippi, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court, and the United States Supreme
Court. Mr. Brown also served on the executive board of the National Bar
Association for approximately 15 years.
On December 3, 1989, R. Jess Brown died of cancer in Jackson,
Mississippi, at the age of 77.
Mr. Speaker, R. Jess Brown is well deserving of this honor, and I
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 579.
Mr. PETRI. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I too rise in support of H.R. 579, to designate the United States
courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United States
Courthouse.
R. Jess Brown was a towering figure in the history of the civil
rights movement in the South and especially in the State of
Mississippi. He was a native son of Kansas, born in Coffeyville,
Kansas, and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He attended law school at
Texas Southern University and practiced law in Mississippi, starting in
1953 and continuing throughout the latter civil rights era.
As associate counsel for the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, the NAACP, Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mr.
Brown filed the first civil rights suit in Mississippi in the 1950s.
The suit, filed in Jefferson Davis County, sought the enforcement of
the right of Black citizens to become registered voters.
In 1961, Brown represented James Meredith in his suit to be allowed
to enter the University of Mississippi. His victory in this case opened
the doors of that university to all of Mississippi's citizens. While
working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Brown played
a major role in fighting discrimination in the areas of transportation
and other public accommodations.
During his lifetime, he received numerous awards and honors,
including the NAACP's Lawyer of the Year Award; the National Bar
Association C. Francis Stradford Award, which is the Bar Association's
highest award; and the Mississippi Teachers Association's award for
extraordinary service to education in Mississippi.
R. Jess Brown will be remembered as more than a brilliant attorney
and civil rights leader; he will also be remembered as a great
American. As such, it is fitting that the United States courthouse in
Jackson, Mississippi, be designated the R. Jess Brown United States
Courthouse.
I support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to join me
in passing H.R. 579.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PETRI. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 579.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________