[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 21 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REINTRODUCING THE LENA HORNE RECOGNITION ACT OF 2015

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 9, 2015

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Lena Horne 
Recognition Act of 2015, which would award the Congressional Gold Medal 
to the late, renowned singer, actress, and Civil Rights icon, Ms. Lena 
Mary Calhoun Horne.
  As an African American woman born in 1917, Ms. Horne, who passed away 
in 2010, was truly a woman of firsts, having pioneered the way for many 
men and women of color through her work in Jazz, film, and the Civil 
Rights movement. She began her career in the chorus line at Harlem's 
famed Cotton Club before moving on to record dozens of musical tracks 
and playing roles in movies and musicals.
  As a young woman, Lena drew much fame from her beauty and talent, yet 
found many roadblocks in her personal success due to the hyper-
racialized nature of show business at the time. However, this adversity 
would not limit her, and presented a platform for her increasing 
support of and action in the Civil Rights movement.
  The first to do so, Lena signed a long term contract with Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and embarked on a career in Hollywood, as her 
celebrity had been noticed by many, despite the color of her skin. She 
was also the first African American woman to be nominated for a Tony 
Award. However, again, she found road blocks in her professional life, 
due to state-law restrictions in on-screen interracial relationships as 
well as the need to have her roles edited out for Jim Crow abiding 
viewers. Blacklisted during the period of McCarthyism in the 1950s, Ms. 
Horne still recorded what would become the best-selling album by a 
female singer in RCA Victor's history in 1957.
  From music and film, Lena had built a substantial fan base, and by 
the 1960s, at the peak of the Civil Rights movement, she became a 
staple on television. She had become so renowned in popular culture 
despite her race that she appeared on shows such as the Dean Martin 
Show and Ed Sullivan Show. In 1970, Horne co-starred with well known 
actor, Harry Belafonte, on a show for ABC donning their names--``Harry 
and Lena.'' She would go on to play herself on The Muppet Show, Sesame 
Street, and Sanford and Son. In 1981, Lena then received two Grammy 
awards and a special Tony award for her cast recording of her Broadway 
show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. In 1989, she received a 
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
  Amongst her many awards, Ms. Horne was the recipient of the Kennedy 
Center honor for lifetime contribution to the arts in 1984. She 
received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--for her work in both 
motion pictures and recording--in addition to a footprint on the 
International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. 
National Historic Site. Lena always fought back when opportunities 
presented themselves.
  For example, during World War II, Lena had been slated to perform for 
segregated troops of U.S. servicemen. She was appalled to find that 
African American servicemen had been seated behind German prisoners of 
war, and refused to partake unless she could sing before an integrated 
group. As a compromise, Lena left the stage and sang directly in front 
of her African American counterparts, with the German prisoners of war 
to her rear.
  Lena notably remained committed to bettering lives of the underserved 
and underrepresented for the entirety of her life. An active 
participant in the movement, Lena met President John F. Kennedy shortly 
before his assassination, marched in the March on Washington, and 
ultimately performed and spoke on behalf of the NAACP, SNCC, and 
National Council of Negro Women. Also notable is the work that she 
engaged in with former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-
lynching laws. Lena was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 
1983.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in support of honoring Lena Horne 
posthumously with a Congressional Gold Medal, for her outstanding 
contributions to American culture and the Civil Rights Movement. A 
beautiful person inside and out, Lena willed her talent, intelligence, 
and fame to fight against discrimination, traversing her career on a 
road filled with potholes full of racial bias and degradation. Lena 
represents the very best of American ideals and signifies the true 
purpose of the American Dream.

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