[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1235-E1236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN REMEMBRANCE OF LOUIS STOKES, CIVIL RIGHTS CHAMPION, WORLD WAR II 
VETERAN, ADVOCATE FOR THE DISADVANTAGED, OHIO'S FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN 
CONGRESSMAN, EXCEPTIONAL LEGISLATOR, AND BELOVED MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 8, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to 
speak in praise of Louis Stokes, one of the greatest and most respected 
Members ever to serve in this body, who died on Tuesday, August 18, 
2015, at his home near Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 90.
  It is not unusual in these days for commentators and politicians to 
talk of something called ``American Exceptionalism.''
  But what is meant by the term?
  Mr. Speaker, one way to understand the term: America is exceptional 
because it produces and finds persons like Louis Stokes and affords 
them the opportunity to utilize their talents to the fullest in the 
service of their community and their country.
  Think about it: in what other nation does a little African American 
boy born in 1925 on the east side of Cleveland and raised in the 
Outhwaite Homes housing project by a mother who worked as a domestic go 
on to become a lawyer who argues and wins a landmark criminal justice 
reform case (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)) in the United States 
Supreme Court; become the first African American elected to Congress; 
is selected to chair the powerful Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the 
Select Committee on Assassinations, and an Appropriations Subcommittee 
responsible for more than $90 billion annually in federal outlays?
  Yes, America is an exceptional nation and Louis Stokes was an 
exceptional human being.
  Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes was born on February 23, 1925, in 
Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles and Louise Cinthy (nee Stone) Stokes.
  When he was three years old, his father, who worked in a laundromat, 
died leaving young Louis and his younger brother, Carl, to be raised by 
their mother, who worked as a domestic for affluent families in the 
wealthy Cleveland suburbs.
  Louis Stokes' maternal grandmother played a critical role in his life 
because she took care of the Stokes boys while their mother was at work 
and instilled in them ``the idea that work with your hands is the hard 
way of doing things'' and encouraged them over and over ``to learn to 
use their heads.''
  Louis Stokes took the advice to heart so after attending Cleveland's 
Central High School and serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, 
he returned home to attend what is now Case Western Reserve University 
on the G.I. Bill at night while working during the day for the Veterans 
Administration and the Department of the Treasury.
  After graduating from college in two years where he excelled as a 
student, Louis Stokes was accepted for admission to Cleveland Marshall 
School of Law, from which he graduated in 1953; three years later, his 
brother Carl would also graduate from Cleveland Marshall School of Law 
and the two of them would go on to form the law firm of Stokes & Stokes 
specializing in the areas of civil rights and criminal law.
  In 1964, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Reynolds v. 
Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), which established the principle of ``one 
person, one vote'' governing the reapportionment of legislative 
boundaries.
  The following year, working on behalf of the local branch of the 
NAACP, Louis Stokes led the legal challenge to the Ohio legislature's 
congressional redistricting, which had the effect of diluting African 
American voting strength in Cleveland.
  The challenge was unsuccessful in the federal district court but 
undeterred, Louis Stokes, joined by Charles Lucas, an African American 
Republican, successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme 
Court, which in an order handed down in 1967 ruled the redistricting 
plan unconstitutional and ordered it redrawn, resulting in the creation 
of Ohio's first majority-black district, the 21st Congressional 
District of Ohio.
  Ironically, Louis Stokes would defeat his one-time ally Charles Lucas 
to win that seat in November 1968, capturing 75% of the vote, the 
closest of his 15 successful elections to the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  For the next 30 years, from 1969 to 1999, Congressman Stokes 
tirelessly fought for his constituents in Cleveland and for the best 
interests of the people of Ohio and the United States.
  Louis Stokes, a founding member and Chair of the Congressional Black 
Caucus from 1972-74, was the epitome of a public servant.
  In his second term in Congress, he won appointment to the powerful 
House Appropriations Committee, where he served for 28 years, later 
becoming the second African American ``Cardinal'' in history when he 
was selected to chair the VA, HUD, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
  Because of the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues and the 
leadership, Louis Stokes would also later be selected to chair the 
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select 
Committee charged with investigating the assassinations of President 
Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  As Chairman of the House Ethics Committee and a person of 
unquestioned integrity, Louis Stokes oversaw the committee's 
investigation of the corruption scandal known as ABSCAM in 1979-80, 
which eventually led to convictions of a senator and six House members.
  Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes perhaps is best known for the national 
attention he attracted in 1987 as a member of the House Select 
Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran (``Iran-
Contra''), the scandal involving the illegal sale of military weapons 
to

[[Page E1236]]

the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran to generate money to fund the illegal 
contra war in Nicaragua.
  In response to the claim by Colonel Oliver North that he acted out of 
patriotism in engineering the illegal weapons sales and diverting the 
proceeds to fund the contras, a stern Louis Stokes lectured the 
misguided Colonel North on the rule of law, the true meaning of 
patriotism, and, in the process American exceptionalism:

       I suppose that what has been most disturbing to me about 
     your testimony is the ugly part. In fact, it has been more 
     than ugly. It has been chilling, and, in fact, frightening. 
     I'm not just talking about your part in this, but the entire 
     scenario, about government officials who plotted and 
     conspired, who set up a straw man, a fall guy. Officials who 
     lied, misrepresented and deceived. Officials who planned to 
     superimpose upon our government a layer outside of our 
     government, shrouded in secrecy and only accountable to the 
     conspirators.
       Colonel, as I sit here this morning looking at you in your 
     uniform, I cannot help but remember that I wore the uniform 
     of this country in World War II in a segregated Army. I wore 
     it as proudly as you do, even though our government required 
     black and white soldiers in the same Army to live, sleep, eat 
     and travel separate and apart, while fighting and dying for 
     our country. But because of the rule of law, today's 
     servicemen in America suffer no such indignity.
       My mother, a widow, raised two boys. She had an eighth-
     grade education. She was a domestic worker who scrubbed 
     floors. One son became the first black mayor of a major 
     American city. The other sits today as chairman of a House 
     intelligence committee. Only in America, Col. North. Only in 
     America. And while I admire your love for America, I hope 
     that you will never forget that others too love America just 
     as much as you do and that others will die for America, just 
     as quick as you will.

  Louis Stokes never wavered in his belief that America could fulfill 
the promise of its Founders or his dedication to the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, stating:

       I'm going to keep on denouncing the inequities of this 
     system, but I'm going to work within it. To go outside the 
     system would be to deny myself--to deny my own existence. 
     I've beaten the system. I've proved it can be done--so have a 
     lot of others.
       But the problem is that a black man has to be extra special 
     to win in this system. Why should you have to be a super 
     black to get someplace? That's what's wrong in the society. 
     The ordinary black man doesn't have the same chance as the 
     ordinary white man does.

  Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes' commitment to fairness and equal treatment 
started long before he was elected to Congress.
  As a lawyer for the NAACP, he brought anti-discrimination lawsuits, 
represented demonstrators arrested in anti-discrimination marches and 
sit-ins, and took the cases of poor persons charged with crimes.
  One of those criminal cases he took is known to every lawyer in 
America and appreciated by every person who cherishes the protections 
guaranteed by the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  I am speaking of the famous case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) 
won by Louis Stokes in which the Supreme Court held that a police 
officer could ``stop and frisk'' an individual only where he could 
articulate a reasonable basis that the person was, or was about to be, 
engaged in criminal activity.
  As a result of Terry v. Ohio, a police officer has the right to stop, 
frisk, and question an individual he reasonably suspects to be engaged 
in criminal activity, but cannot seize items from that person if the 
pat down of the suspect's outer clothing does not reveal any weapons 
posing a threat to the officer's safety.
  Because of Louis Stokes' exceptional advocacy in Terry v. Ohio, the 
right of every individual to secure from unreasonable searches and 
seizures was preserved while at the same not impeding the ability of 
law enforcement officers to perform their duties safely.
  Mr. Speaker, every citizen benefits from this ruling and communities 
that have a history of being harassed by law enforcement protected by 
the Constitution from arbitrary and abusive treatment by law 
enforcement.
  But the fight for a criminal justice system that respects the rights 
of all persons is not over.
  That is why I am proud to be the Ranking Member of the House 
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and 
Investigations and a leader in the effort to reform the criminal 
justice system so that all persons receive fair and equal treatment 
regardless of their race, gender, religion, or national origin.
  Louis Stokes fought tirelessly to fulfill the promise of the 14th 
Amendment that ``no state shall make or enforce any law which shall 
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; 
nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.''
  It is a fight I am proud to continue today.
  Mr. Speaker, Louis Stokes will be mourned by friends and colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle who had the privilege to serve alongside 
him.
  He was a mentor to me and I will always remember his commanding 
presence and cherish the assistance he provided me and the example he 
set for new Members to follow.
  My thoughts and prayers are with his Jay, Louis' beloved wife of 55 
years; to his children, Shelly, Louis, Angela, and Lorene; his 
grandchildren; and the untold thousands of persons who touched and 
whose lives were touched by one of Cleveland's greatest sons.
  Mr. Speaker I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory 
of Louis Stokes, an exceptional American, and the gentleman from Ohio 
who served in this chamber for three decades with honor, integrity, and 
distinction.

                          ____________________