[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING GEORGIA POWERS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to mourn the loss of an honored 
Kentuckian and civil rights icon. Georgia Powers, who fought for civil 
rights and marched in protest of racial injustice, died on January 30. 
She was 92 years old.
  As the first African American to serve in Kentucky's State Senate, 
Georgia Powers paved the way for African Americans in Kentucky to enter 
public service. Even before her election to the senate, she had earned 
recognition across the State for her efforts to fight for equal rights.
  In 1964 she helped organize a march on Frankfort to support a bill 
that would open public accommodations to African Americans. In 1966, 
thanks in part to her work, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a 
civil rights law, making Kentucky the first southern State to do so.
  Among the many supporters Powers brought to Frankfort for the 1964 
march were baseball legend Jackie Robinson--the man who broke the color 
barrier in professional baseball--and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr. Powers remained a close confidant of King's until his death 
in 1968.
  Georgia Powers was born in 1923 in Washington County, KY, as one of 
nine children. Her family moved to Louisville when she was a little 
girl, and Louisville was the city that she loved her whole life and 
represented in the Kentucky Senate.
  Georgia Powers' political career was born out of her fight for civil 
rights. She tried to work with members of the Kentucky Legislature on 
antidiscrimination laws and found them unreceptive. So when the 
incumbent senator in her home district in Louisville chose not to run 
again in 1967, she moved from protest to politics.
  The first piece of legislation she sponsored in the senate, a bill 
for open housing, passed 28 to 3. That was the beginning of a 
successful 21-year political career. She would go on to become the 
chairwoman of the senate's labor and industry committee and the sponsor 
of the Equal Rights Amendment in Kentucky.
  One of the earliest bills she introduced in the State senate was to 
remove racial identification from State drivers' licenses. Powers has 
said that she was prompted to do this based on her own experience as a 
16-year-old trying to get a drivers' license. She was asked her race 
and the sting of discrimination stayed with her.
  Georgia Powers built a stronger, fairer Kentucky by her life's work 
and her leadership. She was an inspiration to many, including me, for 
her determination in the face of injustice. I knew and worked with 
Senator Powers back when I served as the Judge-Executive of Jefferson 
County. I can personally attest that she was funny, tenacious, and 
tough as nails--an admirable woman and a respected senator.
  Georgia Powers is remembered and mourned by many, including 
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, and even 
boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Many Kentuckians in public service today 
cite her as a guiding influence.
  Georgia Powers made fighting discrimination her legacy. I ask my 
Senate colleagues to join me in honoring her as one of Kentucky's most 
important leaders and a champion of civil rights. She will be 
remembered as a Kentuckian of courage and conviction, and she is 
greatly missed.

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