[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 148 (Thursday, September 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 624--COMMEMORATING ARTHUR ASHE, A NATIVE OF RICHMOND, 
VIRGINIA, ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS HISTORIC WIN AT THE 1968 U.S. 
OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP AND HONORING HIS HUMANITARIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO 
   CIVIL RIGHTS, EDUCATION, THE MOVEMENT AGAINST APARTHEID IN SOUTH 
                     AFRICA, AND HIV/AIDS AWARENESS

  Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Booker) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 624

       Whereas Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open Tennis Championship 
     on September 9, 1968, in the first year the tournament was 
     open to professionals, while he was on active duty based at 
     the United States Military Academy, also known as West Point;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe's victory, following his amateur U.S. 
     National Championship title two weeks earlier, marked the 
     first time an African-American man won a major title;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 
     10, 1943, and raised by his widowed father in a house on the 
     grounds of Brook Field, the largest playground for blacks in 
     Richmond, the segregated capital of the former Confederacy;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe first learned to play tennis at 7 years 
     old and showed enough talent to later receive coaching and 
     guidance from Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, a pioneer for black 
     tennis players;
       Whereas, although prohibited in Richmond from competing in 
     tournaments and practicing at municipal indoor courts because 
     of segregation, Arthur Ashe won the National Junior Indoor 
     tennis title, becoming the first African-American male to do 
     so and earning a scholarship in 1963 to play tennis at the 
     University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he joined 
     the Reserve Officer Training Corps;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's 
     degree in Business Administration and was assigned to West 
     Point by the United States Army, where he earned promotions 
     to first lieutenant and also led the tennis program;
       Whereas the amateur and professional tennis accomplishments 
     of Arthur Ashe included National Collegiate Athletic 
     Association singles and doubles titles, the Australian Open 
     title in 1970, and the Wimbledon title in 1975;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe became the first black player selected 
     to the Davis Cup team for the United States, which he later 
     coached;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe's accomplishments on the tennis court 
     gave him a platform to pursue social justice during a 
     turbulent time in the civil rights era;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe's activism included efforts to end 
     apartheid in South Africa;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe pushed for, and eventually earned, a 
     visa to play in the National Championships in South Africa in 
     1973;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe was arrested twice, first for 
     protesting outside the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, 
     D.C., and later for protesting the repatriation of Haitian 
     refugees by the United States Government;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe researched the history of African-
     American athletics and published a groundbreaking book, 
     ``Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American 
     Athlete'', celebrating the accomplishments of heroes known 
     and unknown;
       Whereas after suffering a heart attack in 1979 and 
     contracting HIV/AIDS as a result of a blood transfusion, 
     Arthur Ashe resolved to educate the people of the United 
     States and the world about the disease and advocated for more 
     resources to end an epidemic that disproportionately affected 
     marginalized communities, including communities of color;
       Whereas Arthur Ashe succumbed to complications from HIV/
     AIDS and died on February 6, 1993, and became the first 
     African American to lie in state at the Governor's Mansion in 
     Richmond; and
       Whereas President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded Arthur 
     Ashe the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 20, 1993, and 
     the Richmond City Council voted unanimously to erect a statue 
     on historic Monument Avenue to honor his achievements: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors Arthur Ashe, a native of Richmond, Virginia, on 
     the 50th anniversary of his historic win at the U.S. Open 
     Tennis Championship; and
       (2) celebrates his contributions to education, scholarship, 
     the anti-apartheid movement, and HIV/AIDS awareness.

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