[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 189 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE OAK RIDGE 85, THE CLINTON 12, AND REVEREND PAUL TURNER

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, it is my privilege to honor an 
esteemed group of Americans for their courageous stand against the 
horrors of segregation.
  It has been said that those about to make history can't possibly 
comprehend the impact their actions will have on the world; but I think 
that in this case, the opposite was true. The heroes I honor today 
weren't fighting to cross a threshold, but for something far more 
fundamental: the dignity and freedom granted by our Lord God to all 
men, women, and children. It was a moment of hope and profound 
consequence that rippled across the country and embraced the potential 
of future generations.
  On behalf of the entire Tennessee congressional delegation, I would 
like to thank the following Tennesseans for their tremendous 
contribution to the fight against hatred:

       Jo Ann Crozier Allen Boyce,
       Bobby Cain,
       Anna Theresser Caswell,
       Ronald Gordon ``Poochie'' Hayden,
       Minnie Ann Dickie Jones,
       William R. Latham,
       Alvah Jay McSwain,
       Regina Turner Smith,
       Maurice Soles,
       Robert Thacker,
       Gail Ann Epps Upton, and
       Alfred Williams, who comprise the ``Clinton 12'';
       Dr. Ahmed Alhamisi (Lawrence Graham),
       Rufus Graham,
       L.C. Gipson,
       Emma McCaskill,
       Ernestine Avery,
       Margaret Strickland Guinn,
       Eugene Hawkins,
       Mary Mahone Bohanon,
       Ethel Davidson Sykes,
       Monroe Jones,
       Leroy Justice,
       Maxine Officer,
       Alma McKinney Stevens,
       Archie Lee,
       Dorothy Kirk Lewis,
       Eloise Mitchell,
       Edward Lewis Threat,
       Charles Walker,
       Shirley Hawkins Lawrence,
       Barbara Jean Sims Thomas,
       Jessie McClanahan,
       Webster Jackson,
       John D. Ghosten, Jr.,
       Evindies Copeland,
       Mattie L. Scales, and
       Joe West, Jr.,
       who comprise the living membership of the ``Oak Ridge 85'';

     and the late Reverend Paul Turner, whose bravery and defiance 
     on December 4, 1956, advanced the cause of integration on 
     behalf of countless generations of young Black Americans.

  I pray the American people will hold close the example set by these 
freedom fighters. I thank them for their bravery, their sacrifice, and 
above all their belief that love can overcome irredeemable evil, if 
only we have the courage to welcome it in.

                          ____________________