[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17865-17866]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                IN MEMORY OF JUDGE FRANK M. JOHNSON, JR.

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 165, in memory of 
Senior Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. of the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, submitted earlier by Senators Hatch, 
Leahy, and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gregg). The clerk will report the 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 165) in memory of Senior Judge Frank 
     M. Johnson, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for 
     the Eleventh Circuit.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, late last week, Senior Judge Frank M. 
Johnson, Jr. of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals passed away at 
his home in Montgomery, Alabama. Judge Johnson will be remembered for 
his courageous stands in some of the most difficult struggles of the 
Civil Rights era. At a time when men of lesser fortitude would have 
avoided direct confrontation on the highly unpopular issues of school 
desegregation and voting rights for African-Americans, Judge Johnson 
stood firm on his convictions and the law.
  Soon after his appointment to the district court by President 
Eisenhower in 1955, Johnson took the courageous step of striking down 
the Montgomery law that had mandated that Rosa Parks sit in the back of 
a city bus. He believed that ``separate, but equal'' was inherently 
unequal. Judge Johnson upheld the constitutionality of federal laws 
granting African-Americans the right to vote in Alabama elections. He 
believed in the concept of ``one man, one vote.''
  Despite tremendous pressure from Governor George Wallace, Judge 
Johnson allowed the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery to 
proceed despite threats of continued civil unrest and violence. The 
national fervor that followed the march resulted in the enactment of 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  Today, around a courthouse that bears Frank Johnson's name in 
Montgomery, there are integrated schools, buses, and lunch counters. 
Truly representative democracy flourishes in Alabama with African-
American state, county, and municipal officials who won their offices 
in fair elections with the votes of African-American and white 
citizens. In large part because of Judge Johnson, attitudes that were 
once intolerant and extreme have dissipated, but the example he set has 
not.
  The members of the Judiciary Committee extend our deepest sympathies 
to Judge Johnson's family and the host of friends that he had across 
the country. We will always remember this federal judge for 
exemplifying unwavering moral courage in the advancement of the wholly 
American ideal that ``all men are created equal'' and deserve ``equal 
protection of the laws.''
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution 
be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 165) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 165

       Whereas Frank M. Johnson, Jr. was appointed a United States 
     District Judge in Alabama by President Eisenhower in 1955;
       Whereas Judge Johnson was elevated to the United States 
     Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by President Carter 
     in 1979;
       Whereas in a time when men of lesser fortitude would have 
     avoided direct confrontation on the highly unpopular issues 
     of school desegregation and voting rights for African-
     Americans, Judge Johnson stood firm in upholding the 
     constitution and the law;
       Whereas Judge Johnson struck down the Montgomery, Alabama 
     law that had mandated that Rosa Parks sit in the back of a 
     city bus, because he believed that ``separate, but equal'' 
     was inherently unequal;
       Whereas Judge Johnson upheld the constitutionality of 
     federal laws granting African-Americans the right to vote in 
     Alabama elections, because he believed in the concept of 
     ``one man, one vote'';
       Whereas despite tremendous pressure from Governor George 
     Wallace, Judge Johnson allowed the voting rights march from 
     Selma to Montgomery to proceed, thus stirring the national 
     conscience to enact the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
       Whereas today, around a courthouse that bears Frank 
     Johnson's name in Montgomery, Alabama there are integrated 
     schools, buses, and lunch counters, and representative 
     democracy flourishes in Alabama with African-American state, 
     county, and municipal officials who won their offices in fair 
     elections with the votes of African-American and white 
     citizens;
       Whereas in part because of Judge Johnson's upholding of the 
     law, attitudes that

[[Page 17866]]

     were once intolerant and extreme have dissipated,
       Whereas the members of the Senate extend our deepest 
     sympathies to Judge Johnson's family and the host of friends 
     that he had across the country;
       Whereas Judge Johnson passed away at his home in 
     Montgomery, Alabama on July 23, 1999;
       Whereas the American people will always remember Judge 
     Frank M. Johnson, Jr. for exemplifying unwavering moral 
     courage in the advancement of the wholly American ideal that 
     ``all men are created equal'' and deserve ``equal protection 
     of the laws'' and for upholding the law: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate, That--
       (1) The Senate hereby honors the memory of Judge Frank M. 
     Johnson, Jr. for his exemplary service to his country and for 
     his outstanding example of moral courage; and
       (2) when the Senate adjourns on this date it shall do so 
     out of respect to the memory of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.

                          ____________________