[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11] [Senate] [Pages 15854-15855] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO FORMER SENATOR EDWARD W. BROOKE Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a former member of this body, Senator Edward W. Brooke. Senator Brooke has served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as both a Massachusetts Attorney General and United States Senator. Recently, I had the privilege of attending the dedication of the New Chardon Street Courthouse in Boston on June 20th, named in honor of Senator Brooke. Given the former Senator's prestigious record of service to both the citizens of Massachusetts and the Nation, it is fitting that this honor be bestowed upon him. During his distinguished career which spanned the course of two decades, Senator Brooke earned the prominent distinction of being the first African-American directly elected to both a State Attorney General position and the United States Senate. While in each office, Senator Brooke spearheaded efforts to achieve civil rights and equality for women, minorities, and the poor. Elected Massachusetts Attorney General in 1962, Senator Brooke earned his reputation as a crime-fighter through his extensive work with the newly created Massachusetts Crime Commission. He actively combated corruption in State government and singlehandedly organized and completed the extensive investigation of the infamous ``Boston Strangler'' homicides. Only 4 years later, he became the first African-American Senator to serve since Reconstruction, and the first and only to be re-elected. During his two terms in Congress, Senator Brooke figured prominently into all aspects of the Senate. He vigorously opposed escalation of the Vietnam war and supported arms control treaties like the MIRV and ABM proposals that would eventually become the catalysts in establishing improved relations and recognizing the People's Republic of China. Senator Brooke was the first Republican Senator to call for President Nixon's resignation after the Watergate scandal. In addition, Senator Brooke was a tireless champion of the poor. He authored the ``Brooke amendment,'' which provided that public housing tenants pay no more than one-fourth of their income for housing. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the text of Senator Brooke's comments at the New Chardon Street Courthouse dedication ceremony be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Edward W. Brooke Courthouse Dedication I respectfully ask that you join me in a moment of silence in memory of a dear and cherished friend, Roger H. Woodworth, a former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, who served his country in war, and his fellow man all the days of his life. I could not write nor can I speak words which adequately convey the appreciation of my wife, Anne, our daughters, son, grandchildren and all of our family for this splendid recognition. It is, of course, an honor for me, but, more importantly, the naming of this courthouse also recognizes the exemplary service of the men and women with whom I was privileged to work in the Boston Finance Commission, the Office of the Attorney General and in the United States Senate. I am particularly grateful to Senator Brian Lees, Governor Paul Cellucci, Senate President Thomas Birmingham, House Speaker Thomas Finneran, the 200 members of the Great and General Court, and all of the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for this honor. I also want to thank Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood, for their architectural vision and creativity and the contractors O'Connor & Dimeo & O'Connor for building this magnificent structure. Thanks also go to those who labor within, Chief Justice Barbara Dortch-Okara, the judges who dispense justice, clerks, administrators, and especially those who secure and maintain this courthouse and who bear the responsibility for present and future safety, cleanliness and decorum. [[Page 15855]] I extend my warmest appreciation to all who have organized and participated in this ceremony, the clergy, the officials, the speakers, the singers, the band, the color guard, the police, the Metropolitan District Commissioner David Balfour and the dedication committee, and to all of you who have come from Maine to California, from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands, and from the Caribbean. My association with Massachusetts began on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941, when I received a telegram from the United States Army ordering me to report to the 366th Infantry Combat Regiment at Fort Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts. It was to be the first time for me to set foot on Massachusetts soil. I could not possibly have foreseen that after the war I would have returned to Massachusetts to study law at the Boston University School of Law, to practice law in Roxbury and in Boston and to serve in public office. Nor could I have known that the people of Massachusetts were to give me the greatest opportunities and challenges of my life. This building and its location have special meaning for me. In my law school days I lived a stone's throw away, at 98 Chamber Street in the West End of Boston before I moved to Roxbury to live with my old Army buddy Al Brothers and his wife, Edith. I attended classes at Boston University Law School at 11 Ashburton Place, a few blocks up the hill from here and studied contract and constitutional law on a bench in the Boston Commons just behind the Robert Gould Shaw Monument. I practically boarded at Durgin Park, over there, near Faneuil Hall, where the servings of pot roast, mashed potatoes and cornbread were generous and the price was right. Later, after practicing law on Humbolt Avenue in Roxbury, I practiced law in Pemberton Square across the street from the old Boston Municipal Court just up the hill. It was during those days that I practiced in the same probate, land and juvenile, now the more civilly named family court, all now in this new building. And, at first, to make a living, I searched many a title in the musty volumes upstairs in the office of the old Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, Later, I worked in the offices of the Boston Finance Commission, just down the street from the Parker House, and still later, in the Office of the Attorney General in the old bullfinch State House, all within a short walking distance of this new building. My relationship with Boston has now come full circle within the naming of this courthouse and my involvement in the restoration of another old Bullfinch Building built in 1804 at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets. It was also in Boston close by, where my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, inducted a young Boston University Divinity School student named Martin Luther King. In order to be on time for this ceremony, Anne and I came to Boston last Friday morning, which enabled me to lunch at the famous Doyle's Pub in Jamaica Plains with some of the retired newspapermen of yesteryears. Having been married 21 years, and still being young lovers and on Saturday Anne and I strolled hand-in-had Saturday through the historic Boston Commons, founded in 1634, and the beautiful Boston Gardens with its spectacular beds of flowers. We walked over the footbridge and looked down at the ducks and the swan boats. We later ate streamed mussels and broiled bluefish at Legal Seafoods just behind the Four Seasons Hotel. We continued our walk up Newbury and Boylston Streets, miraculously without incurring major debt, and at noon, sat in silence, prayed and listened to the beautiful rehearsal music of the choir of Trinity Church in old Copley Square where I worshipped years ago, heard the wonderful sermons of the rector, Dr. Theodore Ferris, and where my daughters were confirmed. I shall always remember election night 1966 when I received my first congratulatory telegram. It simply read: ``Hallelujah'' and was signed Ted Ferris. It has been said that this may well be the first state courthouse named for an African-American and perhaps the only one in Massachusetts named for a living person. If true, both are sad commentaries. It would be shameful with all of the qualified and talented African-American men and women in this country, that it has taken 137 years since the Emancipation Proclamation to give such recognition. And as for the recognition of the living versus the dead, I, of course, vote for the living. In fact, in the present case, the new name of this building was approved by the Massachusetts legislature on a budget bill to which it had been attached by Senate President Birmingham and Senate Minority Leader Lees, and signed into law by Governor Cellucci on November 22, 1999. The Governor is his wisdom, wanting to have an outdoor ceremony and being assured of perfect weather, set the date for this dedication ceremony for June 20th, 2000. Of course, politicians always claim credit for things with which they had nothing whatsoever to do. So with due respect, Governor Cellucci, I give credit for the beautiful weather to Richard Winkleman, a dear friend who goes to church every day of his life, and who has been praying continually for good weather for today. During the interim between the passage and the signing of the budget bill, when told that this might be the first for a living person, my response was, ``Well, you'd better hurry up or your record may stay in tact.'' Today is not one to dwell on criticism of the past no matter how valid that criticism may be. It is a day of joy, a day of celebration and a day of acknowledgement and appreciation for what has been accomplished. It is also a day for a commitment to accelerate our efforts for greater progress in the present and in the future. Massachusetts Governors Michael Dukakis, William Weld and Paul Cellucci are to be commended for having appointed many highly-qualified women, African-Americans, Jews and representatives of other minorities to the judiciary and elsewhere in their administrations. I trust that successor governors will continue that record including the appointment of Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans. Like justice, appointments and recognition should be racial and gender-blind, and I respectfully urge other states across the country to follow the example set by this Governor, this legislative body, and the citizens of Massachusetts. As we look to the future and the generations to come who will avail themselves of equal justice under law in this gleaming symbol of civil society, let us all pledge to work for a nation in which barriers of race, religion and ethnic origin do not stand in the way of achievement or recognition, a nation that continues to strike down the barriers that make us weak and lives up to the noble principle that make us strong. In the strength of unity and purpose may we recall the words of that old hymn: ``God of justice save the people from the wars of race and creed, from the strife of class and friction make our nation free indeed. ``Keep her faith in simple manhood, stronger than when she began, till she finds her full fruition in the brotherhood of man.'' For this high honor, thanks be to Almighty God and the people of Massachusetts. ____________________