[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 29550-29553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 AWARDING CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS POSTHUMOUSLY ON BEHALF OF REVEREND 
    JOSEPH A. DeLAINE, HARRY AND ELIZA BRIGGS, AND LEVI PEARSON IN 
   RECOGNITION OF THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3287) to award congressional gold medals posthumously on 
behalf of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi 
Pearson in recognition of their contributions to the Nation as pioneers 
in the effort to desegregate public schools that led directly to the 
landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of Education 
of Topeka et al.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3287

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds as follows:
       (1) The Reverend Joseph Armstrong DeLaine, one of the true 
     heroes of the civil rights struggle, led a crusade to break 
     down barriers in education in South Carolina.
       (2) The efforts of Reverend DeLaine led to the 
     desegregation of public schools in the United States, but 
     forever scarred his own life.
       (3) In 1949, Joseph DeLaine, a minister and school 
     principal, organized African-American parents in Summerton, 
     South Carolina, to petition the school board for a bus for 
     black students, who had to walk up to 10 miles through corn 
     and cotton fields to attend a segregated school, while the 
     white children in the school district rode to and from school 
     in nice clean buses.
       (4) In 1950, these same parents, including Harry and Eliza 
     Briggs, sued to end public school segregation in Briggs et 
     al. v. Elliott et al., one of 5 cases that collectively led 
     to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown et al. 
     v. Board of Education of Topeka et al.
       (5) Because of his participation in the desegregation 
     movement, Reverend DeLaine was subjected to repeated acts of 
     domestic terror in which--
       (A) he, along with 2 sisters and a niece, lost their jobs;
       (B) he fought off an angry mob;
       (C) he received frequent death threats; and
       (D) his church and his home were burned to the ground.
       (6) In October 1955, after Reverend DeLaine relocated to 
     Florence County in South Carolina, shots were fired at the 
     DeLaine home, and because Reverend DeLaine fired back to mark 
     the car, he was charged with assault and battery with intent 
     to kill.
       (7) The shooting incident drove him from South Carolina to 
     Buffalo, New York, where he organized an African Methodist 
     Episcopal Church.
       (8) Believing that he would not be treated fairly by the 
     South Carolina judicial system if he returned to South 
     Carolina, Reverend DeLaine told the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation, ``I am not running from justice but 
     injustice'', and it was not until 2000 (26 years after his 
     death and 45 years after the incident) that Reverend DeLaine 
     was cleared of all charges relating to the October 1955 
     incident.
       (9) Reverend DeLaine was a humble and fearless man who 
     showed the Nation that all people, regardless of the color of 
     their skin, deserve a first-rate education, a lesson from 
     which the Nation has benefited immeasurably.
       (10) Reverend DeLaine deserves rightful recognition for the 
     suffering that he and his family endured to teach the Nation 
     one of the great civil rights lessons of the last century.
       (11) Like the Reverend DeLaine and Harry and Eliza Briggs, 
     Levi Pearson was an integral participant in the struggle to 
     equalize the educational experiences of white and black 
     students in South Carolina.
       (12) Levi Pearson, with the assistance of Reverend Joseph 
     DeLaine, filed a lawsuit against the Clarendon County School 
     District to protest the inequitable treatment of black 
     children.
       (13) As a result of his lawsuit, Levi Pearson also suffered 
     from acts of domestic terror, such as the time gun shots were 
     fired into his home, as well as economic consequences: local 
     banks refused to provide him with credit to purchase farming 
     materials and area farmers refused to lend him equipment.
       (14) Although his case was ultimately dismissed on a 
     technicality, Levi Pearson's courage to stand up for 
     equalized treatment and funding for black students served as 
     the catalyst for further attempts to desegregate South 
     Carolina schools, as he continued to fight against 
     segregation practices and became President of Clarendon 
     County Chapter of the NAACP.
       (15) When Levi Pearson's litigation efforts to obtain 
     equalized treatment and funding for black students were 
     stymied, Harry and Eliza Briggs, a service station attendant 
     and a maid, continued to fight for not only equalized 
     treatment of all children but desegregated schools as well.
       (16) As with Reverend DeLaine and Levi Pearson, the family 
     of Harry and Eliza Briggs suffered consequences for their 
     efforts: Harry and Eliza both were fired from their jobs and 
     forced to move their family to Florida.
       (17) Although they and their family suffered tremendously, 
     Harry and Eliza Briggs were also pioneers leading the effort 
     to desegregate America's public schools.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Presentation Authorized.--In recognition of the 
     contributions of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza 
     Briggs, and Levi Pearson to the Nation as pioneers in the 
     effort to desegregate public schools that led directly to the 
     landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of 
     Education of Topeka et al., the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate 
     shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 
     behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate 
     design, to Joseph De Laine, Jr., as next of kin of Reverend 
     Joseph A. DeLaine, and to the next of kin or other personal 
     representative of Harry and Eliza Briggs and of Levi Pearson.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the awards 
     referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 
     shall strike 3 gold medals with suitable emblems, devices, 
     and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.

     SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
     the gold medals struck pursuant to section 2, under such 
     regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, and at a price 
     sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, 
     materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 
     the cost of the gold medals.

     SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

       (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this 
     Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 
     31, United States Code.
       (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of 
     title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this 
     Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 5. FUNDING.

       (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to 
     be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 
     Fund

[[Page 29551]]

     such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the cost of the 
     medals authorized by this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in 
     the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to insert extraneous material on this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express strong support for H.R. 3287, 
which seeks to award the Congressional Gold Medal to each of four 
Americans closely associated with the landmark Brown v. Board of 
Education of Topeka Supreme Court ruling that led to desegregation of 
our Nation's schools. I commend the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Clyburn) for introducing this legislation.
  This bill seeks to award this body's highest civilian honor 
posthumously to four courageous Americans. They are the Reverend Joseph 
A. DeLaine, Levi Pearson, and Henry and Elizabeth Briggs. Given the 
time required to design and strike the medals, these medals should be 
ready for an awards ceremony next year, which is fitting as next year 
is the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
  Mr. Speaker, we all know the names of many of the civil rights 
movement's greatest leaders, and we know their stories well; but not 
everyone knows well the names of those whose courageous actions led to 
the Brown v. Board of Education decision and precipitated the 
desegregation of our schools throughout America. The legislation we 
consider here today would rectify that situation. Through this 
Congressional Gold Medal, we honor the stories, the bravery and the 
memories of these fine Americans.
  Reverend DeLaine was a minister and a school principal. In 1947, he 
organized a petition drive for African American parents to get a school 
bus so their children would not have to walk up to 10 miles to and from 
school while white children were driven to their schools in buses. The 
request was denied.
  The next year, 1948, Levi Pearson, a farmer whose three children had 
to walk 9 miles to school each day, filed a lawsuit against the 
Clarendon County, South Carolina School District that protested unequal 
treatment of and funding for black and white students. While the suit 
was dismissed on a technicality, it served as a catalyst to further 
efforts to desegregate South Carolina schools.
  And in 1949, Henry and Elizabeth Briggs, along with many of the same 
parents who joined in the original petition for a bus, sued to end 
public school segregation in Briggs v. Elliott.

                              {time}  2100

  This was the first of the five cases to be filed, and all were 
eventually merged together to become the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. 
Board of Education of Topeka decision. Taken separately, each of these 
individuals contributed considerably to the civil rights movement and 
to the breakdown of racial barriers in education. Taken together, their 
accomplishments are enormous. These individuals were pioneers in 
desegregation. They suffered and made great personal sacrifices, 
risking their lives, jobs, and homes to ensure that all children are 
educated equally and together, regardless of the color of their skin.
  Mr. Speaker, these individuals deserve our recognition for their 
courage, and I urge immediate passage of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would like to thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) 
for sponsoring the bill. I also would like to thank the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Oxley) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for 
allowing this bill to come to the floor today.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3287 gives honor to whom honor is due. It provides 
Congressional Gold Medals to the Reverend Joseph DeLaine, Levi Pearson, 
and Harry and Eliza Briggs.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the creator and inspirator of this 
legislation.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for 
yielding me this time and the gentlewoman from Illinois for her 
assistance with this effort. I also want to thank Speaker Hastert and 
Leader Pelosi for their assistance in expediting this very important 
piece of legislation. I am also thankful to Chairman Oxley and Ranking 
Member Frank for their leadership in this matter. It is very difficult 
to find proper words to convey to the 298 cosponsors of this bill my 
appreciation of the bipartisan support and genuine courtesies extended 
to me throughout this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I am also grateful to Senator Fritz Hollings for his 
sponsorship of similar legislation in the other body and his 99 
colleagues who gave his bill a unanimous vote. I am hopeful this body 
will do likewise.
  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of 
Education of Topeka, Kansas, it is indeed an honor to stand in the 
Halls of the United States House of Representatives to commemorate the 
dedication and courage of four South Carolinians who initiated the 
effort to desegregate public school education in South Carolina and the 
Nation.
  Reverend Joseph Armstrong DeLaine organized the original 106 
petitioners, 18 of whom and two others made up the original 20 
plaintiffs in Briggs v. Elliott, the first of the five cases that were 
merged and became Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. I now 
submit the names of all of those petitioners into the Record of these 
proceedings this evening.

                            Briggs v. Elliot

       South Carolinians who signed a petition to the Board of 
     Trustees for Clarendon County School District #22 demanding 
     equal educational opportunities for African-Americans. The 
     petition was submitted on November 11, 1949.
     1. Harry Briggs*
     2. Eliza Briggs
     3. Harry Briggs, Jr.
     4. Thomas Lee Briggs
     5. Katherine Briggs
     6. Thomas Gamble
     7. Henry Brown
     8. Thelma Brown
     9. Vera Brown
     10. Beatrice Brown
     11. Willie Brown
     12. Marian Brown
     13. Ethel Mae Brown
     14. Howard Brown
     15. James Brown
     16. Theola Brown
     17. Thomas Brown
     18. Euralia Brown
     19. Joe Morris Brown
     20. Onetha Bennett*
     21. Hercules Bennett
     22. Hilton Bennett
     23. William Gibson
     24. Annie Gibson*
     25. William Gibson Jr.
     26. Maxine Gibson
     27. Harold Gibson
     28. Robert Georgia*
     29. Carrie Georgia
     30. Charlie Georgia
     31. Jervine Georgia
     32. Gladys Hilton
     33. Joseph Hilton
     34. Lila Mae Huggins
     35. Celestine Huggins
     36. Juanita Huggins
     37. Gussie Hilton
     38. Roosevelt Hilton
     39. Thomas Johnson
     40. Blanche E. Johnson
     41. Lillie Eva Johnson
     42. Rubie Lee Johnson
     43. Betty J. Johnson
     44. Bobby M. Johnson
     45. Preston Johnson Jr.
     46. Susan Lawson*
     47. Raymond Lawson
     48. Eddie Lee Lawson
     49. Susan Ann Lawson
     50. Frederick Oliver*
     51. Willie Oliver

[[Page 29552]]

     52. Mary Oliver*
     53. Mose Oliver*
     54. Leroy Oliver
     55. Mitchel Oliver
     56. Bennie Parson Jr.*
     57. Plummie Parson
     58. Celestine Parson
     59. Edward Ragin*
     60. Sarah Ragin
     61. Shirley Ragin
     62. Deloris Ragin
     63. Hazel Ragin*
     64. Zelia Ragin
     65. Sarah Ellen Ragin
     66. Rebecca Ragin
     67. Mable Ragin
     68. William Ragin*
     69. Glen Ragin
     70. Luchrisher Richardson*
     71. Elane Richardson
     72. Emanuel Richardson
     73. Rebecca Richburg*
     74. Rebecca I. Richburg
     75. E.E. Richburg
     76. Albert Richburg
     77. Lee Johnson
     78. Bessie Johnson
     79. Morgan Johnson
     80. Samuel Gary Johnson
     81. Lee Richardson*
     82. James Richardson
     83. Charles Richardson
     84. Annie L. Richardson
     85. Dorothy Richardson
     86. Jackson Richardson
     87. Mary O. Lawson
     88. Francis Lawson
     89. Bennie Lee Lawson
     90. Mary Oliver
     91. Daisy Oliver
     92. Louis Oliver Jr.
     93. Esther F. Singleton
     94. Janie Fludde
     95. Henry Scott*
     96. Mary Scott
     97. Irene Scott
     98. Willie M. Stukes*
     99. Gardenia Stukes
     100. Willie M. Stukes Jr.
     101. Gardenia Stukes
     102. Louis W. Stukes
     103. Gabriel Tyndal*
     104. Annie Tyndal
     105. Mary L. Bennett
     106. Lillian Bennett

       *Indicates those who served as named plaintiffs in the case 
     of Briggs v. Elliott. Plaintiffs also included James H. 
     Bennett and G. H. Henry.

  At the time of their petition, black children in Clarendon County 
were walking 9 miles each way to school, and all they petitioned for 
was a school bus. When their request for a bus was denied, they sought 
relief in the courts. Reverend DeLaine was harassed by the Ku Klux Klan 
and several attempts were made on his life. His church was burned and 
when he responded in kind to gunshots that were fired into his home in 
1955, law enforcement officials issued a warrant for Reverend DeLaine's 
arrest. Fearing the consequences, he and his family fled the State.
  In 1971, Governor John C. West received a letter from Reverend 
DeLaine advising that his health was failing and requesting that he be 
allowed to return to South Carolina where he wished to be buried. 
Governor West tasked me with the responsibility of getting it done. We 
failed, because one of the men who signed the arrest warrant refused 
the Governor's and law enforcement officials' requests that he drop the 
charges. In 2000, the South Carolina legislature cleared Reverend 
DeLaine's record, but much too late to honor his request. Reverend 
DeLaine died in 1974 and is buried in Charlotte, North Carolina.
  Levi Pearson was a small Clarendon County farmer. He responded to 
Reverend DeLaine's request and sued the school district on behalf of 
his three children who were walking those 9 miles to school each day. 
His decision was met with dire consequences. The local bank refused to 
provide him credit to purchase farming equipment and other farmers 
refused to lend him any equipment. Shots were fired into his home and 
he was ostracized by his neighbors. Despite these actions, Pearson 
continued with his suit. But in 1948, the United States District Court 
dismissed Pearson's suit, finding that although his farm was partially 
in Clarendon School District 1, his house was situated in Clarendon 
School District 2; and therefore he had no standing. Although his legal 
case was dismissed, Pearson continued to fight against segregation and 
later became president of the local NAACP chapter. In spite of extreme 
hardships, he never left his land.
  Harry Briggs, a service station attendant, and his wife, Eliza, a 
maid at a local motel, took up the cause. As did Levi Pearson and 
Reverend DeLaine, they suffered inhumane consequences for their 
actions. They were fired from their jobs but they persevered, and as is 
often said, the rest is history. Because he was blackballed in South 
Carolina and could not find employment, Harry moved to Florida where he 
lived out his productive life. Unlike Reverend DeLaine, he returned to 
South Carolina and is buried in his native soil.
  Every year on the Friday evening nearest May 17, the South Carolina 
conference of branches of the NAACP holds its annual Freedom Fund 
dinner in honor of the Briggs petitioners. And ever since I have been a 
Member of this body, pictures of Mrs. DeLaine and other principals in 
the case have been prominently displayed on a wall of my office.
  Mr. Speaker, if not for the personal sacrifices of those like 
Reverend DeLaine, Mr. Pearson, the Briggses and many others known and 
unknown, I and others like me may have never experienced membership in 
this body. This bill reminds us that it is the actions of a preacher 
and educator, a farmer, a gas station attendant, and a motel maid that 
initiated the efforts that changed American society forever. I hope 
that our actions here tonight remind all Americans that it is not our 
station in life that makes us worthy of honor and recognition, but our 
commitment to the principles and pursuit of the promise that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt), the very bright and 
energetic ranking member of the Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. SPRATT. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in proud support of H.R. 3287, which honors four 
South Carolina heroes. Because of the courage of Joseph A. DeLaine, 
Harry Briggs, Eliza Briggs and Levi Pearson, South Carolinians live in 
a better State; but more important, Americans live in a better country. 
I can think of no tribute to these brave South Carolinians more 
deserving or appropriate than a Congressional Gold Medal.
  I have the same story to tell that the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Clyburn) just told, but I cannot possibly tell it with the same 
empathy that he related it, so I will not rehearse the facts that we 
have just heard, which are stirring. I will enter those for the Record.
  Let me simply say that, Mr. Speaker, I have lived all my life in 
South Carolina. I can imagine the resistance and intimidation that 
Joseph DeLaine and Levi Pearson and Harry and Eliza Briggs faced. These 
brave Americans stood up for justice, and for their courage they paid a 
heavy price. Today we remember Dr. Martin Luther King and Thurgood 
Marshall, and we should. They were the giants of the civil rights 
movement. But without brave pioneers, foot soldiers like Joseph A. 
DeLaine, Levi Pearson, and Harry and Eliza Briggs, our schools would 
not have been desegregated in 1954. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 
1965 may have been passed but not in those years. They sparked those 
events.
  I commend the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for 
conceiving and spearheading this resolution. I ask that all Members of 
the House join us in voting to award Congressional Gold Medals 
posthumously to the Reverend DeLaine, to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Briggs, and 
to Mr. Levi Pearson. In the words of Dr. King, they made this country 
rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, that all men are 
created equal.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in proud support of H.R. 3287, honoring four 
South Carolina heroes. Because of the courage of Joseph DeLaine, Harry 
Briggs, Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson, South Carolinians live in a 
better state and Americans live in a better country. I can think of no 
tribute to these brave South Carolinians

[[Page 29553]]

more deserving or appropriate than a Congressional Gold Medal.
  In 1949-50, there were 6,531 black students enrolled in the Clarendon 
County public schools and 2,375 whites. The schools were separate and 
unequal. Clarendon County that year spent $179 per white student and 
$43 per black student. Reverend Joseph DeLaine was a teacher in 
Clarendon County. He attended a statewide meeting of the NAACP and 
heard the president decry segregation and lay down a challenge saying, 
``No teacher or preacher in South Carolina has the courage to find a 
plaintiff who will test the legality of discriminatory bus 
transportation.'' The Reverend DeLaine was moved to action. He went to 
the Clarendon County School Board to ask for a bus to carry children to 
and from Scotts Branch High School. He pointed out that bus service was 
available to white students at other county schools, and asked simply 
for the same bus service for black students attending Scotts Branch. 
When he was turned down, he appealed to the State Superintendent of 
Education in Columbia and the U.S. Attorney General, all to no avail. 
Reverend DeLaine then enlisted Levi Pearson, a farmer with children at 
Scotts Branch, to be plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Clarendon 
County Board of Education. Levi Pearson v. County Board of Education 
was brought but dismissed in 1948 on a technicality. Levi Pearson's 
farm straddled the school district boundary, and his home was held to 
be outside the school district's boundary. The court ruled that Pearson 
had no standing, and dismissed his suit.
  Undaunted, Reverend DeLaine, worked with the NAACP to draft a new 
petition to the State Board of Education seeking not just school buses, 
but educational equality across the board for all black students in 
Clarendon County. A petition with the necessary signatures was 
presented to the board. The first name listed was Harry Briggs, a 
service station attendant in Summerton, South Carolina. In retribution, 
Reverend DeLaine was fired from his job at Scotts Branch, and Harry 
Briggs lost his service station job. The state school board refused to 
act.
  Reverend DeLaine then sought the assistance of the NAACP Legal 
Defense Fund, and in particular a lawyer by the name of Harold Boulware 
in Columbia. Boulware, with the assistance of Thurgood Marshall, took 
the case and filed a new suit, Briggs v. Elliott, seeking equal 
educational opportunities for all black students in Clarendon County. 
By a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel denied the plaintiffs in Briggs v. 
Elliott the relief they were seeking. Judge Waties Waring, another 
unsung hero, wrote a dissenting opinion in favor of the plaintiffs. 
Briggs v. Elliott was appealed to the Supreme Court, and eventually 
consolidated with four other cases, the first of which was Brown v. 
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
  Reverend DeLaine was in the Supreme Court's courtroom for the 
argument of Brown v. Board of Education. A reporter quoted him as 
saying: ``There were times when I thought I would go out of my mind 
because of this case, but if I had to do it again, I would. I feel it 
was worth it. I have a feeling that the Supreme Court is going to end 
segregation.''
  He was not only brave but prescient. In 1954, a unanimous Supreme 
Court vindicated the efforts of the Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine with its 
unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education. It was a bittersweet 
victory for Reverend DeLaine. Forced out of Clarendon County on charges 
arising out of a confrontation with whites who threatened his home at 
night, he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where he founded a church. 
Because of the outstanding warrant, he was effectively exiled from 
South Carolina and never able to return to Clarendon County.
  Mr. Speaker, I have lived all my life in South Carolina and I can 
imagine the resistance and intimidation that Joseph DeLaine, Levi 
Pearson, and Harry and Eliza Briggs faced. These brave Americans stood 
up for justice and for their courage, they paid a heavy price. Today we 
remember Dr. Martin Luther King and Thurgood Marshall, as we should; 
they were the giants of the civil rights movement. But without brave 
pioneers like Joseph DeLaine, Levi Pearson, Harry and Eliza Briggs, our 
schools would not have been desegregated and the Civil Rights Acts of 
1964 and 1965 would not have been passed.
  I commend Congressman Clyburn for conceiving and spearheading this 
resolution, and I ask that all members of this House join us in voting 
to award Congressional gold medals posthumously to the Reverend 
DeLaine, to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Briggs, and to Mr. Levi Pearson. In the 
words of Dr. King, they made this country ``rise up and live out the 
true meaning of its creed, that all men are created equal.''
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Eleanor Roosevelt said, ``When will our consciences grow so tender 
that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?'' I 
recall the words of Chief Justice Earl Warren who said, ``It is the 
spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.'' I want to 
commend the sponsors of this legislation for their foresight and 
insight.
  The court action of Briggs v. Elliott in South Carolina to end public 
school segregation was a major component in the successful Brown v. 
Board of Education Supreme Court ruling which effectively struck down 
the so-called separate but equal. It is this ``spirit of the law'' that 
preceded Brown v. Board of Education in the form of Briggs v. Elliott. 
Before Briggs v. Elliott was Plessy v. Ferguson. Before Plessy were the 
13th and the 14th amendments.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage each Member of this body to 
give proper honor to whom honor is due by supporting unanimously this 
legislation that will authorize the Congressional Gold Medal to these 
deserving citizens of the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me again commend the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) 
for sponsoring H.R. 3287 and Chairman Oxley and Ranking Member Frank of 
the Committee on Financial Services for their support of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pearce). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3287.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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