[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24283-24285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               ROSA PARKS

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for his courtesy. I 
know we had the opportunity a few moments earlier to discuss Rosa Parks 
as we viewed her casket. It was indeed just a few hours ago, right down 
this hall, that Rosa Parks' body lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, 
the site where our Nation pays its highest respects to our most 
noteworthy citizens. She was the first woman ever to be so honored.
  How is it possible that a seamstress born in Tuskegee, AL, who had 
never held elective office or any high political or military position, 
be so highly recognized? Just 6 years ago, she was awarded the 
Congressional Gold Medal, which I was pleased to be a sponsor of in 
this Senate. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  It is a story I would suggest that only divine providence could 
write. The theological concept is well known: His power and authority 
being made manifest by lifting persons of apparent low estate to great 
heights.
  Certainly, the life of Rosa Parks produced an advancement of freedom, 
equality, and progress. These accomplishments rose from her steadfast 
courage and strength that she found from above. As a result, she 
fulfilled her calling, and she met her challenge on that afternoon when 
she came home weary from work, with dignity and integrity.
  I was not yet 10 years old when these events happened in Montgomery, 
AL, 85 miles north of my home in rural Alabama. We did not even have a 
television set that year. We got one a few years later. I have a 
recollection of the events, the boycott of 382 days, and some 
understanding and recollection of the momentous court decisions that 
resulted.
  Make no mistake, the races in the South in the 1950s were, for the 
most part, openly and legally separate. That is the way it was. 
Although the mantra was ``separate but equal,'' the reality was 
separate and unequal.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I join Arkansans in mourning the loss of 
Rosa Parks, known throughout the Nation as the ``Mother of the Freedom 
Movement.''
  As people line up to pay their respects to Mrs. Parks in the Capitol 
Rotunda today, I cannot help but remember the incredible impact she had 
on our Nation. Rosa Parks is the first woman to lie in the Capitol 
Rotunda, which is a testament that her actions are just as significant 
today as they were in 1955.
  Mrs. Parks once remarked that her show of defiance to move to the 
back of the bus was simply because she was tired of being humiliated, 
tired of following archaic rules forbidding her from sitting in the 
front of a public bus or entering public buildings through the front 
door. But, history will remember Rosa Parks for shaking America's 
conscience and changing the course of our Nation for the better.
  Mrs. Parks' courage to sit down for equal rights ignited others to 
stand up for theirs.
  Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., stood up to call for equality and 
justice for all Americans, inspiring and organizing thousands of 
activists to stand up with him. Four students in Greensboro, NC, sat in 
at a Woolworth's lunch counter, standing up for their right to be 
served.
  And, Daisy Bates led the Little Rock Nine to stand up for their right 
to an equal education. The Little Rock Nine taught America that 
``separate'' was not ``equal.'' Nine Black students--Ernest Green, 
Elizabeth Eckford, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls LaNier, 
Minnijean Brown Trickey, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Thelma 
Mothershed Wair and Melba Pattillo Beals--defied hatred and threats to 
attend the all-White Central High School for a better education.
  Of Rosa Parks' battle for equality, Minnijean Brown Trickey said:

       I don't think until the bus boycott we had a sense of our 
     power. . . . The general feeling was if she could do it, we 
     could do it. She was really a heroine to us. She was an 
     ordinary woman and we were ordinary kids and it seems we had 
     a relationship.

  As a former student of Central High, I can attest to the influence 
Rosa Parks and the Little Rock Nine continue to have in the hallways 
today.
  We know that Rosa Parks' inspiring story lives on in the pages of 
every history textbook across America. Her legacy also endures at the 
Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which she 
founded in Detroit. The center offers career training and encourages 
teens to stay in school and take advantage of the opportunities 
available to them.
  I am just one of millions of Americans who admired Rosa Parks' 
tenacity and life's work. She earned countless accolades and awards for 
her efforts in the civil rights movement, including the Congressional 
Gold Medal Award--the Nation's highest civilian honor. In honoring Mrs. 
Parks with the Medal of Freedom, President Clinton reminded us that:

       Freedom's work is never done. There are still people who 
     are discriminated against. There are still people that 
     because of their human condition are looked down on, derided, 
     degraded, demeaned, and we should all remember the powerful 
     example of this one citizen. And those of us with greater 
     authority and power should attempt every day, in every way, 
     to follow her lead.

  Although Rosa Parks served as a catalyst to get the wheels turning in 
the civil rights movement, our journey is not completed. We can honor 
her memory by continuing her work to stand up for equality and justice 
for all Americans.
  Still, this was the reality of more than 100 years of history. Change 
was not favored. It had been and would be resisted.
  Of course, while the South was open and notorious about its 
segregation policies, research in recent years has shown that there 
were places all over this great land that secretly or overtly 
discriminated against those of African decent. But in the South, 
discrimination was not only openly acknowledged; it was the law of the 
land. The fact was that in Montgomery, AL, on December 1, 1955, it was 
the law of the city of Montgomery that ``colored'' persons on city 
buses must sit in the back. As one who loves and admires his home state 
and her people--I believe there are none finer--this is painful to 
acknowledge, but facing the painful truth is essential for 
reconciliation and progress.
  So, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, refused to go to the back of the 
bus--a city bus--in violation of city law. And it sparked, and sparked 
is the right word, a nationwide confrontation--a confrontation between 
our American ideals, and our religious concepts, and the grim reality 
of that day.
  Southerners were angry, embarrassed, resistant, introspective, 
hostile, and pained. They watched, much like I did in Hybart, the drama 
unfold and they were forced to deal with an ugly reality they would 
rather have ignored.

[[Page 24284]]

  Rosa Parks' gumption resulted in a 382 day boycott of the city bus 
system let by a young 26-year-old preacher, new to town, at Dexter 
Avenue Baptist Church, a block from the Capitol--A Capitol building 
proudly known as the First Capital of the Confederacy. That young 
preacher, of course, was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And, there was a 
young attorney, Mr. Fred Gray, who had come back to Alabama after 
receiving his degree from Case Western Reserve University determined to 
``become a lawyer, return to Alabama, and destroy everything segregated 
I could find.'' He would become a legend in his own right, being a part 
of some of the most historic cases in civil rights and American 
history. The young Federal trial Judge, an Eisenhower appointee, Judge 
Frank M. Johnson, would become perhaps the most courageous, clear, and 
authoritative judicial voice for equal justice in America. And, the 
lawyer who argued the case for Rosa Parks in the U.S. Supreme Court--
Thurgood Marshall--who would later sit on that very court.
  The very words, ``the back of the bus'' went to the heart of the 
problem. Separate was not equal; it was not fair; it was discriminatory 
against a class of Americans solely because of the color of their skin. 
I knew Judge Frank Johnson. He was courageous and followed the law. He 
did not believe he was an activist. He did not believe he was amending 
the constitution. Judge Johnson believed he was simply being faithful 
to the plain words of the constitution--words that guaranteed everyone 
``equal protection of the laws.'' Sending someone to the back of the 
bus because of the color of their skin violated that principle he 
ruled, and the Supreme Court agreed.
  This simple act by a courageous woman, a seamstress, but one who was 
well aware of the danger she faced, at 42-years of age, sparked the 
civil rights movement and justly earned her the title ``Mother of the 
Civil Rights Movement.''
  Today, in Montgomery, AL, there exists a museum--part of Troy State 
University--that sits on the spot where she was arrested. It has a 
school bus, like the one she rode that day, which has interactive 
capabilities so that children can sit in it and get a better feel for 
the events of the day. It has more exhibits, and I commend this fine, 
historical museum to any who would want to learn more of Rosa Parks and 
the movement she sparked. I was pleased to sponsor legislation that 
this Congress passed to provide funds to help establish the museum.
  While there are many problems between the races today, the de jure, 
the statutes and ordinances that enforced segregation are gone. And, I 
am proud that the people of Montgomery have come to see the positive 
benefits of ending discrimination and that they have chosen to honor 
Mrs. Parks in this way.
  Everyone knows, virtually everyone, that as a result of the movement 
she sparked, today's Montgomery is a different and better place. Today 
we also look with pride on the historic Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, 
that once heard the powerful sermons of a young Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr. And we look with respect on the Civil Rights Memorial--a striking 
monument of black granite and cascading water--which honors those who 
gave their lives in the pursuit of equal justice.
  Thus, it is true: Ms. Parks' efforts helped spark the dynamic social 
changes that have made it possible for positive and historical change 
for Montgomery, Alabama, and America. But, in fact, Ms. Parks' 
contributions extend beyond even the borders of our Nation. In his book 
Bus Ride to Justice, Mr. Fred Gray, who gained fame while in his 20's 
as Ms. Parks' attorney, and as one of the early African-American 
attorneys in Alabama--he was a lead attorney in many of Alabama's other 
famous civil rights cases--wrote--and I do not believe it is an 
exaggeration--these words:

       Little did we know that we had set in motion a force that 
     would ripple though Alabama, the South, and the Nation, and 
     even the world. But from the vantage point of almost 40 years 
     later, there is a direct correlation between what we started 
     in Montgomery and what has subsequently happened in China, 
     eastern Europe, South Africa and, even more recently, in 
     Russia. While it is inaccurate to say that we all sat down 
     and deliberately planned a movement that would echo and 
     reverberate around the world, we did work around the clock, 
     planning strategy and creating an atmosphere that gave 
     strength, courage, faith and hope to people of all races, 
     creeds, colors and religions around the world. And it all 
     started on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, with Rosa Parks on 
     December 1, 1955.

  For her courage, for her role in changing Alabama, the South, the 
Nation, and the world for the better, our Nation owes a great debt of 
thanks to Rosa Parks. Placing her body in our Capitol's Rotunda, lying 
in honor, the first woman who has ever been so honored, is a fitting 
recognition of her towering achievement.
  And, as I conclude, I think it is important to note the recent death 
of another Alabamian who played a key role in the early civil rights 
movement in America--Vivian Malone--who crossed the school house door 
into the University of Alabama.
  We must also celebrate that very special event that occurred two 
weekends ago when another native Alabamian, the Secretary of State, 
Condoleezza Rice, returned to Alabama, visited her family's church and 
unveiled the statue of the four little girls, one of whom she knew and 
played with, who were killed in a bomb attack at the 16th Street 
Baptist Church. It was also good, earlier today, to stand and discuss 
Rosa Parks' life with Alabama native and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, 
who, inspired by Rosa Parks, began a lifetime of leadership in the 
civil rights movement culminating in his election to Congress. Alabama 
has the highest number of African-American elected officials of any 
State in the country. We are proud of that. Progress has certainly been 
made but we must work harder to ease divisions and tensions and promote 
progress. Let us so pledge on this historic day. Let us allow the 
steadfastness and peacefulness of Rosa Parks' life, which started the 
civil rights movement on the basis of faith and morality, not violence, 
to be our guide in this century as we seek to further the gains she 
championed.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, will Senator Sessions yield for a 
question?
  Mr. SESSIONS. I will be pleased to yield.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, earlier this morning I was in the Senate 
rotunda with Senator Sessions and Senator Levin from Michigan. As we 
stood in the Rotunda, in addition to paying honor to this great woman 
whose body lies in State in the Capitol Rotunda, we spoke just a bit 
about each of our recollections of what Rosa Parks meant to us and to 
our country.
  I want to follow on the statement by Senator Sessions to say that as 
I was in the Rotunda this morning, I was thinking about what kind of 
courage it must have taken for this woman, a 42-year-old seamstress, 
getting on a bus at the end of the day, perhaps tired from working all 
day, understanding that there were then police dogs and fire hoses and 
clubs and beatings and a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble, I was 
thinking about the courage it would have had to take for that woman to 
have done what she did. Her actions of sitting in that seat on that bus 
and refusing to move to the back of the bus were simple, elegant, 
dignified but also enormously courageous. I think that is a lesson for 
all Americans.
  I couldn't have been more pleased when the Congress, the House and 
the Senate, did something that was unusual in the history of America. 
We took action to have the remains of Rosa Parks lie in State in the 
Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building, the first woman to be so honored 
in the history of the United States of America. I was enormously moved 
this morning, standing with my colleagues, Senator Sessions and Senator 
Levin. I know most of our colleagues visited the Rotunda this morning 
as well. But I did want to follow on his comments about this 
extraordinary woman who will live forever in the history of this great 
country of ours.
  Mr. SESSIONS Mr. President, I thank the Senator for his eloquent 
comments. It was, indeed, a pleasure to be with Senator Levin--she was 
his constituent when she moved to Michigan--and hear some of his 
insights and

[[Page 24285]]

hear him say that Michigan had bought the actual bus in which she rode 
on that day and has restored it and made it a museum.
  So her life, indeed, continues to reverberate all over the country 
and, as Fred Gray said, the impact of her actions have spread 
worldwide. I thank the Senator for his comments and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). The Senator from North Dakota 
is recognized.

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