[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 29397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. JOSEPH E. LOWERY

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2005

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Reverend 
Dr. Joseph E. Lowery for his instrumental role in assuring equal rights 
for all Americans. Dr. Lowery, who has been called the ``dean of the 
Civil Rights Movement,'' was the cofounder of the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference.
  Dr. Lowery was born in Huntsville, AL, on October 6, 1921. During the 
1950s, he led the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization 
dedicated to the desegregation of buses and public places. In 1957, Dr. 
Lowery joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders from 
throughout the Southeast to organize the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference, an organization renowned for its nonviolent approach to 
ending segregation. He would eventually lead the SCLC from 1977 until 
1997.
  Dr. Lowery also organized and led the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Civil 
Rights March. This march was a key moment in the civil rights movement 
and a strong influence on the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
  Dr. Lowery's work and influence spreads outside of our country as 
well. He led a group that began protesting the South African Apartheid 
in the 1970s and continued until the successful election of Nelson 
Mandela in 1994.
  Although officially retired, Dr. Lowery remains active and is an 
influential voice encouraging African Americans to vote.
  Mr. Speaker, on Friday, December 16, through Sunday, December 18, Dr. 
Lowery will be honored by his hometown community, with the placement of 
a historical marker near the site of his childhood home. I rise today 
to join in that celebration and to thank Dr. Lowery for all he has done 
on behalf of all Americans.

                          ____________________