[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2171-2172]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, ``Celebrating Community: A Tribute to 
Black Fraternal, Social and Civic Institutions'' is the theme this year 
of African American History Month. On this last day of the Month I want 
to pay a special tribute to the Alpha Phi Alpha, which is the oldest of 
the African American Greek-letter collegiate fraternities and 
sororities. Alpha, which I am proud to say has its headquarters in 
Baltimore, this year celebrates its centennial. For the past one 
hundred years Alpha has upheld the principles of scholarship, 
fellowship, good character and the uplifting of humanity principles 
that command our respect and admiration.
  It has been my privilege to work closely with Alpha in the effort to 
establish an appropriate memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in our 
Nation's Capital. More than 20 years ago I introduced legislation to 
assure that a monument would be built, and it took a decade to get the 
legislation enacted. Since 1996, when the bill was signed into law, we 
have moved steadily forward. The site on the Mall is set, lying between 
the Memorial to President Franklin Roosevelt and the Lincoln Memorial. 
The magnificent design is in hand. The challenging work of raising the 
necessary funds continues, and in this Alpha and the other African 
American campus organizations play a vital role. I look forward to the 
day, not too far in the future, when we will have on the Mall a 
monument worthy of Dr. King's legacy, to remind us and future 
generations of the struggles the civil rights movement endured, and to 
inspire us all to continue the movement.
  Even as we celebrate our progress toward a memorial to Dr. King, we 
mourn the loss of two great Americans, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott 
King.
  When Rosa Parks died 4 months ago, all Americans mourned her passing. 
Fifty years ago, with a singular courageous act that in the words of 
the New York Times became a ``mythic event,'' she galvanized the civil 
rights movement and helped to write a new and hopeful chapter in our 
history. As the Times put it, ``(W)hat seems a simple gesture of 
defiance so many years later was in fact a dangerous, even reckless 
move'' at the time. Her steadfastness in the face of harsh and unjust 
laws struck a chord in the nation's conscience and challenged us to 
build a society worthy of the principles on which it was founded. When 
Ms. Parks was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, I was 
honored to have an opportunity to meet her. At the time of her death I 
joined with my Senate colleagues in honoring her at her memorial 
service.
  We lost a second courageous leader with the death more recently of 
Coretta Scott King. She was a student at the New England Conservatory 
of Music with plans for a musical career when she met her future 
husband, but she was from the beginning his steadfast partner in the 
arduous fight for civil rights and a more decent and humane society. 
After Dr. King's death she continued the fight with the quiet dignity 
and determination that were her hallmarks. It was a privilege to work 
with Mrs. King on the legislation establishing Martin Luther King day 
as a national holiday; I deeply regret that she could not live long 
enough to see the memorial to her husband built as well.
  Last month we honored Dr. Martin Luther King and his legacy. If he 
were with us today, Dr. King would be deeply gratified by the national 
tributes paid to Ms. Parks and Mrs. King. In the 50 years since Martin 
Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks first challenged 
the Nation to live up to its founding principles, we have come a long 
way. We have changed our laws fundamentally to assure the rights of all 
Americans. We have worked together--at the local, State and national 
level--to create hope and opportunity where there was none, and to 
guarantee respect for every person.
  The role of the Black fraternal, social and civic institutions in 
bringing about these changes cannot be overstated. Over the years they 
have fought for justice in courts of law and in the court of public 
opinion, and worked tirelessly to promote equality and opportunity for 
all.
  Still, much remains to be done. Working together we continue to build 
the society for which Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King stood, and 
fought. Success in this effort is the finest tribute we can pay to 
them.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to recognize Black History 
Month and pay tribute to the enormous and varied contributions African 
Americans have made to our Nation.
  The other evening, on the final night of the Olympics, Tom Brokaw of 
NBC News did a story about an American soldier named Vernon Baker who 
fought in Italy in World War II. Mr. Baker is now 86 years old. He was 
just a young man on the day in 1945 when he wiped out three Nazi 
machine gun nests and took out an enemy observation post.
  Mr. Baker came home from the war without much fanfare. But like the 
1.7 million other Black soldiers who served our Nation during World War 
II, he came home a changed man. After fighting on foreign soil against 
an enemy that claimed superiority to other races, these men could no 
longer accept second-class treatment in their own country.
  World War II was the catalyst that finally convinced a significant 
portion of the American people that segregation was wrong. It was the 
beginning of the end of segregation in our Nation.
  After World War II, 432 Americans were awarded the Congressional 
Medal of Honor. Not one of them was African American. Finally, in 1997, 
the Government bestowed our Nation's highest medal on six Black 
veterans of World War II. Vernon Baker was the only one of those men 
still alive to accept his award.
  Mr. Baker's story mirrors Black history in our Nation in the last 
half of the 20th century. It is a story of determination and hope. 
During World War II, African Americans fought to keep our Nation free, 
even when their own

[[Page 2172]]

freedom was not fully enjoyed. In the same way, the ideas and talent of 
African Americans have always enriched American life, even as their own 
lives were impoverished by racism and the vestiges of slavery.
  From the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison to the great composer Duke 
Ellington, from the brilliant jurist Thurgood Marshall to my old friend 
Larry Doby, the first Black baseball player in the American League, 
from the uplifting leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the 
heroism of Vernon Baker, African Americans have inspired and 
enlightened our Nation.
  I join the people of New Jersey in celebrating the contributions of 
African American citizens during Black History Month.

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