[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21444-21445]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and 
congratulate the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,

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SCLC, as it celebrates 50 years of promoting non-violent action as a 
means to achieve social, economic, and political justice. The 
opportunity to serve as the first African-American Chairman of the 
House Judiciary Committee is a tribute to the efforts of the SCLC to 
promote equal opportunity and equal justice.
  Without the courage and sacrifice of members of the SCLC, namely its 
first President, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and those Presidents that 
followed--Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, and Martin Luther King III, 
we simply would not be where we are today. And while we have much work 
to do, we are living the legacy of the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference everyday.
  This August will be the 50th anniversary of the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference. The SCLC traces its roots to the Montgomery Bus 
Boycott of 1955, which began with the quiet yet courageous efforts of 
one woman: Rosa Parks. I had the privilege of working with Rosa Parks 
for over 20 years when she agreed to join my staff after I was elected 
to Congress in 1964. The Montgomery Bus Boycott brought together two 
local ministers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph Abernathy, who 
established the Montgomery Improvement Association to lead the boycott 
efforts. As the movement to desegregate public transportation spread 
beyond Montgomery County into surrounding States, it was clear that the 
organization needed to expand, both in size and in scope.
  Following the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a group of 60 
organizers from 10 States met in Atlanta, Georgia to plan the next 
steps. The result was the founding of the Southern Leadership 
Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration. The 
organization's title was shortened to its current name, the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference during its first convention, held in 
Montgomery in August 1957. Next week, the SCLC will be hosting its 49th 
annual convention in Atlanta, GA.
  Leading the efforts of the SCLC to end segregation was Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., a man I am honored to have been able to call a friend 
and confidant. In fact, it was Dr. King that endorsed me for Congress 
when I first ran and was elected to serve in 1964. Significantly, Dr. 
King personally awarded me with the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference Award in 1967. Having walked alongside Dr. King, a fearless 
leader who challenged continued racial segregation and believed that 
``oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever,'' I am committed to 
continuing the legacy of Dr. King and the SCLC.
  Under the helm of President Joseph Lowery for much of its existence--
from 1977 until 1997, the SCLC advanced Dr. King's dream for an 
America--a society united behind the banner of equality and freedom. 
Today, the SCLC remains strong under the leadership of Dr. Charles 
Steele, Jr., promoting a number of programs in the areas of economic 
empowerment, health advocacy, education, and criminal justice. The SCLC 
has also established the Martin Luther King, Jr., Conflict Resolution 
Center, an international initiative to promote Dr. King's principle of 
nonviolence as a means to resolving conflicts throughout the world.
  We've come a long ways over the last 50 years, and the work of the 
SCLC continues to be of critical importance. It is to the credit of Dr. 
King and other leaders of the SCLC that today the torch of the civil 
rights movement is carried by many hands. One of those hands is Dr. 
King's son, Martin III, who headed the SCLC from 1997 until 2003 and 
remains committed to the organization's vision. So following the lead 
of Martin III, Joseph Lowery, Ralph Abernathy, and of course Dr. King, 
let us continue the work and legacy of the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference on its 50th anniversary.
  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
  The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, originated 
through the Montgomery Bus Boycott when a courageous young woman by the 
name of Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of 
the bus on December 5, 1955. The Montgomery Bus Boycott brought two 
dynamic ministers together: Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph 
Abernathy. Through the guidance of Dr. King, Dr. Abernathy and Dr. 
Joseph Lowery, this boycott led to a new phase of a long struggle to be 
known as the modem day ``Civil Rights Movement.''
  The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, is best known for 
its commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience as a means for securing 
equal rights for African Americans and other oppressed people 
worldwide. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, adopted 
the motto: ``Not one hair of one head should be harmed.'' This motto 
not only proved effective for the civil rights movement but should be 
applied in today's challenges in the world.
  After the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference founded the Student Non-violent 
Coordinating Committee and cooperated with SNCC and other civil rights 
organizations seeking social justice for over 45 years.
  I myself have witnessed the power and effectiveness of the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference in the city of Memphis, when Dr. King 
and the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference, SCLC, and the labor movement organized 1,300 city 
sanitation workers to go on strike for fair and honest wages and 
benefits.
  I rise today and urge everyone to remember and respect 50 years of 
good works by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC. It 
has been living, fulfilling and perpetuating the dream of Dr. King. Its 
legacy, vision, and commitment to nonviolent action is highly regarded 
by this younger generation. The Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference has not just served the purpose of assuring rights for 
African Americans but all Americans.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my 
colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to express my concern for 
diminishing access to higher education opportunities.
  We live in a country where the education system is flawed from the 
ground up. The lack of proper instruction throughout elementary, 
middle, and secondary school has left many of the under-represented 
minorities even further behind their classmates. The lack of provisions 
and support provided to schools in historically black neighborhoods has 
caused the number of African-Americans applying and enrolled in 
professional schools to drop.
  The number of African-Americans in both the medical and legal 
professions is anemic compared to the number that live in our country. 
Even though African Americans make up over 13 percent of the country's 
population, a recent study found that they make up only 3.9 percent of 
lawyers and 3.3 percent of physicians.
  Madam Speaker, there are a multitude of reasons as to why African-
American presence in law school dropped from 7.5 percent to 6.8 percent 
from 1994 to 2004. Many blame the law school admissions' over-reliance 
on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test). This test, which has never 
been proven to be a successful forecaster of achievement in law school 
or aptitude as a lawyer, usually makes up over half the criteria that 
law school admissions counselors use to base their admissions decisions 
on. The inflated dependence on the LSAT, which studies show is in and 
of itself biased, has led to a sharp decline of both applications and 
enrollment by African-Americans into law school.
  The necessity for schools to raise the median LSAT scores of the 
applicants they accept has caused a dramatic drop in the number of 
African-American law school students. In a study from 2002 to 2004, the 
25th percentile LSAT score for law schools in my home State of Florida 
rose from 149 to 151. In that same time period, African-American 
enrollment in Florida law school dropped from 557 to 508 students, or 
nearly 10 percent, while total enrollment rose by 14 percent.
  Madam Speaker, we need to challenge this disturbing trend or we are 
facing a future in which there is a complete lack of African-American 
presence in the legal world. This trend challenges the right of 
African-Americans to engage in the legal process of this great Nation.
  One major issue that we can influence is the lack of support and 
education for those interested in a career in law. Many young African-
American high school and college students have not had the exposure or 
have become discouraged by the mass of reports of diminishing African 
American law school enrollment. With encouragement from current black 
lawyers and those in support of more diversity in the legal profession, 
we can help build a proper education system for all students of this 
Nation.
  This is not just about law school. We need to work together, from as 
early as elementary school, to provide the necessary tools to challenge 
the current pattern of disinvestment in education. Our educational 
system must give everyone the proper training and experience necessary 
to enter higher education and, someday, the professional world.

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