[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1440
                        TRIBUTE TO LUKE WEATHERS

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege, 
unfortunately, to attend a funeral of a great American, a constituent 
of mine living in Tucson, Arizona, when he passed at age 91, Colonel 
Luke Weathers.
  Colonel Weathers was a Tuskeegan Airman. Born in Mississippi, he came 
to Memphis at I think it was age 5, and went to the famous Booker T. 
Washington High School. At age 23, he went to Tuskeegan. He was one of 
the first Tuskeegan Airmen and was decorated with more honors and 
awards than you can imagine, every flying award you can possibly get.
  He later went on to work with the air traffic controllers and was the 
first African American air traffic controller in Memphis, Tennessee, at 
our air traffic control station. He served 25 years with the FAA as an 
air traffic controller, serving duties in Anchorage, Alaska, where he 
started; also in Atlanta, Georgia; and in Washington.
  Luke Weathers was a great man who didn't let race stop him, even 
though sometimes his country's policies made it difficult to both 
integrate the Air Force and the squadron and the FAA. And even his 
church where the funeral was, Little Flower, he was the first African 
American member of that church in 1963. I was pleased to be with the 
family, honor this man's memory, and appreciate what he did for our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, Luke Weathers was a great man.

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