[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17170-17171]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 R. JESS BROWN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 579) to designate the United States courthouse located at 501 
East Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the ``R. Jess Brown 
United States Courthouse.''
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 579

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The United States courthouse located at 501 East Court 
     Street in Jackson, Mississippi, shall be known and designated 
     as the ``R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the United States 
     courthouse referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the ``R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 579.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 579 designates the United States courthouse located at 501 East 
Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United 
States Courthouse.
  Mr. Brown was a civil rights lawyer who worked against racial 
discrimination and was credited in the 1950s with filing the first 
civil rights lawsuit in the State of Mississippi.
  A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown attended Illinois State University, 
Indiana University, and the Texas Southern University Law School. In 
the 1960s, he was one of only four African American lawyers in the 
State of Mississippi and one of three who took civil rights cases.
  In 1962, he worked on behalf of James Meredith, whose successful 
lawsuit allowed him to be the first African American student to enroll 
at Ole Miss. Later, Mr. Brown worked to fight against discrimination in 
transportation and other public accommodations.
  Given his dedication to the law and his work in civil rights, it is 
appropriate to name this courthouse after him.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by yielding such time 
as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Thompson).
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the 
opportunity to speak on behalf of this bill, H.R. 579, a bill to 
designate the United States courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, as the 
R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse.
  Mr. Speaker, Richard Jess Brown was born on September 12, 1912, in 
Coffeyville, Kansas. His parents, Ernestine and Joe Brown, were jazz 
musicians and performed in and managed a local theater.
  R. Jess Brown received a bachelor's of science in industrial arts 
from Illinois State Normal University and a master's of science in 
industrial education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
  After teaching at Alcorn State University, R. Jess Brown moved to 
Jackson, Mississippi, where he taught industrial arts at Lanier High 
School, the only Black high school in the city at the time. While 
teaching at Lanier, R. Jess Brown became an intervening plaintiff in a 
lawsuit that sought equal pay for Black teachers in Jackson.
  After teaching in Jackson, Jess attended Texas Southern University 
law school. Jess left the law school before receiving his juris 
doctorate but was able to return to Mississippi and pass the 
Mississippi Bar in 1953.
  Beginning his career in Vicksburg, Mississippi, R. Jess Brown 
confined his practice to cases involving divorces, deeds, land titles, 
and other practices that did not agitate White members of the bar. 
However, after the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling in 
1954, Jess felt compelled to defend the civil rights of African 
Americans.
  In the fall of 1955, the conditions and hardships endured by Black 
lawyers in the courts led Mr. Brown and seven other Black attorneys to 
establish the Magnolia Bar Association.
  Mr. Speaker, R. Jess Brown is credited with filing the first civil 
suit on behalf of African Americans in the State of Mississippi. That 
lawsuit, on behalf of a Jefferson County minister, challenged laws that 
prevented Blacks from voting.
  Mr. Speaker, Jess Brown has an extensive record as a civil rights 
lawyer. His list of clients included Clyde Kennard, who was charged 
with and convicted of a fictitious crime while attempting to 
desegregate the University of Southern Mississippi; James H. Meredith, 
whose litigation ultimately led to the integration of the University of 
Mississippi; Dr. Gilbert Mason, who led the effort to end racial 
segregation on the beaches of Biloxi, Mississippi; and civil rights 
icons Medgar Wiley Evers and Dr. Aaron Henry.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Brown was admitted to practice law before all 
Mississippi court systems, the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of Mississippi, the United States District Court for 
the Southern District of Mississippi, the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court, and the United States Supreme 
Court. Mr. Brown also served on the executive board of the National Bar 
Association for approximately 15 years.
  On December 3, 1989, R. Jess Brown died of cancer in Jackson, 
Mississippi, at the age of 77.
  Mr. Speaker, R. Jess Brown is well deserving of this honor, and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 579.
  Mr. PETRI. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I too rise in support of H.R. 579, to designate the United States 
courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  R. Jess Brown was a towering figure in the history of the civil 
rights movement in the South and especially in the State of 
Mississippi. He was a native son of Kansas, born in Coffeyville, 
Kansas, and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He attended law school at 
Texas Southern University and practiced law in Mississippi, starting in 
1953 and continuing throughout the latter civil rights era.
  As associate counsel for the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People, the NAACP, Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mr. 
Brown filed the first civil rights suit in Mississippi in the 1950s. 
The suit, filed in Jefferson Davis County, sought the enforcement of 
the right of Black citizens to become registered voters.
  In 1961, Brown represented James Meredith in his suit to be allowed 
to enter the University of Mississippi. His victory in this case opened 
the doors of that university to all of Mississippi's citizens. While 
working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Brown played 
a major role in fighting discrimination in the areas of transportation 
and other public accommodations.
  During his lifetime, he received numerous awards and honors, 
including the NAACP's Lawyer of the Year Award; the National Bar 
Association


[[Page 17171]]

 C. Francis Stradford Award, which is the Bar Association's highest 
award; and the Mississippi Teachers Association's award for 
extraordinary service to education in Mississippi.
  R. Jess Brown will be remembered as more than a brilliant attorney 
and civil rights leader; he will also be remembered as a great 
American. As such, it is fitting that the United States courthouse in 
Jackson, Mississippi, be designated the R. Jess Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  I support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to join me 
in passing H.R. 579.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 579.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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