[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10] [Senate] [Pages 14535-14537] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]REMEMBERING EDWARD W. BROOKE III Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, on March 11, 2015, at Washington National Cathedral, a memorial service was held for former Massachusetts Senator Edward W. Brooke III. Ed was one of the first African Americans to serve in combat during World War II. He was the first African American to be elected a State attorney general, and the first elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote. In 2004, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In honor of his extraordinary life and service to our Nation, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the remarks made at Senator Edward W. Brooke III's memorial service by Secretary of State John F. Kerry; Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; Milton C. Davis and Edward W. Brooke IV. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Remarks of Secretary of State John F. Kerry Good morning. It's a privilege to share some thoughts about Ed Brooke. I want you to think back half a century. Imagine a room in the 1960s where all the leading Massachusetts politicians are gathered--Kennedy, McCormack, O'Neill, Volpe, Brooke. Among them, one figure stands out as the courageous representative of an embattled minority; Ed Brooke; alone; undaunted; the only Episcopalian. Imagine another room, the chamber of the U.S. Senate. Shortly after noon on January 10, 1967, a man of consummate dignity strides down the center aisle; Legislators rise and applaud; the gallery cheers. The first African-American popularly-elected to the Senate takes his seat. In that moment, Ed Brooke was not just a pioneer; he was an advance scout probing the soul of our country. Twenty-six years would pass before a second African-American would be elected. Imagine a young man raised in Washington, joining the army immediately after Pearl Harbor, later deploying to Italy as part of a segregated infantry battalion. There, Lieutenant Brooke watched in anguish as his buddies were sent each morning to attack a heavily-fortified German position in the Apennines. The young soldier soon became convinced that his men were being used as cannon fodder by racist commanders. He proposed a shift in tactics, an operation staged later in the day, when the enemy would be sleeping. The answer came back: ``The colonel would never send a boy to do a man's job.'' Brooke persisted and the operation he organized went ahead, catching the enemy by surprise and driving them from the mountain. His [[Page 14536]] battalion suffered 1300 casualties and won 27 medals; its reward was to be dismantled and its personnel scattered to places where many could neither sit at a lunch counter nor vote. We must never forget that--as much as Ike, Patton and Marshall--Ed Brooke and the African-Americans who joined him in fighting Fascism were part of the greatest generation and we owe them an incalculable debt. But this was just the beginning of Ed Brooke's journey. As a legislator, Senator Brooke was always on the cutting edge--championing a woman's right to choose; taking on the tobacco industry when smoking was still considered cool; initiating a program to help minority businesspeople create jobs; guaranteeing women equal access to credit; and authoring an amendment that, to this day, enables tens of thousands of people each year to qualify for public housing and thereby escape shelters or the streets. When President Nixon asked the Senate to confirm a Supreme Court nominee whose supporters argued--and I'm not making this up--that mediocrity deserved representation--Ed Brooke looked his party's leadership in the eye and said no--and did the same on two other Nixon nominees. He also differed from the President by being right about the Vietnam War and voting to end it--a position that mattered a lot to many of his constituents, including me. And when ideologues tried to gut the Civil Rights and Voting Rights laws: Ed Brooke used every instrument in the legislative tool box to stop them--declaring that liberties that took a century or more to secure must never again be denied. A vow that, as President Obama reminded us in Selma on Saturday, remains as timely now as ever. For all of his career, Ed Brooke was his own man. As Attorney General, he was relentless in cracking down on corruption--which in Massachusetts in the early 1960s provided what we might call ``a target-rich environment.'' His electoral triumphs were astonishing in a state that was only 2 percent black, where school desegregation was an explosive issue, and where the face of prejudice might appear either ugly with anger or thinly masked by code words. In one early race he narrowly lost, his opponent, Kevin White, claimed to see no hidden message in campaign bumper stickers that read simply: ``Vote White.'' Repeatedly, Brooke was urged by the political establishment not to run for higher office--to instead bide his time until Massachusetts was [quote-unquote] ``ready.'' Indeed, in 1962, when he ran for Attorney General, his opponent was the formidable Elliott Richardson, a man with deep connections to what were--socially and financially--the upper echelons of the Commonwealth. But Ed Brooke didn't back down, and because he didn't, a straight line can be drawn between his electoral victories and that of another African-American--this time in the national arena--some four decades later. I was in high school when Ed Brooke first ran for statewide office, attracting so many Democratic voters to the Republican primary that our party had to work for months afterward reregistering them. I had met Ed but didn't really know him until after I arrived in Washington. In my early years in the Senate, he would come by occasionally and talk about the job or the events of the day. Whenever I saw him, I was struck by his warmth and kindness and his interest in what I was doing. He was a charismatic man with a genuine laugh and a resonant voice and a ready willingness to answer my questions. One topic we discussed was the parallels. After all, we had both gone from college to war to law school to a prosecutor's office to spend many years as the ``junior'' Senator from Massachusetts. We had each won and lost elections and guess what--we both agreed that winning was better. Believe me, few public statements are harder to deliver than a concession speech after a closely-contested--even bitter--race. In 1978, I was indelibly struck by how Ed's remarks set a new standard for grace amid pain. He congratulated his opponent and paid tribute to allies who would, he said, carry on his work. He was flanked by one source of strength, his mother--and alluded to a second in saying: ``When I was down in the valley, I didn't cry--I cried out--and you gave me the strength to move on.'' Early on, this proud son introduced me to Helen Brooke who, during my years in the Senate, embraced me as much as anyone in the city. Mother Brooke loved her family and her church; she loved to have a good time and she taught her son how to be a successful politician. ``Always thank people,'' she said, ``and make them feel special.'' That advice stuck. As one colleague observed, ``When Ed Brooke looked at you, you felt he was not only thinking about you and only you, but that he probably hadn't thought about anyone else in weeks.'' Fifteen years ago, the state courthouse--just across from my own district office in Boston--was named after Ed Brooke-- a tribute to the man and a regular reminder to all of his love for the practice of law. In Massachusetts, three charter schools are dedicated to his memory; and many of their students made the journey from the land of the seven-foot snowdrifts to be here with us today; there are also many students from Dunbar--his high school alma mater. Senator Brooke shunned the title of trailblazer, but that's exactly what he was. He inspired thousands of young people-- of every race--to enter public service. Some criticized him for not being more outspoken or for not being enough this or enough that--trying to mold him to their expectations--but he was always true to himself. He fought ceaselessly and with determination for the poor, for minorities, for women, and for what he felt was right. He was the embodiment of a style of legislating that valued substance over rhetoric and public needs over political agendas. Bipartisanship, to him, was never a four letter word. So we are privileged to be here--family, friends, admirers--in celebration and thanksgiving, for this remarkable man. In recent years, as Ed Brooke received the highest civilian honors our nation can bestow--the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom--he reminded us that the work to which he had dedicated his own best efforts--remains unfinished. Ed Brooke understood the ebb and flow of life. He endured great loss and enjoyed exuberant triumphs, saw the valleys and the mountain tops, and would be the first to tell us that he lived a full and blessed life. For him and for that--we will always be grateful. Remarks of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton Anne, family, colleagues, public officials, friends all of Senator Edward William Brooke. You do not grow up desiring to be a United States Senator if you were born in the District of Columbia in 1919; not if you lived in one of the District's African American communities, LeDroit Park; not if you went to our segregated public schools and graduated from Dunbar High School, and the Senator's class of 1936 is in the church today, and from Howard University; not even if you became a World War II hero and won the Bronze Star, leading your segregated unit in a broad daylight attack on an enemy bunker; and certainly not if your hometown had no elected self-government, much less senators. Edward William Brooke was nurtured in a loving, closely knit, aspiring African American community in the District of Columbia. But it did not groom him to think of himself as a public official. Senator Brooke owed much to a childhood spent in our city where children were raised to believe segregation did not for a moment mean you were inferior. But the man that became a natural politician, charismatic, charming, brilliant, and utterly approachable, invented himself and went on to become not only a public official, but a historic figure. The Senate has always had its share of self-made men and women. Edward Brooke was a self-made senator. Many had thought of Barack Obama as a man ahead of his time, until the President came to the Capitol in 2009 to present the Congressional Gold Medal to Senator Brooke. After receiving the medal, Senator Brooke regaled us with remarks that must have been written in his head and his heart, because without so much as a note, he accepted the medal in a voice that resonated as it must have when he spoke in the Senate about the Brooke Amendment to the Fair Housing Act, which limited to 25% the portion of income a family must pay in rent for public housing. Don't ask me how a black man without guide posts became one of the most popular politicians ever in Massachusetts, a state where only 2% of the population was black. I cannot explain the conundrum that was Edward Brooke. But I experienced the warmth and the talent that made him successful as a public man and dear as a friend. And I can tell you this: Edward Brooke never forgot where he came from, the city that nurtured his uniqueness. Without hesitation, he volunteered to talk with senators in his Republican Party when the Senate and the House both passed the D.C. House Voting Rights Act. He succeeded. The vote for the District was lost to an amendment that would have wiped out all of the District's gun laws in return for a vote in the People's House. Senator Brooke's place in American history was sealed and delivered long before he died in January. His place as the first African American elected to the Senate with the popular vote and his extraordinary record as a senator are even more remarkable when you consider his origins here in the District of Columbia, which had no local government at all. The residents of his hometown continue to struggle for equal rights as American citizens and for statehood. But nothing could inspire our citizens more than a native son, born in a city without a vote or a local public official, who rose to cast votes in the Senate of the United States. Thank you. Remarks of Milton C. Davis, the 29th General President of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity ``God of justice, save the people from the clash of race and creed, From the strife of class and faction, make our nation free indeed; Keep her faith in simple manhood strong as when her life began, Till it find its full fruition in the brotherhood of man!'' This is a stanza from a favorite hymn of Edward Brooke which he often quoted in the speeches he delivered across the country and [[Page 14537]] the world. This stanza summarized his theme of life; his mission in life. Long before I ever met him in person, I came to know him through the pages of the history of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the world's first African American collegiate fraternity founded in 1906. This Alpha history book depicted a plethora of role models and heroes, the likes of W. E. B. Dubois, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesse Owens and scores more, whose life and work inspires and advances a race of people and a nation. None stood out more dramatically than the life and achievements of Edward William Brooke. He was my hero; dignified, a scholar, charismatic, accomplished and fearless. Regular history books have yet to give him the credit he has earned. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is in its 109th year of existence and for 77 of those 109 years, Edward William Brooke stood in the circle of our brotherhood. When Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity undertook the awesome twenty-seven year task of building the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall here in Washington DC., Edward William Brooke was first to come forward with significant resources and the use of his influence to help guide that process. He was an active, contributing and esteemed member until his death. The law served as his instrument, tool and weapon with which he sought to advance the cause of justice in the face of prejudice, discrimination and segregation which surrounded him as he grew up in the nation's capital not far from this place. He fought against the tyranny of the Axis powers as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army during World War II assigned to the segregated 366th all black infantry regiment where he earned a Bronze Star for valor on the battlefield. Edward Brooke also served as an advocate for black soldiers who were charged with offenses in his regiment even though he was not then a trained, licensed attorney. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, using its members who were lawyers in the 1940s and 1950s filed several major lawsuits seeking to dismantle segregation and battle racism in America. Among those cases filed and financed by the national fraternity was the case of Elmer Henderson vs. The United States; the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Southern Railway. The case challenged the Commerce Commission regulation which allowed segregation and discrimination in railroad dining cars in interstate commerce. In the dining car, black passengers were only allowed to occupy two tables nearest the kitchen and when occupied by black travelers a curtain had to be drawn to hide their presence from white passengers. If white passengers needed the two tables assigned to black passengers, the black passengers had to wait until the white passengers vacated the tables assigned to blacks. Edward Brooke was recruited to join the Alpha legal team headed by then General President of Alpha Belford Lawson in filing briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court attacking these racial barriers and on June 5, 1950, four years before Brown v. the Board of Education major decision, after an eight year battle through the lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the regulation which allowed segregation and discrimination in railroad dining cars due in part to the heroic efforts of Edward Brooke. Edward Brooke was a champion for equality and fairness, his standard and measure of a person was the world's standard of excellence. He wanted only to be judged by the content of his character and his abilities rather than his racial background. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity by Edward Brooke while King was a graduate student at Boston University stated the proposition that--Life's most persistent and urgent question is ``What are you doing for others?'' Edward W. Brooke became an acknowledged national treasure by using his time, talent, influence, power and intellect demonstrating his commitment to uplifting others and assuring that in matters of fair housing, voting rights, education and justice that the promise of America to equality under law became more of a practical reality rather than just a lofty ideal. In one of his campaigns, a Boston political writer wrote ``Brooke was a carpetbagger from the South, a Republican in a Democratic State, a black in a white state, a Protestant in a Catholic state and he is poor. Edward Brooke replied: I pleaded guilty to all indictments and I continued to persevere in my campaign. Brooke won; America won. That's what heroes do: They look reality in the face and persevere! The Poet Robert Louis Stevenson aptly sums up my journey of friendship and brotherhood with Senator Edward W. Brooke with these words: He has achieved success; Who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; Who has enjoyed the trust and respect of intelligent men and women and the love of little children; Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; Who has left the world better than he found it; Who has always looked for the best in others; And given them the best he had; Whose life was an inspiration; Whose memory a benediction. Remarks by Edward W. Brooke IV On behalf of my family I would like to thank the distinguished speakers who preceded me for their thoughtful and deeply moving tributes. As they have so eloquently stated, and as most of you well know: my father lived one of The Great American Lives. It was my privilege to know him and to be a part of his life. It is my honor to be his son, and to be here with all of you today, in appreciation of a man whom I love so dearly. The moments of the past are not gone from us, nor we from them. The light of each moment shines on through eternity as the light of distant stars travels through space and time to reach our eyes and touch our minds. And so the brilliant light of his great life shines on for us, that we may better find our way in the dark unknown. When I was but a child, not so long ago, my father would always say, ``Waste not; want not.'' Usually he would do this as he walked around turning off the lights in vacant rooms or pointing out the unused excess ketchup on my dinner-plate. I thought I understood what he meant. Though when I now consider the familiar saying in the full context of his life, it reveals a far more powerful truth: That if we never waste the opportunity to help each other live better lives, none among us would ever have to want for a life that could not be attained. In this generous spirit, and leading by example, my father constantly strived toward the realization of a better world-- a world in which the apparent differences between individuals would never again be mistaken as cause to deny justice, humanity, or dignity, nor to justify violence, exploitation, or disrespect. We must continue to work as he did, with faith in the possibility of the best imaginable outcome, and the assurance that fearfulness and cynicism cannot withstand the immeasurable kindness of which we are capable. My father was a truly tender, sweet, and lovely man. He forgave my many errors and patiently helped me to learn from them. He taught me to read, to speak, and to think, to love and be loved. For all of this and so much more, I am forever grateful--grateful to him, and to his mother Helen and father Edward for raising up a man so entirely and strikingly unafraid to be the best possible version of himself; grateful to the ancestors who, surviving hardship and desolation, held intact the sacred vitality of which my father's life is a profound expression; and grateful to my mother, whose inspiring and unconditional love made our lives together so beautiful. We know that he will always be with us, and pray for him eternal peace. ____________________