[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       MUHAMMAD ALI--THE GREATEST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, Muhammad Ali was, 
indeed, the greatest, and he spent considerable time in Chicago. 
Therefore, I got the opportunity to meet and know him. On occasion, I 
would visit with my friends Frank Lipscomb, Wallace Davis, Jr., and 
Ralph Metcalf, Jr., and we would visit with him in his Kenwood home and 
at meetings. Although Muhammad Ali was born and raised in Louisville, 
Kentucky, those of us who lived in Chicago embraced Ali as a fellow 
Chicagoan because of his relationship to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, 
who was with the Nation of Islam, and because of his involvement and 
engagement with the larger community. Muhammad Ali was not only the 
best boxer in the world, but during his heyday, he was a genuine hero 
to everyday people who felt that he was a part of them.
  In 1966, 2 years after winning the heavyweight title, he refused to 
be conscripted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and 
opposition to the American involvement in the Vietnam war. He was 
eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, and stripped of his 
boxing titles. He successfully appealed in the U.S. Supreme Court, 
which overturned his conviction in 1971. By that time, he had not 
fought for nearly 4 years and lost a period of peak performance as an 
athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him 
an icon for those who opposed the war.
  With a record of 61 total fights, 56 wins--37 by knockouts--and just 
five losses, Muhammad Ali was, obviously, a superb athlete, but he was 
so much more. He was a humanitarian, a principled man. He was proud of 
his heritage, proud of his abilities, and proud of his accomplishments.
  Muhammad Ali, a soldier in the people's army. I salute you.

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