Rosa Parks Federal Building

Floor Speech

ROSA PARKS FEDERAL BUILDING -- (House of Representatives - November 02, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman for bringing forward this bill; and I rise in strong support of S. 1285, a bill to designate the Federal building located at 333 Mt. Elliott Street in Detroit, Michigan, as the ``Rosa Parks Federal Building.'' This bill also contains a provision to name the annex to the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse here in the District of Columbia in honor of Federal District Court Judge William B. Bryant.

Both are legendary African Americans, and the agreement that Federal buildings should be named in their honor is both wide and deep.

I thank my good friend and colleague from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) for her diligent leadership on the Rosa Parks Federal building designation. I also want to thank my good friend of longstanding, the senior Senator from Virginia, Senator JOHN WARNER, for tirelessly working with me for more than 3 years to achieve this honor for Judge Bryant. I am deeply grateful as well to Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member PATRICK LEAHY, who also was particularly conscientious in pressing for this honor for Judge Bryant.

I spoke last Wednesday, Mr. Speaker, concerning the events that led Rosa Parks to challenge the daily humiliation of Montgomery, Alabama's black residents who were required to pay their bus fare to the driver, then get off and reenter through the rear door, and then relinquish their seats and move to the back of the bus upon the demand of any white passenger. Since then, Congress has broken with precedent and voted to allow Rosa Parks to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, and she did so just a few days ago, the first woman and only the second African American who has been accorded this honor. In so doing, the United States of America recognized the unique and extraordinary contribution of Rosa Parks to her country. Her simple act of civil disobedience in refusing to relinquish her seat on demand from a white man on a segregated bus was the functional equivalent of a nonviolent shot heard around the world.

Fifty years later, time may blur the enormous personal risk Rosa Parks took on in America in 1955. During our country's tragic racial history, black men had been lynched for less. Grievances like those of African Americans after 400 years of slavery and humiliating discrimination had been resolved by violent revolution throughout human history.

Our country is enormously in Rosa Parks' debt because the revolution that led to the end of government and legally sanctioned discrimination began with a nonviolent revolutionary act, setting an example that endured. So brave was her act in the South in 1955 that even those of us who were young, in school, and had nothing to lose did not engage in the first sit-ins until 5 years later. The act of one woman finally led to the mass civil rights movement, the missing ingredient in the civil rights struggle. This movement was Rosa Parks' special gift to her people and to those who joined them, especially the residents of the District of Columbia, who still feed from her inspiration to achieve equality with other Americans, including equal voting rights in the Congress of the United States.

In an era of peacock leaders who strut their stuff, her selfless example is an especially important guide. In great humility, Rosa Parks' gift was not the message that ``I am doing this to free you.'' Her message was far more direct: ``Free yourself.'' It is with gratitude that we bring this bill forward today in that spirit.

The honor for Judge William Bryant has an unusual origin indeed. The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Hogan, for himself and all the members of the trial court, visited my office to request that the annex under construction for the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal building be named for a senior U.S. judge, Judge William B. Bryant. Judge Bryant was unaware of the desires and actions of his colleagues, who unanimously agreed to request that the annex be named for the judge. It is rare that Congress names a courthouse or an annex for a judge who has served in that court and even more rare for a judge who is still sitting.

All who have been involved in this effort recognize and agree that giving an honor to a sitting judge has been granted in the past but only rarely and should be reserved only for the most extraordinary of judges. Judge William Bryant is such a judge.

I am particularly grateful to this House which early understood the unique importance of Judge Bryant's contributions and unhesitatingly passed this bill last session.

Judge Bryant's colleagues who know his work and his temperament best have found a particularly appropriate way for the court, the bar, our city, and our country to celebrate the life and accomplishments of a truly great judge. I know Judge Bryant personally. I know his reputation in this city and in the law, and I know that the request to name the annex for Judge Bryant reflects deep respect for his unusually distinguished life at the bar.

Judge Bryant began his career in private practice in the segregated Washington of the 1940s and 1950s when African American lawyers were barred from membership in the District of Columbia Bar Association and even from using the bar law library. He established his legal reputation as a partner of the legendary African American law firm, Houston, Bryant & Gardner, and taught at Howard University Law School. His reputation as an extraordinary trial lawyer led to his appointment as the first African American Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He later rose to become the first African American to serve as chief judge of the United States District Court, whose members now ask that the annex be named for Judge Bryant.

For his representation of criminal defendants in private practice, Judge Bryant was admired as one of the city's best and most respected trial lawyers. Among his many notable cases is the landmark Mallory v. United States, a 1957 Supreme Court decision where the Court ruled that an arrested person must be promptly brought before a judicial officer.

Judge Bryant was born in Wetumpka, Alabama, but grew up in this city and graduated from D.C. public schools, Howard University, and Howard Law School where he was first in his class. After graduation, Judge Bryant served as chief research assistant to Dr. Ralph Bunche when Bunche worked with Gunnar Myrdal, the famous Swedish economist, in his studies of African American racial issues. Judge Bryant served in the United States Army during World War II and was honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1947.

The judge, who is 94, took senior status in 1982. Chief Judge Thomas Hogan wrote that Judge Bryant ``lost his beloved wife, Astaire, and now lives alone with this court and the law as the center of his life.''

This unusual request from all the judges of the court gives this designation great credibility. I am grateful to the judges of our U.S. District Court here for the thoughtful proposal that honors a Washingtonian and a lawyer of historic proportions. I very much appreciate the many efforts of my friends in the Senate, especially Senators Warner and Leahy, in helping me to get this bill through both Houses. I especially appreciate the leadership of this House who went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that this bill would be accomplished.

The residents of this city and the court that Judge Bryant has served so well, and members of the bar here, join me in gratitude for this tribute. We are all especially pleased to see two notable African Americans celebrated together in this House today in this special way.

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