Authorizing the Remains of Rosa Parks to Lie in Honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol

AUTHORIZING THE REMAINS OF ROSA PARKS TO LIE IN HONOR IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL -- (House of Representatives - October 28, 2005)

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Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, fifty years ago a small group of Americans, set out to ensure that America lived up to its promise of providing equal rights to all. They forced America to reach for her great potential and changed the destiny of not only a nation but the entire world. I rise today to honor the legacy and memory of the woman who gave life to this small group of Americans, the mother of the civil rights movement, Mrs. Rosa Parks.

Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. In 1932 she married a barber named Raymond Parks. Prior to her arrest they both were very active in the voter registration movement and with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where she also worked as a secretary in 1943. Those who knew her best described her as being hardworking, polite and morally upright.

On December 1, 1955 Parks took a seat in the front of the black section of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The bus filled up and the bus driver demanded that she move so a white male passenger could have her seat. When Parks refused to give up her seat she was arrested. Four days following her arrest, a group of dedicated young individuals founded the Montgomery Improvement Association and named Martin Luther King Jr., their leader. King led a successful boycott of the transportation system and went on to lead the modem civil rights movement ensuring that every American was guaranteed equal rights under the law.

Rosa Parks was truly a courageous person. Her refusal to give up her seat in the face of the powerful forces of injustice helped to galvanize the long-overdue struggle for civil rights. She sat down in order to show us that we have tremendous power when we stand up. All Americans, regardless of race or creed, owe Mrs. Parks a debt of gratitude for her contribution to the national movement for a better America.

Mr. Speaker, although she is gone, the power of her actions remain with us. As she said, ``Memories of our lives, of our worth and our deeds will continue in others.'' I hope that we heed those comments today as we continue the fight for equal rights and social justice. I thank her for her courage and I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring her memory.

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