Authorizing Use of Capitol Rotunda for 50th Anniversary of Kennedy Inagural Address
Floor Speech
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Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman BRADY and the Democratic leadership, and especially our new Speaker and his staff for their help with this bill and their support for holding this historic event in the rotunda.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. Con. Res. 2, authorizing the use of the rotunda for a ceremony to honor the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
President Kennedy came to us during difficult times. In 1961, America was a very different place. In the South, Jim Crow and racial segregation were a part of everyday life--a part of my life.
Around the world, the possibility of nuclear war and the spread of communism were clouds that hung over every country. Tensions were rising. The danger was real. The world, once again, looked to us.
For me, and for millions of Americans, the young man from Massachusetts looked like the future.
As a young activist, I know that I challenged him to ensure that the future included civil rights. But on inauguration day, just outside this very building, he challenged me. He called me to serve in a new way.
He reminded me that the principles upon which this country was founded must live within each of us; inspire and guide each of us; and be sacred to each of us.
President Kennedy came to us during difficult times. And he was taken from us during difficult times. He never saw the success in civil rights, the fall of the Berlin Wall or men on the moon. But on his first day--his very first day--he gave to us a new hymn. One that seemed to express what we had been struggling to put into words. His inaugural address gave us a hymn of hope, a hymn of optimism, a hymn of service.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this resolution, and I think it is appropriate and fitting that Congress honor this important anniversary in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.
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