Civil Rights History Project Act of 2008

CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY PROJECT ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - September 17, 2008)

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Davis and particularly Congresswoman McCarthy for bringing H.R. 998.

I do represent Memphis, Tennessee, and much of the civil rights history of Memphis, for better and for worse purposes, have occurred in my district. It is important that the history of that struggle be maintained to teach people about the courageous struggle, the leadership that many, many people had to embark on to achieve their rights that should have been part of 18th century America, but the 18th century America was not complete, and all men were not created equal. Certainly women weren't created equal either, and people had to fight and risk their lives to attain rights for people who today are beneficiaries thereof.

In my community, many of these heroes of the civil rights movement have been dying lately. They're getting old. This bill I wish would have come earlier, but I really thank Representative McCarthy for bringing it. It's a start. And there are people like the great Reverend Benjamin Hooks, who's getting up in his years but who's got many stories to tell, and Russell Sugarman. We lost Mr. Ernest Withers, a great photographer of the civil rights movement, this past year.

Time goes by for all of us, and the opportunities to collect history become more difficult as each day passes.

So I'm proud to speak on behalf of this, but mostly as a Congressperson from the Ninth District in Tennessee, I want to express my appreciation to Representative McCarthy for having the leadership to bring this and for initiating this process.

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