Recognizing the importance of Ralph Bunche as one of the great leaders of the United States, the first African-American Nobel Peace Prize winner, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished diplomat, and a tireless campaigner of civil rights for people throughout the world.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H. Con. Res. 71, recognizing the importance of Ralph Bunche, introduced by the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel).

Mr. Speaker, American diplomat and winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize, Ralph Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 7, 1904. His father, Fred Bunche, was a barber in a shop having an all-white clientele, and his mother, Olive Johnson Bunche, was an amateur musician. When Ralph Bunche was 12 years old his parents died, and he was raised by his grandmother, Ms. Nana Johnson, who had been born into slavery.

Ralph Bunche was valedictorian of his graduating class at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles where he had been a debater and well-rounded athlete. While studying at the University of California at Los Angeles, he supported himself with an athletic scholarship, which paid for his collegiate expenses, and a janitorial job, which paid for his personal expenses. With a scholarship granted by Harvard University and a fund of a $1,000 raised by the black community of Los Angeles, Ralph Bunche began his graduate studies in political science.

In the time between earning his masters and doctorate degrees in government and international relations at Harvard University, he established a department of political science at Howard University in 1928.

During that time, he also traveled through French West Africa on a Rosenwald field fellowship, which enabled him to conduct research in Africa for a dissertation comparing French rule in Togoland and Dahomey. He completed his work with such distinction that he was awarded the Toppan Prize for outstanding research in social studies.

Between 1938 and 1940, he collaborated with Swedish sociologist Gunnar Mydral on the monumental study of U.S. race relations published as An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. The study is renowned for presenting the theory that poverty breeds poverty.

During World War II, Ralph Bunche worked for the War Department and the State Department. Toward the end of the war, he played an important role in preliminary planning for the United Nations, the organization he served for the rest of his career.

After the chief mediator between the warring factions in Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte, was assassinated, Bunche, then an aide on a special U.N. committee to negotiate an end to the first Arab-Israeli War, was thrust into a leading role in the process. His successful negotiation of a 1949 truce between the parties earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.

In the last decade of his life, he became an increasingly vocal supporter of the civil rights movement in the United States, participating in the 1965 civil rights marches in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama.

Ralph Bunche died on December 9, 1971, in New York City, shortly after retiring as Undersecretary General of the United Nations.

H. Con. Res. 71 recognizes the importance of Ralph Bunche and the enduring legacy that he has left as a skillful negotiator and an example of what diplomacy can provide and generate when adroitly used.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to urge swift passage of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to join my colleagues in recognizing and honoring Ralph Bunche as a pivotal 20th century figure and fighter in the struggle for the realization and attainment of human rights on a global scale.

Ralph Bunche is one of the great leaders of the United States, the first African-American Nobel Peace Prize winner, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished diplomat, and a tireless campaigner of civil rights for people throughout the world.

Ralph Bunche's life of achievement made him truly one of the twentieth century's foremost figures and a role model for youth of America. He graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1927 with a degree in International Relations. From there he went on to be the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in Government and International Relations at Harvard University in 1934; and he served as a professor and established and chaired the Political Science Department at Howard University from 1928 to 1941.

Ralph Bunche was instrumental in drafting Chapters 11 and 12 of the United Nations Charter, dealing with non-self-governing territories and the International Trusteeship System, which helped African countries achieve their independence and assisted in their transition to self- governing, sovereign states.

In 1948, Ralph Bunche was named acting Chief Mediator in Palestine for the United Nations, and, in 1949, successfully brokered an armistice agreement between Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. He was deeply committed to ending colonialism and restoring individual state sovereignty through peaceful means.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, to Ralph Bunche in 1949. In 1950, Ralph Bunche became the first African-American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his many significant contributions and efforts towards achieving a peaceful resolution to seemingly difficult national and international disputes.

Ralph Bunche has a scholarship in his name at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. This scholarship is for top minority students who have achieved academic excellence.

Ralph Bunche was named United Nations Under Secretary General in 1955, in charge of directing peacekeeping missions in several countries. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy presented Ralph Bunche with the Medal of Freedom, which is the United States' highest civilian award.

Ralph Bunche's critical contributions to the attempt to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and towards the de-colonization of Africa, and his commitment to and long service in the United Nations and numerous other national and international humanitarian efforts, warrant his commemoration. I am proud to stand on the House floor today and celebrate his accomplishments. He is truly a great American hero.

Mr. President, it is difficult to know exactly how to pay tribute to Ralph J. Bunche for his extraordinary contributions to scholarship, diplomacy, civil rights, social justice and international cooperation and development. The Senate has approved H. Con. Res 71, ``Recognizing the importance of Ralph Bunche as one of the great leaders of the United States . . . The year-long centennial commemoration of his birth, which is now well underway, involves many more professional societies, educational institutions and public-policy organizations than it is possible to list; among them are the American Political Science Association, the Association of Black American Ambassadors, the American Library Association, the Council on Foreign Relations, Facing History and Ourselves, national foundation, the NAACP, the National Urban League, the New York Public Library, numerous United Nations Associations and dozens of colleges and universities in this country and abroad. At UCLA, Ralph Bunche's alma mater, the African American Studies center has been renamed in his honor. I am especially pleased to note that the American Academy of Diplomacy has chosen to honor Ralph Bunche by sponsoring the two-year Philip Merrill Fellowship for the two-year M.A. program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

Among his many accomplishments, Ralph Bunche received the first doctoral degree in government and international relations ever awarded by Harvard University, thereby earning the title ``Dr. Bunche.'' But Benjamin Rivlin, who is Co-Chair of the Ralph Bunche Centenary Committee, has told us that he was specifically instructed to ``cut out this doctor business'' when as a young soldier he was assigned to work for Ralph Bunche in the OSS sixty years ago.

The vast array of tributes now being paid to Ralph Bunche reflects just how extraordinary a person he was. Born in Detroit and orphaned at eleven, he went to live with his grandmother, Lucy Johnson, in what is today the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

By all accounts, Lucy Johnson was as extraordinary as her illustrious grandson. Writing in the Reader's Digest many years after her death, Dr. Bunche called her ``My Most Unforgettable Character . . . Caucasian `on the outside' and `all black fervor inside.' '' One of his teachers said of her, ``I have never forgotten the emanation of power from that tiny figure.'' Ms. Johnson's remark to the principal of Jefferson High School, where Dr. Johnson was valedictorian of his class and a varsity athlete, is especially memorable. In a disastrously misguided effort at flattery, the principal is reported to have said, ``We never thought of Ralph as a Negro,'' to which Ms. Johnson replied: ``Why haven't you thought of him as a Negro? He is a Negro and he is proud of it. So am

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 71) recognizing the importance of Ralph Bunche as one of the great leaders of the United States, the first African-American Nobel Peace Prize winner, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished diplomat, and a tireless campaigner of civil rights for people throughout the world.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that this House is considering this resolution that honors a great American with whom many Americans may not be very familiar. House Concurrent Resolution 71, introduced by my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), recognizes Ambassador Ralph Bunche, a great diplomat, scholar and human rights champion.

Mr. Speaker, one could begin nearly anywhere in discussing the resume and accomplishments of Ambassador Bunche. He earned his doctorate at Harvard University before he single-handedly established the political science department at Howard University here in Washington.

After World War II, Ambassador Bunche left Howard and became one of the most influential founders of the United Nations, helping to draft the U.N. charter. In 1948, he became mediator of the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine and played a critical role in engineering the armistice that ended the Arab-Israel conflict in 1949. His work on negotiations earned him the honor for which he may be best known, the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize. Ambassador Bunche was the first African American to win this prestigious award. Ultimately, he became the Undersecretary General of the United Nations in 1955.

Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Bunche was an unrelenting advocate for human rights both at home and abroad; and this House justifiably recognizes his distinguished life. For this reason, I urge all members to support the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 71.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for his work in introducing this measure and certainly encourage all members to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to add my voice to those of my colleagues who will vote today in support of my resolution honoring the great Ambassador Ralph Bunche. I also give my special commendation to the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, Congressman Tom Davis, as well as Henry Waxman, the ranking member of the aforementioned committee, who made a special effort to expedite getting H. Con. Res. 71 to the House floor.

Ralph Bunche, who I am proud to say, lived a great portion of his life in New York, was truly a pioneer. He defied the odds of the times, achieving in a number of areas, from diplomacy to education, while standing as a quiet yet effective warrior in the struggle to breakdown the negative perceptions of inferiority then held about African- Americans.

Ralph Bunche graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1927. In 1934, he became the first African-American to receive a doctoral degree in Government and International Relations at Harvard University. Mr. Bunche continued his passion for education by establishing and chairing the Political Science Department at Howard University from 1928-1941. In 1950, Mr. Bunche became the first African-American and person of color to receive a Nobel Prize.

Mr. Bunche is one of this Nation's most distinguished diplomats, and his commitment to international relations and the attainment of human rights internationally has not only benefited the United States, but has had lasting effects on the entire world. He was a founder of the United Nations, the preeminent world body, and he carried on his global mission by selflessly devoting himself to the cause of independence for many African countries, which until the 1960s, were shackled under the yoke of European colonialism.

During his centennial year, I am extremely pleased that the 108th Congress has elected to recognize one of the great architects of the United Nations, which, in the wake of the unilateral invasion of Iraq, is facing its greatest challenge as the embodiment of peacekeeping and international cooperation. This resolution is especially appropriate at this time, for in recognizing Ralph Bunche, we also acknowledge the value of the United Nations to the world and especially, to the United States.