Recognizing and honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Thank you, Brother Davis.

Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honor for me to congratulate Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity on our centennial celebration, commemorating 100 years of civil service and social progress.

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, by seven young men known as the Seven Jewels. As the first intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity established for African Americans, Alpha Phi Alpha initially served as a brotherhood and study and support group for minority students at Cornell, but it also recognized the need to help correct the educational, economic, political and social injustices faced by African Americans.

From that, the foundation of Alpha Phi Alpha principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character and the uplifting of humanity were laid. Alpha Phi Alpha now has a presence on hundreds of college campuses as well as in hundreds of alumni chapters in 44 States, the District of Columbia, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean islands.

Over the years, Alpha Phi Alpha has played a fundamental role in the positive development of the character and education of more than 175,000 men, and it has been paramount in the fight to advance civil rights and enhance the socioeconomic status of all in American society.

Notable Alphas include Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Jr., Edward Brooke, Andrew Young, William Gray, Paul Robeson, and there are countless others who have served or now serve as leaders in government, business, entertainment, science and education.

Today, in Congress, the eight Members have already been identified, but I would like to mention at this time three national programs that have been designed by Alpha Phi Alpha to benefit the future of African Americans and humanity as a whole. Every Alpha chapter is committed to the implementation of these programs.

The Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College program was established in 1922 and focuses on the importance of African American youth completing secondary and collegiate education as a road to advancement. Statistics prove that school completion is the single best predictor for future success, and Alpha Phi Alpha is committed to promoting education among African American youth and the importance of completing one's education.

``A Voteless People is a Hopeless People'' began as an Alpha Phi Alpha program during the 1930s when many African Americans had the right to vote, but were prevented from doing so due to poll taxes, threats of reprisal, and lack of education about the voting process. The program, which focus on voter education and voter registration, also facilitates town meetings and candidate forums to improve political awareness and empowerment.

Project Alpha was started by a chapter in Chicago in the late 1970s and is now a national Alpha program implemented in collaboration with the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. It is designed to provide education, motivation, and skill-building on issues of responsibility, relationships, teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases for young males 12 to 15 years of age. Project Alpha reaches hundreds of communities and thousands of teen males to teach them the importance of responsibility in their personal lives.

Mr. Speaker, on this centennial anniversary, it is my privilege to recognize the 100th anniversary of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; to commend all Alpha brothers, past and present, for their bond of friendship, common ideals and service to the community; and to wish Alpha Phi Alpha success in the next 100 years as it continues to enrich the lives of its members, its alumni, and through them, communities around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 384) recognizing and honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 384.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 384 offered by my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey). House Concurrent Resolution 384 honors the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded in 1904 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven young men who recognized the need to fill the void of social and cultural interaction on an Ivy League campus left behind by segregation. These founders, who came to be known as the Seven Jewels, were no ordinary achievers, for they had founded the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans, no small feat given the racial attitudes of the time.

For 100 years, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has initiated more than 175,000 men. The goals of the fraternity are manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind. I might add parenthetically that several of my student athletes over a number of years joined this fraternity. The successes of the fraternity have continued through the establishment of 700 collegiate and alumni chapters in 44 States, the District of Columbia, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Moreover, aside from being the first African American Greek-letter organization for college men, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was the first to integrate its membership in 1945. By doing so, they proved to the world that people of different ethnic backgrounds could effectively work together in peace.

In addition, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has implemented a number of national programs which have benefited the African-American community and all communities as a whole. The programs include, ``A Voteless People is a Hopeless People,'' which concentrates on voter registration and awareness, and the ``Go to High School, Go to College'' program, which focuses on the educational enrichment of African American youth. The fraternity also jointly leads programming initiatives with March of Dimes, Head Start, Boy Scouts of America, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America.

Lastly, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has played a fundamental role in the positive development in the character and education of these young men that has served as a foundation for success and achievements in all fields of endeavor, from the sciences, to education, to business, to professional athletics, and to public service.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize and honor the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for the celebration of its 100th anniversary, and commends all Alpha Phi Alpha brothers, past and present, for their bond of friendship, common ideals and beliefs, and service to community.

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

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank very much Representative Davis, and what a pleasure it is to join all of my fellow Members of Congress on this historic day for this historic occasion, which is to truly recognize 100 years of sojourning for truth by this extraordinary fraternal organization.

I stand before you as living proof of the greatness of our Alpha Phi Alpha. I was brought into Alpha Phi Alpha when I was 18 years old, 1964, at Florida A&M University in the Beta Nu chapter, and it is not a stretch to say that if it were not for Alpha Phi Alpha, David Scott would not be standing in this prestigious place called the Congress of the United States, for I, like every Alpha member, and every Alpha brother, owe so much to the sturdiness of that organization to at an early age instill in so many young men, African American young men or boys and turn African American boys into men, to understand the importance of brotherhood, to understand the importance of commitment, of discipline, of focus, to learn early in your life that if you want to be something, if you want to be somebody, the first place you have to look is in the mirror because the answer lies deep within yourself.

1906 to 2006, 100 years of greatness that mirrors 100 years of greatness in the greatest country on the face of the Earth, the United States of America; and at every step of the way in that great journey of the last 100 years, the men of Alpha have played a pivotal role, all the way from World War I, where we had Alpha men who fought in Europe; all the way up through the Great Depression, when America had to go through the great economic throes that we did, men and women of Alpha worked in the work plant, worked right there with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's plan. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt looked America in the eye and said we do not have anything to fear but fear itself, Alpha was there to take that challenge.

Through World War II, Alpha men fought on the beaches of Normandy. All the way from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, Alpha men were there fighting for this country. And when the challenge came to desegregate the schools, the leader of

that, Thurgood Marshall, was an Alpha man who stood tall. And when the call came out, who would go for us and who shall we send to lead the charge in the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King stood strong, a 26-year-old man, and said here I am, Lord, send me. Alpha.

So it is with great feeling and great expression that I join every Member of this House of Representatives to give the proper respect to an organization on whose shoulders we in this House rest. We are eight Members of Alpha in this House, and we are so proud because as we look back through our history, we know that we stand here on the shoulders of Adam Clayton Powell. When there were only a few, maybe one, maybe two, African Americans that sat in this Chamber, it gave hope that we, too, could one day come.

I am so proud and I thank this House of Representatives for recognizing Alpha Phi Alpha.

Mr. Speaker, I want to express my appreciation to my friend and colleague, Mr. Davis, for providing me with this time. I also want to express my appreciation to my friends on both sides of the aisle for managing this resolution and allowing it the opportunity to come here to the floor this afternoon.

Cornell University is one of the most important and one of the most significant colleges and universities in America. It is an outstanding source of education, as well as a place of great scientific and other intellectual research. A great many events have taken place at Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, over the many years that it has been in existence.

Among those significant events was the founding of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, founded on December 4 of 1906. This first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity, which was established for African Americans, was founded at Cornell University, New York, which is located in the congressional district that I am honored to represent, and it was done so by seven college men at that time, Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.

It is important that this resolution is passed today because obviously, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of this fraternity. In fact, it happens not coincidentally this week the Alphas are holding a centennial convention right here in the Nation's capital of Washington, D.C.

Since its inception, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has played a very crucial role in the educational and character development of more than 175,000 men. Now this fraternity has 350 college campus chapters and 350 alumni chapters that are located in 44 of our States as well as the District of Columbia. It also has additional chapters in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. It has become in fact one of the most significant fraternities in the world.

Alpha Phi Alpha alumni include noteworthy leaders who serve in the areas of science, politics, the military, education, and social justice, and there are a large number of members of this fraternity who have served this country and then passed on. I will mention just a few of those outstanding Americans. They include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Justice Thurgood Marshall, and John H. Johnson. Alpha Phi Alpha alumni also include eight other distinguished colleagues in our House. They are Charlie Rangel, Bobby Scott, Chaka Fattah, Gregory Meeks, Danny Davis, David Scott, Al Green and Emanuel Cleaver. It gives me a great deal of pleasure, Mr. Speaker, to offer this resolution to the Members of our House, and I certainly hope it passes unanimously.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 384, a resolution recognizing and honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Since its founding on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., has provided voice, vision, and pride to the struggle of African- Americans and persons of African descent around the globe.

Alpha Phi Alpha, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders, known as the ``Jewels'' of the fraternity, are Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.

The fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. Alpha Phi Alpha chapters quickly spread to other colleges and universities, many of them historically black institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell. While

continuing to stress academic excellence among its members, Alpha also recognized the need to help correct the educational, economic, political, and social injustices faced by African-Americans and persons of African descent around the world.

The Jewel founders and early leaders of the fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha's principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity. These principles of this organization hold true to this very day.

Alpha Phi Alpha has long stood at the forefront of the African- American community's fight for civil rights through leaders such as: W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Edward Brooke, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, William Gray, and Paul Robeson.

For almost a century, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and all the ``Brothers of the Black & Old Gold,'' the official colors of the fraternity, have continuously served their community, country, people, and each other in a manner that is befitting of an organization of such character, dignity, and commitment. I, too, am a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha, and it is an honor to be a part of an organization with such a rich legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution recognizing and honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. Please vote in support of H. Con. Res. 384.