Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 31) recognizing the Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr., on the occasion of the establishment of an endowment for trial…
Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 31) recognizing the Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr., on the occasion of the establishment of an endowment for trial advocacy called the ``Andrew L. Jefferson Endowment for Trial Advocacy'' at Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas.
Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, it is a true honor to have the opportunity to sometimes honor those who are quiet giants, who represent the embodiment of the best of America, those who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, and to have the success story written by their own pen, by their own ink. So I rise today to honor a great Texan, a great civil rights advocate and a great American. The resolution recognizes a great legal scholar, as well as a great institution of legal education located in Houston, Texas.
Judge Andrew Jefferson is the embodiment of scholarship, of toughness, of respect, of fairness. He is respected by members of our community, Republicans and Democrats alike. He is respected by members, icons themselves, of the Texas Bar, and well-known around the Nation. He is cherished by the National Bar Association, the Houston Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and as well he is cherished by Texas Southern University and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
This scholar is Judge Andrew L. Jefferson, and the institution that he cherishes is the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Both embody the spirit of legal excellence and public service.
As we talked this day on the celebration of Juneteenth, I am reminded of Representative Al Edwards, who organized Juneteenth, and we have celebrated under his leadership for 29 years. Juneteenth, as I indicated, was about freedom, and Judge Jefferson connotes freedom.
Andrew L. Jefferson, a native of Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1959. After earning his Bachelor's Degree from Texas Southern University, he was the President of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and rose to become a partner at the law firm of Washington and Jefferson, Attorneys at Law, in Houston. He has served as an assistant criminal district attorney for Bexar County. These, Madam Speaker, were jobs that he was able to secure with his own talents way before integration came to the south.
He was a Chief Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was a pioneer for young lawyers, a pioneer in going in places in the law where African American lawyers could not go. In Houston, Texas, African American lawyers could not use the law library. They could not eat in the cafeteria. And, of course, he was a trial counsel and labor relations counsel for Humble Oil and Refining Company, the predecessor to Exxon.
Each time, he was a pioneer, he explored new ground, and certainly as an African American getting his degrees in the late 1950s going through the 1960s before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1965 and the Voting Rights Act, he truly braved new areas and stood for the dignity and respect of all in our community.
Judge Jefferson served in the Judge Advocate General Corps in the United States Army Reserve. He was honorably discharged as a captain. Mind you, he was pioneering and doing all of this in the early days of the 1950s and 1960s.
He has as his lovely bride another civic leader, Mary Jefferson, who I spoke to just last evening. I sent her my best greetings and those to Judge Jefferson, who is mending. We wish him a speedy recovery.
But we also know he has strength and determination and is a role model to many. Mary Jefferson, his partner of many years, has served on many organizations herself. She is a strong advocate for quality education for our youth and for more opportunities for young people to go to college by expanding financial access, and she is a fighter for civil rights herself. She is a long-standing member of the Links in Houston.
A longtime, active committee member of the State Bar of Texas, Judge Jefferson is also a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the American Bar Foundation, of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and of the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission. This outstanding jurist, who is renowned for his expertise in legal practice, has been a highly sought after speaker throughout his career and has frequently shared his experience and knowledge with the Criminal Law Institute for the Houston Bar Association, with the San Antonio Bar Association, and he has spoken in many places. He served on the board of the Houston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank and of the Texas Southern University Foundation.
I remind my colleagues that Texas Southern University was borne out of discrimination when individuals in the State of Texas could not go to the University of Texas, as evidenced by the Heman Sweatt lawsuit.
He has received numerous awards and honors, among them the Anti- Defamation League's National Torch of Liberty Award, the Forward Times Community Service Award, the League of United Latin American Citizens National Community Service Award, and the Community Service Award from La Raza. In addition, he was the Presidential nominee to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
To honor Judge Jefferson on this occasion will be momentous for the City of Houston, for Texas Southern University and for minorities worldwide who aspire to study and practice law.
I congratulate Judge Jefferson for the life that he has led, for the young people whom he has been able to lead. Through his great service, the Texas Southern University Law School, the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, has established a trial advocacy program that will be in his name at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and it will be because of what he did for those he stood by and for those he managed to lead and to inspire.
Judge Jefferson was a good friend and advisor to Barbara Jordan. He ran many campaigns, but as he continues to live his life, he will be renowned and will continue to be known for fighting for equality, for civil rights, for standing tall, and for never stepping away from a tough fight.
So, as we acknowledge Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, I will say that he is the person who stood by her as she sought to expand the Voting Rights Act in her time in Congress.
Judge Jefferson: A leader, a role model, a civil rights fighter, along with his wife, Mary Jefferson, icons of our community, patriots, and great Americans.
I ask my colleagues to support the legislation H. Res. 31.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, let me close by indicating
that Judge Jefferson is to be honored today for many reasons, but I hope one of the strongest reasons will be his ability to work with young lawyers and the excellent service that he gave as a member of the State bench.
For those reasons, along with his commitment to civil rights and voter rights, I ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support H. Res. 31, recognizing the Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great Texan, a great civil rights advocate, and a great American. My resolution recognizes a great legal scholar, as well as a great institution of legal education located in the 18th Congressional District of Texas.
The scholar is Judge Andrew L. Jefferson, and the institution is the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Both embody the spirit of the legal excellence and public service.
Andrew L. Jefferson, a native of Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1959, after earning his Bachelor's degree from Texas Southern University.
He was president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and rose to became a partner with Washington and Jefferson, Attorneys at Law, in Houston.
He has served as an assistant criminal district attorney for Bexar Country, a chief assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, and a trial counsel and labor relations counsel for Humble Oil and Refining Company.
Each time, he was a pioneer, he explored new ground, and certainly as an African American, getting his degrees in the late 1950s, going through the 1960s before the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, and the Voting Rights Act, he truly braved new areas and stood for the dignity and respect of all in our community.
Judge Jefferson served in the Judge Advocate General Corps in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he was honorably discharged as a captain.
He has as his lovely bride another civic leader, Mary Jefferson, who I have the pleasure of serving with on a number of organizations. She advocates for quality education for our youth, and for more opportunities for young people to go to college by expanding financial access.
A long-time active committee member of the State Bar of Texas, Judge Jefferson is also a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the American Bar Foundation, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission.
This outstanding jurist, who is renowned for his expertise in legal practice, has been a highly sought-after speaker throughout his career, and has frequently shared his experience and knowledge with the Criminal Law Institute for the Houston Bar Association and the San Antonio Bar Association. Furthermore, Judge Jefferson has spoken at conventions for the National Bar Association and the Family Law Institute.
Aside from the respect that he has earned as a skilled jurist and advocate, Judge Jefferson's leadership and sound judgment has merited tenures as chairman of the board of the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank and of the Texas Southern University Foundation. Moreover, he is a life member of the Houston Area Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
He has received numerous awards and honors, among them the Anti- Defamation League National Torch of Liberty Award, the Forward Times Community Service Award, the League of United Latin American Citizens National Community Service Award, and the Community Service Award from La Raza. In addition, he was a Presidential Nominee to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
To honor Judge Jefferson on this occasion will be momentous for the City of Houston, for Texas Southern University, and for minorities worldwide who aspire to study and practice law. He is an inspiration for minority students to give them confidence in their potential to succeed.
I congratulate and thank the State of Texas for its contribution to the overall accrual of the resources that were required for the endowment.
The establishment of a Trial Advocacy program at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law will be both an actual and a symbolic landmark.
It was not in the Sixties, but only a few years ago, that I joined the students, legislators, and community leaders at Prairie View A&M University on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to fight for fair and unobstructed voting rights for those students. It was the skilled advocacy of the Lawyer's Committee that produced a statement by the Secretary of State in favor of the students.
Furthermore, the well-settled jurisprudence of case law such as Symm v. United States and United States v. Texas, which made important pronouncements as to the adequacy of students' residency/domicile status to determine eligibility to vote, were the product of skilled trial advocacy.
Without the work of the skilled advocates who argued those cases, we would have an even longer journey to equality of the right to vote in this nation.
Judge Jefferson was also a good friend and advisor to Barbara Jordan. They were strong friends together, because they believed in the empowerment of all. They fought side by side for equality and civil rights. When Barbara Jordan sought to expand the Voter Rights Act of 1965 to Texas in 1968, Judge Jefferson was right by her side.
My mentor, Barbara Jordan, was surrounded by the best and brightest, and Judge Jefferson was no exception.
Therefore, the endowment that will be established in the name of the Honorable Andrew L. Jefferson, Jr. will provide a legacy and will produce legal scholars who will contribute to the achievement of equality in the United States of America.
I congratulate the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University and I thank Judge Jefferson for his service.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
I have no other speakers, and I would be happy to yield back my time.
