Madam Speaker, I rise in remembrance of one of the true giants of American history and politics, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, who was born 113 years ago today,…
Madam Speaker, I rise in remembrance of one of the true giants of American history and politics, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, who was born 113 years ago today, August 27. It might be fair to say that I have quoted the wise words of President Abraham Lincoln on this floor perhaps more than any other Member and my appreciation and profound gratitude for leadership of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led our country out of the Great Depression and into an economic and military superpower, to victory in World War II, and whose New Deal transformed the way Americans live and work for the better, is unsurpassed.
But next to these two greatest of all American presidents, in my view shared by millions, stands Lyndon Baines Johnson, the visionary and architect of the Great Society, which centered federal policy on the growth and human development of the individual, providing educational and economic opportunity to all persons of all races, genders, and creeds living in every rural and urban community in every region of the nation. As I will discuss, the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner and preeminent historian and biographer, Robert Caro, is exactly right when he wrote that with the single exception of Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson was the greatest champion of the poor and underprivileged in the history of the Republic and was the President ``who wrote mercy and justice into the statute books by which America was governed.''
That is why earlier this year I introduced H.R. 115, legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to President Lyndon Baines Johnson, whose vision and leadership secured passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Social Security Amendments Act (Medicare) of 1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, to name just a handful of the more than 180 laws that have done so much to shape American society in the 21st Century. The awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal is long overdue recognition of the remarkable record of achievement in the field of domestic affairs of the person most responsible for several of the nation's landmark laws that mark their 56th anniversary this year.
Madam Speaker, as a Member of Congress from the Tenth Congressional District of Texas, as Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, Vice President and President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson's domestic accomplishments in the fields of civil rights, education, and economic opportunity rank among the greatest achievements of the past century. As President, Lyndon Johnson proposed, championed, led to passage, and signed into law on August 6, 1965 the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which swept away barriers impeding millions of Americans from meaningful participation in American political life. On July 30, 1965, President Johnson signed into law the Social Security Amendments Act of 1965, which we today know as Medicare, which has transformed the delivery of health care in the United States and which, along with Social Security, reduced the rate of poverty among the elderly from 28.5 percent in 1966 to 9.1 percent in 2012.
On July 2, 1964 President Johnson secured passage and signed into law the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment, education, and public accommodations based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
On November 8, 1965, President Johnson signed into law the Higher Education Act, which provided need-based financial aid to students in the form of scholarships, work-study grants, and loans, and thus for the first time made higher education more accessible to populations of persons who were previously unable to attend college because of economic circumstances.
On October 3, 1965, President Johnson signed into law the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, which transformed the nation's immigration system by abolishing the racially based quota system that had defined American immigration policy for the previous four decades and replaced it with a policy whose central purpose was family reunification, with a preference for immigrants with specific skillsets.
Madam Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson began his working life as a teacher and debate coach in the poor Hispanic community in the South Texas town of Cotulla, where poverty was so bad that he recalled seeing ``Mexican children going through a garbage pile, shaking the coffee grounds from the grapefruit rinds and sucking the rinds for the juice that was left, a sight he never forgot, and which fueled his passion and commitment to ending poverty in America. This teacher who became president served his country in numerous, distinguished ways, including as Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, as a Member of both houses of Congress, as Vice President of the United States, and as the 36th President of the United States. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas.
In 1927, he enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos, Texas (Texas State University-San Marcos) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in August 1930. After graduation he taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall, Texas, and taught public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston, Texas, where in the spring of 1931, his debate team won the district championship. In a special election in 1937, Johnson won the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing the 10th Congressional District of Texas, defeating nine other candidates, and would be re-elected to a full term in the 76th Congress and to each succeeding Congress until 1948.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Johnson became the first Member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the armed forces (U.S. Navy), reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941. Johnson received the Silver Star from General
Douglas MacArthur for gallantry in action during an aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea on June 9, 1942. President Roosevelt ordered all Members of Congress in the armed forces to return to their offices, and Johnson was released from active duty on July 16, 1942. In 1948, after a campaign in which he traveled by `newfangled' helicopter all over the state, Johnson won the primary by 87 votes and earning the nickname `Landslide Lyndon' and went on to victory in the general election, where he served until inaugurated Vice-President of the United States on January 20, 1961.
As a member of the Senate, Lyndon Johnson is acknowledged by historians, scholars, and students of politics as the greatest Majority Leader in the history of that chamber. Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. During his administration, education was one of the many areas where President Johnson blazed new ground, proposing numerous education initiatives which became landmark education bills he signed into law. In 1963, President Johnson signed the Higher Education Facilities Act (P.L. 88-204) which authorized a five-year program of federal grants and loans for construction or improvement of public and private higher education academic facilities. This legislation was the largest education program enacted by Congress since the National Defense Education Act of 1958, and itwas the first broad education bill enacted in the post-World War II period that was not tied to national defense.
In 1964, Johnson signed the Library Services Act (P.L. 88-269) to make high quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and rural residents. The funds made available under this Act were used to construct as well as operate libraries, and to extend this program to cities as well as rural areas. Later that year, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act (P.L. 88-352), which included Title VI among its landmark provisions authorizing federal authorities to sue for the desegregation of schools and to withhold federal funds from education institutions that practiced segregation. In 1965, in the presence of his first teacher, Mrs. Kathryn Deadrich Loney, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 89-10) at the former Junction Elementary School in Stonewall, Texas, where he first attended school. This legislation was the first general aid-to- education program ever adopted by Congress, and it provided programs to help educate disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas.
Later that year, he also signed the Higher Education Act (P.L. 89- 329), which was the first program approved by the U.S. Congress for scholarships to undergraduate students. In 1965, President Johnson launched Project Head Start, as an eight-week summer program, to help break the cycle of poverty by providing pre-school children from low- income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Recruiting children from ages three to school-entry age, Head Start was enthusiastically received by education and child development specialists, community leaders, and parents across the nation. Currently, Head Start continues to serve children and their families each year in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories, as well as many migrant children. In 1966, President Johnson signed the International Education Act (P.L. 89-698), which promoted international studies at U.S. colleges and universities.
In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1967 (P.L. 90-247), establishing bilingual education programs for non-English speaking children, and providing more funds for special education for disabled children. Later that year, he also signed the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act (P.L. 90-538), which authorized experimental programs for disabled children of preschool age. In 1965, President Johnson achieved passage of the greatest legislative achievement for the cause of civil rights and equality of opportunity, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discrimination in voting, thus allowing millions of southern black Americans to vote for the very first time. In other actions on the civil rights front, President Johnson nominated civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall to the positions of Solicitor General and later Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, making him the first African American to serve in either capacity.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a document entitled the ``The Legislative Legacy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson: 1963-1968,'' to remind all Members and the Nation what can be accomplished under the leadership of one who had a servant's heart, an iron will, and as the famed biographer Robert Caro memorably characterized it, ``a natural genius for politics.'' I invite all Members to join me in sponsoring H.R. 115, legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal and recognizing the extraordinary domestic achievements of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States.
The Legislative Legacy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson: 1963-1968
1963
College Facilities
Clean Air
Vocational Education
Indian Vocational Training
Manpower Training
1964
Inter-American Development Bank
Kennedy Cultural Center
Tax Reduction
Farm Program
Pesticide Controls
International Development Association
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Water Resources Research
War on Poverty
Criminal Justice
Truth-in-Securities
Food Stamps
Housing Act
Wilderness Areas
Nurse Training
Library Services
1965
Medicare
Medicaid
Elementary and Secondary Education
Higher Education
Bilingual Education
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Housing Act
Voting Rights
Immigration Reform Law
Older Americans
Heart, Cancer, Stroke Program
Law Enforcement Assistance
Drug Controls
Mental Health Facilities
Health Professions
Medical Libraries
Vocational Rehabilitation
Anti-Poverty Program
Arts and Humanities Foundation
Aid to Appalachia
Highway Beauty
Clean Air
Water Pollution Control
High Speed Transit
Manpower Training
Child Health
Community Health Services
Water Resources Council
Water Desalting
Juvenile Delinquency Control
Arms Control
Affirmative Action
1966
Child Nutrition
Department of Transportation
Truth in Packaging
Model Cities
Rent Supplements
Teachers Corps
Asian Development Bank
Clean Rivers
Food for Freedom
Child Safety
Narcotics Rehabilitation
Traffic Safety
Highway Safety
Mine Safety
International Education
Bail Reform
Auto Safety
Tire Safety
New GI Bill
Minimum Wage Increase
Urban Mass Transit
Civil Procedure Reform
Fish-Wildlife Preservation
Water for Peace
Anti-Inflation Program
Scientific Knowledge Exchange
Protection for Savings
Freedom of Information
Hirshhorn Museum
1967
Education Professions
Education Act
Air Pollution Control
Partnership for Health
Social Security Increases
Age Discrimination
Wholesome Meat
Flammable Fabrics
Urban Research
Public Broadcasting
Outer Space Treaty
Modern D.C. Government
Federal Judicial Center
Deaf-Blind Center
College Work Study
Summer Youth Programs
Food Stamps
Urban Fellowships
Safety at Sea Treaty
Narcotics Treaty
Anti-Racketeering
Product Safety Commission
Inter-American Bank
1968
Fair Housing
Indian Bill of Rights
Safe Streets
Wholesome Poultry
Commodity Exchange Rules
School Breakfasts
Truth-in-Lending
Aircraft Noise Abatement
New Narcotics Bureau
Gas Pipeline Safety
Fire Safety
Sea Grant Colleges
Tax Surcharge Housing Act
International Monetary Reform
Fair Federal Juries
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention
Guaranteed Student Loans
Health Manpower
Gun Controls
Aid-to-Handicapped Children
Heart, Cancer and Stroke Programs
Hazardous Radiation Protection
Scenic Rivers
Scenic Trails
National Water Commission
Vocational Education
Dangerous Drug Control
Military Justice Code
Tax Surcharge
