Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 270, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Expansion Act. I thank Senator Chris Coons for his leadership securing the Senate's unanimous support for passage of this important legislation earlier this month. I am proud to lead the legislation here in the House along with our bipartisan cosponsors, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Congressman Bob Good.

As a former teacher of history and a student of history, I believe in the value of learning from our past. Many Americans don't know that the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, that desegregated public schools in 1954, combined legal challenges from four States and the District of Columbia. I represent one of those States and was fortunate to know some of the petitioners from Clarendon County, South Carolina, who challenged the separate but equal laws. Many of their photographs hang in my congressional office.

In 2004, I wrote, in cooperation with the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, the book ``Uncommon Courage: The Story of Briggs v. Elliott, South Carolina's Unsung Civil Rights Battle.'' That same year, I was proud to lead the effort to present the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor to the leaders of that challenge--Harry and Eliza Briggs, Levi Pearson, and Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine.

Their case, Briggs v. Elliott, was the first of those cases that later became Brown v. Board. The subsequent cases were in Delaware, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and, of course, Topeka, Kansas.

Today there is a National Parks site that was created by Congress in 1992 in Topeka that tells the story of the ordinary people who took this extraordinary action to ensure their children had equal educational opportunities. However, the other communities involved in this historic effort have no National Park Service presence acknowledging their contributions.

This legislation will right that wrong. It expands the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to include locations in each of the communities that were part of the lawsuit. When writing this legislation, I worked with the National Trust Fund for Historic Preservation who engaged with the communities that would be impacted to solicit their input.

With the enactment of this legislation, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site will become more than the Monroe School building in Topeka. It will add the Summerton School and Scott's Branch School in Summerton, South Carolina, to represent the Briggs v. Elliott case; the Hockessin Colored School No. 107 and Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware, to represent Belton v. Gebhart; the former Robert Russa Moton High School, now a museum, in Farmville, Virginia, to represent Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County; and the John Philip Sousa Junior High School in the District of Columbia to represent Boiling v. Sharpe.

Each of these sites will tell the story of how these communities fought to overturn the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that established the separate but equal doctrine. When Brown v. Board of Education overturned that decision and ended generations of inadequate education for Black children, constitutional scholar Louis H. Pollak hailed it as ``probably the most important American Government act of any kind since the Emancipation Proclamation.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of this august body to follow the Senate's lead and vote in favor of expanding the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to ensure that all the communities that contributed to this landmark decision receive proper recognition.

Having geographically dispersed historic sites that tell this great story will enable more students to learn from the past and understand the importance of making America's greatness accessible and affordable to all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of S. 270, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act.

S. 270 will redesignate the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas as the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park.

Further, the bill will expand the Brown v. Board of Education designation by establishing additional sites in South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

The Topeka, Kansas site has memorialized the stories of perseverance for equal access to education. However, when Brown v. Board of education was litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court, it consolidated four other school segregation cases and it is important that we recognize this through expanding the Brown v. Board National Historic Site to each of these four relevant locations.

These cases were Briggs v. Elliot in South Carolina, Davis v. County of Virginia, Gebhart v. Belton of Delaware, and Bolling v. Sharpe of the District of Columbia.

The Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education found that racial segregation in public education violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal protection of laws.

The effect of this decision was the end of segregation in public schools, effectively overturning the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' established by the Court in the 1896 decision of Plessy v. Ferguson.

Every child has a right to equitable education and learning opportunities without being limited by their race and other arbitrary or irrelevant factors.

It is incredible how Brown v. Board overturned what was a commonplace injustice. And in its place formed a new reality where every student can learn unhindered by the color of their skin or their ethnicity.

This case changed the course of civil rights in this country and set a powerful precedent for equality and human dignity around the world.

In memorializing this unprecedented decision, it is vital we consider the states and respective towns involved in this case. Each of the 5 cases contributes its own unique stories and backgrounds in the struggle for educational equity.

By establishing additional sites and affiliated areas in South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, we ensure that the 5 major cases and locations in Brown v. Board are commemorated in each of the locations that gave rise to this historic transformation.

I urge all members to join me in voting for S. 270, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 270) to amend the Act entitled ``Act to provide for the establishment of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes'' to provide for inclusion of additional related sites in the National Park System, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 270, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Expansion Act. This bipartisan bill would rename the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in the State of Kansas as the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Park.

It would also expand the park to include four affiliated sites in South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia relating to court cases on school desegregation that were consolidated into the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, an acknowledgment that I think is important of the entire list of plaintiffs in that historic court decision.

This legislative effort will continue to elevate the important stories and education of the civil rights movement through these affiliated sites and national historic park designation.

This bipartisan bill passed the Senate with an amendment by voice vote in April. The House companion legislation is sponsored by our colleague from South Carolina, the majority whip, Representative James Clyburn.

Earlier this Congress, the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on his bill and ordered it favorably reported by unanimous consent.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Clyburn for championing this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support its adoption. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn.)

Mr. Speaker, let me thank Representative Clyburn for his comments and for reaffirming that our national identity is driven by our history and that history is something that all of us need to learn.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge that last week we celebrated National Park Week. Each April we celebrate our national parks and invite every American

to get out and actually experience them.

My home State of Oregon harbors five units of the National Park System: Crater Lake National Park, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Nez Perce National Historical Park, and Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. I look forward to at least the next century of visitors discovering Oregon's parks and everything Oregon has to offer.

In recent years the National Park Service has made a concerted effort to provide a more inclusive look at American history to ensure that our parks tell the stories of all Americans. I applaud the National Park Service for its effort to make all Americans feel welcome and included in our National Park System.

S. 270, the Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site Expansion Act, adds to the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site currently located in Topeka, Kansas, so that it would include additional sites in South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia each as an affiliated area.

This bill will help to recognize and preserve sites associated with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation of public schools is unconstitutional. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the students, parents, and lawyers whose extraordinary courage and vision led to the dismantling of the separate but equal doctrine.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of S. 270, and I look forward to its being signed into law. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 295, S. 270.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn; the Coons amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; and the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.