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Medgar Evers House Study Act

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 16, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations Arts, Entertainment, and History

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

Mr. Speaker, 52 years ago, on June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers, a native Mississippian and the first field officer in that State for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which we have come to know as the NAACP, was shot in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi. This horrific event occurred hours after President Kennedy made a televised speech in support of civil rights. This was a critical moment in the modern civil rights movement as it moved towards the seminal March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Evers was a World War II veteran, fighting in the Battle of Normandy. He returned home to find his path to the voting booth literally blocked at gunpoint. He personally fought to integrate the University of Mississippi Law School and was integral in assisting James Meredith successfully enroll as an undergraduate.

Evers was an activist, an organizer, a loving father, a husband, and, finally, a martyr. He is a true American hero whose time came too soon, yet his name and what he stood for continues to inspire so many. It is time that his service and loss be properly recognized by our Nation.

H.R. 959, the Medgar Evers House Study Act, would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Medgar Evers House in Jackson, Mississippi, for potential inclusion in the National Park system. We estimate that this study will cost approximately $200,000 to $300,000. Funding for this proposed study would need to be allocated from the set amount of funding that Congress appropriates for all special resource studies.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague, Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, for his very hard work on this legislation and for his leadership on this critical issue. The Medgar Evers House is a piece of American history that must be preserved, which is why this legislation is so important.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the adoption of H.R. 959.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge all Members to support H.R. 959.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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