Senate Proceeding on Feb 4th, 2008 :: 2:18:41 to 2:31:18
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2:18:28 to 2:18:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Rockefeller: in the gallery. which means that we cannot postpone for a variety of reasons which the senior senator from pens opinions pennsylvania gave me. i ask unanimous consent that we set the -- the pending

2:18:41 to 2:18:54( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: amendment aside temporary and first call upon the junior senator from pennsylvania and then the senior senator from pennsylvania to make a few short remarks. the presiding officer: is there objection?

2:18:41 to 2:31:18( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Robert P. Casey, Jr.

2:18:54 to 2:19:15( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: hearing none, the junior senator from pennsylvania is recognized. a senator: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i would ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: is there

2:19:15 to 2:19:40( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: objection? without objection. mr. casey: mr. president, thank you very much. i rise today in support of resolution honoring the lifetime achievements of judge a.leon higgenbathim jr., senator leahy and

2:19:40 to 2:20:04( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: the senior senator from pennsylvania and ranking member of the judiciary, senator senator specter are both cosponsors of this resolution and all of us are honored to pay tribute to remarkable lawyer, jewist,

2:20:04 to 2:20:30( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: jewor -- djuro -- juror and advocate. leon higgonbothem towered above all of us with his commitment to equality. today those who knew him and worked with him and those, like me, who admired him

2:20:30 to 2:20:48( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: from afar, gathered on our nation's capitol to honor his life and legacy. leon higgenbothem was born 80-degrees ago this month. many suffered under racism and seg probation. leon's young mother who

2:20:48 to 2:21:04( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: left school in seventh senth grade and his father who workd in a trenton, new jersey, factory, worked in a world where success was closed to african-americans. leon grew up in a home that valued

2:21:04 to 2:21:19( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: education. the african-american community had few resources to support good schooling. several grade schools offered a limited curriculum and oftentimes one teacher for ltiple grades. this left black students

2:21:19 to 2:21:45( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: effectively unable to gain administration to nearby white high schools. in the four decades preceding leon's entrance into junior high, no black student from his high school in union town, new jersey,

2:21:45 to 2:22:03( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: had ever enrolled in a white high school. without the required prerequisite, the doors to academic success were nailed shut. fortunately leon's parents believe those doors could be pried open. his mother, emily,

2:22:03 to 2:22:12( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: who worked for a wealthy family, constantly told her son that education was, "the sole passport to an educated life," she negotiated leon's innocence into one of the best high schools in trenton. despite

2:22:12 to 2:22:28( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: having no foundation in latin, leon managed to pass his freshman course. leon's latin teacher offered to tutor him over the summer. between jobs as a bus boy in a local hotel and a laborer in factories,

2:22:28 to 2:22:45( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: he rode his bicycle nearly 20 miles to his teacher's home several times a week to improve his latin's skills. mirroring his mother's work ethic and mother's passion for learning, leon overcame the

2:22:45 to 2:23:03( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: odds and earned his high school diploma. at age 16, leon enrolled in the engineering program at purdue university where the student body had 6,000 white students and just 12 black students. so leon

2:23:03 to 2:23:21( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: and his 11 fellow students were required to live in an unheated basement of a campus building. the 12 students shivered their nights away wearing multiple layers of clothing to bed. leon took on that

2:23:21 to 2:23:35( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: fight as well, beginning his advocacy early in life. he continued to pursue his academic excellence at purdue and ended up going to a different college later on, antiock college. eventually, imagine

2:23:35 to 2:23:52( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: this after this early life, becoming a student at yale law school. he arrived at yale with a cardboard suitcase and little understanding of the challenges that lay ahead. he was overwhelmed by the education

2:23:52 to 2:24:11( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: and polish of fellow students, many the sons of lawyers and politicians and prominent .he recalled my father was a laborer, two books in the house, one a bible, the other my mother got out of the church

2:24:11 to 2:24:29( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: of the people she worked for, an old dictionary. i did not begin yale at the starting line as did many of my contraries. he said that a significant event was to go to washington to watch that ourgood

2:24:29 to 2:24:48( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: -- thurogood marshall. he considered his considerable talents to fight for what he called the quote, "promise of freedom for all people." the child who rode his bicycle for latin lessons graduated

2:24:48 to 2:25:11( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: from yale law school would ho would who would see seed in a world -- succeed in a world unimaginable to his parents. he traveled to philadelphia. he became an assistant d.a. and did so many other

2:25:11 to 2:25:26( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: things in the community, but later he left to work for another future judge, i by the name of clifford scott green, philadelphia's first african-american law firm, norris, green, higgenbottom. it was a

2:25:26 to 2:25:39( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: successful firm of african-american lawyers in the region. in 1962 president john f. kennedy appointed leon to the federal trade commission making him the first african-american to serve on a federal regulatory

2:25:39 to 2:25:54( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: commission. kennedy recognized leon's work as a lawyer and public servant and nominated him for a federal judgeship in the eastern district of pennsylvania. his confirmation faced strong resistance

2:25:54 to 2:26:12( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: and repeated delays, engineered by some members of the united states senate. after kennedy's death, lyndon b. johnson overrode the resistance by giving him a recessed appointment to the eastern district court.

2:26:12 to 2:26:26( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: at the age of 35 leon became one of the youngest men ever appointed to the federal bench. from the beginning of his career on the bench, he was known for his scholarly, well-written opinions and his judicial

2:26:26 to 2:26:45( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: tempment. it was parked by the focus on generations to follow him, what he came to call his, quote, "people legacy." his warmth extended particularly to those on what he referred to as, quote, the lower

2:26:45 to 2:27:11( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: end of courthouse bureaucracy, unquote. many of his proteges went on to lead outstanding careers. representative eleanor holmes norton of the district of columbia served as his first law clerk and is

2:27:11 to 2:27:29( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: a living symbol of judge's higgenbottom's legacy. he perted his -- he advocated for women's rights. as a trustee of the yale corporation, he fought to allow undergraduate enrollment for women at yale college.

2:27:29 to 2:27:46( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: another president called upon him, 1977, president jimmy carter asked leon to serve in the united states court of appeals for the third circuit. judge higgenbothem served as chief judge from 1989

2:27:46 to 2:28:06( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: to 1991 and as a senior judge until 1993. he described his judicial philosophy as, quote, "evolution ordinary in terms of what is fair and just in a society." unquote. he reminded us through his writings

2:28:06 to 2:28:21( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: that when our country was founded the hope and promise of the declaration of dependence and the constitution were tarnished by the fact that the united states had over 500,000 slaves. judge higgebothem believed

2:28:21 to 2:28:39( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: it it required progressive interpretation of the documents and continued focus on the inequities that exist. in 1993 when he retired from the bench, he began a new face of the quest to achieve racial equality

2:28:39 to 2:29:11( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: under the law. after three decades of remarkable service, judge higgenbotham had no time to rest and said that i have miles to keep before i sleep. he often asked those in the next generation, who

2:29:11 to 2:29:14( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: would, quote, "carry the baton into the next millup." , he he poured his passion into tomorrow's leaders to take that baton. he taught numerous courses and many students recalled his words, if you don't

2:29:14 to 2:29:30( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: stand up for something, you'll fall for anything. his work as a scholar helped to transform our nation's perception of race in america.| his thorough research of 250 years of research documents form formed

2:29:30 to 2:29:41( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: the basis for a series of books and articles about discrimination in america's system. many remember him as what we now call a multi-tasker, especially in his retirement. when he wasn't teaching, he was in

2:29:41 to 2:29:59( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: a car frequently on his way to an airport dictate ing one of over 100 speeches he would dplfer a year. he would address and give testimony in front of the senate judiciary committee, testify in front of

2:29:59 to 2:30:12( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: the -- or advocate i should say in front of the united states supreme court. hextended his feverrer fervor for equal justice overseas and as an advocate for democracy education in south africa. not

2:30:12 to 2:30:27( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: surprisingly, this great judge was recognize ed with numerous awards for leadership as a jurist, historian, scholar, add so cat, mentor and ordinary citizen. he will be remembered and is remembered by

2:30:27 to 2:30:42( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: so many including me as a true american hero, a giant among men who began his life in the most modest of circumstances. it rose to extraordinary heights heights. rosa parks, another american whose

2:30:42 to 2:30:57( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: extraordinary story continues to inspire us, appropriately noted after his passing -- quote -- "i think he really had a great idea that we are all equal people." unquote. rosa parks's words capture

2:30:57 to 2:31:18( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: what i believe to be the essence of judge higgenbotham's legacy. he helped pry open the doors leading to the american dream for ordinary people of all walks of life. so, mr. president, as i conclude conclude,

2:31:18 to 2:31:37( Edit History Discussion )

Arlen Specter: and as we celebrate this month the achievement of african-americans, i'm honored to pay tribute to loen eon hyingen higgenbotham's life, his life of advocate cy and action, of service and scholarship.

2:31:18 to 2:36:22( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Arlen Specter