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“TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND CAREER OF SECRETARY WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR.” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E470 on April 6, 2017.
The Department handles nearly all infrastructure crisscrossing the country. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department should be privatized to save money, reduce congestion and spur innovation.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND CAREER OF SECRETARY WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR.
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HON. BILL SHUSTER
of pennsylvania
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished life and career of William T. Coleman, Jr., a fellow Pennsylvanian, who passed away on March 31, 2017 at the age of 96.
Coleman served our Nation as the fourth Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, from March 7, 1975 to January 20, 1977. He was nominated by and served under President Gerald R. Ford.
Ironically, just one day after the passing of Secretary Coleman, the Department he once led marked its 50th anniversary of operation.
President Ford nominated Coleman, a fellow Republican, to serve as Secretary based in part on his expertise in transportation law. During his tenure at the Department, he worked to strengthen the long-term viability of the U.S. rail industry, oversaw the opening of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's automobile test facility at East Liberty, Ohio, established the Materials Transportation Bureau to address pipeline and hazardous materials transportation safety, and opened the United States to flights of the Concorde aircraft.
As Transportation Secretary, William Coleman was beloved by Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. My father served on the Public Works and Transportation Committee during Secretary Coleman's tenure. The two were good friends, even though they didn't agree on every issue. On one occasion, the previous Congressman Shuster gave the Secretary a particularly difficult time during a committee hearing. Afterwards, my father received a bottle of wine from the Secretary and a note that said, ``I hope we're still friends.'' Although it never crossed my father's mind that they wouldn't be, Secretary Coleman's gesture is one small example of why he was so well respected.
By the time William Coleman was sworn in as the Secretary of Transportation, he had already made his important and indelible mark on U.S. history.
Coleman was the second African American to serve in a cabinet-level post, following Robert Weaver, who served as housing secretary under President Johnson. Appropriately enough, his oath of office was administered by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, with whom Coleman had previously worked alongside to help end discrimination and secure greater equality for all Americans.
For example, they worked together--Coleman writing legal briefs for Marshall--on Brown v. Board of Education, the case which ultimately ended the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' and segregation in our public school system. This alone would have been an exceptional achievement for an African American from the Germantown area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who attended a segregated elementary school.
However, Coleman also later argued against a law that prohibited interracial couples from living together, and soon after, the Supreme Court ended all prohibitions against interracial marriage in the United States.
Coleman was the first African American to serve as law clerk to a Supreme Court Justice, worked to defend civil rights activists, and served as president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He also served as a lawyer on the Warren Commission, charged with investigating President Kennedy's assassination. During his career, Coleman served in the military, argued 19 cases before the Supreme Court, co-chaired the White House Conference on Civil Rights, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995.
Ably serving as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation would have been a notable enough accomplishment, but William T. Coleman, Jr. achieved much more than that. He will be remembered as a thoughtful, dedicated, and just man who helped spearhead the fight for equal rights for all Americans.
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