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“HONORING HANK AND ROSE SANDERS OF ALABAMA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1723-E1724 on Oct. 26, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING HANK AND ROSE SANDERS OF ALABAMA
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HON. MELVIN L. WATT
of north carolina
in the house of representatives
Friday, October 26, 2012
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, as we approach Johnson C. Smith University's homecoming and election day, I want to take this opportunity to honor Rose and Hank Sanders.
Rose Sanders is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, a historically Black College located in my congressional district. She is also a graduate of the Harvard University School of Law. She was Alabama's first female African American judge and was also a lead attorney in the case of Pigford v. Glickman, a class action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture which documented racial discrimination in the Department of Agriculture's allocation of farm loans and assistance.
Rose Sanders' husband, Hank Sanders, also graduated from Harvard Law School. He serves in the Alabama State Senate where he has represented the 23rd State Senate District since 1983. He was Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee and is the longest serving Chair of the Legislative Budget Committee.
Today, however, I want to recognize Hank and Rose Sanders for their tireless work to organize the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute and the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. The Museum and the Jubilee were organized and started to memorialize the events of March 7, 1965 which has come to be known as ``Bloody Sunday''. On that date 600 citizens, including my hero and our colleague John Lewis, were brutally attacked by Alabama state troopers, as they peacefully attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge seeking to provide the right to vote to all citizens. This attack showed the world the insensitivity and brutality of opponents to voting rights and, ultimately, led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
Through the vision and work of Rose and Hank Sanders and their work through the Museum and Jubilee, thousands of Alabama children, residents, tourists and others from around our country and the world have learned about the courageous acts of those who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and others who have fought to advance the struggle to gain the civil and voting rights we now enjoy.
Today, I ask my colleagues to join me and my colleague John Lewis as we commend the efforts of Rose and Hank Sanders and the important work they have done to advance justice, equality and the right to vote in the United States.
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