May 1, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 71 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H3397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1845
                 HONORING THE LIFE OF JUDGE DAMON KEITH

  (Ms. TLAIB asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a civil rights 
icon. Judge Damon Keith passed away this past week. He said one of his 
mentors, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, would say to him: 
When you finish Harvard law, Judge Keith, I want you to use the law as 
a means of social change.
  Judge Keith said: That is what I am trying to do in my lifetime.
  The civil rights icon was courageous. He will be sorely missed by 
many, but even more in his home community of the city of Detroit.
  In one of his most famous cases, he said, in his opinion, that: 
``Democracies die behind closed doors.''
  And from a recent Detroit Free Press article, in 1973, Judge Keith 
ordered Detroit Edison to pay $4 million to Black employees who were 
victims of job discrimination and ordered it to create an affirmative 
action program.
  Some of these are just a little hint of the incredible contribution 
that Judge Keith had to our Nation. He will be sorely missed, but, 
hopefully, his legacy on civil rights and justice for all will continue 
on in our work here in this Chamber.

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