Congressman Cohen Commemorates Dr. Benjamin Hooks on House Floor

Congressman Cohen Honors the life of Dr. Benjamin Hooks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A great lion, a leader, a golden throated warrior and silver tongue orator of the gospel, a great civil rights icon, Benjamin Hooks, fell in Memphis, Tennessee, this morning. The Reverend Benjamin Hooks was the head of the NAACP from 1977 to 1992. He was also the first African American on the Federal Communications Commission appointed by President Nixon and served five years from 1972 to 1977. And the first African American trial court judge in Tennessee appointed by Governor Frank Clement in 1965 and elected in 1966. The Reverend Hooks led this country during some of the most difficult times in civil rights. He joined with Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1956 after being ordained as a Minister in Memphis at Middle Baptist Church. He was an attorney, he was a businessman, he was a Minister, he was a civil rights leader. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bush in 2007 and recently was up here in Congress and talked to many members of the Congress in the Rayburn building just two months ago. He leaves his wife, Frances, and many, many millions who benefited from his leadership and his courage. His was a life well lived. Thank you for coming our way, Benjamin Hooks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.