December 13, 2007 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 153, Pt. 25 34377 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

RECOGNIZING ALEXANDER KEITH paid to Norma Becker during her memorial understand what Norma was saying when she HANSEN FOR ACHIEVING THE service. wasn’t talking at all: when she just looked— or smiled—or laughed—or cried or RANK OF EAGLE SCOUT TRIBUTES TO NORMA BECKER grimaced—or shrugged. NORMA BECKER: A TRIBUTE AND CELEBRATION Norma was a very careful listener. I think HON. SAM GRAVES (By Sidney Peck) that was because she was such a good teach- OF MISSOURI It was in December 1966, that I first met er. Her penwomanship alone was impressive! IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Norma Becker. I had come to New York City And, she was always the teacher and student to attend the executive committee meeting wrapped in one. Probing, questioning: ‘‘How Thursday, December 13, 2007 of the newly organized Spring Mobilization come?’’; ‘‘Why do you say that?’’; ‘‘What are Mr. GRAVES. Madam Speaker, I proudly Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Dur- your reasons?’’; ‘‘What is your evidence?’’ pause to recognize Alexander K. Hansen, a ing a break in the meeting, A.J. Muste in- and on. She needed to have the facts straight very special young man who has exemplified vited me to join him with a few others the and the facts had to make sense. She has a next day to exchange views about a number lot of left brain: very analytical, logical, or- the finest qualities of citizenship and leader- of political issues. ganized. But even more powerful was her ship by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts Being in New York City was new for me, right brain: her vision and sensitivity. Above of America and in earning the most prestigious having lived most of my life in St. Paul, all, Norma was heart and soul. award of Eagle Scout. Minnesota. I braved the big city subway sys- How else can you account for her record of Alexander has been very active with his tem and then found 68 Charles Street. I was leadership in our movement for peace and so- troop, participating in many Scout activities. looking for the name Norma Becker on a cial justice? For ten years, she presided over Over the many years Alexander has been in- doorbell—but no name was listed. So I rang the most prominent metropolitan antiwar coalition in the country—The Fifth Avenue volved with Scouting, he has not only earned both bells and soon a buzzer sounded. I heard a loud yell—a question, ‘‘WHO’S Vietnam Peace Parade Committee. The po- numerous merit badges, but also the respect THERE?!!!!’’ I was too intimidated to re- litical waters of New York City are treach- of his family, peers, and community. spond. Again the loud question—‘‘WHO’S erous, especially those of the left and pro- Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join THERE?,’’ followed by ‘‘THE DOOR’S OPEN. gressive movement. No other city has more me in commending Alexander K. Hansen for COME ON UP.’’ I opened the door and went political splinters, splits, fractions, frag- his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of up. She was standing at the top of the stair- ments, division and sects—all of whom be- America and for his efforts put forth in achiev- way—she had a big grin on her face, looked lieve they are the vanguard. Each of which ing the highest distinction of Eagle Scout. straight into my eyes and said, ‘‘Hi, I’m proclaims the correct political line. And Norma,’’ and with the same breath—both none of whom shall ever be denied a rep- f question and command—asked, ‘‘What’s your resentative speaker at the coalition dem- HONORING THE ANTI-WAR ACTIV- name?’’ ‘‘Sidney,’’ I answered rather softly. onstration—or else! ISM AND SOCIAL CONSCIENCE OF ‘‘SIDNEY,’’ she exclaimed, and with the ‘‘What do you mean, ‘or else’?’’ asked same breath asked, ‘‘Where are you from?’’ Norma, ‘‘Or else what?’’ And then she said THE LATE NORMA BECKER ‘‘The Midwest,’’ I answered aloud, ‘‘And your nothing—just looked, rubbed her chin and name is SIDNEY?’’ ‘‘Most people call me waited as the demand was withdrawn—and HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL Sid,’’ I replied. ‘‘That’s very interesting, how then she smiled. ‘‘Thank you very much for OF NEW YORK come?’’ she asked, and added, ‘‘Come on in helping to reach an agreement on our plans and hang your jacket up in the closet. Have for the demonstration.’’ She was a superb IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES you had lunch yet? Sit down and tell me communicator, even to those who resisted Thursday, December 13, 2007 about yourself, before the others come.’’ her leadership. She was tireless in her efforts Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today That is how our friendship began. She told to build a true coalition. She was an out- me how she was a teacher at a public school, standing leader of the anti-Vietnam war in memory of anti-war powerhouse Norma how she loved to teach but despised the sys- movement. Becker, whose energy, spirit, and integrity tem. She told me about her marriage and di- On April 15, 1967, over 400,000 people fueled the opposition to the Vietnam War. A vorce—about her children, Gene and Diane. marched from Central Park and Harlem and New York City memorial service held in her She talked about her involvement with the assembled on First Avenue in front of the honor on November 3 drew hundreds, under- civil rights movement and the peace move- United Nations to protest U.S. military scoring how her passion for peace won over ment—and more recently the anti-Vietnam intervention in Vietnam and demand an end the hearts and minds of many. She, herself, war movement, of her work with the Teach- to the war. The success of that powerful demonstration was due in large measure of exemplified equal measures of heart and er’s Committee and The Fifth Avenue Viet- nam Peace Parade Committee. A total the work of The Fifth Avenue Vietnam mind—impressing others with the sharpness stranger only moments before, she made me Peace Parade Committee, under Norma’s of her intellect and her thoroughly analytical feel right at home. skillful leadership. and logical approach to problems, but impel- Soon the others arrived and we shared our Fifteen years later, Norma threw herself ling them to act through her vision, her sensi- views about this issue and that question and into organizing New York City peace senti- tivity, her soul. were encouraged to appreciate and respect ment in support of the mass demonstration She was a public school teacher with a vo- the profound differences that occasionally in Central Park on June 12, 1982. It was Nor- racious appetite for learning and social indig- rose to the surface. Norma’s place was a safe ma’s tireless and devoted leadership of the New York City peace movement that con- nation. For 10 years, she presided over the house to the Movement. It gave us a sense of community. tributed immensely to the outpouring of Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Com- Just as we were about to adjourn, Diane over a million people in the largest single mittee, the most prominent metropolitan appeared, soon followed by Gene who gave demonstration for peace in the history of the antiwar coalition in the country. She was a everyone a big ‘‘Hello, what’s happenin’?’’ country. founding member of Mobilization for Survival greeting. I liked them immediately because In both of these historic demonstrations, and served as chair of the War Resisters of their great sense of humor. They had Norma carried a considerable burden over League for 6 years. She lent her voice and tal- never met anyone from the Midwest. ‘‘Min- the most difficult political obstacles. On ents, not only to the cause for peace, but to nesota?’’ asked Gene, ‘‘Where in the hell is both occasions, it was her energy, spirit and integrity that helped to sustain the unity of the Civil Rights Movement, as well. Minnesota?’’ So, Norma invited me to stay for supper and answer that question. It was mass action. For more than 20 years, Norma She has engraved her legacy into the Amer- over a meal of whatever was left in the re- was in the vigils, the sit-ins, the days of pro- ican consciousness, and the country is the frigerator that we began a family friendship. test, the trains to Washington, the Hiro- better for it. I submit for the RECORD and the Over many years, I learned to understand shima actions. She did the calling and the interest of my colleagues some of the tributes Norma’s language. Most of all, I learned to fundraising and the letter writing. She went

● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor.

VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:12 Sep 13, 2010 Jkt 059102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0689 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR07\E13DE7.000 E13DE7 wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BOUND RECORD 34378 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 153, Pt. 25 December 13, 2007 to this meeting and that conference and We love you, Norma, as our sister, friend spectrum? Did she have a 48 hour day, while hosted thousands of gatherings at Norma’s and comrade—and we celebrate your life. the rest of us had only 24? place. L’Chayim! Norma was one of the first in the Jewish In the spring of 1977, she was a founding or- THE NORMA BECKER THAT I KNEW community to initiate informal dialogue ganizer of the Mobilization for Survival and (By David McReynolds) with Arabs in New York City, bringing to- for several years organized for peace and so- gether members of two groups who had oper- cial justice at the national level. During this My first memory of Norma is from the ated at a great distance from one another. same period she gave organizational leader- Civil Defense Drill protests in 1960–61, and When the Vietnam War ended, and most ship to the War Resisters League, serving as her attending the WRL Conferences we used people returned to their pre-war routines, chair from 1977 to 1983. to have every year at Hudson guild. I had lit- Norma, with the help of Sid Lens, founded She was a unique and successful organizer tle knowledge of her courageous work in the the Mobilization for Survival in 1977. While because she could blend the right propor- South and didn’t really get to know her until ‘‘Mobe’’ eventually folded, during its ten tions of tender loving care, anger and guilt. 1965 and the founding of the Vietnam Peace years or so of active life it generated a num- Above all, she conveyed a powerful sense of Parade Committee. ber of local ‘‘Peace and Justice’’ centers, and social indignation to all of us, and especially Looking back, that was typical Norma laid the basis for the enormous demonstra- the youth. She truly appreciated the young Becker. She felt that since everyone else had tion in 1982 in Central Park, when the num- for their energy, creativity and selflessness. parades on Fifth Avenue—The Irish, the bers of those who came were so great that es- In her interview with Nancy Zaroulis and Italians, the annual Easter Parade—that the timates of a million remain only a guess. I Gerald Sullivan, authors of ‘‘Who Spoke Up?: Vietnam Peace movement had a right to was there—the crowds were so dense it be- American Protest Against the War in Viet- such a parade. She approached A.J. Muste— came frightening. Norma was, for once, a nam, 1963–1975,’’ Norma recalled some of the then in his late seventies—chaired the meet- speaker, late in the program, and she alone events around the May 9, 1970 demonstration ings, and had wide respect, the Communists dared raise the issue of the Israeli military (in response to the U.S. invasion of Cam- and Trotskyites, who hadn’t sat in the same actions taking place at that time. bodia and the killings of students at Jackson room in decades, came. The Catholic Left With the recession that came with the and Kent State universities): came. Liberal Democrats, pacifists, social- Reagan years, Norma tried hard to push the We put out a mailing of 10,000 one day’s no- ists, trade unionists, Protestants, Jews—all War Resisters League to embrace economic tice—we didn’t have computerized mailings came to that founding meeting, and to the justice as part of its agenda. Together with then. We had a staff of young people who following meetings. Norma we helped set up a coalition—the worked incredible hours. These are the un- The first parade, in 1965, when the Vietnam name now escapes me—which tried to get the sung heroes of that period, and their names War was still widely supported by the public, peace movement to put unemployment, pov- don’t go down in the history books: Linda marked the birth of what would, by the 1970s, erty, and economics on its agenda. Morse, Josh Brown, Alan Barnes, Wendy become mass coalition demonstrations. (And She had a restlessly curious mind. To visit Fisher, Laurie Sandow, Bob Eberwein, and it had one wonderful moment of theater, Norma for dinner was to be plunged into in- many others... these are the young people when Allen Ginsberg, who was in the parade, tellectual discussions far beyond the agenda who were working for fifty, seventy-five dol- walked up to a police officer, kissed him, and of the moment. Toward the end of her life lars a week, if and when we could pay them— handed him a flower—only Allen could have she suffered from mania and depression. She nineteen, twenty, twenty-one years old.... done that and left the officer looking be- was out of the usual organizational loop. The Norma worried about our youth. She mused instead of angry.) death of her son, Gene, probably precipitated worked with youngsters every day in the When the initial parade was over, the Pa- her agitation. Norma would be furious with public schools and she witnessed young peo- rade Committee didn’t dissolve. It set up of- me if I skipped over this, as if her life was ple in the movement for peace and social jus- fices, and drew a staff of supporters who pro- too perfect for a touch of reality. Norma was tice. She was critical of herself and her gen- vided the backbone of public protest and re- very real, to the dinners she prepared, to the eration for not providing the young with sistance in New York City—setting an exam- love and concern she showed to all, to the in- more meaningful role models. She was con- ple, in the process, for people all over the na- credible ability to forgive slights. Perhaps, cerned that we have left them with too little tion to put aside old disagreements and unite most of all, I remember her laughter hope. to fight the war. (Norma never forgave me I have been lucky in this life to have In her effort to understand the dynamics of for opposing the continuation of the Parade known closely and well a number of those war and genocide, Norma was drawn to the Committee, sectarian anti-Communist that I the world has considered great, among them study of human culture and the role of irra- then was, I wasn’t sure about institutional- A.J. Muste, Norman Thomas, Dave tional forces in human motivation. She re- izing cooperation with the Marxist-Len- Dellinger, Bayard Rustin. Norma was as searched biology and behavior—was not sat- inists. Norma was right. I was terribly ‘‘great’ as any of them. Let the record show isfied with the theoretical orthodoxy and ra- wrong). that because of her, fewer Vietnamese and tionalistic models of the political left. She Norma functioned in a movement where Americans died. She showed us that—in the read the literature of Zen and Tao; she took men played the leading roles as the main midst of apathy—resistance and mass mobi- courses in anthropology; she engaged her speakers and writers. While this was a period lization is possible. It was my good fortune friends in long talks about the meaning of it when the feminist movement emerged, and to have worked with her during many years all. She always continued to learn, to study, Norma considered herself a feminist, she was of struggle. The memory of that struggle to know, to create, to enjoy, and to love. more concerned with getting work done than shames us if we think, in a period equally A hope, a desire, a wish—or an attitude— with getting credit. She was a constant fig- dangerous, we can fail now to mount a re- whatever it took, it was an expression of ure in all the shifting coalitions and mobili- sistance, one that reaches out to mobilize Norma’s optimism in troubled times. She un- zations, often using her apartment on the many. derstood how powerful a people’s movement Charles Street as the meeting place from f can be, even with the most limited of re- which new ideas and new approaches sources. And, how empowered each of us can emerged. It would be an enormous mistake HONORING THE MEMORY OF become if we act on our inner courage, how- to think that because she was not the ‘‘pub- FORMER TEXAS SUPREME ever small it may seem. lic figure’’ for the movement, that she was COURT JUSTICE JOHN HILL Norma celebrated our potential as persons, thus ‘‘merely’’ an organizer. (Though God if we can accept one another as ally, friend knows, being the kind of organizer Norma and comrade. In Norma’s everyday practice, was, if that was all she did it would have HON. RALPH M. HALL she sought to heal and overcome the hurts earned her a place in heaven—if not the his- OF TEXAS and pains, the divisions and schisms arising tory books). IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES from racism, sexism, opportunism and sec- What needs to be said is that while many Thursday, December 13, 2007 tarianism within our movement. Time and of us, including myself, had jobs in the move- again, she acted with courage and passion to ment, Norma’s full time job was that of a Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I am unify our ranks against divisive assaults. school teacher—a first class one, active in honored to pay tribute to the memory of John Often she succeeded, and sometimes not, but her union. In addition, she was a divorced Hill, the only person in the history of the great she never failed to respond, no matter how mother raising two children. For most State of Texas to serve as Secretary of State, difficult the task. human beings that would have been enough. Attorney General and Chief Justice of the This is a time to celebrate Norma and give But Norma was a tower of strength in the Texas Supreme Court. John was a friend of tribute to this remarkable person who gave broader movement, negotiating her way so much of her energy, her spirit, her self, so through forests of egos and organizations. mine. He was a spellbinder and, in my opin- that this might be a better world for the She had taken on the role as Chair of War ion, the greatest and most successful trial law- young—so that our children will be alive and Resisters League, and, like all of her other yer of his day. well in the 21st Century and beyond—so that tasks, she took that seriously. Did Norma John entered politics as an organizer in the all will go well. somehow operate outside the usual time 1964 re-election campaign of Governor John

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