12 2 STA T . 2 43 3 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 6 0 —J UL Y 1 , 200 8PublicLaw1 1 0–26 0 110 thCongres s A n Act Toaw a rd a c o ng r es s i ona l gold m edal t o E dward W illiam B roo k e I II in recognition o fh is u n p recedented and enduring ser v ice to our N ation .Beit e nac te dby t h e S enate and Hous eo fR e pr esentati v es of the U nited States of Am erica in C on g ress assemb l ed ,SECTION1. S H O R T TIT L E. ThisActmaybe cite d as the ‘ ‘ E d w a r d W i l liam B r o o k e I II C o ng ressional G old M edal Act ’ ’ . SEC. 2 . F IN D IN G S. The Congress f inds as follows
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Edward William Brooke III was the first African Amer - ican elected by p op u lar v ote to the U nited S tates Senate and served with distinction for 2 terms from J anuary 3, 1 967 , to January 3, 1979. (2) In 196 0 , Senator Brooke began his public career when Governor John V olpe appointed him chairman of the Boston F inance Commission, where the young lawyer established an outstanding record of confronting and eliminating graft and corruption and proposed groundbreaking legislation for con- sumer protection and against housing discrimination and air pollution. (3) At a time when few African Americans held State or Federal office, Senator Brooke became an e x ceptional pio- neer, beginning in 1962, when he made national and State history by being elected Attorney General of Massachusetts, the first African American in the N ation to serve as a State Attorney General, the second highest office in the State, and the only R epublican to win statewide in the election that year, at a time when there were fewer than 1,000 African American officials in our nation. ( 4 ) H e won office as a Republican in a state that was strongly D emocratic. ( 5 ) As Massachusetts Attorney General, Senator Brooke became known for his fearless and honest execution of the laws of his State and for his vigorous prosecution of organi z ed crime. (6) The pioneering accomplishments of Edward William Brooke III in public service were achieved although he was raised in Washington, DC at a time when the Nation’s capital was a city where schools, public accommodations, and other institutions were segregated, and when the District of Columbia did not have its own self-governing institutions or elected offi- cials. Edwar d Wil lia mB r o o keI II C o ng re s sional G old M edal Act.31US C 5 111 note. Ju l y 1 ,20 0 8[ S. 6 82 ]
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