Congressman Al Green Reintroduces Resolution to Remove Sen. Richard Russell’s Name From a Federal Building, a Symbol of National Shame
(Washington, D.C.) — On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) released the following statement:
“We the people of the United States are tasked with establishing justice in and for our nation. However, to achieve justice for all, we must first acknowledge that painful manifestations of bigotry and white supremacy did not vanish with the mandate to desegregate our society. Sixty-eight years after the mandate to desegregate with all deliberate speed, we are allowing the name of a self-proclaimed white supremacist and former U.S. Senator Richard Russell to stain a tax-supported federal building,” Congressman Al Green stated. “For 50 years, we have elevated the prominence of a man who opposed constitutional rights for all. For 50 years, many who suffered at the hands of Senator Russell have visited, worked in, and supported with their tax dollars a Russell Senate Office Building.”
Congressman Al Green – who previously introduced a variation of this month’s resolution in the 116th Congress – concluded, “The Russell Senate Office Building is a symbol of national shame. Senator Russell actively worked to deny black Americans the same privileges that white Americans took for granted. He opposed the integration of public schools, the elimination of poll taxes, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. My resolution calls on the Senate to remove Russell’s name from the building and revert it to its previous name, the Old Senate Office Building, until the Senate selects another honoree. My prayer is that the Senate will act expeditiously and seize upon this opportunity to do justice and rid our country of a fifty-year-old symbol of national shame.”