Honoring First Elected Black US Senator

THE PRESIDENT: It is an extraordinary privilege to be here today. And let me begin by acknowledging this distinguished group gathered on the platform: our extraordinary Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi; Majority Leader Harry Reid; Republican leader Mitch McConnell; majority leader Steny Hoyer; Republican leader John Boehner; Senator John Kerry; Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton; Representative Patrick Kennedy; my dear friend, Vicki Kennedy; to our honoree, Senator Edward Brooke, his wife, Anne, and family. It is a great privilege to be here today as we confer the Congressional Gold Medal on a man who's spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country -- Senator Edward Brooke. Now, with his lifetime of achievement, Ed is no stranger to a good awards ceremony. He's been through a few of these. (Laughter.) He's won the Bronze Star, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, honorary degrees from 34 colleges and universities, and more. So he's a pro when it comes to getting awards. But I think today's honor bears a unique significance: bestowed by this body of which he was an esteemed member; presented in this place where he moved the arc of history; surrounded by so many -- myself included -- who have followed the trail that he blazed. Ed's journey to this day was, by any measure, an unlikely one. Raised nearby in a neighborhood so fiercely segregated that black residents needed a note from a white person to pass through -- at a time when so many doors of opportunity were closed to African Americans, others might have become angry or disillusioned. They might have concluded that no matter how hard they worked, their horizons would always be limited, so why bother? But not Ed Brooke. Serving in a segregated army, barred from facilities at the base where he trained, he fought heroically in Europe, leading a daring daylight attack against a heavily armed enemy. Rejected from Boston's old-line firms despite his success in law school, he established his own practice, ...