Rep. Sewell Celebrates 91st Birthday of Attorney Fred Gray, Urges his Consideration for the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Washington D.C. - Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) spoke on the House Floor to celebrate the birthday of Civil Rights Attorney Fred Gray and urge President Biden to award him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A native of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, Attorney Gray successfully litigated a number of groundbreaking civil rights cases which led to the desegregation of public buses and the integration of the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and Alabama's public schools, among many other distinguished accomplishments. Attorney Gray turns 91 on December 14th.

In February, Rep. Sewell sent a letter to President Biden requesting that Attorney Gray be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

A video recording of Rep. Sewell's remarks can be viewed and downloaded here. Her remarks are included below.

Rep. Sewell: Mister Speaker, I rise to honor a true American hero and one of our nation's most distinguished civil rights lawyers, Attorney Fred Gray Sr., as he celebrates his 91st birthday on December 14, 2021.

A native of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, Attorney Gray was born in Montgomery and came of age during the height of the Jim Crow segregation era.

One of Alabama's first Black lawyers, he successfully litigated groundbreaking civil rights cases, representing the likes of Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Rev. Martin Luther King, and even our own John Lewis and those protestors that dared to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. His trailblazing work dared this Nation to live up to its highest ideals, leading to the desegregation of public buses and the integration of the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and Alabama's public schools.

Attorney Gray's long and accomplished career fought back against injustice wherever it existed. To paraphrase one of his clients, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Attorney Gray was a "drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness."

As we celebrate another year of Attorney Gray's life, it is my hope that President Biden will strongly consider awarding him our nation's highest civilian honor-the Presidential Medal of Freedom. There is no one more deserving.

Let's give him his flowers as he lives. Thank you, and I yield back.