IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 919 

Honoring Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Anthony Brown for his 

historic achievement as the first African American graduate of the United 

States Naval Academy and paying tribute on the occasion of July 4 

to Wesley Anthony Brown and other residents of the Nation’s capital 

who have served in the armed forces and have continued to pay taxes, 

both without representation in Congress. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2006 

Ms. NORTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on the 

Judiciary and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Anthony 

Brown for his historic achievement as the first African 

American graduate of the United States Naval Academy 

and paying tribute on the occasion of July 4 to Wesley 

Anthony Brown and other residents of the Nation’s capital who have served in the armed forces and have continued to pay taxes, both without representation in Congress. 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown retired from the Navy as a 

Lieutenant Commander and joined William F. Halsey, 

Jr., and Chester W. Nimitz, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and 


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•HRES 919 IH 

Hyman G. Rickover with the rare honor of having a 

United States Naval Academy building named after him, 

the Wesley Brown Field House; 

Whereas July 4 is an appropriate occasion to pay tribute to 

Wesley Anthony Brown as an especially fitting representative of the citizens of the District of Columbia, who for 

230 years have served in the armed forces of the United 

States, always without equal representation in the Congress and always paying taxes without representation, 

notwithstanding that this form of tyranny was one of the 

major causes of the War for Independence which led to 

the founding of the United States; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown and other residents of the 

District of Columbia continue to meet all of the obligations of citizenship without equal representation in the 

House of Representatives and the Senate; 

Whereas July 4, 2006, is a particularly fitting occasion to remind the Nation of H.R. 5388, the District of Columbia 

Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006, a bipartisan bill pending in the House of Representatives 

which was recently voted out of one committee with an 

almost equal number of Republican and Democratic 

votes, and of Wesley Anthony Brown and other residents 

whose service in the armed forces of the United States 

entitles them to all elements of citizenship, including voting representation in the House of Representatives and 

the Senate; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown, a resident of the District 

of Columbia, attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar High 

School before entering the Naval Academy in 1945; 


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•HRES 919 IH 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown served his country in three 

wars: World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam 

War; 

Whereas after graduating, Wesley Anthony Brown joined the 

Civil Engineering Corps, where he achieved the rank of 

Lieutenant Commander; 

Whereas before Wesley Anthony Brown, 5 African Americans 

during the period between Reconstruction and World 

War II met the highly competitive standards of excellence 

for entrance into the United States Naval Academy but 

encountered such harsh physical and mental racial abuse 

that they were unable to finish; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown met the rigorous academic 

and physical challenges of the United States Naval Academy despite racial discrimination and abuse; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown’s pioneering effort to integrate the United States Naval Academy has inspired 

more than 1,600 African Americans who have since graduated from the Academy; 

Whereas today nearly 23 percent of the Academy’s students 

are from minority groups; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown has remained committed to 

public service by chairing the Service Academy Selection 

Committees for former District of Columbia Congressman Walter Fauntroy from 1988 through 1991, and also 

was the first Chair for Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes 

Norton’s Selection Committee; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown was inducted as an honorary member of the United States Naval Academy graduating class of 1999; 


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Whereas author and historian Robert Schneller chronicled the 

life of Wesley Anthony Brown in his book ‘‘Breaking the 

Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy’s First Black 

Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality’’; 

Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown’s graduation was a pivotal 

moment in the Nation’s efforts to integrate the armed 

forces of the United States and to improve racial conditions, and he should be honored for this pioneering accomplishment and the service he rendered to the cause of 

equal treatment for all Americans by courageously accepting the challenge, and 

Whereas on Independence Day 2006, the best way to appreciate the groundbreaking service of Wesley Anthony 

Brown and other District of Columbia veterans and 

members of the armed forces is to pass H.R. 5388, affording the residents of the District of Columbia the full 

vote in the House of Representatives for the first time in 

American history: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives com2 mends Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Anthony 

3 Brown for his commitment and dedication to serving the 

4 people of the United States and recognizes the dedicated 

5 efforts of all residents of the District of Columbia who 

6 serve and have served in the armed forces, as well as the 

7 bipartisan work in the House of Representatives to bring 

8 equal citizenship to the residents of the District of Colum9 bia. 

Æ 


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