I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1000 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edward William Brooke III in 
recognition of his unprecedented and enduring service to our Nation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2007 
Ms. NORTON (for herself, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. 
MARKEY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Mr. OLVER, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. TIERNEY, and Mr. NEAL of Massachu-
setts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edward William 
Brooke III in recognition of his unprecedented and en-
during service to our Nation. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Edward William 
Brooke III Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Edward William Brooke III was the first 
African American elected by popular vote to the 
United States Senate and served with distinction for 
2 terms from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979. 
(2) In 1960, Senator Brooke began his public 
career when Governor John Volpe appointed him 
chairman of the Boston Finance 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 
exceptional pioneer, beginning in 1962, when he 
made national and State history by being elected At-
torney General of Massachusetts, the first African 
American in the Nation to serve as a State Attorney 
General, the second highest office in the State, and 
the only Republican 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) He won office as a Republican in a state 
that was strongly Democratic. 
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(5) As Massachusetts Attorney General, Sen-
ator Brooke became known for his fearless and hon-
est execution of the laws of his State and for his vig-
orous prosecution of organized 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 elect-
ed officials. 
(7) Senator Brooke graduated from Paul Lau-
rence Dunbar High School and went on to graduate 
from Howard University in 1941. 
(8) Senator Brooke’s enduring advocacy for 
self-government and congressional voting rights for 
the citizens of Washington, DC has roots in his life 
and personal experience as a native Washingtonian. 
(9) Senator Brooke served for 5 years in the 
United States Army in the segregated 366th Infan-
try Regiment during World War II in the European 
theater of operations, attaining the rank of captain 
and receiving a Bronze Star Medal for ‘‘heroic or 
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