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 deter-
mined 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 cap-
ital who have served in the armed forces and have contin-
ued to pay taxes, both without representation in Con-
gress. 
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 represent-
ative 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 Con-
gress 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 obliga-
tions of citizenship without equal representation in the 
House of Representatives and the Senate; 
Whereas July 4, 2006, is a particularly fitting occasion to re-
mind the Nation of H.R. 5388, the District of Columbia 
Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006, a bi-
partisan 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 vot-
ing 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 Acad-
emy despite racial discrimination and abuse; 
Whereas Wesley Anthony Brown’s pioneering effort to inte-
grate the United States Naval Academy has inspired 
more than 1,600 African Americans who have since grad-
uated 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 Congress-
man 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 hon-
orary member of the United States Naval Academy grad-
uating class of 1999; 
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•HRES 919 IH 
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 condi-
tions, and he should be honored for this pioneering ac-
complishment and the service he rendered to the cause of 
equal treatment for all Americans by courageously ac-
cepting the challenge, and 
Whereas on Independence Day 2006, the best way to appre-
ciate 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, af-
fording 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives com-
mends Retired Lieutenant Commander Wesley Anthony 
Brown for his commitment and dedication to serving the 
people of the United States and recognizes the dedicated 
efforts of all residents of the District of Columbia who 
serve and have served in the armed forces, as well as the 
bipartisan work in the House of Representatives to bring 
equal citizenship to the residents of the District of Colum-
bia. 
Æ 
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