I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5646 
To designate the FAA Air Control Tower located at Memphis International 
Airport as the Freedom Tower. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2010 
Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To designate the FAA Air Control Tower located at Memphis 
International Airport as the Freedom Tower. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The city of Memphis has played and con-
tinues to play a key role in securing American free-
doms. 
(2) Because of its history, Memphis represents 
the struggle for freedom for millions of Americans 
and millions more across the world. 
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(3) Memphis and its airport have long symbol-
ized America’s fight for freedom—from Memphis fe-
male pilot Phoebe Omlie, who served our country 
well and broke gender barriers, to the city’s many 
great civil rights leaders who fought for freedom and 
equality, to our airport’s pivotal national security 
role on one of our Nation’s darkest days, 9/11. 
(4) The tower will serve as a tribute to the 
thousands of men and women who persevered 
throughout the Civil Rights Movement to fight for 
freedom for all men and women of America, no mat-
ter their race, gender, or creed. 
(5) Memphis is home to hundreds of freedom 
fighters including Benjamin Hooks, Vasco and Max-
ine Smith, Russell Sugarmon, and Jesse Turner, 
whose fight for freedom occurred throughout Mem-
phis in the form of sit-ins at department store lunch 
counters and at the main public library. 
(6) Many of these heroic men and women dem-
onstrated their desire for freedom, in spite of threats 
of violence and death, by riding buses in Memphis 
and throughout the South proclaiming their equality. 
(7) The tower will honor all of these freedom 
fighters as well as individuals throughout the Nation 
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who marched, protested, and spoke out for civil 
rights, equality, and freedom for all. 
(8) The tower will safely guide thousands of in-
dividuals each year on their journey to the National 
Civil Rights Museum, which chronicles key episodes 
of the American Civil Rights Movement and main-
tains the legacy of this freedom movement to inspire 
participation in civil and human rights efforts glob-
ally. 
(9) The existing air tower at MEM is named 
the Omlie Tower after Phoebe Omlie, who led the 
way for women’s rights in the aviation industry and 
broke the glass ceiling to allow women the freedom 
to pursue careers traditionally reserved for men. 
(10) Named by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt 
as one of the twelve greatest women in the United 
States, Omlie is most renowned for being the first 
woman to hold an official aviation post in the U.S. 
Federal Government. 
(11) Omlie’s legacy of fighting for freedom and 
equality for women will be memorialized in the new 
tower. 
(12) The tower, located in the Volunteer State, 
will also serve as a tribute to those who have led, 
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fought, sacrificed, and perished to secure and pre-
serve American freedoms. 
(13) The tower will provide vital aviation serv-
ices to the 164th Airlift Wing, located at the Mem-
phis Air National Guard Base at MEM, who protect 
our country and guarantee our freedom. 
(14) The 164th Airlift Wing fights for our free-
doms by providing the Air Mobility Command airlift 
in support of United States national defense and is 
capable of carrying fully equipped combat-ready 
military units to any point in the world. 
(15) On September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda 
attacked on American soil because of their opposi-
tion to our freedoms, MEM served a vital role by 
landing more aircraft than any other airport in 
America immediately after the FAA closed U.S. air-
space on that fateful morning. 
(16) Given MEM’s and the city of Memphis’s 
long history of protecting freedom by advancing civil 
rights, women’s rights, and national security, it is 
appropriate that the new FAA control tower at 
MEM be named the ‘‘Freedom Tower’’. 
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SEC. 2. DESIGNATION. 
The new FAA Air Control Tower located at Memphis 
International Airport shall be known and designated as 
the ‘‘Freedom Tower’’. 
Æ 
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