AL HR124

Commends former Alabama State Representative Fred D. Gray, a pioneer civil rights attorney, for his 70-year career and professional achievements.

Recognizes Gray as Senior Partner of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray, Gray, & Nathanson, P.C., who at 94 years old continues to practice law specializing in civil rights litigation.

Highlights Gray's representation of Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin, leading to the Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation is unconstitutional, and his work with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, Freedom Riders, and civil rights organizations including the NAACP and SCLC.

Notes Gray's awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joseph Biden, the American Bar Association's Medal, the Legal Defense Fund's Thurgood Marshall Award, and a permanent portrait installation in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

References the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights hosting its inaugural National Symposium on March 14-15 in Montgomery, Alabama, to discuss ongoing civil rights issues.