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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions members such as Danny K. Davis. Extensions of Remarks are statements submitted for the official record, even if they were not spoken live on the floor.
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July 16, 2026
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Extensions of Remarks
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextHON. DANNY K. DAVIS
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Emmett Louis Till. Emmett Louis Till was born July 25, 1941. I was born September 6, 1941—just forty-two days later. Had Emmett lived, he would be turning 85 years old today. I turn 85 in September. We are the same age. We came into this world together, and that truth has never left me.
14 years old—living in Parkdale, Arkansas, and visiting my grandfather in Mississippi every summer, just as Emmett visited his great-uncle. When that news reached us, it terrified every Black family in the South. The thought that formed in my mind at 14 years old has stayed with me every day of my life: that could have been me.
Emmett's mother, the incomparable Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley, turned unimaginable grief into the most courageous act in American history. She opened that casket and said: “Let the people see what I've seen.” That decision ignited the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks said she thought of Emmett Till before she refused to give up her seat. I was privileged to know Mrs. Till-Mobley personally, and I carry her courage with me in everything I do.
and Mamie Till-Mobley National Historic Site in Illinois—because their story must be protected, taught, and never forgotten.
Tonight we celebrate what would have been Emmett's 85th birthday. He should be here—
gray-haired, surrounded by grandchildren, full of stories. The distance between his fate and mine was not character or worth. It was chance. And that is why I will never stop working to ensure that no mother ever has to do what Mamie Till-Mobley did.
I wish Emmett a Happy Birthday. We carry him. We remember him. We will not rest until the justice he never received in life is fully honored in history.