On the recordMay 23, 2018
I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the life and legacy of Rutgers Law School Professor Alfred Slocum. Professor Slocum was a titan in the legal and civil rights communities. While still a student at Rutgers Law, he spoke out on behalf of minorities and people of color. He worked with professors and other students to help create the Rutgers Law Minority Student Program, which is the most extensive and renowned program to train minority lawyers in this country. During his career, Professor Slocum served many roles in the legal profession and in the public service sector. He was an executive director of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity. He served as public advocate of the State of New Jersey in 1986 and, later that year, was appointed public defender. For 5 years, Professor Slocum championed the causes of the voiceless and the indigent. Then in 1990, he returned to law school, where he taught until retiring from the faculty in 2001. I speak for myself, for the city of Newark, and for the State of New Jersey when I say that Professor Slocum's life was well lived. I ask my colleagues to join me in honor of this great man's legacy. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, Professor Alfred Slocum was a champion for the voiceless and for people in need. Mr. Speaker, the people who are in the greatest need in this country rely on our social safety net for food, for shelter, for healthcare, and for many necessities that help them scrape by.…
