Frank Lautenberg: “for the past month, we have been celebrating Black History Month. I believe that Black History Month is not only a time…”

“for the past month, we have been celebrating Black History Month. I believe that Black History Month is not only a time to recognize the contributions and achievements of African Americans to this Nation, but it is also a time to acknowledge both progress African Americans have made and the continued racial disparities in this Nation. We usually celebrate African-American athletes, musicians, and actors. While their successes have been significant, I feel it is important that we acknowledge some of the great thinkers, inventors, and discoverers who were African American. Some of the great pioneers include Dr. Charles Drew, who discovered the process for storing blood plasma; Garrett Morgan, who was the first to patent the traffic light and the gas mask; Granville T. Woods, who invented a train-to-station communication system; Astronaut Mae Jamison, the first African-American woman to enter space; Dr. Benjamin Carson, who successfully separated Siamese twins joined at the head; and Otis Boykin who invented the electronic control devise for guided missiles, IBM computers, and the pacemaker. These great innovators and pioneers not only blazed the trail for other young African Americans to follow, but they also inspired and contributed to American development and progress. Therefore, these pioneers were not only great African Americans, they were quintessentially American.”