Whereas, in 1948, Clarence Thomas was born outside of Savannah, Georgia, in the small community of Pin Point, Georgia; Whereas Clarence Thomas was born into poverty and under segregation; Whereas, notwithstanding his humble beginnings and the many impediments he faced, Clarence Thomas demonstrated incredible intellect, discipline, and strength in attending and graduating from St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School, St. John Vianney Minor Seminar, the College of the Holy Cross, and Yale Law School; Whereas Clarence Thomas had a distinguished legal career with service in State government and all branches of the Federal Government, including the Senate, the Department of Education, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Whereas, on July 1, 1991, President George Herbert Walker Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (in this preamble referred to as the Supreme Court ); Whereas Justice Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court; Whereas, during his quarter century on the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas has made a unique and indelible contribution to the jurisprudence of the United States; Whereas Justice Thomas has propounded a jurisprudence that seeks to faithfully apply the original meaning of the text of the Constitution of the United States; Whereas Justice Thomas has brought renewed focus to constitutional doctrines that the Framers intended to undergird our republican form of government, including federalism and the separation of powers; Whereas, in fostering this philosophy of law, Justice Thomas reinvigorated not only the jurisprudence of the United States, but also the democracy of the United States; Whereas Justice Thomas has been a remarkably prolific Associate Justice, writing influential opinions on topics including constitutional law, administrative law, and civil rights