Date: 2015-09-28
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. thank you very much. I am very privileged tonight to lead the Special Order of the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me thank our chairman. Chairman G.K. BUTTERFIELD. for continuing this tradition and for his continued leadership. encouragement. and avocation for Members and for the stories of those who have been such leaders in our Nation and such major issues that we have been able to contribute to for the understanding of our colleagues. Let me also make mention of my colleagues. Congresswoman KELLY and Congressman PAYNE. who have led us on this Special Order for the Congressional Black Caucus. I thank them for their leadership and service. A very special thanks to those of you who are watching at home and have often watched at home and have followed the Congressional Black Caucus through social media. social network. and also know that our major issues of criminal justice reform. civil rights. the restoration of the Voting Rights Act. and many others have been to speak to the vulnerable. Tonight we again speak to you. but we speak of those heroes that we have lost over the last couple of months. Tonight we pay tribute to Amelia Boynton Robinson. Congressman Lou Stokes. and. of course. Julian Bond. Our Nation was built on the values of dealing with the issues of freedom. justice and equality. values and principles that were perfectly embodied by the service and sacrifices of these three leaders. Mr. Speaker. over the last week we have watched the Pope make his way through a number of American cities and use words that are music to the ears of Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me take just one of many citations that I will utilize to characterize these three individuals: "The complexities of history." said Pope Francis. "and the reality of human weakness notwithstanding. these men and women. for all their many differences and limitations. were able. by hard work and selfsacrifice. some at the cost of their lives. to build a better future." I would offer to say that Amelia Boynton Robinson. Congressman Lou Stokes. and Julian Bond. through the sacrifice of their individual families and their lives. were able to make a better future for us. We know the civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson. 1965. was a leader of the Bloody Sunday march and personified the optimism. determination. and courage that are at the heart of the American spirit. She truly made our lives better. Known as the matriarch of our Nations civil rights movement. Ms. Boynton Robinson fought courageously to ensure that every American citizen had the right to vote. Her drive to secure universal voting rights was amazing. and certainly she risked her life when she crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In her words. her son said civil rights was her entire life. We now understand that Congressman Lou Stokes made an amazing and impactful statement legislatively and throughout his life. He was a consummate public servant. a trailblazer who broke down barriers for generations of African Americans. He was the first African American Congressman from Ohio who served 30 years. Representing a portion of Cleveland. he prioritized the advancement of our Nations most vulnerable populations. He advocated for more funding of education. housing. development projects. access to health care. He was one of the fiercest advocates for public housing. Mr. Stokes was a major proponent and leader that asked the Housing and Urban Development to assess the poor. deleterious. horrible conditions that children were living in as housing impacted their health. In fact. just recently I presented my housing authority a lead poisoning grant which was instigated. was encouraged. was advocated for by Congressman Lou Stokes. He has saved thousands upon thousands of lives. I thank him for organizing the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust. and I want to thank him personally for allowing me work for him as a staff member of the Select Committee on Assassinations. which he ultimately chaired. We thank him for his amazing service. He once said. "I am going to keep on denouncing the inequities of this system. but I am going to work within it. To go outside the system would be to deny myself. to deny my own existence. I have beaten the system. I have proved it can be done. So have a lot of others." This is. of course. the kind of leader that Lou Stokes was. Our friend. Julian Bond. was a civil rights icon. He was a leader in the fight for equality. freedom. and equal justice and opportunity. He inspired generations of Americans to build a better future for all people. Julian Bond was considered the young one in the movement with Dr. Martin Luther King. He stood as not only an original. but a fierce advocate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the founding president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Elected to office. of course. he himself fought against discrimination. He was discriminated himself. When he was refused a seat in the Georgia State Legislature. it did not in any way demean or undermine his courage or inspiration. He went on to be seated and to do great things. Tonight we are privileged to be able to honor and pay tribute to these three heroes. We are called to follow the example they set. to fight to ensure that all Americans have access to equal opportunity so they will have a fair shot at economic prosperity. have the right to vote. be free from mass incarceration. and do the things that America bestows upon them. Again. these individuals. at the cost of their lives or their own futures. built a better future for us. With that. I am delighted to yield to the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. G.K. BUTTERFIELD. a former high superior court judgeI am calling him all kinds of namesbut. in any event. a dynamic leader of the Congressional Black Caucus. Again. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.