Date: 2014-09-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. it was really good to hear the initial description of Congressman Mickey Leland. He loved being called Mickey Leland. Although his full name is George Thomas. Mickey was what he went by. He was a person of the people. Today. I stand here in support of H.R. 78. designating the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston. Texas. as the George Thomas "Mickey" Leland Post Office Building. I thank the ranking member and the chair of the full committee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for their kindness and their diligence in helping to bring this to the floor of the House. It is appropriate to have it in this year. the 25th commemoration of Mickeys death. along with 15 other brave individuals who were flying to provide lifesaving commodities for those who were starving and dying. This bill will acknowledge this 25th year that we have lost Mickey Leland. It will acknowledge the charitableness of his heart. It will acknowledge he was a person who was willing to sacrifice his own life. It will also acknowledge that he was our fellow colleague in the United States Congress. I am glad that we are doing this. and I again thank the committee because it is important to note that. over the years of this very historic. hallowed institution. Members have come and they have served. That should be our continuing challenge: to serve America and to serve the world. Mickey was born in November 1944. He was born to George Thomas and Alice Raines in Lubbock. Texas. Soon. Mom brought the family to Houston. Texasto our advantage and benefit. He thrived in this city. where as a youth he enjoyed a successful career as a high school sports star at historic Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston. Texas. which is still standing. In fact. as I speak on the floor today. there are advocates trying to preserve the historic old Wheatley High School where Mickey went to school. Mickey entered Texas Southern University in 1965 and received a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy in 1970. In fact. we called Mickey "the pharmacist." as a nickname. It introduced him to caring about people and health care. Mickey was so good. he served after graduation as an instructor of clinical pharmacy at TSU for 1 year. While working there. he established a doortodoor outreach campaign in lowincome neighborhoods to educate people about medical care options and to perform preliminary health screenings. Can you imagine. Mickey Leland. a graduate of the Texas Southern University pharmacy school. helping those poor people who really had no access to health care? His first effort in public service was to work with the City of Houston health officials to set up community health clinics. We could call him the father of that endeavor. Then. of course. he also was an activist trying to improve the civil rights of African Americans in the fifth ward community. and also involved himself in the Jensen Medical Referral Service. In 1972. he was elected to the 88th session of the Texas House of Representatives. He was one of the first groups of African Americans to be elected to that body. Heretofore. prior to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. there were no African Americans of number in the Texas State Legislature. including the Honorable Barbara Jordan. who was able to be elected as well during that time after the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He was reelected for 2 years. two terms. serving until 1978. and then. during that tenure. he served on the senatehouse conference committee as a member of the house appropriations committee. and then came to the United States Congress. He will be remembered in the United States Congress as someone who helped create and support health maintenance organizations. HMOs. He did that through the State of Texas. He then came to Congress in January of 1978. was elected in 1978 to the 18th Congressional District. and he served 10 years here. He was chosen as a freshman majority whip and an atlarge majority whip. chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. advocated for ethnic diversity through affirmative action and broadcast. served as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. and he and Bill Emerson established the Select Committee on Hunger. Now. my colleagues. this is where his heart showed even larger than it did in his local community. He was an effective spokesperson for ending the suffering of hunger in the United States. and he joined with his good friend. Republican William "Bill" Emerson. who represented Missouris Eighth Congressional District. His wife later represented him. Through the power of bipartisanship. Mickey Leland and Bill began a mission that still resonates todaythat food is a basic right and should never be used as a weapon. Today we still have the Mickey Leland hunger center. of which I serve on the board. and many are still advocating around the world. Mickey Leland Fellows who are around the world and who are fighting against hunger. Bill died in office and. as I indicated. his wife took his place. But Mickey married. in 1983. his wonderful wife. Alison. His beautiful sons. Jarrett David and twins Austin Mickey and Cameron George Leland. and his mother. Alice Raines. of course. are still living. In 1983. in the midst of the civil war. the nation of Ethiopia experienced the worst famine in nearly 100 years. which led to more than 400.000 deaths. Mickey heard that cry. and so the Speaker of the House asked him to go there to Sudan in 1985. The hunger was so overwhelming he came back and passed the African Famine and Relief and Recovery Act of 1985. He then continued to serve on the Select Committee on Hunger. led by himself and Bill Emerson. and provided $8 million for a vitamin A program. Mickey loved people. He loved solving their problems. and so it was maybe fate that he would die on August 7. 1989. on the side of an Ethiopian mountain with other brave individuals. such as Hugh Anderson Johnson. Jr.. and Patrice Yvonne Johnson. two of his aides. Joyce Francine Williams. an aide to Ron Dellums. Robert Woods. a political aide at the American Embassy. Gladys Gilbert. a staff person with USAID. and Thomas Warrick. the USAID representative. and many others who were on that flight with him. I can only say that. in closing. it is an honor to introduce this legislation. and I would ask my colleagues to support this legislation. not in the honor of a colleague so much as in honor of an American who cared enough about people to be willing to sacrifice his life. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation in the 25th year of the commemoration of the death of the Honorable Mickey Leland. George Thomas Mickey Leland. the late Congressperson of the 18th Congressional District.