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[Page H551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO MAYOR LARRY LANGFORD
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the
extraordinary life and legacy of late Mayor Larry Paul Langford. Mayor
Langford was a beloved mayor of Birmingham and Fairfield, as well as
serving Jefferson County as its first African American president of the
Jefferson County Commission. He devoted much of his time to big ideas
for the people whom he loved in the communities that he served.
Mayor Langford will be remembered as a larger-than-life personality
who broke barriers as the first Black reporter for the region at WBRC;
the first Black mayor of Fairfield, Alabama; the first Black president
of the Jefferson County Commission; and as mayor of Birmingham. A
Vietnam vet, Mayor Langford served in public office in multiple
capacities for nearly 23 years, and he will be greatly missed by our
community.
On March 17, 1946, Larry Langford was born to John Langford and to
Lillian Nance Langford as the oldest of six children. He was a proud
graduate of Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama. After high
school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving for 5 years
during the Vietnam war.
Langford returned home with a renewed sense of community and a
renewed sense of service. He quickly completed his college degree at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and he became the first
African American male to become a news reporter for WBRC 6 News in its
region.
The importance of this role was never lost on Langford. He knew that,
after the tumultuous decade before, to have an African American man
reporting the news in this area was an important sign of progress in
the city of Birmingham. Langford did well as a reporter, using his
charisma and outgoing personality. He was able to speak with the people
of Birmingham and tell their stories.
Langford decided to run for his first political office. He was
elected to the Birmingham City Council in 1977, where he quickly became
known as the liveliest and most outspoken of city council members, as
well as the most media savvy.
During his time on the Birmingham City Council, he also worked as a
radio news director and contributed to the Birmingham Times. After an
unsuccessful run for mayor of the city of Birmingham against fellow
Councilman Richard Arrington, Jr., in 1979, Langford temporarily
retreated from public life. By 1982, Langford had moved to Fairfield,
Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, and married the love of his life, Miss
Melva Ferguson. A few years later, he decided to return to public life
and ran for mayor of Fairfield, handily defeating a crowded field of
candidates.
Langford became the first African American mayor of the city of
Fairfield in 1988, another first. After his election, he led an
aggressive campaign to revitalize the city. Langford was granted more
authority and helped to save the Fairfield City Schools from
bankruptcy, and he pushed for regional cooperation in economic
development that led to an agreement between 11 Jefferson County
municipalities which joined forces in 1998 to finance and construct a
$90 million project called Visionland, an amusement park that he
brought to the city of Birmingham. It was actually in Bessemer, and it
was part of a regional cooperation.
During his four terms as Fairfield mayor, Langford set his eyes on
the Jefferson County Commission, where he hoped to continue to develop
more regional cooperation in economic development. Langford was elected
to the Jefferson County Commission in 2002, defeating the incumbent.
After becoming elected to the commission, he was quickly elected by
his peers to be its president, another first. During his tenure as
president of the Jefferson County Commission, he proposed a 1 percent
sales tax that helped build 30 new schools and generated over $1
billion in revenue.
In 2006, Mayor Langford ran again for the mayor of Birmingham for a
second run. This time, he was successful and won in a very crowded
field without a runoff.
Mayor Langford was sworn into office on November 13, 2007, as mayor
of Birmingham. He went on to strike an agreement with a foundation that
provided computers to schoolchildren throughout the city of Birmingham.
Nearly 17,000 elementary and middle school children received laptops
that year.
While Mayor Langford's 23-year political career resulted in many
successful public projects, his service was not without controversy.
Mayor Langford's tenure as mayor of Birmingham was cut short when a
jury found him guilty of public corruption on October 28, 2009, and he
was sentenced to 15 years. After serving 8\1/2\ years, on December 28,
2018, due to his failing health, Mayor Langford's sentence was commuted
by a Federal judge, giving him compassionate release. The next day,
Mayor Langford was transferred from a Federal prison to Birmingham
Hospital, where he remained until his death.
I want you to know, on a personal note, Mayor Langford was an
outstanding mayor and his service will always be remembered and beloved
by the community that loved him so much. I was honored to be a part of
his funeral and to help him get his compassionate release. It is
important that we remember the totality of his career.
I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering Mayor Larry Langford.
____________________
