February 4, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 23 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E123-E124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 4, 2020

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this February we recognize and 
celebrate the 42nd commemoration of Black History Month.
  This month we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the 
history of our great nation, and pay tribute to trailblazers, pioneers, 
heroes, and leaders like the 44th President of the United States and 
First Lady, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, respectively; Rev. Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr.; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. 
Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce; U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; U.S. 
Congressman Mickey Leland; Astronauts Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford, Jr. 
and Mae C. Jemison; activists, intellectuals, authors, artists, and 
entrepreneurs like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, James 
Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, 
Gwendolyn Brooks, Shonda Rhimes, Ava Duvernay, Oprah Winfrey, and Super 
Bowl LIV winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes and National Football 
League Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, just to name a few of the 
countless number of well-known and unsung heroes whose contributions 
have helped our nation become a more perfect union.
  The history of the United States has been marked by the great 
contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and 
artists.
  As a member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of 
giants like Shirley Chisolm, John Conyers, John Lewis, Ronald Dellums, 
and Barbara Jordan whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me 
to stand here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and 
progress for all, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual 
orientation.
  The greatest of these giants to me are Mrs. Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, 
a vocational nurse, and Mr. Ezra A. Jackson, one of the first African 
Americans to succeed in the comic book publishing business.
  They were my beloved parents and they taught me the value of 
education, hard work, discipline, perseverance, and caring for others.
  And I am continually inspired by Dr. Elwyn Lee, my husband and the 
first tenured African American law professor at the University of 
Houston.
  Madam Speaker, I particularly wish to acknowledge the contributions 
of African American veterans in defending from foreign aggressors and 
who by their courageous examples helped transform our nation from a 
segregated society to a nation committed to the never-ending challenge 
of perfecting our union.
  Several years ago about this time, I was honored to join Congressmen 
John Lewis and former Congressman Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran, 
in paying tribute to surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen and the 
555th Parachute Infantry, the famed ``Triple Nickels'' at a moving 
ceremony sponsored by the U.S. Army commemorating the 50th anniversary 
of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
  The success of the Tuskegee Airmen in escorting bombers during World 
War II--achieving one of the lowest loss records of all the escort 
fighter groups and being in constant demand for their services by the 
allied bomber units--is a record unmatched by any other fighter group.
  So impressive and astounding were the feats of the Tuskegee Airmen 
that in 1948, it helped persuade President Harry Truman to issue his 
famous Executive Order No. 9981, which directed equality of treatment 
and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces and led to the 
end of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces.
  It is a source of enormous and enduring pride that my father-in-law, 
Phillip Ferguson Lee, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
  Clearly, what began as an experiment to determine whether ``colored'' 
soldiers' were capable of operating expensive and complex combat 
aircraft ended as an unqualified success based on the experience of the 
Tuskegee Airmen, whose record included 261 aircraft destroyed, 148 
aircraft damaged, 15,553 combat sorties and 1,578 missions over Italy 
and North Africa.
  They also destroyed or damaged over 950 units of ground 
transportation and escorted more than 200 bombing missions.

[[Page E124]]

  They proved that ``the antidote to racism is excellence in 
performance,'' as retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter once remarked.
  Madam Speaker, Black History Month is also a time to remember many 
pioneering women like U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; activists 
Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks; astronaut Mae C. Jemison; mathematicians 
like Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson authors 
Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have 
each in their own way, whether through courageous activism, cultural or 
intellectual contributions, or artistic creativity, forged social and 
political change, and forever changed our great Nation for the better.
  It is also fitting, Madam Speaker, that in addition to those national 
leaders who contributions have made our nation better, we honor also 
those who have and are making a difference in their local communities.
  In my home city of Houston, there are numerous men and women who are 
great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who said:
  ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only a need a 
heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.''
  By that measure, I wish to pay tribute to some of the great men and 
women who help to make Houston the wonderful, dynamic, vibrant, 
inclusive, and progressive city that it is.
  As we celebrate Black History Month, let us pay tribute to those who 
have come before us, and pay forward to future generations by 
addressing what is the number one issue for African American families, 
and all American families today: preserving the American promise of 
economic opportunity for all.
  Our immediate focus must be to work 'For The People' for job 
creation, and enacting legislation that will foster and lay the 
foundation for today's and tomorrow's generation of groundbreaking 
activists, leaders, scientists, writers and artists to continue 
contributing to the greatness of America.
  We must continue to preserve the American Dream for all.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand here in celebration of the heroic 
and historic acts of African Americans and their indispensable 
contributions to this great Nation.
  It is through our work in creating possibilities for today and future 
generations that we best honor the accomplishments and legacy of our 
predecessors.

                          ____________________