[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H822-H829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO THE LATE HON. BARBARA JORDAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, many fear the future, many are 
distrustful of their leaders, and believe that their voices are never 
heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private work wants and to 
satisfy their private interests. But this is the great danger America 
faces, that we will cease to be one Nation and become, instead, a 
collection of interest groups, city against suburb, region against 
region, individual against individual, each seeking to satisfy private 
wants.
  Mr. Speaker, if that happens, who then will speak for America? Who 
then will speak for America? What are those of us who are elected 
public officials supposed to do? I will tell you this, we as public 
servants must set an example for the rest of the Nation. It is 
hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people 
to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common 
good. More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes 
and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly 
accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.

  Mr. Speaker, that was from Barbara Jordan, 1976, at the Democrat 
Convention.
  Mr. Speaker, last week we lost an American hero. Barbara Jordan died 
last week on Wednesday, January 17, 1996, a friend to many, a mentor, 
and an icon. The late honorable Congresswoman, Barbara Jordan, who not 
only represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas that I am now 
privileged to serve, was one of the first two African-Americans from 
the South to be elected to this august body since reconstruction. She 
was a renaissance woman, eloquent, fearless, and peerless in her 
pursuit of justice and equality. She exhorted all of us to strive for 
excellence, stand fast for justice and fairness, and yield to no one in 
the matter of defending this Constitution and upholding the most sacred 
principles of a democratic government. To Barbara Jordan, the 
Constitution was a very profound document, one to be upheld.
  The lady, Barbara Jordan, the first black woman elected to the Texas 
Senate, was born February 21, 1936, the daughter of Benjamin and Arlene 
Jordan. The youngest daughter of a Baptist minister, she lived with her 
two sisters in the Lyons Avenue area of Houston's Fifth Ward. The 
church played an important role in her life. She joined the Good Hope 
Baptist Church on August 15, 1953, under the leadership of Rev. A.A. 
Lucas, graduating with honors from Houston's Phyllis Wheatley High 
School in the Houston Independent School District.

[[Page H823]]

  Ms. Jordan went on to Texas Southern University, where she majored in 
government and history. While at Texas Southern University, Barbara 
Jordan was an active student and a member of the debate team for 4 
years, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She got her tutelage 
under Dr. Thomas Freeman, who gave her the inspiration and certainly 
the training to formulate both her words and her tone, and to make her 
one of this world's greatest orators.
  It was her involvement with the debate team that began for her a 
series of firsts that will become the hallmark of her professional 
life. Ms. Jordan was a member of the first debate team from a black 
university to compete in the forensic tournament held annually at 
Baylor College University in Texas. On that occasion, she won first 
place in junior oratory, one of many first place trophies in a career 
as a debater. We must remember at those times there were not many black 
debate teams from across the Nation competing in integrated 
tournaments. This was a first. Ms. Jordan was outstanding.
  After graduating magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 
1956, she received her law degree from Boston University in 1959. This 
Constitution became part of Barbara Jordan's life, and she carried it 
everywhere she went. We already knew Barbara Jordan before the 1974 
impeachment hearings, but her undaunted courage on that somber occasion 
etched her name in our memories forever.
  Those of us who have been honored by having the public place its 
trust in us know the onerous burden and the weight of passing a vote 
destined to alter our history forever. We know what it took for Barbara 
Jordan to say ``yea, aye'' when the House Committee on the Judiciary 
roll was called on July 30, 1974, and we are still admiring her for it. 
That was the day we realized that she was much more than the gilded, 
persuasive voice that always held sway when she spoke.
  I remember her talking about this momentous day and her participation 
in the Watergate hearings. This young woman, newly elected to Congress, 
took these responsibilities extremely seriously. She was concerned that 
people across the country felt that this Government was being 
undermined, that we were in the throes of a potential revolution, that 
all would be lost.
  Barbara Jordan, concerned about the moment, the history, the impact, 
seriously studied all of the Watergate hearings in review, listened 
attentively, and indicated to all of us that she viewed this 
Constitution as a serious document and would not view it and see it be 
diminished. She took this role seriously, and she was concerned that 
she speak in measured words and tone, so those who might be looking 
would still have faith in the Constitution and in this Government. It 
was the honorable Barbara Jordan that calmed the fears of most 
Americans, saying that if she was there with her faith in this 
Constitution, albeit that she had not been included in this 
Constitution as an African-American when it was written, then they knew 
that all might be well.
  We realize that Barbara Jordan was a tremendous moral force and was 
calling upon all of us to account to our conscience as a Nation. Her 
untimely death leaves a great void in our national leadership, and she 
will be sorely missed as we grapple with the great moral issues of the 
day.

  Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, legislator, scholar, author, and 
presidential adviser. She was immensely gifted, and used every bit of 
her talent and skill to address, improve, and dignify the conditions of 
human life. In the tradition of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, 
and Thurgood Marshall, she challenged the Federal Government and the 
American people to uphold the principles set forth in the American 
Constitution.
  Congresswoman Jordan began her public career as a Texas State 
Senator. Might I say to you, she was a first then, for there had never 
been an African-American in the Texas Senate, and she stood tall and 
proud. Her voice, although eloquent and resonating throughout the 
halls, was full of passion, and she felt compelled to represent those, 
the least of her sisters and brothers, individuals who might never have 
gone outside of the realm of their neighborhood, who might not be able 
to read or write, did not have a job. She has spoken on behalf of small 
businesses. She was very concerned about civil rights, employment 
discrimination, equality and justice, even in the Texas Senate. She 
served her country with great distinction as a Member of Congress and 
chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. Her 
extraordinary impact on our country will be felt for many generations.
  She gained national prominence in the 1970's as a member of the House 
Committee on the Judiciary during the impeachment hearings of President 
Richard Nixon. Again, her eloquent statement regarding her faith in the 
Constitution helped the Nation to focus on the principle that all 
elected officials, including the President of the United States, must 
abide by the mandates of the Constitution.
  During her tenure in Congress, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was a 
leader on issues relating to voting rights, consumer protection, 
energy, and the environment. Might I add that she was particularly 
forceful in including language minorities in the Voting Rights Act of 
1965, which then covered Texas, and also allowed for Hispanics and 
others to be included so that they would have equal justice under the 
law as right, and have full participation in this Nation, and a full 
part of this Constitution.
  Additionally, Congresswoman Jordan played an active role in the 
Democratic Party. She served as a keynote speaker at the 1976 and 1992 
Democratic National Conventions, and constantly challenged the 
Democratic Party to be a catalyst for progress and make the American 
dream a reality for all Americans.
  After retiring from Congress, Congresswoman Jordan was appointed a 
distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public 
Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. This position enabled her 
to have a major influence on the next generation of public officials. 
She impressed her students with her intellect and ability to inspire 
them to achieve excellence in the classroom, and to be committed to 
public service.
  Mr. Speaker, Barbara Jordan was buried on January 20, 1996. She was 
buried at the Texas National Cemetery. She was the first African-
American in the history of the national State cemetery to be buried 
there, in her death a first, but making a statement that she was laid 
to rest among Texas heroes. They benefited because an American hero was 
laid to rest with them.
  As I stood on the burial ground and participated in that ceremony, it 
was an overwhelming feeling, for it came to me that we lost her too 
early. This was reinforced when one of her students came up to me, 
stood next to me and said ``I know you.'' And I said ``Yes? And who are 
you?'' ``I'm a student. I was taught by the honorable professor Barbara 
Jordan.''
  I said ``How interesting. You have a great experience to cherish.'' 
She said, ``Yes, and in her classroom, she talked a lot about you.'' 
Both of us, touched very much at that time, just stood and embraced, 
for this was a woman who was not afraid of sharing herself and others, 
and she was not afraid of young people. She loved them. She wanted to 
give to them, and in them, she saw the opportunity for love and caring 
and the future.
  Congresswoman Barbara Jordan leaves the American people, particularly 
Members of Congress, a powerful legacy of commitment to freedom, 
integrity, government, and belief in human progress. She also leaves 
and is survived by her mother, Arlene Jordan, her sisters, Bennie 
Jordan Chriswell, Rosemary McGowan, brother-in-law, John Wesley 
McGowan, aunt and uncle, Mamie Reed Lee and Wilmer James Lee, close 
friends, Nancy Earle, Angie Taylor Morton, Muriel and Lee Dudley, 
Evelyn and Walter Harrison, Lonnie and Mary Elizabeth York, Robert and 
Norma Jones, Anna, Lois, and Carl T. Taylor, Billy Brown and Betty 
Thomas, Patsy Hurd, Jerry Earl, and Willie Calhoun.
  I would simply say to you that she leaves throngs of others, hoping 
that her words will continue on in our hearts, but most importantly, in 
our actions. She stated:

       America's mission was, and still is, to take diversity and 
     mold it into a cohesive and coherent whole that would espouse 
     virtues and 

[[Page H824]]
     values essential to the maintenance of civil order. There is nothing 
     easy about that mission, but it is not Mission Impossible.

  The Honorable Barbara Jordan. Nothing was too hard for her to accept 
as a challenge, and nothing was too hard for her to overcome; a great 
American. We lost her, but not her words and her message.
  I am delighted today to be joined by the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina, the Honorable Eva Clayton, who has come from the great State 
of North Carolina, in fact knows of the great works of the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan, and is likewise an African-American woman serving in 
the U.S. Congress.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for 
arranging this special order, Mr. Speaker, and allowing us to 
participate in it, and to give honor to it.
  Mr. Speaker, when I speak of freedom, fairness, justice, and 
equality--words that compose the very foundation of this democracy--I 
often quote Barbara Jordan.
  Barbara Jordan was more than a leading figure, a great stateswoman, 
and an oratorical genius. She was the essence of leadership, the 
epitome of statesmanship, and the embodiment of oratory.
  She believed in America, and the principles underlying the creation 
of this Nation. More importantly, she was not afraid to fight for those 
principles and to stand up for her beliefs. Perhaps a speech she 
delivered in 1974, best captured her firmness and her fight. In 
discussing the meaning of the Constitution, she stated, ``We, the 
people.'' ``It is a very eloquent beginning.'' ``But when that document 
was completed on the 17th of September, in 1787, I was not included in 
that `We the people.' ''
  Barbara Jordan continued, ``I felt somehow for many years that George 
Washington and Alexander Hamilton, just left me out by mistake. But 
through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I 
have finally been included in, `We the people.' ''
  All of us can imagine the penetrating way she said those words. With 
a distinctive style, a commanding voice, in clear, crisp language--
there was only one Barbara Jordan. When she spoke--we listened--the 
world listened.
  And, few interpreted the meaning of the Constitution like Barbara 
Jordan.
  It is for that reason that we acknowledge the deep and wide abyss 
that has been left by a death, too soon, at age 50, on January 17.
  Her career of public service began in service.
  Never reluctant to do her part, in 1960, she addressed envelopes for 
the Kennedy campaign.
  Her special talents, however, were soon recognized, and she was 
elected as the first black woman in the Texas State Legislature, and 
the first black woman elected to Congress from the South.
  In many ways, Mr. Speaker, she paved the way for me and for other 
African-American women. It is also, in many ways, ironic that Barbara 
Jordan's political interest was first sparked by reflection on the 
deeds of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Today's Republican Party 
often discusses its efforts in terms of revolution and makes 
comparisons and contrasts with the New Deal days of Roosevelt. It is 
ironic because, it is said that, Barbara Jordan's grandfather never 
began a meal without thanking God, ``for FDR and the Home Finance 
Administration, which made this house possible.''
  Perhaps that early lesson gave her the clear vision that, indeed, 
government has a role in our lives. She left Congress in 1978, to 
assume a teaching position at the University of Texas--of course, she 
was teaching all along. We shall never forget the stirring keynote 
addresses she gave at Democratic Conventions 16 years apart, in 1976, 
and again in 1992. What was remarkable was that neither time, nor 
space, nor distance had tarnished her devotion to America's 
fundamentals. ``Won 'em both,'' she said.
  The Watergate hearings may have thrust Barbara Jordan across the 
national landscape. But, it was an unwavering spirit, a daring 
dedication and an unmatched commitment to this Nation that made Barbara 
Jordan who she was. It is because Barbara Jordan believed that there is 
a place for all in America--young and old; black and white; male and 
female; rich and poor. And, it is because Barbara Jordan has died that 
each of us must never stop insisting upon that place. That is our 
challenge.
  The Statue of Liberty was closed during the Government shutdowns--an 
inauspicious symbol of today's America. But, to the end, Barbara Jordan 
stood fighting for fundamentals. As chair of the U.S. Commission on 
Immigration Reform, her most recent public service post, she stated, 
``It was immigration that taught us, it does not matter where you came 
from, or who your parents were. What counts is who you are.'' I shall 
continue to quote Barbara Jordan.
  The pearls of wisdom she shared with us in life, live on through 
death. Freedom, fairness, justice, and equality--We are far closer, 
today, than ever before, to those words which, too often, are mere 
platitudes. And, we will continue to be closer, because the spirit of 
Barbara Jordan lives.

                              {time}  1815

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina. I applaud and agree with her words that only because of 
her words and actions are we closer to freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to my good friend, the gentleman from 
Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to commend the 
gentlewoman from Texas, as well as her colleagues. I think if Barbara 
Jordan were here, she would be proud of the words spoken on her behalf 
by all of my colleagues, and I commend that.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, it gives 
me great honor to be able to yield time to the Honorable Louis Stokes, 
who I know that the Congresswoman enjoyed many good years of service 
with. I know of his commitment, but also his friendship, and I know how 
much the family appreciates him being here today to honor the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan, the senior member of the Committee on Appropriations, 
the Honorable Louis Stokes.
  Mr. STOKES, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. 
I want to express our appreciation on behalf of all of us for her 
taking out this special order this evening so that all of us might pay 
tribute to this very great American lady.
  Mr. Speaker, we gather tonight to pay tribute to the late Barbara 
Jordan, an extraordinary individual and former Member of the House. On 
January 17, 1996, the Nation mourned the passing of this political 
giant and gifted orator. During her lifetime, she served this Nation 
with honor and dignity. We join family members, friends and others 
throughout the Nation in sorrow at her passing. Barbara Jordan was a 
remarkable American who will never be forgotten.
  Some of us who are gathered here today are fortunate to have served 
in Congress with this great lady. And, as I stand here today, I have 
many fond special memories of my personal friendship with her in this 
Chamber. She frequently served in the capacity of speaker, pro tempore 
during that period. Whenever she was in the Chair, the Manner in which 
she presided over the entire House was a beauty to behold. Her dignity 
and elegance was in full bloom at those times.
  Those of us who served with Barbara Jordan came to love, admire and 
respect her greatly. Not only was she a knowledgeable legislator, but 
she was also someone who was sincere and compassionate. Whatever she 
did or said, she did or said with fervor. She also had a great sense of 
time. She respected the time of others, and she demanded that you 
respect her time.

  Barbara Jordan set a standard of excellence and integrity which will 
remain as a legacy forever. She was a tireless advocate for those who 
had no voice in the congressional deliberations. She was also a 
champion of justice and a staunch defender of the Constitution.
  A graduate of Boston University Law School, Barbara Jordan was one of 
American politics' pioneer black women. She began her political rise in 
1966, when she was to the Texas State Senate, becoming the first 
African-American elected to that legislative body.

[[Page H825]]

  In 1972, Barbara Jordan again made history when she and Andy Young 
became the first African-Americans from the South to be elected to 
Congress since reconstruction. Congress found in Barbara Jordan, a 
lawmaker of the highest caliber and integrity.
  Mr. Speaker, we recall the eloquence of Barbara Jordan in 1974, as 
Congress debated the possible impeachment of the President of the 
United States. During the Judiciary Committee deliberations, she 
stirred the national conscience when she declared, ``My faith in the 
Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going 
to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, 
and the destruction of the Constitution.''
  Barbara Jordan was also held in high esteem by the leaders in the 
White House. On two occasions, in 1976, and again in 1992, she was 
selected to deliver keynote speeches at party conventions. And, in 
1994, we applauded as Barbara Jordan received the Nation's highest 
honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Clinton. It 
represented a fitting tribute to a distinguished American.
  Mr. Speaker, Barbara Jordan was a giant in the legal profession and 
one of America's greatest constitutional authorities. Her eloquent 
voice, impeccable integrity, and legal scholarship, elevated her to the 
top of the legal and political profession. She will be greatly missed. 
I and others in this Chamber bid her fair farewell with gratitude for 
the opportunity to have known her during her distinguished lifetime. I 
thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the honorable Congressperson Lou 
Stokes, for his eloquence and his recognition that this Congresswoman, 
Barbara Jordan, was good at her work. She was a good legislator. She 
was a legal scholar, and she took her work very seriously. In so doing, 
she made us proud and she upheld the Constitution. I thank my colleague 
for sharing with us and, of course, for being her friend.
  It gives me great pleasure now to yield to her colleague who served 
with her in that momentous time as a member of the House Committee on 
the Judiciary in 1974. He remains a stellar Member of this body. He is, 
in fact, a senior member of Ways and Means, and I personally could see 
the anguish in his face as we funeralized this great lady. I welcome to 
the well the gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel].
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the gentlewoman for 
taking the time out to give us a chance to pay honor to this great 
lady, a lady indeed of America and the world. My colleagues may not 
have known Mo Udall, but Mo was a beloved Member of this House, and 
before he left, once in the middle of the night, when the House was 
crowded and everyone wanted to go home, Mo came to the well of this 
House of Representatives and said, all that has to be said about this 
bill has already been said. And the House just burst out with deep 
appreciation. But then he added, but not everyone has said it.
  I think when we talk about a great person and personality like 
Barbara Jordan, that once again we find ourselves in the position that 
most things have already been said. So I thought what could I add, and 
then that made me think more about Barbara. We sat together on that 
Committee on the Judiciary, as the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Stokes] 
pointed out, side by side for the many weeks and months to determine 
and to deliberate whether or not the acts of the President of the 
United States, then President Nixon, had warranted us on the Committee 
on the Judiciary in voting for articles of impeachment, which, as 
everyone knows, means that it amounted to an indictment and a trial 
would later be had in the Senate.
  Barbara was always more than adequately prepared to hear the 
testimony, to ask the appropriate question, and you would think that 
she was chief counsel of the committee if it was dependent on the 
quality of her preparation. But while some of us, especially those of 
us who have been former prosecutors, were framing the question in terms 
of trying to get the answers that we were probing for, I noticed that 
most of her questions were not to determine whether or not President 
Nixon had committed any wrongdoing, but whether or not the Members of 
the House were prepared to distort that Constitution in order to 
achieve a political goal, as some may think is going on now in the 
Senate.

                              {time}  1830

  Some have said that Barbara was not one to take fools lightly. And 
sitting next to her, I certainly did not intend to joke with her about 
the serious task that she had taken on. But as we had seen so many 
people tear apart the law as we would know it, she was there to defend 
the system to make certain it would be there for someone who needed the 
protection and the cloak of innocence of our Constitution.
  But most of the time that I raised these questions to her, she would 
dismiss me, having already made up her mind, by saying, ``There you go, 
Charles, up to mischief again.''
  And so why would I be any different tonight when I loved Barbara then 
and love her now and miss her now? And if there was anything that I 
would want her to say to me, it would be, ``There you go again, 
Charles,'' with a smile on her face, ``up to mischief again.''
  And I would be up to mischief tonight to say that this gracious lady 
will always be remembered in this country as a great American, as she 
should be.
  She also will be remembered as one who wore the flag and the 
Constitution so close to her heart as if to say that she will take the 
stones and the arrows, but do not touch her precious Constitution. And 
as oft cited, reported, she would say that even those that knew that 
people like she were treated as chattel and property when the 
Constitution was written, she would dismiss it and say, it was a 
mistake and she is there to correct it.
  But, Congresswoman Lee, the thing has to remain now that she is gone 
and invested her time, her energy, her eloquence in protecting that 
Constitution, will the United States of America and those who loved and 
cherished her allow that Constitution to be broad enough now to give 
the protection for the people that she loved the most, the people from 
the poverty-stricken rural areas where she came from that cannot rise 
to her height in physical, intellectual, or oracle skills?
  Would those that pay tribute to her be prepared to say that she never 
accused them of racism, she never wore her sex or her race on her 
sleeve. She said, this country was rich enough, broad enough, cared 
enough that she did not have to say those things, it would work its way 
out.
  At the funeral, so many said that Barbara is not gone, that she lives 
with us, and this means what she stood for lives with us.
  If that is so, why does this Chamber look more like a Congressional 
Black Caucus meeting than a lady who concerned herself about the 
Congress only because it was part of the Constitution? When the 
President of the United States and the leader of the free world goes to 
Texas to pay tribute, is that not a sign that everybody, especially 
those in Texas, white or black, Mexican or nutmeg Jew, Gentile, 
Catholic, Protestant, should be there, because Barbara was not making 
mischief, she was making history to say that you do not have to make 
mischief to achieve? And she proved that it could be done, and she did 
in fact do it.
  I do hope that when Barbara is remembered, that she is not thrown 
into the category of mischiefmakers, because they have a way of saying 
you pushed a little too hard, you were not sensitive to our political 
problems, or that sooner or later you would get all of the things that 
you are entitled to under the Constitution, because Barbara did not 
take issue with that. She knew it would work out.
  I say in tribute to Barbara Jordan, this great American, why can 
everyone who loved her not take a page out of that book, and whether 
they come from Texas, they are a politician, a Member of Congress, 
whether they are black, whether they are a woman, remember that she 
gave everything she had to protect that parchment, and she did not just 
protect it for those people who look like her. She was protecting it 
for everybody in this country, even former President Richard Nixon.
  If she could care that much to give up political objectives in order 
to protect this paper, why can every American who expects that paper to 
be there for them and their grandchildren not 

[[Page H826]]
do a little something that Barbara would want them to do? Be less 
political, less partisan, less mean-spirited, and be more American, be 
more caring, be more what the forefathers wanted, and, that is, to work 
together, to live together, to make this a better country, more 
productive, and spend our energy and time in getting rid of poverty and 
disease instead of building up hatred and causing confrontations.
  I tell the Congresswoman, in my humble opinion, she liked people to 
make mischief, but she did not believe that everyone had to do it the 
same way.
  So why do we not pay tribute to her and do it Barbara's way, and, 
that is, to make certain that no matter where we come from, if we find 
someone that looks like Barbara, that may not be able to walk like 
Barbara, that may not be able to speak like Barbara, may not be able to 
command the presence that Barbara had for all of us, to remember she, 
too, he, too, they deserve the protection of this great document that 
she died with, held closely to her bosom.

  That is the tribute that I think that you pay to an American. And 
that is the tribute that we should have all over America, not just in 
Houston, not just in Austin, not just here, not just with the 
Congressional Black Caucus, not just with the President of the United 
States but with every child in every valley regardless of complexion or 
religion to say, what a great person and how wonderful it was that 
America had such a wonderful defender.
  I thank the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman. If he would just for 
a moment, you have raised a very solemn challenge. And for fear of 
anyone perceiving politics being involved, let me add that Barbara 
would always tell us in Texas that she did not fear being called a 
politician. She just wanted to be a good politician. And because we are 
where we are today, am I understanding the gentleman from New York to 
suggest that we in this great body today, in this era, in 1996, in the 
midst of our own discussions, might take a page from the life of this 
legacy, this American hero, about bringing interests together, diverse 
interests, about working for the common good, about the understanding 
that the Constitution and the whole American people are more important 
than the singular?
  Am I understanding the gentleman almost instructing through her life 
that we might take that page, or 10 pages, out of that book and maybe 
in weeks and months to come, we would see our way clear to follow a 
cohesive pattern to work for all of America?
  Mr. RANGEL. Dear gentlewoman, you have well described our Barbara 
Jordan and in doing so you described our Constitution and our great 
Republic.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman.
  Let me also appreciate my colleague and certainly in her own right a 
fighter, an advocate for equal rights and equal justice, a legal 
scholar herself and now the honorable Delegate from the District of 
Columbia. But as we all applaud and believe, equal under the law, and 
we are advocating that for her constituents and we applaud her work on 
their behalf, and she has come now to honor Barbara Jordan, the 
Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.
  Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for her kind remarks, 
and I thank her even more for her leadership in taking out this special 
order.
  May I say to the gentlewoman that I think that Members of this body 
would agree with me that even as a freshman, she is proving herself a 
worthy successor of Barbara Jordan.
  Barbara Jordan was a great American. I intend for my few minutes to 
be devoted to proving that proposition.
  Her presence was so awesome that she is likely to be remembered more 
for her voice and her style than for her substance. That would be just 
too bad.
  For in this world it is not how you say what you have to say, it is 
indeed what you have to say. And if you have nothing to say, the most 
resonant voice should do you no good.
  Why is it that when Barbara Jordan spoke, everybody listened? Was it 
really a matter of style? I submit that it was a matter of substance. 
To be sure, amplified by a very original and very forceful style. But I 
hope that we listened to what Barbara Jordan had to say, for here was a 
woman who had something to say.

  We are inclined to look at our leaders in surface ways, especially in 
the age of television and demonstrations. I think of King and Malcolm. 
King is remembered today, for example, as the militant leader for 
equality and God knows he was that and perhaps that first and foremost. 
But if we look deeper into his life, there are parts of his life that 
have fallen back, because we look at the surface, we remember the 
obvious. We do not remember King the intellectual, King the advocate of 
racial harmony, King the pacifist, King the man who was extremely 
modest and self-effacing. We remember the marches, we remember the 
speeches. It is important to remember a person's whole life.
  I want us to remember Barbara Jordan's whole life, not just her 
presence.
  In the same way, I chuckle at the way people remember Malcolm X. 
Because I think most Americans remember Malcolm X as a militant black 
nationalist. I believe Malcolm would want you to remember him as he was 
at the end of his life, when he had renounced black racism along with 
white racism, when he had renounced anti-Semitism, and frankly almost 
all of his prior life, when he went to Mecca and came back and said, 
``I believe in the brotherhood''--and sisterhood, I think he would have 
had it. What I find awesome about Malcolm is his capacity to grow and 
change and learn and lead even if it meant his life.
  Similarly, Barbara Jordan was not some bold, big-talking black woman 
who brought us a message of equality. She was that and she was so much 
more than that.
  her Watergate remarks are, of course, most remembered, the famous 
lines ``We the people,'' ``My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is 
complete, it is total.'' Those are not lines often spoken by many 
African-Americans.
  And she spoke them not just because she believed she lived in a 
perfect democracy. She believed just the opposite. In that very speech, 
she began by saying, words to the effect, ``I guess we can say We The 
People because now they have included me in We The People. They 
certainly didn't mean me when we started out.''
  Then she said, ``By virtue of amendment, I too am now part of We The 
People.'' And in effect what she was saying was it took this 
Constitution a long time to get around to including me in We The 
People, I feel a special obligation to protect the Constitution, and I 
am not about to let it be subverted by the actions of even a President 
of the United States like Richard Nixon.

                              {time}  1845

  Her faith in the Constitution was total, because she had seen the 
evolution to include people like herself, and thus she believed that 
the country would reach its highest ideals and devoted much of her life 
talking in that idealistic fashion.
  Of course, Barbara Jordan was an advocate for the downtrodden in the 
tradition of the Congressional Black Caucus. The gentleman from New 
York will be the first to tell you, she was there on all of those 
principles. But, as he said, people go at it in different ways, and she 
had her own special way.
  What I will most remember about Barbara Jordan is fearless 
leadership. This sense of integrity made her rise above the political 
moment and made her whatever the political lashes on the shores might 
have been, made her true to whatever were her principles.
  Here is a woman that deeply believed in equality across all racial 
lines and believed she ought to speak to her own people who were black 
and beyond.
  Now, many African-Americans do not believe they should speak beyond, 
because it is very hard for them to get beyond. Life has been very 
difficult. So then, perhaps even more now, people speak out of their 
own experience and do not speak to the larger American experience.
  Here is a woman that knew she had the capacity to do it, and felt it 
her obligation to do it. This capacity to lead is very important, 
because it means you can say difficult things. People will listen to 
you and they will be accepted.
  About the easiest thing for me to say in my district, and I think it 
would probably be the case in the district of the gentlewoman from 
Texas now and 

[[Page H827]]
then, would be to talk about equality and to talk about the things 
that, frankly, I love to talk about. I love to talk about how black is 
beautiful and I love to talk about black pride. But there are more 
difficult things to talk about then and now which really relate to the 
lines that are being drawn so that we increasingly live in isolated 
worlds.
  Look, we can do that. We can do that. But if we do that enough, we 
are courting danger.
  When I looked at her words, I see a constant theme running through 
everything she said and everything she wrote. It was that here is this 
black woman, over and over again she said we are all one people. Do not 
succumb to balkanization and polarization. It is the worst, not the 
best in America. We have helped America find their way out of this. Do 
not do it.
  She was speaking against the grain of the time, and she continued to 
speak to that theme to the end of her life. On National Public Radio I 
heard her words most recently spoken in which she said she was 
astonished at racial separation, segregation, polarization. Much of it 
she said was self-imposed. Here was Barbara Jordan speaking at the end 
of her life in ways that almost no black Americans are speaking today.
  I pulled out her remarks from the Democratic Convention in 1992, and 
let me read a few sentences. Here is Barbara Jordan. Here is how she 
will be remembered by her country.

       We are one. We are Americans, and we reject any intruder 
     who seeks to divide us by race or class. We honor cultural 
     identity. However, separatism is not allowed. Separatism is 
     not the American way, and we should not permit ideas like 
     political correctness to become some fad that could reverse 
     our hard won achievements in civil rights and human rights.

  The fact is Barbara Jordan had the moral authority to say that, 
without appearing to be any less committed to equality and to the 
beauty of blackness. She had the capacity to be a teacher, and she 
insisted upon teaching, she insisted upon leading, she would not simply 
go with the crowd. That is the kind of leadership we need today in a 
country where we see less and less of the sense of community, more and 
more of the sense of I have got mine, you ought to get out there and 
get yours, less and less of a sense that we are all one big insurance 
policy. An insurance policy is a vehicle where we are all in it and 
some of us need it sometimes and some of us never need it. If we are 
not that kind of community, if we are not that kind of federation, then 
we are not living in the tradition of Barbara Jordan.

  Yes, I feel a special debt to Barbara Jordan as an American black 
woman in political life. But her debtors are far greater. She was a 
political pioneer who never stopped changing our country for the 
better. She was never cynical about her country, and she inspired those 
who were to reach above the low point of Watergate that they could 
indeed reach to the ideals that her country had yet to reach.
  Her remarks at the Watergate hearings, by far her most memorable, 
will, I think, be remembered by history precisely because of the 
skillful blend of criticism and idealism. They were both in that 
speech.
  Barbara Jordan was both a pioneer and a political mentor to thousands 
of women. She encouraged by example to engage in politics at every 
level. Through her commanding presence, she taught women, especially 
black women, that they could take charge. Active until the end of her 
productive and fruitful life, Barbara Jordan never stopped leading. She 
never stopped serving. We will not stop remembering.
  I thank the gentlewoman.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia. Might I just say something, as I indicated to the 
gentleman from New York: You taught, as many of us are aware. The last 
years of the congresswoman's life was spent as a professor. Many asked 
me many times as I traveled around the country, ``How is Barbara? Where 
is she?''
  She was fine. She was absolutely enjoying what she was doing, which 
was being able to create in reality for students, young people, what 
the Constitution meant. Many of her friends remember her fondly as 
B.J., and some of the students, more brave than others, called her that 
as well.
  But you are so right about what she meant to us, how she stood. In 
her first congressional campaign she said ``Many blacks are militant in 
their guts, but they act it out in different ways.'' She was that kind 
of person. I will not say woman or African-American.
  She clearly frustrated a lot of the groups, women, minorities, 
African-Americans, liberals. And I remember that voice saying, ``I do 
not want to be a symbol for anything.'' Harsh? I think not. It was 
simply what the gentlewoman said. She had a view of this country, and 
if there was something right to do, B.J. would be there doing it 
rightly under the Constitution.
  I think we can be so gratified that that kind of person lived, and in 
fact that she was true to her values to the very end.
  I see the gentleman from Connecticut, and I would be happy to yield a 
moment to my friend from Connecticut, Mr. Shays.
  Mr. SHAYS. It would be just a moment. I found myself walking through 
this Chamber and being captivated by your discussion of an 
extraordinarily great woman. I have found the most patriotic people in 
our black churches, and it always amazed me how the African-American 
community could be so patriotic, given the heritage that brought them 
to this magnificent country. And Barbara Jordan gave me more pride in 
our country than I think almost anyone else.

  You talk about what an extraordinary leader. I consider her an 
extraordinary teacher. I remember her in my early days, watching her as 
a new Member, and I was astounded by this woman.
  Now, I know the gentlewoman from Texas is from Texas, but people from 
Texas are different than anywhere else. Finding this black Texan 
talking, I was not first sure if she was a Texan first, or someone 
speaking for the black community first, or just someone speaking as a 
true American.
  I resolved my question mark. She was just a true American patriot who 
wanted to teach this American community a lot, and in the process she 
taught herself a lot. We learned so much from seeing her life. Her 
death is a tremendous loss.
  I just would conclude by saying to you, sometimes people say who 
would you have most liked to meet? Who would you most like to sit down 
with and just have a wonderful conversation?
  They are not actors, and I thought they are really not politicians. I 
remember a few people I would have liked to have had a discussion with. 
And when I learned that Barbara Jordan had passed away, I thought that 
was the woman, that was the person, I should have answered, because, 
boy, I would have loved to have sat down with her, like many of you 
have for many discussions, and just had that precious opportunity to 
talk with a great, great, great American.
  I thank you for letting me participate in this. I have been 
listening, and I have been captivated by what you all have been saying. 
Charlie, you always get me. So thank you for letting me participate and 
express my tremendous admiration for this great American.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. You are very kind for your words. Clearly, 
you might have been asking me the question of what was the intonation 
or the accent that the Congresswoman seemed to exhibit.
  I will tell you she was most proud of the fact that she debated the 
Harvard debate team and brought them to a draw. I think maybe she might 
have brought a bit of that tone from Boston University, but she was 
most proud she put Harvard in a draw, and she said ``That is a win.'' 
Maybe that is when she adopted that intonation from the New England 
States.
  Clearly she was a person who had a sense of humor. She had a deep 
belly laugh, as many said at the memorial service at Texas Southern 
University on Sunday. She clearly had a purpose. I am glad to hear you 
offer your admiration for her.
  I will add one point, as I bring the chairman of the Black Caucus to 
also commemorate and honor her, she said something quite humorous. We 
were in the midst, Congressman Rangel, of waiting on the Supreme 
Court's determination about these redistricts or districting. One of 
those seats happens to 

[[Page H828]]
be one that the Senator Barbara Jordan drew. It is the 18th 
Congressional District. She was proud to say that she knew the law and 
she drew it within the law; and she drew it not to exclude, but to 
include.
  I would think if we just carried that message forward, we would 
settle all these lawsuits, because no one could deny anyone being 
included. She did it with the aplomb and the humor, but as well the 
points that you have offered as points of admiration.
  So I think she is a national hero for all of us, no matter what walk 
of life we came from, no matter if we were in the suburbs or urban 
centers. She also deflected anyone saying she was from a black ghetto. 
She said, ``When we grew up, we did not know we were poor and we didn't 
act like it.'' That is a challenge for our young people today in this 
country.
  So I appreciate you being here.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Barbara Jordan, 
our distinguished colleague who recently passed. I had the privilege to 
serve with her in this body, and on the Judiciary and Government 
Operations Committees. The 6 years we served together gave me the 
fortunate opportunity to work with a true leader. I also want to thank 
the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee, for 
calling this important special order.
  Barbara Jordan was one of the few Members of Congress whose influence 
was felt from the moment she arrived. Her powerful intellect and her 
logical approach to the legislative process made her formidable 
throughout her career. It is easy for me to remember that she 
influenced my decisions more frequently than I hers. I know many of my 
colleagues here tonight would agree with that statement.
  In addition to her incredible gift of oratory, she carefully reasoned 
her way through the end to what Government policy might best be for our 
country. Barbara dedicated her career to fighting for those who 
couldn't fight for themselves. As the first African-American woman 
elected from the South in the 20th century, she worked hard to continue 
the Federal protection of civil rights. She worked to improve the 
Voting Rights Act of 1965 by extending its merits to Hispanic-
Americans, native Americans, and Asian-Americans. She was also the 
author of the Consumer Goods Pricing Act of 1975.
  Many will remember Barbara Jordan from her role in the Watergate 
hearings. Barbara's remarkable oratory, her passion for the 
Constitution and public service, and her commitment to the democratic 
processes helped guide the Nation during some of our most troubling and 
soul-searching days. She was a critical figure at a pivotal time for 
our Nation and for the House. She helped us see the way through a 
turbulent time.
  We cannot forget that Barbara Jordan was the first African-American 
and the first woman to serve as a keynote speaker at a Democratic 
National Convention when she spoke in 1976. She served as a keynote 
speaker again in New York at the 1992 Democratic Convention. Her words 
helped remind us, both times, why we were Democrats and what we needed 
to do to fulfill our commitment to working Americans.
  I will never forget Barbara Jordan. She did everything with unlimited 
passion and commitment and was one of the most thoughtful Members of 
Congress I have ever worked with. She touched the lives of thousands of 
Americans, and was a wonderful source of strength to everyone that met 
her.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my dear departed 
friend and former colleague, the Honorable Barbara Jordan.
  Barbara will be remembered as a vibrant, dynamic force for good who 
touched our lives in a special way. Her sense of common decency and 
search for simple justice was heard everywhere she went and felt by the 
millions she met. Her overpowering self consumed our minds, our inner 
thoughts, and our consciences, and indeed inspired us onward and 
upward.
  Many who did not know Barbara, as some of us in Congress, will say 
that the world will never be the same without her. But I must admonish 
them that the world is not the same because of Barbara. She truly was a 
person who did make a difference.
  The Congressional Black Caucus honored Barbara Jordan for her devoted 
service in 1978. I had the privilege of paying tribute to her at the 
CBC Eighth Annual Awards Dinner. In my salute, I said:

       Tonight the Congressional Black Caucus presents its Special 
     Awards to two outstanding members of our organization. My 
     privilege, indeed my honor, is to acknowledge the 
     contributions of one of them, Barbara Jordan. Barbara Jordan 
     has been to the Congressional Black Caucus what Hubert 
     Humphrey was to the Democratic Farmer's Labor Party in 
     Minnesota, what Susan B. Anthony was to the suffrage 
     movement, what Jackie Robinson was to baseball, what 
     Sojourner Truth was to early freedom fighters. She has been 
     our guiding light, our trailblazer.
       Barbara is what the E.F. Hutton commercial says--when she 
     speaks, people listen. They listen not only in the halls of 
     Congress and the inner sanctums of the Oval Office, but also 
     in the towns and hamlets of America. They listen in the 
     cities and the urban areas. They listen in the corporate 
     board rooms and the living rooms. But even more important, 
     they listen in the school rooms and the pool rooms. And what 
     they hear is a beautiful black woman with pathos and passion, 
     brilliantly articulating the omens of ill-fated clouds which 
     hang so ominously over Western culture. They hear a voice so 
     powerful, so awesome, so imposing that it cannot not be 
     ignored and will never be silenced. What they hear is a voice 
     verbalizing the hopes, frustrations, aspirations of millions 
     who have no way themselves to effectively communicate with 
     those who dictate the social, political and economic order.
       Barbara Jordan is Barbara Jordan because she refused to let 
     modesty prevail over truth, because she has refused to accept 
     this nation as it is, because she has demanded it become what 
     it ought to be.
       In the words of Marvin Gaye, Barbara is devoted to an idea 
     of ``saving the children and saving a world destined to 
     die.'' In the words of Gladys Knight, Barbara is the ``best 
     thing that ever happened'' to the Black Caucus. In the words 
     of the Commodores, Barbara is ``once, twice, three times a 
     lady.''
       Tonight, we, the members of the CBC, proudly recognize a 
     person who carved a niche in the hearts of the American 
     public by her probing, penetrating questions during the 
     impeachment hearings, a person who lifted the hearts of those 
     Americans with her sterling oratory at the Democratic 
     National Convention. Tonight, we pay homage to the drum 
     majorette of justice and equality, the Black Rose of Texas, 
     Barbara Jordan.

  A young girl lying on her death bed wrote a testimonial to her 
mother. She said, ``Try as we may, we cannot number our days. The best 
that we all can do as children of God is do our part to fill our days 
with things that count.'' Barbara, in that short interval between birth 
and death, filled those days with things that counted.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored now to be able to 
yield to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, someone who in 
his own political career certainly has exuded the principles of the 
late Barbara Jordan, and that is the chairperson of the Black Caucus, 
Donald Payne.
  Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Let me 
commend the gentlewoman from Texas for bringing this special order 
tonight, and also to say that your leadership here in your year in the 
House is, I think, something in the tradition of Barbara Jordan. I know 
those are big shoes to fill, but you have brought a great deal of 
dignity and self-respect, a great deal of knowledge into our House, and 
you should be commended for that.
  Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, I am very 
pleased to participate in this special order, to join in this tribute 
to a very extraordinary American, whose service here in the U.S. House 
of Representatives earned her a national reputation, the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan.

                              {time}  1900

  A graduate of Boston University's school of law, Ms. Jordan served as 
administrative assistant to Harris County Judge Bill Elliot in the 
early 1960's. In 1966, she made history through her election as the 
first African-American since 1883 to serve in the Texas Senate and did 
an outstanding, credible job there. After winning reelection to that 
office, she achieved another historical first for the State of Texas in 
1972, when she captured the seat to serve in the 18th District of Texas 
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Although she was a newcomer, a freshman, a Member of the House of 
Representatives during the tumultuous 93d Congress when the Watergate 
scandal unfolded, as you heard earlier, she gained national reputation 
and respect through her eloquent performance during the House Committee 
on the Judiciary impeachment hearings, which was chaired by my 
predecessor, Peter Rodino.
  Peter Rodino used to talk many hours about the Watergate 
investigation, but any time he would lecture about Watergate. He is 
currently a professor at the Seton Hall School of Justice, the law 
school in Newark that is named after him, the Peter Rodino School of 
Social Justice.
  He would talk about Barbara Jordan and her interpretation of the 
Constitution, her eloquence, the way when she spoke everyone listened, 
and I felt that 

[[Page H829]]
I knew Barbara personally because of Congressman Rodino and his 
experience there with her.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I know that my time is ending, 
and I am interested in the gentleman having the opportunity to conclude 
his remarks, and I would ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Weldon, my dear friend, as his hour begins, might he yield a few 
minutes for Chairman Payne to conclude and for me to conclude with one 
or two sentences?

                          ____________________