[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE HOUSTON COMETS WIN THE FIRST WNBA CHAMPIONSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Blunt). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, can my colleagues believe it? The 
Houston Comets will see them at breakfast. The WNBA champions. ``Can 
you believe it?''
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a proud woman and proud Houstonian. Move 
over Michael. Here we come, Magic, Bird, and Hakiem. Women's 
professional basketball got a league of their own and the Houston 
Comets are the new champions of the new world of women's basketball.
  Houston is now the ``Clutch City'' as well as ``Coop City'' as the 
Comets, led by the regular season and championship game's most valuable 
player, Cynthia Cooper, beat the New York Liberty 65 to 51 before a 
sellout crowd and a national television audience at the Summit to claim 
the title of America's first Women's National Basketball Association 
Champion.
  Mr. Speaker, it was a game my 17-year-old daughter Erica went crazy 
over. But, my 11-year-old son, Jason, did as well.
  WNBA Coach of the Year Van Chancellor had brand new Mom, Sheryl 
Swoopes, work her heart out, and Wanda Guyton, after a heck of a 
season, may have been hurt, but Janeth Arcain, Tina Thompson, and Patty 
Jo Hedges, Tammy Jackson, and Kim Perrot, as well as ``Coop,'' were 
cooking on all cylinders and served up some home cooking for the Lady 
Libertys to give the Houston fans and basketball fans all over the 
Nation the memories that they will forever and forever remember.
  Some of these women have spent years and years playing on the 
hardwoods of Europe, and now they can come home and strut their stuff 
before their own family and friends and fans.
  It was so very special for Cynthia Cooper to be able to play on her 
home court so that her own dear mom could see her playing, a mom that 
has been a strong supporter of hers throughout the years.
  This championship is an historic occasion, and not just for women's 
sports and not just as the fruition of our laws under title IX, and we 
have got to keep fighting to ensure that young people, young women, 
have the opportunity of equal access to sports and sportsmanship and 
playing the game well.
  Saturday, August 30, was an historic occasion for the game of 
basketball. They have now come to their own. Women are playing the real 
game. Basketball is a game that has a long tradition of both women and 
men's play in our high schools and colleges. I have watched them for 
many years, and there is a deep respect for the game on our playgrounds 
and in our gyms. And, yes, it does teach character, it provides role 
models, and, yes, it teaches you how to play the game of life.
  I dare say that it is probably the most popularly played game in our 
Nation, and it is fast becoming the most popular game in the world.
  That championship game completes the cycle of respect and closes a 
hoop, if you will, on making the game of basketball a complete game. It 
is complete in the sense that now women, women who played for years and 
years, who have had to travel the globe just to practice their trade, 
who have the determination and devotion to play the game at the highest 
levels, have the respect of being able to make a living from their 
basketball skills in their own country where the game was invented and 
has evolved to the highest levels.
  The Houston Comets, Mr. Speaker, they gave it all to Houston. They 
went to charities. They made themselves available to our 
schoolchildren. They were great. The Houston Comets are now a part of 
our history as a basketball nation and a basketball world. Those 
players will be forever mentioned and remembered as the first, the very 
first women of basketball.
  Shine on Comets. We love you. Many of them who played their hearts 
out in the 1996 Olympics now have this great honor.
  I am obviously bursting with pride as a Houstonian to salute our 
champion, the Houston Comets. The most fitting place for them now is to 
go to the House. That is the White House. So I have written and spoken 
to the White House regarding a visit with President Clinton here in 
Washington, D.C., at the White House to honor their historic 
achievement.
  Mr. Speaker, to the Houston Comets let me say to them, and all 
Houstonians, wherever they may be, the Houston Comets, they really 
played the real game. Mr. Speaker, they are truly our real heroes. Mr. 
Speaker, see you at breakfast with the Houston Comets. Congratulations 
to them all.

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