[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              HONORING FORMER CONGRESSMAN LUCIEN BLACKWELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise to comment on the life and 
legacy of our former colleague Lucien E. Blackwell, who served as a 
Congressman for the Second District, and prior to that served for two 
decades as a member of the city council of Philadelphia, where he 
served as a chairman of the finance committee and moved through the 
council all of the critical and major pieces of legislation that 
impacted the growth and development of the city of Philadelphia as we 
know it today. And even before that service, he served as an elected 
official in the State legislature in Pennsylvania.
  I remember almost three decades now ago when he led an effort with 
the late State representative David P. Richardson of Pennsylvania to 
clean up the conditions at our youth detention facility headquartered 
in our side of the State of the Youth Study Center on the parkway. He 
fought in the city council and passed the first major minority set-
aside legislation once he found out that African American and women-
owned businesses were getting less than 2 percent of the city 
procurement business, and created a program that opened a door for 
disadvantaged businesses to have an opportunity at the procurement in 
Philadelphia.
  As my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady), has 
indicated, he started his public career, however, as a labor leader 
where he leveled the Longshoreman's Union in Philadelphia. And 
immediately prior to that he served our Nation in the Korean War 
conflict. He was a veteran of that conflict, and he won medals for his 
commitment and his service fighting with the Korean War veterans, and 
was a part of the effort to create an appropriate memorial for Korean 
veterans.
  So Lucien E. Blackwell, who died suddenly at the age of 71, as it is 
reported, leaves now his wife, who is a city councilwoman in 
Philadelphia and a major leader in our city, and a host of children and 
grandchildren, who are going to in their own way make a mark and live 
up to the legacy of Lucien Blackwell.
  And Philadelphians, Pennsylvanians, and all across this country 
people remember the passion of Lucien Blackwell, particularly his 
effort to be concerned about those who were considered in some quarters 
to be little people or outside of the mainstream of power. He fought 
with Maleek for ex-offenders. He fought to feed the homeless in 
Philadelphia, sometimes to the chagrin of the establishment. He fought 
to include labor fully in the discussions of economic development in 
our city, major building projects and every other respect.
  Lucien Blackwell should be remembered by this House as not just a 
former Member, but someone whose life of service honored the House by 
him being a Member here, and for all of his service to our country we 
should be grateful. And I would just like to say that for a lot of 
those people, the Linda Brickhouses, the Kentues at the grassroots 
political network, and all of the people he worked with, John Macklin 
on the disadvantaged business efforts, the minority business efforts, 
and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady), who he worked with 
shoulder to shoulder developing the political machinery in our city, at 
least in terms of the Democratic Party, but he also reached across the 
aisle and worked quite well with our Republican colleagues to make our 
city what it is today.
  We are indebted. And I join my colleague from the First Congressional 
District in honoring his memory, his legacy, and I know that this House 
will find appropriate ways as we go forward to more formally recognize 
his service.
  I thank the Speaker for allowing us this time.

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