[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 32 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO THE LATE DR. WILLIAM ``BILL'' PERRY, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay honor to a 
fallen soldier in our country. I rise to pay tribute to one of 
Florida's unsung heroes, the late Dr. William B. Perry, Jr. who was 
truly one of the most outstanding civil rights leaders of our time. His 
passing on Wednesday, February 12, 2003, in Miami-Dade County leaves a 
deep void in our community as it relates to being an outstanding 
protector of justice and protecting civil rights in our community for 
disenfranchised African Americans and people of color.
  He was a grassroots person. He was beyond what you may call an 
elected official or someone that felt that they should do a good thing 
every once in a while. He was an individual that had many individuals 
come who celebrated his life on February 17, and it so happens to be 
Black History Month, of his contributions not only in south Florida but 
also in other parts of our Nation.
  He was noted for being an educator, an educator of young and old, 
someone that continued to fight a good fight, day in and day out, on 
behalf of those that were disenfranchised. I think it is important that 
we remember his work as untraditional and uncommon, doing uncommon 
things uncommonly well in a way that everyday people could be able to 
grab on and hold on to his dream. He stood up in a time in the 1980s 
when there was a gentleman by the name of Arthur McDuffie that was 
killed by police officers in Miami-Dade County that then sparked off 
several days of rioting, and he was a part of bringing calmness to that 
situation and moving forth to help move Miami forward and what we have 
to do as it relates to fair play for all.
  I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, for us to note that he attended 
college at Coppin State College and Loyola College for his 
undergraduate studies, and then went on to earn his doctorate degree in 
education from the University of Massachusetts. He served as an 
ordinary classroom teacher with the Baltimore City Public Schools. 
After that, he then went on and was awarded a national fellowship in 
the school superintendency by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1996, one 
of the Nation's most prestigious academic honors given to postdoctoral 
scholars.
  I think it is also important for us to be able to note his 
contributions within the NAACP. He served as one of the Presidents of 
the Greater Miami-Dade NAACP where he was at the forefront and was 
ready to be able to move forth on behalf of those individuals that 
needed a voice in the community and in our Nation. Dr. Perry went on to 
educate many other leaders that are in our community today. He was a 
man who believed in family. He believed in commitment. He believed in 
the American way and making sure that everyone, and I do mean everyone, 
had an opportunity of the American dream. He left behind a family of 
great love and appreciation not only for public service but for 
education, making sure that they were the beacon for other families to 
follow. He left several grandchildren and children behind to carry on 
his legacy, and even those that are not in his bloodline, Mr. Speaker, 
that can continue his way of thinking, his uncanting will to represent 
those that needed the representation.
  Words are truly inadequate, Mr. Speaker, to try to describe all the 
contributions that Dr. Perry gave to our country and also to Miami-Dade 
County in Florida. But we must say that we only have a Dr. William 
Perry to come our way every once in a while. I must say that we need to 
continue to carry on, and America should move along in standing for 
those that need individuals to stand for them, and also make sure that 
we keep Dr. King's dream alive and Dr. Perry's dream alive in equality 
for everyone, Dr. Perry also was a drum major, to make sure to tell 
young and old never to give up on what they believe in and what they 
think is right.
  Mr. Speaker, I would close by saying that it is important that we 
have fallen heroes, be it elected or selected or, we may say in the 
Christian community, anointed to lead, that we remember their 
contributions so that others can follow their track.

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