[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 171 (Saturday, November 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2390-E2391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING WILLIE L. BROWN, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mayor Willie Brown of San 
Francisco on his upcoming retirement after 40 years of dedication and 
spirited service to the community.
  As we honor Mayor Brown, I want to thank him for being an exemplary 
role model, leader, and friend. I take great pride in joining his 
family, friends and colleagues to recognize and salute the 
accomplishments and contributions of Willie L. Brown, Jr.
  Mayor Brown's personal story is an inspirational one. He was born 
into poverty on March 20, 1934, in Mineola, Texas, a small, racially-
segregated Texas town, where he earned his first dollar as a shoeshine 
boy. Throughout his high school years, he worked as a janitor, a crop 
harvester and a messenger. On graduating, he moved to San Francisco, 
bringing with him a little more than a cardboard suitcase and hope in 
his heart.
  He worked his way through and graduated from San Francisco State 
University and from the Hastings College of the Law. He was admitted to 
the State Bar of California and built a thriving law practice in what 
was then a pre-dominantly white legal world.
  Brown was elected to the California Assembly in 1964 and was re-
elected 16 times, serving a total of 31 years in the Assembly. In 1980, 
he was elected Speaker of the Assembly, a position of power second only 
to that of the governor. The state's only African American Speaker, he 
held the position for an unprecedented 15 years.
  Mayor Brown's personal experiences in the realm of racial 
discrimination have made him a tireless advocate for affirmative 
action. During his years as a state assemblyman, dozens of his bills 
became laws, including the passage of the most comprehensive 
educational reform and financing bill in 20 years. He also passed bills 
that requested the United States Congress to grant citizenship to 
Filipino veterans of WWII and eliminated criminal penalties for private 
sexual acts between consenting adults, a bill that was introduced 
before the Assembly five times before its ultimate passage.
  While in the Assembly, several organizations awarded Brown for his 
tireless work on behalf of minority groups; he received the California 
Association of the Physically Handicapped Special Service Award, the 
ACLU Human Rights Award from the Gay Rights Chapter, the Tree of Life 
Award from the Jewish National Fund, the Japanese American Bar 
Association Award, and was honored by the California Advisory 
Commission on Special Education.
  As mayor, he has continued his career-long commitment to civil rights 
and higher education, notably by designating the address of the 
refurbished City Hall as Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place after 
the recently-deceased San Francisco NAACP Chapter president and 
community activist. During the renaming ceremony and in front of a 
crowd of 7,000 people gathered at the 13th annual Martin Luther King 
Holiday rally, Mayor Brown restated his dedication for the betterment 
of education, his continued fight for civil rights, and his dedication 
to representing all of the minority groups that make up San Francisco.

  Mayor Brown continues to make good on this promise. He championed and 
signed legislation requiring all companies doing business with the city 
to grant equal benefits to their workers' domestic partners. As mayor, 
he presided over seven domestic partner commitment ceremonies, the 
latest taking place in City Hall. His administration is also working 
toward guaranteeing universal health care for its 130,000 residents 
currently without medical coverage. Thanks to commitment from the City 
and the private sector, the University of California at San Francisco 
will break ground on its first new campus in over twenty years.
  During his seven years at the helm of one of America's most diverse 
cities, Mayor Brown has shown continued leadership, creating continued 
vitality and economic energy in San Francisco. Respected in the 
ethnically diverse neighborhoods as well as in the burgeoning business 
community, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter said of Brown, ``He's 
been magical in his ability to unite the city. There's been this 
unbelievable camaraderie between camps that have been at war for 
years.''

[[Page E2391]]

  As the city's first African American mayor, Mayor Willie L. Brown, 
Jr. continues to represent the past, present and future of civil rights 
and the cultural and intellectual diversity that symbolizes San 
Francisco's history of acceptance.
  Mayor Brown has been a mentor and a friend since the early 1970's. He 
has been consistent in championing the rights and the plight of those 
shut out of the American dream, and he has never forgotten his humble 
roots in Mineolea, Texas.
  I had the privilege to serve with Mayor Brown while in the California 
Legislature. As speaker of the Assembly, Mayor Brown led our state 
through many challenging years. He was my ``shadow Governor'' and made 
sure that communities of color, women and the poor had a seat at the 
table.
  As a skilled legislator, Speaker Brown guided me with my very 
aggressive and successful legislative agenda, which I continue to 
embrace with pride and humility.
  Mayor Brown leads with his head and his heart. His intellect, his 
wisdom and his spirit is something to behold.
  As one whose life and work has been enriched by this giant of a man, 
I say thank you, and Godspeed. Enjoy this next glorious chapter of your 
life.

                          ____________________