[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H3781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CHAIRWOMAN JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 3 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Alabama. I thank the Chair for recognizing me.
  Members of the House, we tend to use the term ``friend'' very 
liberally in this institution. We often apply it to anyone with whom we 
have had more than a casual or passing conversation. Juanita Millender-
McDonald was someone that I genuinely viewed as a friend, not in the 
way the Members of the House use that term but in the way that ordinary 
people who are watching this on television use it.
  There were a lot of days when we sat on this floor and we talked 
together. There were a lot of days when we sat on this floor and we 
exchanged confidences. There were a lot of days when we sat on this 
floor and I spoke to her of my aspirations and my goals and she spoke 
to me of hers. There were times when I spoke of my family and she spoke 
of her abiding, continuing faith in her family.
  Many people do not realize because she did not speak of it a great 
deal, but Juanita was from Birmingham, Alabama, and it is a tragedy 
that a black woman born in 1937 or 1938 felt that she had to leave the 
State of Alabama to reach her full promise. Juanita did. And it was my 
State's loss. She went to the State of California, and so many of my 
colleagues have told the story of her wonderful ascension and her 
wonderful career there. But she always retained memories of growing up 
in the South. She always retained memories of growing up in a 
segregated environment. And her family, much of it remains there.
  Another thing that was not widely known, Juanita's brother, Shelley 
Millender, was a longtime radio talk show host in the city of 
Birmingham and I have had a long-time attachment to him. When I ran for 
this job for the first time, there were very few people who would 
welcome me onto their programs or into their forums. The very first one 
to do so was Shelley Millender. He did it constantly and I have always 
appreciated that.
  Juanita's nephew, Shelley, Jr., has become a friend of mine and I 
always enjoyed telling her how proud she should be of him and how well 
he conducts himself in the city of Birmingham.
  So, Mr. Speaker, what I want to say today, Juanita Millender-McDonald 
was a phenomenally elegant, restrained and dignified woman. She richly 
deserved the title Madam Chairwoman that she was just beginning to wear 
so well, and I will remember my last conversation with her sitting just 
off this floor. It was not uncommon for us to gather and talk about 
what was going on as we left the floor. I remember her telling me 
during that conversation how much she looked forward to her work on the 
House Administration Committee. I remember her telling me how much she 
looked forward to several hearings that were upcoming. She never had 
the chance to do that which she talked about that day. But I will 
always remember her confidence, her courage, and her decency. And as 
she and her family watch and as they prepare for God to take her back 
to her home in heaven, know that the time she spent here was well 
served and the legacy that she left honors her native State of Alabama, 
my State, and the State she adopted and served so ably, California.

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