[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H16810-H16811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF THE LATE HON. JULIA CARSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Love conquers all. And I rise today, Madam 
Speaker, to join the celebration, for although we mourn, we celebrate 
the life of Julia Carson, and celebrate we must.
  I'm delighted to have listened to my colleagues in the Special Order 
led by Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and to hear my friends and 
colleagues from Indiana. But for a moment I offer my sympathy to those 
of Julia Carson's district, to the good people of Indianapolis, to the 
good people of Indiana, and, yes, to the American people. For Julia 
Carson truly represented and will be remembered as an American hero.
  I believe that Julia would not mind our recalling for our colleagues 
why she was so keenly committed to those who could not speak for 
themselves and could not help themselves. For Julia Carson's history, 
by its very nature, directed her into the fight for

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those who, like herself, grew up with very little, but yet could look 
to this great country and actually believe that they could achieve 
their dreams. For Julia was born to a teenage mother, and that, from 
the time that she was born in the late 1930s, going into the early 
1940s and World War II, was a struggle and an unsurmountable task in 
and of itself. They had to struggle together. Julia Carson herself 
raised two children as a divorcee. So first of all, she understood what 
a single parent, a mother with two children, had to overcome to make 
sure that those children saw in themselves and saw in her a future.
  It's likely that she was already destined for public service, and so 
by finding Andy Jacobs, her finding him and as well his finding her, it 
was a match made in heaven. But she stopped along the wayside to give 
support and comfort to workers, United Auto Workers, and understood 
what it meant, a hard day's work for a good day's pay. So early on she 
was on the battlefield, and her time in respective legislative bodies 
only spoke to her continued desire to serve.
  But I like something about Julia and I like something about the 
description of her. And my good friend and colleague from Indiana, 
Congressman Hill, just said a liberal in Indianapolis. I ask the 
question how you can walk around in Indiana and call yourself liberal 
and be victorious. That was Julia. Love conquers all, the love that she 
had for her people, but the love that they had for her stood largely to 
embrace her and surround her with armor against those who would try to 
do her political harm.
  I was fascinated in listening to the Congressmen speak of the vigil. 
Can you imagine people just gathering out of pain and joy, the pain of 
possibly losing Congresswoman Carson, but also the joy of having her. 
Going to her house. Now, we are the people's House. So Members of 
Congress are exposed and people know all about them. But can you 
imagine people feeling so comfortable that they would come to her block 
and just stand in silence or singing or praying or testifying just to 
say, We want to be near her. What a moving expression that must have 
been, and I'm so sorry that I missed it. But it was a showing of their 
own appreciation for her resilience, her astuteness, and her ability to 
be underestimated.

  I went to Indianapolis, and it was that first year, her reelection 
after her first term, Madam Speaker, and yes, they were all out. And it 
was the year of the targets, it was the year of impeachment here in 
this body, and people were not feeling good, they were feeling ugly. 
And the right wing, as it could be defined, and I don't say it in a 
partisan way, but the guys who were trying to get her in reelection 
came up with all kinds of things. Soft on crime, they accused her of, a 
number of issues that they thought would get her unelected.
  Well, I'll tell you, she had a good history with the people of 
Indianapolis. In fact, she even had some conservatives supporting her. 
Why? Because she was truthful in her belief for social services. But 
she also came up with the idea that welfare recipients should work for 
their benefits. I'm sure it was crafted around giving them hope and 
giving them goals and giving them the ability to believe that they 
could succeed, but she was applauded for that. And she was called a 
person who wrestled a problem to the ground.
  Madam Speaker, I close by simply saying that we have lost a warrior, 
a soldier on the battlefield, but tonight we celebrate her life. My 
sympathy to her family. And thank you, Julia, for being our friend and 
my friend.

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