[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL BOULE CONFERENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my enthusiastic 
congratulations and support for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority during 
its National Boule Conference, celebrating 100 years of its 
organization and existence. The sorority, founded at Howard University 
on January 15, 1908, is the first Greek-lettered sorority established 
and incorporated by a group of nine African American college women. The 
AKA sorority broke barriers for African American women in areas where 
little power or authority existed due to a lack of opportunities for 
minorities and women in the early 20th century.
  Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the sorority consists of college-
educated women of African, Caucasian, Asian and Hispanic descent. The 
sorority serves through a membership of more than 200,000 women in over 
900 chapters in the United States and several other countries. Since 
its inception, Alpha Kappa Alpha has helped to improve social and 
economic conditions through community service programs. Members have 
improved education through independent initiatives, contributed to 
community building by creating programs, and influenced Federal 
legislation by advocacy through the National Non-Partisan Lobby on 
Civil and Democratic Rights.
  My wife, Vera, is a proud member of Tau Gamma Omega, the graduate 
chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Two of my sisters, Ceola and 
Floretta, are also AKAs. They often meet in our home. And I have always 
been very proud of the leadership and mentoring relationship my wife 
has established and continues to display with younger women who join. 
Tau Gamma Omega is a strong voice and positive presence in the 
community where they serve.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that there are 26,000 AKAs in the 
District of Columbia this week. And today I was very pleased to 
receive, along with my wife, State representative Connie Howard, and 
the immediate past president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, 
the Honorable Bobby Steele and a large contingent of AKAs from my 
hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity 
and the United States House of Representatives, I commend the Alpha 
Kappa Alpha sorority on all their continuing endeavors to help the 
community. And I welcome the 26,000 attending members of the 2008 
Centennial Boule to their founding place of Washington, D.C.

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