[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING DR. DOROTHY HEIGHT

  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. Mr. Speaker, today a giant of a human 
being, a light at the end of the tunnel, a calm voice in the midst of a 
storm, but yet a woman who could create a storm around the issues of 
freedom and justice, passed away from this world and from our hearts. 
Dr. Dorothy Irene Height died today. And I want to join with my 
colleagues and, as well, the Honorable Diane Watson, who will have a 
special hour in tribute to Dr. Height tonight, but I wanted to take the 
time to make sure that every aspect of our Record today reflected on 
her loss.
  We have lost, of course, Dr. Benjamin Hooks, who we have paid tribute 
to today as well.
  But in this life, there are few giants who reach down to talk to 
those who are still learning. Dr. Dorothy Height was that woman. She 
was the only woman that was present at the 1963 historic and powerful 
March on Washington. She stayed steadfast in her meetings with Franklin 
Delano Roosevelt, and of course she was successor to the National 
Council of Negro Women.
  The only building on Pennsylvania Avenue owned by African Americans, 
and in this instance African American women, is the Office of the 
National Council headed by Dr. Dorothy Height; a historic presence on 
Pennsylvania Avenue just a few blocks away from the White House. What a 
statement of power.
  This afternoon as I landed here in Washington, I went to that 
building to pay respects. I just simply had to be in her presence in 
this building, to be able to see her pictures and her face and to see 
and hear those who were gathering to be able to honor her. The whole 
plaza is part of that building. And as I walked in, I heard the story 
that a homeless person came in the building to provide some flowers to 
say ``thank you'' to Dr. Height for taking care of them, the men and 
women that surrounded her building tragically who are homeless, but yet 
they knew of this giant of a woman who cared enough to let it be known 
that they were human beings.
  For 33 years from 1944 through 1977, Dorothy Height served on the 
staff of the national board of the YWCA, and of course she continued 
her service through the National Council of Negro Women. I'm proud to 
be in the chapter, the Dorothy Height Chapter of the National Council 
of Negro Women in Houston, Texas.
  In 1952, Dorothy Height lived in India, an African American women. 
She was at the Delhi School of Social Work. And of course, through her 
work with the YWCA, she worked in India and Burma and Ceylon.
  Dorothy Height was subsequently elected the fourth national president 
of the National Council of Negro Women. In 1960, Dr. Height was a woman 
team member, leader in the united civil rights leadership along with 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Whitney H. Young, A. Philip Randolph, James 
Farmer, Roy Wilkins, and John Lewis, our colleague. But remember what I 
said, the only woman.
  What I've come to know of Dr. Height as a Member of Congress and 
before is that she is a woman that can speak in a resonating fashion. 
At the drop of a hat, you can turn to her and say, Dr. Height, will you 
give us some remarks? And when she finishes, you feel like you can fly 
like the eagles fly. She has given you words that will capture your 
heart and your spirit, and you say, I will be a fighter for justice.
  A distinguished woman, a hat-wearing woman, but one thing about Dr. 
Height, she was a woman of dignity, but she never ran away from a fight 
for justice. And she knew how to be an agitator and a protester, but 
she knew also how to be loving. So the many things that we 
can attribute to her include her work in the International Tribunal of 
the International Women's Year.

  Mr. Speaker, she's won so many awards, but I wanted to come to this 
floor tonight to be able to say, Dr. Height, there will be many more 
words that will come on your passing, but all I can say tonight is we 
love you and may you rest in peace.

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