[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 56 (Friday, April 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE SENFRONIA THOMPSON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 15, 2011

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay 
tribute to a friend of mine, a maverick, a community visionary, a 
leader, and a true Texan and recognize the achievements and outstanding 
service of a very special person, Senfronia Thompson.
  Senfronia will be ``roasted'' by the Texas Southern University and 
Governor Rick Perry, Speaker Joe Straus, Senators Rodney Ellis and John 
Whitmire, Representative Sylvester Turner, former Representative Debra 
Danburg, former Representative Mark Stiles and others to raise funds 
for a wonderful cause, the Texas Legislative Internship Program (TLIP) 
administered by The Mickey Leland Center at the University. The event 
will be held at the Mickey Leland Center at Texas Southern University 
on April 11, 2011, at the University of Texas Alumni Center.
  The TLIP is a premier internship program that introduces the best and 
brightest of our Texas youth to the innerworkings of government and the 
true value of public service. The program, developed in 1990, is 
sponsored by Senator Rodney Ellis. Since its inception, more than 400 
students accepted into the TLIP program have interned with members of 
the Texas Legislature, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court. This year, 63 interns are working in and 
around the Texas State Capitol during the current legislative session.
  In 1973, Senfronia Thompson was elected to the Texas State House of 
Representatives from Houston. She has continued to serve her 
constituents in honor ever since. She now ranks as the longest-serving 
woman and the longest-serving African-American in Texas State 
legislature history.
  Representative Thompson authored and passed Texas' first alimony law, 
the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act, laws prohibiting racial profiling, 
the state minimum wage, the Durable Powers of Attorney Act, the Uniform 
Interstate Family Support Act, the Sexual Assault Program Fund, the 
Model School Records Flagging Act, the Uniform Child Custody and 
Jurisdiction Enforcement Act, contraceptive parity, prohibiting small 
print in cell phone ads, and scores of other reforms benefiting women, 
children and the elderly.
  The former chair of one of the Legislature's most active committees, 
Judicial Affairs, Representative Thompson pushed through major reforms 
in child support enforcement, simplified probate proceedings, and 
complete overhauls of statutes dealing with statutory courts and 
municipal courts. Representative Thompson continues to be among the 
most successful House members in passing bills into laws.
  Representative Thompson has been in the forefront of every major 
campaign against discrimination in the last three decades. Ms. Thompson 
has among the highest ranks of any legislator for her voting record on 
issues of concern to women, minorities, labor, consumers, reform 
advocates, domestic violence victims, the elderly, teachers and civil 
libertarians. Among many other honors, she was named ``Woman of the 
Year'' by bipartisan Texas Women's Political Caucus in 1995.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call Senfronia Thompson my friend and my 
colleague in public service. I had the pleasure of serving beside 
Senfronia Thompson, a champion of civic participation, when we were 
both freshman legislators together in 1973. It was an honor to serve 
with her then and it is an honor for me to be able to recognize her 
today. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring and thanking 
Representative Thompson for her extraordinary service to Texas and our 
country.

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