[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING WILLIAM H. ``BILL'' GRAY, III FOR HIS COUNTLESS CONTRIBUTIONS 
             TO EDUCATION AND THE BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of a true 
public servant, educator, community activist, spiritual leader, and my 
dear friend, William H. ``Bill'' Gray, III. For nearly five decades, 
Bill has served the Philadelphia community, African American community, 
and the American people as a whole in numerous capacities. From 
education and the ministry to government and the business world, his 
influential leadership continues to this day.
  Bill was born on August 20, 1941 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is the 
second child of the late Dr. William H. Gray, Jr. and Hazel Yates Gray, 
and has an older sister, Marion. Bill attended Franklin and Marshall 
College, where he earned a B.A. in 1963, and received a master's degree 
in divinity from Drew Theological Seminary in 1966 and a master's 
degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1970. He has 
served as a faculty member and professor of history and religion at St. 
Peter's College, Jersey City State College, Montclair State College, 
Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Temple University. The heir 
to a legacy of education leaders, his father served as the president of 
two Black colleges, Florida A&M University and Florida Memorial 
College. Furthermore, Bill's mother was a dean of Southern University 
and his grandfather a professor at another historically Black college.
  Hailing from a family of ministers as well as educators, Bill began 
his service in the ministry in 1964, when he pastored his first church, 
the Union Baptist Church of Montclair, New Jersey. For 35 years, he was 
pastor of the 5,000-member Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia, 
as were his father and grandfather before him since 1925. In 1970, Bill 
became a community activist while living in Montclair, after winning a 
housing discrimination suit against a landlord who denied him an 
apartment because of his race. He founded the non-profit Union Housing 
Corporation in Montclair to build affordable homes for low- and 
moderate-income tenants and co-founded the Philadelphia Mortgage Plan, 
an organization that helped people in low-income communities obtain 
mortgages. In 1971, he married Andrea Dash, a marketing consultant. 
They raised three sons: William IV, Justin, and Andrew.
  From 1979 to 1991, Bill served in the U.S. House of Representatives. 
During his 12 years in Congress, he remained a staunch supporter of 
education. As the first African American to chair the House Budget 
Committee in 1985, Bill was a leading advocate for strengthening 
America's education system. He went on to break further barriers as 
Chairman of the Democratic Caucus in 1988 and as Majority Whip later 
that year, becoming the highest-ranking African American ever to serve 
in Congress. In May 1994, Bill served as the Special Advisor to the 
President on Haiti. In that role, he assisted the President in 
developing and carrying out policy to restore democracy to Haiti, and 
received the Medal of Honor from Haitian President Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide in 1995.
  In 1991, Bill became the president and chief executive officer of the 
United Negro College Fund (UNCF), America's oldest and most successful 
Black higher education assistance organization. During his tenure, he 
led the UNCF to new fund-raising heights while increasing educational 
assistance to minority students and support of historically Black 
colleges and universities. In particular, Bill spearheaded a number of 
bold initiatives to relocate UNCF's headquarters to the Northern 
Virginia area; develop a new technology center to link UNCF offices and 
member colleges electronically and thereby facilitate the sharing of 
scholarship and donor information; and develop the Frederick D. 
Patterson Research Institute to compile and analyze data on a host of 
issues affecting African American students from kindergarten through 
graduate school.
  After retiring in 2004, Bill's contributions to public policy were 
far from over. He went on to serve as Chairman of the Amani Group and, 
beginning in 2009, Co-Chairman of the consulting and advisory firm 
GrayLoeffler, LLC. Today, Bill chairs Gray Global Strategies, Inc., a 
global business consulting and government affairs strategies firm. He 
also sits on the board of directors for several companies, including 
Dell, Inc., JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Prudential Financial. Bill's 
many years of public and community service have earned him numerous 
awards and distinctions, such as the prestigious Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt Freedom of Worship Medal. In December 2009, he was listed in 
Ebony magazine as one of the 100 ``Most Important Blacks in the World 
in the 20th Century.'' Additionally, Bill has also been awarded more 
than 65 honorary degrees from America's leading colleges and 
universities.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History Month, it is my distinct 
honor and privilege to recognize one of our own, former Congressman 
Bill Gray, for his tireless dedication to advancing education and 
opportunity in this country. His pioneering efforts have paved the way 
for future generations of American government, business, and community 
leaders. Bill's leadership and strength of character are a true 
inspiration to us all. I am so pleased to pay tribute to my dear 
friend, and wish him great success for many years to come.

                          ____________________