[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1872-S1873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, during Women's History Month, as we 
celebrate the mothers, daughters, sisters, and, for some of us, the 
granddaughters in our lives, I would like to take a minute and honor a 
few women from my home State of Illinois.
  During the nearly 170-year history of the New York Times, only about 
15 to 20 percent of its obituaries have been written for women. Earlier 
this month, the New York Times announced a new feature called 
``Overlooked,'' celebrating the lives of people from underrepresented 
communities. March, being Women's History Month, the New York Times 
started by publishing obituaries for 15 women who never received them. 
The first on the list: Ida B. Wells. Now, Ida is not from Illinois, but 
her incredible life's journey brought her to Chicago near the end of 
the 19th century, where she lived until her death in 1931.
  Born into slavery, less than a year before the Emancipation 
Proclamation, Ida B. Wells was an intrepid journalist and a 
trailblazing activist in the Civil Rights and woman's suffrage 
movements. Ida was recognized worldwide for her writings exposing the 
truth behind why Black men were being lynched in the South. Ida B. 
Wells' work forced her from her home in the South, and after traveling 
to New York and England, Ida settled in Chicago.
  Among her many accomplishments, including helping launch the National 
Association of Colored Women and the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People, Ida B. Wells became an early pioneer in 
social work, fighting for justice and equality. Following her death, 
the Chicago Housing Authority, recognizing the need for affordable 
housing for African Americans in the late 1930s, began a project to 
provide 1,662 apartments, two and three story row houses, sitting on 47 
acres of land in the Bronzeville and Oakland neighborhoods of Chicago. 
They were named the Ida B. Wells Homes. She certainly left her mark in 
Chicago.
  Not far from my Chicago office, Ida B. Wells is among the 65 women 
honored in the Chicago Women's Park & Gardens. The park also includes a 
beautifully moving monument called ``Helping Hands,'' recognizing the 
contributions and legacy of Jane Addams, one of the world's most 
influential social reformers.
  In 1888, Jane Addams and her friend Ellen Starr visited a settlement 
house called Toynbee Hall in the slums of London, which provided a 
variety of services to poor industrial workers. It sparked what would 
become their lifelong mission helping the poor and championing the 
rights of all, including immigrants, women, and children. Jane Addams 
and Ellen Starr were determined to bring that model to the United 
States, which was emerging as an industrial giant and in the early 
years of an immigration boom.
  In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr returned to Chicago and started 
Hull House, the first settlement house in the United States. Its humble 
beginnings started by simply inviting people from the community to hear 
readings from books or look at slides of paintings. They listened to 
those who came, and it became clear that many of the neighborhood's 
women were in desperate need for a place to bring their children. So 
they started a kindergarten and daycare for working mothers. As it 
expanded, Hull House helped prevent the exploitation of immigrants 
living on the West Side of Chicago by providing services such as 
housing, child, medical aid, educational, and vocational classes.
  In addition to her contributions in the field of social work, Jane 
Addams was known as one of the leading antiwar activists in the 
country. During World War I, she became the chair of the Women's Peace 
Party and president of the Women's International League for Peace and 
Freedom. Jane Addams' efforts to end the war earned her the 1931 Nobel 
Peace, becoming the first American woman to receive the honor.

[[Page S1873]]

  In the spirit of these remarkable women, I would like to fast forward 
to today and mention the work of two of my heroes who belong to the 
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas religious order: Sister JoAnn Persch 
and Sister Pat Murphy. Between the two of them, they have nearly 200 
years of doing God's work here on Earth. As was true in Jane Addams' 
day, immigrants, refugees, and individuals seeking asylum so often 
arrive in our country and communities with urgent needs: food, 
clothing, shelter. For years, they have supported immigration reform, 
marching at rallies, speaking at news conferences, and lobbying 
Illinois State senators and representatives in Springfield. They have 
become so well known in immigration circles, they are simply known as 
``the Sisters.''
  In 2007, when ``the Sisters'' were told they couldn't provide 
pastoral counseling to immigrant detainees in jails and in the Federal 
Immigration Detention Center on Broadview, they said: ``We'll see about 
that.'' So they founded the Interfaith Committee for Detained 
Immigrants, or ICDI. The next year, the ICDI persuaded the Illinois 
General Assembly to change the law and allow immigrants, refugees, and 
asylum-seekers in detention in my home State to receive pastoral 
counseling, if they choose, and they didn't stop there. ICDI has since 
grown to provide a broad range of services to immigrants who are 
detained and those who are awaiting action on their cases, from legal 
assistance and help learning English, to healthcare, and more. ICDI 
also runs two hospitality houses in the Chicago area, one for men and 
the other for women and children in Hyde Park. I have seen the good 
work being done in Hyde Park, and let me tell you, Jane Addams would be 
proud.
  I will close with a story about one of the many families that ICDI 
has helped: the Saffaf family. Four years ago, Marwan Saffaf was a 
banker, living with his wife and their four children in Hama, Syria, a 
town about 85 miles from Aleppo. This was 2 years into Assad's bloody 
assault on the Syrian people. Marwan knew that he and his family had to 
leave Syria after he was kidnapped and threatened by gunmen who mistook 
him for a government official. The family fled to the United Arab 
Emirates.
  After 2 years, Marwan received permission for most of his family to 
come to America. But for some reason, his eldest child--his only 
daughter--was denied permission to join her younger siblings. So Marwan 
and his wife made one of the hardest decisions of their lives. Marwan 
and the boys would come to America. His wife and daughter would wait in 
the UAE for permission to join them. With help from ICDI, Marwan and 
the boys found a new home, an apartment in Des Plaines, IL, and landed 
a new job.
  Two years after Marwan and his boys arrived in Chicagoland, Marwan's 
wife and daughter finally received permission to come to America. Then 
came President Trump's first Executive order--banning immigrants from 
seven majority-Muslim nations--including Syria--from entering the 
United States. Marwan's wife and daughter's future in this country was 
unclear. Fortunately, the President's order was blocked, and after 2 
years of living apart and in fear, the Saffaf family was finally 
reunited. Thank goodness for ``the Sisters'' and ICDI.
  We could use more strong, courageous women like Sister JoAnn Persch 
and Sister Pat Murphy who fearlessly follow in the footsteps of 
trailblazing women like Ida B. Wells and Jane Addams. This March, as we 
once again honor the women who have moved this country forward and 
inspired each of us, let's renew the challenge to build on their 
legacies and fight for the country they envisioned.

                          ____________________