[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 IN REMEMBRANCE OF BARBARA PIERCE BUSH, MATRIARCH OF A GREAT AMERICAN 
        FAMILY, CHAMPION OF FAMILY AND LITERACY, AND TRAILBLAZER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 18, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in remembrance of Barbara Pierce 
Bush, the matriarch of one of America's great families, and former 
First Lady of the United States.
  Barbara Bush was a descendant of the 14th president, the wife of the 
41st and the mother of the 43rd.
  Barbara Bush, the widely admired wife of one president and the 
fiercely loyal mother of another, was born June 8, 1925 in Rye, New 
York.
  Barbara Bush attended a prestigious boarding school in South 
Carolina, where she met George Herbert Walker Bush at a school dance 
when she was 16 and he was a year older.
  Three years later, Barbara Pierce married her sweetheart and their 
love lasted for 73 years, until she was departed from her beloved by 
death.
  George and Barbara raised their family mainly in West Texas, where 
they settled after the end of World War II and where the future 
President went into the oil business.
  Barbara Bush was a plainspoken woman who was instantly recognizable 
with her signature white hair, pearl necklaces, and earrings.
  Mrs. Bush was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, 
Planned Parenthood, and was a tireless champion of many charitable 
causes, especially literacy.
  Barbara Bush raised more than $1 billion for literacy and cancer 
charities.
  Barbara Bush recognized that education was the key that unlocked the 
door of human potential.
  Literacy was Barbara Bush's special cause, which led her to establish 
the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
  Shortly after the end of her husband's presidential administration, 
the Bush Family returned to Texas, and all Houstonians were lucky to 
call her and her husband, George H. W. Bush, the 41st president, our 
neighbors and dear friends.
  Barbara Bush's books include an autobiography and one about post-
White House life.
  Her children's book about their dog, Millie, and her puppies written 
during her White House years was a best seller, as were her other 
books.
  In 2001, when George W. Bush took office, Barbara Bush became the 
only woman in American history to live to see her husband and son 
elected president.
  Barbara Bush lived a full life and will be remembered in American 
history, alongside only Abigail Adams, for the impact her life had on 
this country.
  Barbara Bush is survived by her husband and their children George, 
Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy.
  I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of Barbara 
Pierce Bush, the Former First Lady of the United States.

                          ____________________