[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 95 (Friday, June 8, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA LEE FOR 20 YEARS OF CONGRESSIONAL 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BETO O'ROURKE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 8, 2018

  Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Representative 
Barbara Lee, a native of El Paso, Texas, who this year is celebrating 
her 20th year as a Member of Congress. On June 10, her milestone will 
be honored with a portrait dedication ceremony at the McCall 
Neighborhood Center in our mutual hometown, and I rise today to note 
her achievements and congratulate her on a distinguished career thus 
far.
   Representative Lee was born in El Paso, Texas, where she attended 
St. Joseph's Catholic School. During her childhood, El Paso remained a 
segregated community. For instance, Representative Lee and other 
African American citizens were not able to enter landmark buildings in 
El Paso such as the Plaza Theatre due to segregation laws. Despite this 
adversity, her family achieved milestones for racial equality in El 
Paso: her mother was one of the first African Americans to graduate 
from Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and 
her father was the first African American mail carrier in El Paso.
   Her upbringing and experiences in the diverse community of El Paso 
inspired in her a passion for justice and equality, a quality that 
endured when she moved away from El Paso to California when she was 13 
years old. Following high school, she not only raised two sons as a 
single mother and worked to create a better life for her family, but 
also attended Mills College, served as president of the school's Black 
Student Union and later received her master's degree from the 
University of California at Berkeley.
   Her ensuing career in politics further demonstrates her resiliency 
and determination: she rose through Congressman Ron Dellums' 
congressional office over the course of 11 years, beginning as an 
intern and eventually earning the title of Chief of Staff. Similarly, 
she was elected a California State Assembly member in 1990, a 
California State Senator in 1996, and a Congresswoman for California in 
1998.
   During her time as a state representative and the 20 years she has 
served as a Member of Congress, she has made it a priority to represent 
some of the most underserved Americans by fighting for justice, 
equality, and peace. Through that desire, she helped found the Out of 
Poverty Caucus and the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus. She also began 
serving as chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income 
Inequality and Opportunity in 2013.
   Furthermore, she has consistently been a leader in opposing our 
involvement in endless war, even when it was not politically popular to 
do so. She was the only member of the House to vote against the 2001 
Authorization for Use of Military Force, which demonstrated her 
foresight on the open-ended authorization. To recognize her work on 
these issues, she was nominated, as part of a group of 1000 women 
around the world, for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 to recognize her 
dedication to peace and human welfare.
   Please join me in recognizing Congresswoman Lee's successful and 
distinguished career and her roots in El Paso, Texas.

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