[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                    RECOGNIZING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, I urge every one of my colleagues to use 
Black History Month to celebrate the contributions of people who came 
to this hemisphere not of their own free will--in chains, in bondage, 
and then helped to make this country great.
  It is important that we not only recognize them and their 
contributions but their example of resilience:
  Philip Reid, who as an enslaved man was responsible for casting the 
statue which sits atop this building, and as a free man supervised the 
installation of the Statue of Freedom; Maggie Walker, who became the 
first woman to preside over a savings institution, which during the 
Great Depression consolidated to become the Consolidated Bank and 
Trust, which still exists today; Ralph Bunche, an American diplomat 
fundamental to the creation and adoption of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights who later went on to be the first African American to 
win the Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiation efforts between Egypt and 
Israel; and William Leidesdorff of Saint Croix, master of shipping of 
vessels, rancher, gold miner, and one of the founders of San Francisco.
  These Americans are quietly embedded in our Nation's history, but 
today, this month, we celebrate them, their work, and their dedication.

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