[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 12 (Thursday, January 21, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E53-E54]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN RECOGNITION OF THE LIFE AND MEMORY OF MOLLY HAMMMER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 21, 2021

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today with a sadness I struggle to 
express on behalf of a community that has lost a voice, a city that has 
lost a leader, and family that has lost a friend. I rise to honor the 
life and memory of Molly Hammer. Molly spent years gracing Kansas City 
and the world with a one-of-a-kind voice and an indomitable spirit. For 
thirteen of those years, she did so while sharing her life with 
metastatic breast cancer. On Tuesday, November 24, Molly lost her fight 
with breast cancer. She was forty-eight years old. Her story, cut 
tragically short, is of a soul who sought to use her gifts to spread 
joy and to use her hardships to inspire hope. For fifteen years, Molly 
sang for us. Today, we sing of her.
  Those lucky enough to have followed Molly's career since its 
beginning know that the talent, work ethic, and grit she displayed in 
the final years of her life were nothing new. Her high school choir 
teacher remembers her astounding professionalism while playing the 
narrator in her high school's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. After graduating, she 
went on to become a stage actor and portrayed Patsy Cline on a stage in 
Iowa for five years. In 2005, Molly answered a spiritual call from a 
difficult industry where she could have the complete independence she 
craved--jazz and blues. And thank goodness she did. It was then that 
she dove into an intense study of vocal jazz and began an illustrious 
career in the Kansas City music community. Molly soon became a fixture 
of the 18th & Vine jazz scene, winning the 2016 Critics' Choice for 
Best Jazz Singer award from The Pitch, releasing four LPs--one just 
three months ago--and cementing her place as an integral stitch in the 
rich cultural fabric of Jazz's cradle.
  In 2008, Molly was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she beat it. 
Eight years later, it came back, and Molly returned to her battle, this 
time fighting a more aggressive foe but with no less determination or 
spirit. And not only did Molly continue to bring joy to her community 
through song during that battle, she also became an outspoken advocate 
for cancer research and a powerful voice in bringing awareness to what 
it means to live life with the disease. She called for increased 
research funding and better methods of preventative screening, worked 
with organizations like METAvivor and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, 
and even lobbied Congress. However, though her music and her advocacy 
took her

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all over the country and all over the world, Molly, I am proud to say, 
was devoted to Kansas City, and more specifically to the Kansas City 
music community. She supported organizations like GUILDit, which seeks 
to connect the world of music to the world of business to help support 
artists, After all, when Molly was diagnosed, she had no health 
insurance--a tragically common phenomenon among independent artists. 
And recently, she chose to donate the proceeds from her albums to the 
Midwest Music Foundation, ensuring that her giving spirit will continue 
to touch artists in her community for years to come.
  I have always been struck by Molly's ability play any room at all. 
Molly sang the National Anthem at Arrowhead Stadium. Molly sang it at 
Kauffman Stadium. Molly sang at the Kauffman Center. Molly sang at the 
Folly Theater. And yet, even when her fight with cancer was at its most 
painful ebb, Molly got out every single weekend and brought her voice 
and her presence to local jazz clubs and Unity churches throughout 
Kansas City. When the pandemic struck, dealing a crushing blow to 
musicians and venues everywhere, Molly sang online from her living 
room. On stage with a microphone in hand and a piano to sing beside--
that's where Molly felt at home. She used to say it was because music 
fed her soul. I so hope Molly knew that her music fed our souls as 
well.
  Today, my heart is with Molly's family and friends, who are coping 
with a loss no amount of preparation could have softened. To Molly's 
parents, I say this: we are never prepared to outlive our children. I 
hope you take comfort in that you were able to see Molly exhibit a 
resilience that every parent hopes their child will have when they send 
them out into what can be an unfair and unforgiving world. Scripture 
tells us, ``Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve 
others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.'' 
Molly's story, to me, is a story of service. Molly was given the gift 
of a singular voice and a presence that could light up jazz club, a 
concert hall, or a stadium, and she used it to bring joy and music to 
others. Molly was dealt a terrible disease, and she used it to bring 
awareness and comfort to those fighting alongside her. Molly 
administered God's grace in one of its most breathtaking forms, and she 
did so for all of us.
  Jazz is about many things. It is about finding beauty where there is 
pain. It is about finding freedom where there are shackles. But at a 
musical level, jazz is about setting up rules, so they can then be 
broken. It is about establishing a rhythm, so that it can be defied. 
Madam Speaker, as I reckon with this loss, I take comfort in my belief 
that Molly has defied the unrelenting rhythm of this mortal world and 
taken her place among a choir of angels. There is piano somewhere in 
heaven that has been waiting for Molly, and I know that today, she is 
singing beside it.
  So, Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring the life and legacy of 
Molly Hammer. Though she may never return to the stages where we've 
seen her before, today Molly joins a pantheon of jazz greats whose 
music echoes through time. Artists never really die, and I woke up this 
morning with Molly's music in my head. ``So let me fly out of this 
world,'' she would often sing at the end of her concerts, ``And spend 
the next eternity or two / with you.''

                          ____________________