[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE OF CONGRESSMAN ALCEE HASTINGS

  (Mrs. MURPHY of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. MURPHY of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to say my final goodbye 
to Alcee Hastings, the dean of Florida's congressional delegation, who 
recently passed away.
  Someone will be elected to fill his seat, but Alcee is irreplaceable. 
His life was full, complex, and extraordinary.
  Born in 1936, Alcee spent his formative years in my district. He 
lived in Altamonte Springs and attended the all-Black Crooms Academy in 
Sanford.
  This was the segregated South where the opportunities available to 
African Americans were few and the obstacles to success were many. But 
Alcee was a force of nature. He rose to become an attorney, then a 
State judge, and then a Federal judge.
  Judge Hastings suffered a setback, but he rose again becoming a 
Member of Congress admired by his colleagues and beloved by his 
constituents.
  As Congressman Hakeem Jeffries put it, he loved the people he served, 
and he always fought for the least, the lost, and the left behind.
  The book of Alcee's life contained challenging chapters, but 
ultimately it is a story of redemption and achievement in the face of 
adversity, written by a warrior for justice and equality who left the 
world far better than he found it.
  Rest in peace, Congressman. You have earned it.

                          ____________________