[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CARRIE MEEK: THE SUNSHINE STATE'S PUBLIC SERVANT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KWEISI MFUME

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2021

  Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a champion for all 
people, a fighter for fair housing, an unrelenting advocate, and an 
American trailblazer. This woman was a friend and was our colleague as 
a former member of this body. The champion I rise to salute today is 
the Honorable Carrie Mae Pittman Meek--the Sunshine State's Public 
Servant.
  Congresswoman Meek was born the grandchild of a slave and daughter of 
a sharecropper. As the youngest of 12 children growing up in 
Tallahassee, Florida, she excelled in academics and used education to 
overcome systemic obstacles that were the routine reality of those 
times, including sexism, racism and discrimination.
  After earning her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University, 
Congresswoman Meek enrolled at the University of Michigan to earn her 
master's degree because Florida banned Black students from attending 
state graduate schools at that time, according to her Congressional 
biography. The state government would pay her out-of-state tuition ``if 
we agreed to get out of Dodge,'' she once recalled.
  The then-single mother of two started her professional career as a 
college professor and coach at Bethune Cookman University, then taught 
at her alma mater Florida A&M University, before taking her talents to 
Miami-Dade Community College as its first Black professor, associate 
dean and assistant to the vice president.
  With a firm foundation as a college professor, our former colleague 
beat out 12 other candidates when she ran for the Florida state House 
in 1978. Just five years later, she became the first Black woman 
elected to the Florida state Senate. Carrie would go on to leverage her 
state service into a successful U.S. House campaign in 1992. Alongside 
former Representatives Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings, Carrie joined 
Congress as one of the first Black members elected from Florida since 
the Reconstruction Era.
  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Meek knew 
the importance of investing federal dollars to provide opportunities 
for all people and in all communities across this great nation. Her 
work ethic, thorough knowledge of the legislation before her, and 
mastery of the legislative process are as much a part of her legacy as 
her support for public education, affordable housing, and programs to 
prevent poverty.
  As a fighter for women's rights, Congresswoman Meek worked to protect 
victims of stalking at the state level and focused Congress on 
important legislation like the Violence Against Women Act. Indeed, her 
effectiveness as a public servant was only rivaled by her warmth and 
grace. Warmth, grace, compassion, tenacity, and savvy are some aspects 
of the Sunshine State's Public Servant that we will always remember.
  Congresswoman Meek recently passed away after living a full life of 
over 95 years. Her funeral services and homegoing celebration are 
taking place today as I stand before you in this Chamber.
  Carrie is survived by her three children Lucia Davis-Raiford, Sheila 
Davis Kinui, and retired Congressman Kendrick B. Meek of Florida, as 
well as seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Her entire 
family will remain in our prayers. May they be comforted to know the 
courageous spirit of the Honorable Carrie Mae Pittman Meek lives on.

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