[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 24 (Monday, February 7, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H998-H1006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING CONGRESSWOMAN SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Bush). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include any extraneous material on the subject of the Special 
Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, first of all, I would like to 
thank our Congressional Black Caucus chair, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, 
for her tremendous leadership and for giving us this Special Order hour 
on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus to honor my mentor, one of 
the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the late 
Congresswoman Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm. And to Congresswoman 
Beatty, I just want to say how proud we are, and how bold she has led 
this caucus by demanding that everyone really understand our power, and 
our message. Tonight is no exception. And, in fact, Congresswoman 
Chisholm, I am sure, is very proud of the leadership of Congresswoman 
Beatty.
  As the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968--I 
want you to listen to this--the first Congress convened in 1789 and the 
first Black woman elected to Congress was in 1968. That was 
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. She was also the first African American 
and woman to seek the Presidency.
  Shirley Chisholm has truly cemented her place in history as a 
trailblazer. I first met Congresswoman Chisholm because of a college 
assignment at Mills College in Oakland, California. My government 
professor assigned us to do field work on a Presidential campaign.
  At the time, several men were vying for the Democratic nomination, 
but they didn't speak to the issues that I cared about. I was a young, 
single mom on public assistance, and their platforms did not include 
issues that related to me or my community, like childcare, public 
education, universal healthcare, and ending poverty.
  So, of course, even though I had never flunked a class in my life, I 
decided to get an F in this class because I could not bring myself to 
work for these candidates.
  Now, I didn't believe these candidates could see me or had seen my 
community in terms of our needs. So I invited Congresswoman Shirley 
Chisholm to Mills College. I did not know she was running for the 
Presidency, but I invited her to address the Black Student Union 
because I was president of the Black Student Union. I had no idea she 
was running for President.
  In her speech, she stood up for children and struggling working 
families. She spoke out against racism and sexism. She was against the 
Vietnam war. She advocated for what she knew was right, undeterred by 
criticism and without fear of the consequences.
  As soon as she finished her speech, I went up to talk to her to tell 
her about this class I was about to flunk, and she took me to task. She 
asked me if I was registered to vote. And I said: No. I admitted that I 
wasn't going to do much in politics because I didn't believe in the 
two-party system and its relationship to my needs and my community.
  She said: Little girl, you can't change the system if you are on the 
outside looking in. Register to vote. And from that moment on, I ended 
up working in her northern California

[[Page H999]]

campaign. I vowed to listen to her, allowed her to mentor me and take 
me to task.
  We organized her northern California campaign out of my class at 
Mills College, and the rest is history. I went on to Miami, Florida, as 
a Shirley Chisholm delegate and we took a large percentage of the vote 
in Alameda County.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), 
the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to deliver, once again, our 
power and our message, and then I will return and yield to my 
colleagues after the chair of the Black Caucus speaks.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank our coanchor tonight, 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee. I proudly join my colleagues in the 
Congressional Black Caucus to commemorate the unbought and unbossed 
legacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm that lives on through each of 
us.
  I would like to thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for being our 
anchor of the Special Order hour, and yielding tonight to let 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee open up this special session on Shirley 
Chisholm.
  Before I make just a few brief remarks, let me just say, as we just 
heard Congresswoman Barbara Lee say, as Shirley Chisholm referred to 
her as ``that little girl,'' oh, how proud she would be today knowing 
that little girl is now the woman that we say, ``Barbara Lee speaks for 
me.''
  She is the woman that spearheaded putting Shirley Chisholm's face on 
a stamp. And every day Congresswoman Barbara Lee, through her stellar 
and magnificent leadership, guides us in the footsteps of Shirley 
Chisholm. Certainly, she is unbought and unbossed.
  So to you, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, I say thank you for allowing us 
to stand on your shoulders. Thank you for when you walk in the room, 
whether it is steering in policy, whether it is Appropriations or any 
of the other committees, you always carry members with you. And that is 
what Shirley Chisholm has done for this Nation.
  And so now, let me say what you will hear repeatedly tonight: The 
first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, you will hear 
that she is the first Black woman to seek nomination as President of 
these United States from one of the two major political powers. 
Certainly, she left us a legacy that lives on; a legacy that we are so 
proud of.
  What I would like to say to everyone watching, Madam Speaker, 
especially for mothers and daughters, think of what it must have been 
like to stand in the Halls of justice where we are standing today, 
where she was standing alone. Think what it must have been like for her 
when she stood on that Democratic national floor at that convention, 
giving such a powerful speech, far ahead of her time when she held up 
those two fingers that we see so often, and that we today stand on her 
shoulders.

  Lastly, Madam Speaker, it gives me a great privilege to walk these 
Halls of Congress and to be the chair of the Congressional Black 
Caucus. When I walk down the Halls of justice, I say to Congresswoman 
Sheila Jackson Lee, that I think about standing on the shoulders of 
Barbara Jordan. I think about what it was like to have a Shirley 
Chisholm and a Barbara Jordan. But then, Madam Speaker, I know what it 
is like, it is having a Barbara Lee and a Sheila Jackson Lee, and that 
is what tonight is about.
  When I walk by that life-sized portrait of Congresswoman Shirley 
Chisholm, I think about her courage. I think about her leadership. I 
think about what we will tell every little Black girl in America. You 
too can be a Shirley Chisholm. You too can stand up for justice. You 
too can be in the fight representing the people who need us the most.
  In conclusion, I say the two most powerful words that I was taught to 
say, and that is thank you. Thank you to these Halls of Congress for 
letting us have a Shirley Chisholm. Thank you members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus for coming out tonight to honor her great 
legacy because it is not just about this Special Order hour tonight. It 
is about our future. It is about how we continue to live the legacy of 
Shirley Chisholm.
  Ms. LEE of California. Let me first say to our chair that our power 
and our message is exactly what the gentlewoman has delivered tonight. 
And I just want to thank her for her very gracious remarks and just 
know that I know Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm is proud of her 
leadership and proud of the fact that although she was one in 1968, I 
believe we have--what--25 bold, brilliant Black women in the 
Congressional Black Caucus.
  Thank you again for giving us a chance to honor her tonight and for 
your leadership.
  I now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson), the chair of 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. I have been here since 
1998, and she took to me and explained to me why, and I was on the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology when I first came to 
Congress, and I learned so much from her and have really just honored 
her for helping us navigate as Black women in this institution.
  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman so very 
much for her comments. I am truly proud to stand tonight with our 
leader of this hour, as well as the leader of our Caucus to pay tribute 
to Shirley Chisholm.
  Just a little over 50 years ago today, in a 1972 speech announcing 
her candidacy for President, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm said:

       I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am 
     Black and proud.
       I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this 
     country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of 
     that.
       I am the candidate of the people of America and my presence 
     before you now symbolizes a new era in American political 
     history.

                              {time}  2015

  Here was a Black woman from Brooklyn, New York, of Guyanese and Bajan 
descent, born to a burlap worker and a seamstress, boldly declaring a 
new era in American politics.
  But despite her best efforts, Congresswoman Chisholm knew that the 
outcome of her candidacy was preordained.
  At the time, our country was still learning to accept Black people 
and women as equal citizens--that is the year I was first elected to my 
first elected office--much less electing them as President of the 
United States.
  Nevertheless, she persisted.
  She held an unwavering faith in our common humanity, even when our 
common humanity did not hold the same faith in her. It was that same 
faith that drove her campaign.
  She transcended political norms by bringing the issues of gender and 
racial equity to the national stage.
  She highlighted and reinforced the importance of diversity at the 
table of public discourse.
  And she shattered any preconceived notions about Black women in 
public service, particularly in politics.
  Building on her work as the first Black woman elected to Congress, 
she blazed the trail and the torch of progress for many of us who have 
followed.
  Today, the Congressional Black Caucus, which she helped establish, 
has 27 women from districts across the country. I think I speak on 
behalf of all of us when I say that we would not be here today if not 
for her life and legacy.
  So as we celebrate Black History Month and the 50th anniversary of 
her Presidential campaign and the 51st anniversary of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, let Congresswoman Chisholm's story serve as a reminder 
that equality and justice are the responsibility of every generation, 
and it is our turn.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Congressional Black Caucus 
and our distinguished leader, Barbara Lee, for offering us this 
opportunity.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank very much Congresswoman 
Eddie Bernice Johnson for that powerful statement and also reminding us 
of her humble beginnings. She also, when she came to Congress, 
championed the rights of domestic workers and of low-income people. It 
was in her soul and in her spirit. She turned her vision into 
legislation here and was an excellent legislator who never lost touch 
with who she was.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee), the co-chair of our Special Order, another greater leader from 
the State of Texas, and, as Chairwoman Beatty said, a fighter for 
justice on a lot of fronts.

[[Page H1000]]

  

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
California, as always, for reminding us in almost every moment of her 
tenure here in the United States Congress of the spirit and the 
investment that Shirley Chisholm made in her personally and the 
investment that she made as a young college student, saying that I am 
going to find Shirley Chisholm or accept the call and be in her 
Presidential election. What a historic moment for her.
  Also, the very pathway that she has taken in the United States 
Congress is evidence that she is definitely a living example of the 
fighting spirit of Shirley Chisholm.
  It is great to be here to acknowledge this 50th commemoration of this 
historic moment. I thank our chair, the Honorable Joyce Beatty, for 
reminding us of Our Power, Our Message. I would like to say our 
message, our power, and to recognize that the Congressional Black 
Caucus is the pacesetter for justice and equality and the elimination 
of racism, which still lifts its head today.
  To my other colleagues that are here today, I am grateful for their 
presence on the floor, for Shirley Chisholm deserves the recognition 
and the acknowledgment of who she was but also what she did and what 
she invested in America.
  Let it be known that even as she was an African-American woman, she 
was a great American that made differences that can be seen today.
  I want to honor and acknowledge the shoulders upon which I stand. 
That includes, in our Congress, Shirley Chisholm, John Conyers, John 
Lewis, Ron Dellums, and Barbara Jordan.
  I also want to acknowledge my parents, Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, a 
vocational nurse, and Ezra C. Jackson, one of the first African 
Americans to succeed in the aftermath of being discriminated against in 
the comic book industry.
  All of that pours into the work of Shirley Chisholm and her campaign 
slogan in this, her congressional district race in 1968: ``Fighting 
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.'' That continued throughout 
her life.
  She remarked that women in this country must become revolutionaries, 
that we must refuse to accept the old, traditional roles and 
stereotypes.
  This is a sentiment that I take to heart myself and that the women of 
the Congressional Black Caucus have taken to heart. We have told the 
Nation that we must have self-determination. We want to lead. Shirley 
Chisholm was at the core of the movement of women leading. That is why, 
on January 25, 1972, Shirley announced her candidacy.
  She stood before the cameras, and in the beginning of her speech, she 
said--before I say these words, let me be very clear. There weren't 
thousands of people. There may not have been hundreds and hundreds of 
people. I can tell you there was a bounty of skeptics, people standing 
back and saying: This is unimaginable. Why would she do this? We don't 
need her to do this. She is getting in the way.
  I am grateful that Shirley Chisholm, fighting Shirley Chisholm, 
unbought and unbossed, maintained the dignity of the right of a Black 
woman, an American, to run for the Presidency of the United States.
  So, she said: ``I stand before you today as a candidate for the 
Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States.''
  How sweet those words are.
  ``I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and 
proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, 
although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. I am not the 
candidate of any political''--bosses--``or special interests. . . . I 
am the candidate of the people.''
  We keep that in mind, this Congress, the Democratic Members of 
Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus must keep in mind that we are 
the candidates, the spokespersons of the people, that it is their truth 
that we must tell. Shirley Chisholm always told their truth.
  She did not win the nomination, but she went on to the Democratic 
Convention in Miami and received 151 votes.
  We know that the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, 
stands on the shoulders of Shirley Chisholm. The women today that are 
elected across America, in all different positions, stand on the 
shoulders of Shirley Chisholm.
  We recognize that barriers still stand. One that we hope will be 
corrected in this month, Black History Month, in Shirley Chisholm's 
fighting spirit, is that an African-American woman, a Black woman, will 
be nominated to the United States Supreme Court.
  We want more than that as well. We want an age-old bill that has been 
languishing for so long, H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop 
Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, that Congresswoman 
Chisholm would have been on. We want it to be pronounced and announced 
this month.
  As we honor her tonight, fighting Shirley Chisholm, let me 
acknowledge the different poses, the different leadership, as she has 
stood for the people of Brooklyn, but the people of America. That is 
the face of a fighting woman, and that is the face of the person we 
honor tonight.
  I am delighted to be here with my colleague, who has always put 
Shirley Chisholm in the forefront of our thinking, of how progressive 
and innovative and powerful and strong and empowering--I want to leave 
you with that. She believed in empowering others and understood the 
words of Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is injustice 
everywhere. Shirley Chisholm was ahead of her time.
  Shirley Chisholm is to be honored every day, as my colleague said, as 
we walk through these Halls. I look up and see Barbara Jordan, and then 
I look up and see Shirley Chisholm, unbought and unbossed. Honor her 
tonight and always.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank very much Congresswoman 
Sheila Jackson Lee for that very comprehensive statement about our 
shero, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Congresswoman Jackson Lee 
certainly is the epitome of who she was.
  I am so happy that she raised some of the issues and some of her 
quotes because she told me personally: Barbara, these rules and 
policies weren't made for you and I.
  She said: Don't go along to get along.
  She said: If you get behind these closed doors in any capacity, you 
have to fight to change the rules of the game. You have to fight the 
systemic issues. Don't tinker around the edges.
  I say that because, once again, when I started, I mentioned the fact 
that the first Congress was held in 1789, right? Shirley Chisholm was 
elected in 1968. Our country lost so much during that period because 
there were no Black women right here in this House of Representatives.
  We have to always remember the power of the moment when Shirley was 
elected to Congress and then running for President.
  Congresswoman Lucy McBath, another trailblazer who has shattered a 
heck of a lot of glass ceilings, first of all, and who has been bold 
and determined and persistent in making her community and this country 
a better place, I am so glad that she is with us tonight.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath).
  Mrs. McBATH. Madam Speaker, I want to thank so much my esteemed 
colleague Barbara Lee, who speaks for me tonight, and also Sheila 
Jackson Lee. I thank them both so much for leading us in this 
commemoration tonight of our shero Shirley Chisholm. I am also grateful 
for the words that were spoken earlier by our leader, our shero of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty.
  Black History Month is a time for us to commemorate all of those who 
came before us and to celebrate those who helped pave the path of 
progress that we find ourselves on today.
  Shirley Chisholm is truly one of those trailblazers. She was a woman 
who lived her truth and told her story boldly time and time again. She 
was a trailblazer ahead of her time who had a deep and lasting impact 
on our communities, on our country, and, most specifically, on 
communities of color.
  It is not hard today to see that very impact. We now have a new 
generation of leaders who are shaping the policy of this Nation's 
future, who looked to the past and continue to look to leaders like 
Shirley Chisholm to see all the

[[Page H1001]]

places we still need to go. Yes, we have a long way to go.
  Young women around the world, and especially young women of color, 
have been forever inspired by her example, with all the barriers that 
she broke down. It can be easy to forget all that she did, all that she 
helped to build.
  Shirley was instrumental in strengthening voting rights; she was a 
force in demanding women's rights; and she was a leader in the fight 
for civil rights.
  It was the way that she worked all those years ago that has shown 
time and time again why we must continue these very same fights today.
  In my home State of Georgia, we are at the forefront of the fight for 
voting rights once again. We are, again, fighting against attempts at 
the worst voter suppression we have seen since Jim Crow. At a time when 
our voting rights are under attack, we must once again lead in the 
efforts to protect these very sacred rights.

                              {time}  2030

  So, to all the women of color who have followed in Shirley's 
footsteps, the work you do has never been more important. The times 
have found us, and it is in these moments that we must continue to rise 
to this occasion. We have been prepared for this moment, a moment that 
beckons us to fight for equality and strive for justice, the equality 
and the justice that every one of us deserves.
  That preparation is because of leaders like Shirley Chisholm, and now 
because the leaders of tomorrow grew up watching the leaders of 
yesterday, we will continue to make indelible marks on the world.
  Because of women like Shirley Chisholm, women of color have found 
their own power to stand up and to speak out and to advocate for the 
change that we know is possible, but more so the change that we know is 
necessary.
  So, as we continue to follow in the footsteps of the giants who came 
before us, as we honor and celebrate the titans of the movement, I want 
to thank each and every person who wakes up every day in this country 
and does this work. Because this work is not easy, but changes only 
ever come from those who have brought their lived experiences into 
these Halls of power.
  For all of you in this Chamber, for the brave Black women who have 
carried this country forward, I want to say to each of you, I want to 
say that the work that you are doing as women and as women of color has 
never been more important. I want to thank you from the bottom of my 
heart because I would not be here had it not been for you.
  I want to say how proud I am of each of your accomplishments, of your 
triumphs, and your successes, and I want you to remember that we are 
all doing the best that we can and that each day God continues to give 
us new grace.
  As we move forward, we must be courageous in the fight for justice, 
human rights, and a future that celebrates the diversity and the power 
of who we are as a people.
  We should all strive to extend the path that Shirley helped build for 
us to follow. We should all strive to be like Shirley and be our best.
  Ms. LEE of California. Congresswoman Lucy McBath, I would like to 
share a story with you which reminds me of you that happened during 
Shirley's campaign because I know your district, and I know how you 
fight each and every day to bring people together, and how you care 
about all people, humanity.
  You care about people regardless of party affiliation, regardless of 
background, and I know that is how you do your work, and that is how 
you are so effective as a Black woman.
  During Shirley Chisholm's campaign, George Wallace was running for 
President also. He was shot and he was hospitalized. He was paralyzed. 
This is in the middle of the campaign. Congresswoman Chisholm suspended 
her campaign for a few days, and she went to visit that segregationist 
George Wallace.
  I mean, I was ready to leave. I said no, there is no way that my 
first campaign, this hero--shero of mine is going down to see this man 
who has blocked African Americans from going to school, who has sicced 
dogs on them, who is a horrible human being.
  And so I talked to her and said, ``I can't deal with this, Mrs. 
Chisholm.'' I was so angry for that decision. And I am thinking of 
Congresswoman McBath now, I am thinking of the context in which we live 
in terms of so much hate out there because she said to me, she said, 
``Little girl,'' even though I was a grown woman with two little kids, 
``Remember, we are all human beings. Maybe I can teach him something 
and help him regain his humanity.''
  I said, ``Well, he never had any. He was a bad man.''
  And she went on to say, ``I know you are angry. I know people are 
really angry who support me, but you have to rise to the occasion if 
you are a leader, and you have to try to break down some of these 
barriers. You have to break through and try to enlighten other people 
who may hate you.''
  I said, ``No, that is not good enough. He will never, ever come 
around, and I am really angry.'' But she asked me to stay on with her 
campaign, so I begrudgingly did.
  But what happened was she was able--and I am a good friend with 
George Wallace's daughter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, who is a fighter for 
racial justice, who is a phenomenal woman in Alabama, and she is a good 
friend of mine, and she told me just recently, she said, ``Honey, you 
know, I was at that bedside when Shirley Chisholm visited my daddy, and 
she talked to him, and she told him what terrible things he had done, 
and she asked him to please, please, please understand that Black 
people deserved justice and equality.''
  And she didn't know whether she was making an impact on him or not, 
but later--I still say too little, too late--he went to Dexter Avenue 
Baptist Church in his wheelchair and rolled down the aisle and 
apologized for all of his misdeeds.
  They became friends from afar, and he got a lot of the Southern 
Members to sign onto her legislation for domestic workers and for all 
of her bills that she was working on that she needed Southern 
Dixiecrats to support.
  I share that story now because that seems like something that we 
forgot how to do. I mean, I know I have. It is something that she 
taught me because not only was she responsible for this apology--again, 
too little too late--but it showed me that you have got to step out of 
your comfort zone, like you do, and hopefully, hopefully see some good 
in people who are your adversaries.
  You were talking, and I wanted to share that because I was personally 
involved with that story. I want to salute Peggy Wallace Kennedy 
tonight because she has really led a life that has been a life of 
making sure that every barrier against African Americans and people of 
color is dismantled in this country. Thank you again.
  Mrs. McBATH. Thank you for sharing that.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, we will go to another fighter 
who has just come here from the great State of Ohio, who has a 
remarkable record fighting for voting rights and justice and is a woman 
who serves her community in ways that every Member of Congress should 
serve their community, Congresswoman Shontel Brown, who I think has 
been here for years now, but she has really hit the ground running in 
her presence on this floor.
  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Thank you to the co-leaders, Barbara Lee and 
Sheila Jackson Lee, my sisters and colleagues.
  Madam Speaker, as we celebrate Black History Month, I rise today to 
join my CBC colleagues and my CBC sisters in honoring the life and 
trailblazing legacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.
  Before me, it was her. Before my predecessor, HUD Secretary Marcia 
Fudge, it was her. Before the record-setting number of 27 Black women 
in Congress today, it was her.
  My career in public service rests on the shoulders and the 
contributions of the iconic Shirley Chisholm. In 1969 she became a 
political pioneer and shattered racial and gender barriers by becoming 
the first Black woman elected to Congress.
  Her signature slogan, ``unbought and unbossed,'' spoke to her 
audacity, her sheer sense of will, and her fearlessness in the face of 
established norms and institutions. And it spoke to her rise as the 
people's politician, someone willing to speak up and speak out for 
those embattled by poverty, discrimination, and injustice.

[[Page H1002]]

  In Congress, she fought for low-income families, for hungry 
schoolchildren, and for single moms. She was critical to the creation 
of the national school lunch program. She was critical to the growth of 
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and she 
was critical to the creation of the Women, Infants, and Children's 
program, known as WIC. Then, as now, these programs reduce the hunger 
facing American children and families. Today I am proud to carry forth 
her legacy by fighting for their expansion.
  Fifty years ago, Shirley Chisholm made history once again by becoming 
the first African American and the first woman to run for President. 
But more than being a mere political first, Shirley Chisholm is best 
remembered for her grit, her willingness to push on the pedal of 
progress, and her ability to not just see America for what it is, but 
for what it could be.
  Chisholm understood the challenges women, particularly Black women, 
were facing in America, and she created a path for women like me. She 
passed the baton, and now it is up to us to continue the race.
  Ms. LEE of California. Let me thank you, Congresswoman Brown, for 
that statement and for your presentation and laying out many of Shirley 
Chisholm's accomplishments. I mean, she was a great legislator. She 
passed the 1974 minimum wage law, which expanded minimum wage standards 
to domestic workers and a broader swath of government employees, so I 
am glad that you laid that out because so many of us and so many 
especially younger African-American women and women of color see her as 
this icon who ran for President, first Black woman elected, but she was 
an excellent legislator.
  She used her contacts and leverage, and she knew how to leverage the 
folks, as I mentioned George Wallace's people. She understood her 
power. You understand your power, and I am so glad that you are here 
tonight for this presentation.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee) for some additional words.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Congresswoman, thank you so very much. I wanted to 
offer my appreciation first to you because I want you to be the last 
word on this floor tonight because I truly mean what I said earlier, 
and in almost every moment there has been an anecdotal story, a very 
important one that you have reminded us of the strength of Shirley 
Chisholm.
  I do want to go back to Shirley's Caribbean roots, but her strong 
roots in Brooklyn. I know that you said this, or I am sure it has been 
referred to or you will, is that when she came to the United States 
Congress, being the first African-American woman and being dismissed 
not by her constituents, but by the hierarchy that was here, and I am 
sure someone with a little chuckle thought: Brooklyn, urban, guess 
where we will put her? On the Agriculture Committee. And that will get 
her packing up and running out.
  But Shirley Chisholm, again, fighting Shirley Chisholm was her theme, 
showed them. I remember those words either said by her or describe her, 
a tree grows in Brooklyn. Don't sell us short. A tree grows in Queens, 
a tree grows in Manhattan, a tree grows in New York.
  She did take to the leadership of the Agriculture Committee, 
particularly becoming an expert on SNAP and many other aspects of 
agriculture that really dealt with the vulnerable and starving people 
in America. That was Shirley Chisholm.

  And then as I intertwine the question of the selection and nomination 
of an African-American woman to the United States Supreme Court, I want 
to put in the Record the words, if you are always ruled but denied the 
opportunity to rule, in turn, you are simply a subject and not fully a 
citizen. And so Congresswoman Chisholm's presence was to deny being 
only ruled and simply being a subject.
  The cases that spoke to that are the Supreme Court decisions like 
Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Korematsu v. United States, 
civil rights cases in 1883, Bowers v. Hardwick, Lochner v. New York, 
and Buck v. Bell. These cases from 1857 to 1927 all showed where 
America was in terms of this cancer called racism.
  I want to refer us tonight in my final words on the floor in tribute 
to Shirley Chisholm to the words she said about do women dare. As I do 
so, with a little bit of sense of great honor is to show a picture of 
myself and Shirley Chisholm that I now found and relocated and will 
actually get framed, my presenting her with an award after a speech 
that she gave in front of the Black women lawyers. When we were few, 
unknown, and unlisted and probably unappreciated, she actually came to 
speak before the Black women lawyers in Houston, Texas, having some 
years before that worked as an intern in her district at one of the 
State representatives' offices, Representative Bellamy.

                              {time}  2045

  And I might say, as I talk about Shirley, I have to put on the record 
that she was selected for the Agriculture Committee, but I am told by 
my former colleague, Pat Schroeder, that when she and Ron Dellums went 
to the Armed Services Committee, they were given one chair. And they 
had to sit in one chair because they were trying to diminish them and 
dismiss them. They could not do that. And though this is not about Ron 
Dellums, he became the chair of the Armed Services Committee.
  But let me give these words in conclusion on the fighting Shirley 
Chisholm. This is her speech ``Do Women Dare,'' and it just has been 
discovered. ``The topic this morning of course is, `do women dare?' ''
  These are her words.
  ``And I have said, of course women dare. Do women dare? I assume that 
the question implies do women dare take an active part in society, and, 
in particular, do they dare to take a part in the present social 
revolution?''
  We need this now more than ever. And I would say, Do Americans dare? 
Do men and women dare? Do African Americans dare? Do vulnerable people 
dare?
  ``And I find the question as much of an insult as I would the 
question, `Are you, as a Black person, willing to fight for your 
rights?' America has been sufficiently sensitized to the answer, 
whether or not Black people are willing to both fight and die for their 
rights. To make the question itself is asinine and superfluous. America 
is not yet sufficiently aware, but such a question applied to women is 
equally asinine and superfluous.''
  And so she goes on to say: ``I am, as is obvious, both Black and a 
woman. And that is a good vantage point from which to view at least two 
elements of what is becoming a social revolution. The American Black 
revolution and the women's liberation movement. But it is also a 
horrible disadvantage. It is a disadvantage, my friends, because 
America as a Nation, is both racist and antifeminist. Racism and 
antifeminism are two of the prime traditions of this country that we 
have to face objectively. For any individual, therefore, challenging 
social traditions is a giant step. A giant step, because there are no 
social traditions which do not have corresponding social sanctions, the 
sole purpose of which are to protect the sanctity of the traditions.''
  And so she goes on to talk about do women dare. I cannot think of 
more important words in 2022 as we fight against racism and sexism, as 
we fight to give a sense of reality and honesty and equality to the 
idea of a Black woman going to the Supreme Court.
  And as we raise up the issue of the study of slavery and the 
development of reparation proposals under H.R. 40, can that be a 
simple, obvious reality? Can that be something that is just accepted 
because it is right?
  Shirley Chisholm has taught us to keep fighting and to dare. I thank 
the gentlewoman for bringing us to this place and also to this 
understanding.
  Madam Speaker, this February we recognize and celebrate the 44th 
commemoration of Black History Month and the Jubilee anniversary of 
Shirley Chisolm's historic run for the presidency in 1972.
  I am honored to co-anchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special 
Order with my dear friend and colleague, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of 
California.
  This month we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the 
history of our great Nation, and pay tribute to trailblazers, pioneers, 
heroes, and leaders like Kamala D. Harris, the 49th Vice-President of 
the United States and the first woman and person of color to be elected 
to the office; 44th President of the United States and First Lady,

[[Page H1003]]

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, respectively; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr.; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. Senator 
Blanche Kelso Bruce; U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; U.S. 
Congressman Mickey Leland; Astronauts Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford, Jr. 
and Mae C. Jemison; activists, intellectuals, authors, artists, and 
entrepreneurs like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, James 
Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, 
Gwendolyn Brooks, Shonda Rhimes, Ava Duvernay, Oprah Winfrey, and Super 
Bowl LIV winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes and National Football 
League Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, just to name a few of the 
countless number of well-known and unsung heroes whose contributions 
have helped our Nation become a more perfect union.
  The history of the United States has been marked by the great 
contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and 
artists.
  As a member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of 
giants like Shirley Chisolm, John Conyers, John Lewis, Ronald Dellums, 
and Barbara Jordan whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me 
to stand here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and 
progress for all, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual 
orientation.
  The greatest of these giants to me are Mrs. Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, 
a vocational nurse, and Mr. Ezra C. Jackson, one of the first African 
Americans to succeed in the comic book publishing business.
  They were my beloved parents, and they taught me the value of 
education, hard work, discipline, perseverance, and caring for others.
  And I am continually inspired by Dr. Elwyn Lee, my husband and the 
first tenured African American law professor at the University of 
Houston.
  Madam Speaker, I particularly wish to acknowledge the contributions 
of African American veterans in defending from foreign aggressors and 
who by their courageous examples helped transform our Nation from a 
segregated society to a nation committed to the never-ending challenge 
of perfecting our union.
  Several years ago about this time, I was honored to join my then 
colleagues Congressmen John Lewis and former Congressman Charles 
Rangel, a Korean War veteran, in paying tribute to surviving members of 
the Tuskegee Airmen and the 555th Parachute Infantry, the famed 
``Triple Nickels'' at a moving ceremony sponsored by the U.S. Army 
commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
  The success of the Tuskegee Airmen in escorting bombers during World 
War II--achieving one of the lowest loss records of all the escort 
fighter groups and being in constant demand for their services by the 
allied bomber units--is a record unmatched by any other fighter group.
  So impressive and astounding were the feats of the Tuskegee Airmen 
that in 1948, it helped persuade President Harry Truman to issue his 
famous Executive Order No. 9981, which directed equality of treatment 
and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces and led to the 
end of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces.
  They proved that ``the antidote to racism is excellence in 
performance,'' as retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter once remarked.
  It is a source of enormous and enduring pride that my father-in-law, 
Phillip Ferguson Lee, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
  Madam Speaker, Black History Month is also a time to remember many 
pioneering women like activists Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks; 
astronaut Mae C. Jemison; mathematicians like Katherine G. Johnson, 
Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson; authors Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, 
and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have each in their own way, whether 
through courageous activism, cultural or intellectual contributions, or 
artistic creativity, forged social and political change, and forever 
changed our great Nation for the better.
  Madam Speaker, it is particularly fitting and proper this evening to 
remember and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic and 
audacious campaign for President of the late U.S. Congresswoman Shirley 
Anita St. Hill Chisholm.
  Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman elected to 
Congress, when she was elected to represent the New York's Twelfth 
Congressional District in 1968 running on the slogan, ``Fightinq 
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.''
  She reflected that spirit well during her 14 years in Congress.
  During her first term she spoke out for civil rights, women's rights, 
the poor and against the Vietnam War.
  Her first term in Congress was set against the backdrop of the Civil 
Rights Movement and the women's movement for equal rights.
  Shirley Chisolm had an understanding that during those turbulent 
times the Nation required a determined leader to represent the voice of 
so many Americans who felt dismay at their treatment.
  She took an extremely active role in changing the way women were to 
be judged from that point on.
  She remarked that ``Women in this country must become 
revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional 
roles and stereotypes.''
  This is a sentiment that I myself take to heart, women in this Nation 
are now told they have a right to determine the kind of life they want 
to lead; Shirley Chisholm was at the core of this movement.
  On January 25, 1972, Chisholm announced her candidacy for President.
  She stood before the cameras and in the beginning of her speech she 
said:
  ``I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic 
nomination for the Presidency of the United States.
  ``I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and 
proud.
  ``I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, 
although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the 
candidate of any political bosses or special interests.
  ``I am the candidate of the people.''
  Shirley Chisholm did not win the nomination; but she went on to the 
Democratic Convention in Miami and received 151 delegates' votes.
  More than that, she demonstrated the will and determination of so 
many Americans, particularly black women, who had previously felt 
forgotten, and she lit the fire inspiring so many who had felt 
disenfranchised.
  I am glad to walk in their footsteps and will continue to encourage 
women to uphold the principles they taught us to fight for and cherish.
  Madam Speaker, because Shirley Chisolm dared to reach for the brass 
ring 50 years ago, she ushered in the era where women could aspire, 
seek, and win leadership roles in this country's local, State, and 
national governments.
  Before Shirley Chisolm, no black woman had ever served in the U.S. 
House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, but following in her 
footsteps are 51 black women Members of Congress, two black women U.S. 
Senators, including the President of that body and Vice-President of 
the United States; 23 Hispanic members; and 15 Asian-Pacific Members, 
along with the first woman Speaker of the House, and mayors of several 
of the largest cities in the Nation, including the District of 
Columbia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Baltimore, 
Hartford, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and St. Louis.
  One barrier left to fall, however, is one of the most important, and 
that is membership on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  For most of our national history, Presidents and Senators have turned 
a deaf ear to Abigail Adams' plea to her husband ``to remember the 
ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your 
ancestors.''
  Since Justice O'Connor's 1981 appointment, only four women have been 
nominated to the High Court for the 18 vacancies occurring during this 
time despite the fact that women constitute a majority of the general 
population, 37 percent of all attorneys in America, a number that will 
soon exceed the majority since a substantial majority (54 percent) of 
all law students in America are women.
  With the announcement of his retirement by Associate Justice Stephen 
Breyer, President Biden and the U.S. Senate, now have been presented 
and should move quickly to capitalize on this opportunity to begin to 
rectify the High Court's gender imbalance and to diversify its 
composition by nominating and confirming a member of the most 
underrepresented, disadvantaged, marginalized, longest suffering, and 
most patient demographic in America: black woman.
  Longer than any other racial or ethnic group, black women have been 
subjected to the coercive powers of the law while being excluded from 
the opportunities to make the laws citizens are to live under.
  If you are always ruled but denied the opportunity to rule in turn, 
you are simply a subject, and not fully a citizen. And that is how you 
get Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Plessy 
v. Ferguson (1896), Korematsu v. United States (1944), Civil Rights 
Cases (1883), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), Lochner v. New York (1905), 
and Buck v. Bell (1927).
  Simply stated, the purpose of pursuing diversity in the composition 
of a political system's decision-making institutions is not to elevate 
any particular man or woman, but to enhance, as Condorcet's Theorem 
posits, the quality and accuracy of institutional decision making and 
to bolster institutional legitimacy by increasing its diffuse support 
from marginal members of the political community.
  Researchers have shown that people are more likely to trust those 
with whom they share physical characteristics and thus as documented by 
the Center for American Progress, ``in the interests of both equality 
and

[[Page H1004]]

the perception of fairness, it is important that judges reflect the 
parties and populations they serve.''
  Or as described by scholars Jason Iuliano and Avery Stewart, ``In 
dispensing justice to all citizens, the legal system cannot allow one 
demographically homogenous group to hand down decisions while other 
racial and ethnic groups bear the brunt of those decisions.''
  The federal judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, does not 
resemble the public at large. Glaring disparities exist for women, 
African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, American Indians, and 
LGBTQ individuals.
  Consider for example that of all the judges currently sitting on 
federal Article III courts, only about 10 percent are African American 
and 2.6 percent are Asian American.
  In contrast, Blacks and African Americans comprise 12.5 percent of 
the U.S. population, while Asians make up 5.7 percent of the 
population.
  Hispanics are woefully underrepresented on the courts compared with 
their share of the population with only 6.6 percent of sitting federal 
judges of Hispanic origin despite the fact that this group comprises 
18.3 percent of the U.S. population.
  It is neither improper nor erroneous to say that President Biden owes 
black women because without their overwhelming support, his reeling 
campaign would not have cruised to victory in the 2020 South Carolina 
presidential primary, which led to his resounding wins on Super 
Tuesday, which put him on the glide path to the Democratic nomination 
and victory in the general election.
  So, if anybody is ever due to fulfill a key campaign promise, it is 
President Biden vowing to make ``sure there's a Black woman on the 
Supreme Court, to make sure we in fact get every representation.''
  And when President Biden acts to keep his sacred promise, Shirley 
Chisolm will be smiling down at us from Heaven.
  It is also fitting, Madam Speaker, that in addition to those national 
leaders whose contributions have made our Nation better, we also honor 
those who have and are making a difference in their local communities.
  In my home city of Houston, there are numerous men and women who are 
great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who said:
  ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only need a 
heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.''
  By that measure, I wish to pay tribute to some of the great men and 
women who help to make Houston the wonderful, dynamic, vibrant, 
inclusive, and progressive city that it is.
  As we celebrate Black History Month, let us pay tribute to those who 
have come before us, and pay forward to future generations by 
addressing what is the number one issue for African American families, 
and all American families today: preserving the American promise of 
economic opportunity for all.
  Our immediate focus must be to work `For The People' to crush the 
pandemic, continue this Administration's and this Congress's record 
setting pace for job creation (6.5 million in the first year), and 
enacting legislation that will foster and lay the foundation for 
today's and tomorrow's generation of groundbreaking activists, leaders, 
scientists, writers and artists to continue contributing to the 
greatness of America.
  We must continue to preserve the American Dream for all.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand here in celebration of the heroic 
and historic acts of African Americans and their indispensable 
contributions to this great Nation.
  It is through our work in creating possibilities for today and future 
generations that we best honor the accomplishments and legacy of our 
predecessors.

                 [From Rolling Stone, February 3, 2022]

 Shirley Chisholm's Newly Unearthed `Do Women Dare?' Speech Is Just as 
                             Relevant Today

       In July 1971, Shirley Chisholm began to talk about it. 
     Chisholm, who in 1968 had become the first African American 
     woman elected to Congress, would run for president. The 
     congresswoman from New York announced her intentions to 
     secure the Democratic nomination in September, and formally 
     announced on Jan. 25, 1972. The Democratic candidates who 
     sought to oppose President Nixon's bid for a second term 
     counted ``Fighting Shirley'' and nine white men, all of whom 
     had higher degrees, like Chisholm. Of the 10, all but 
     Chisholm, Wilbur Mills, and Hubert Humphrey had served in the 
     military. Chisholm was the first African American to contend 
     for the presidential nomination of a major party.
       On the 50th anniversary of Chisholm's protest-era run, 
     America is again reassessing itself and its history; the 
     lesson of historical re-evaluation is seemingly how well we 
     forget, and how fallible we are in remembering. Chisholm 
     taught at the New School from 1971-75. ``Black Power and 
     White Politics,'' her inaugural course (eight sessions for 
     $40) posed the question: ``Can the political system be made 
     responsive to the needs of minorities?''
       The issues are familiar, as is the broil of her audience 
     and a citizenship that feels unheard. Chisholm, in 1972, is 
     already a celebrity--simultaneously a voice of the people and 
     a spokesperson for a lying, thieving political system 
     manipulated by Ivy League elites. The Chisholm audience, as 
     well as the camera crew, chuckles uncomfortably as one 
     questioner takes the soapbox, picking up ``the hot coal'' and 
     imploring listeners to consider: ``Why do we fail as a 
     country to address these urgent needs . . . what is basically 
     wrong with America that we can keep talking and everything 
     gets worse?''
       ``The American public as a whole is too complacent,'' 
     Chisholm answers. ``Not only is it complacent but it's also 
     gullible. . . . We don't question enough. We don't concern 
     ourselves about things until they hit us on our front 
     doorstep. . . . For a long time we had been taught in America 
     about the need to bring about 'social justice' that nobody 
     worried about before in this society. But all of a sudden, 
     middle-class America woke up about six years ago, when we 
     began to have riots and conflagrations in the big cities of 
     this country. Prior to that, nobody wondered what was 
     happening to the Indian, the African American, or even the 
     Puerto Rican, or even the Black because we were getting along 
     as a whole and it didn't touch us on our front doorstep.''
       Tracking back to 1969, we find Chisholm empaneled at the 
     New School with Gloria Steinem, author, feminist, and 
     activist, and Jacqueline Grenenwexler, the former president 
     of Webster College. The three women, inaugurating the Human 
     Relations Center at the New School, considered the 
     provocation ``Do Women Dare?''
       In the wake of the social upheavals of recent years, the 
     speech, which is not known to have been published or 
     broadcast since the event 50 years ago, feels as vital today 
     as it did half a century ago. Through the discussion, 
     Chisholm pointed to what we would now call intersectionality; 
     the term was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 to describe 
     the ways in which identity is nuanced and individual 
     experience is not based on skin color or class alone. 
     Intersectionality makes the invisible visible. It adds 
     dimensionality to a type of racism that can be one-
     dimensional. What is diversity without diverse socioeconomic 
     backgrounds?
       Recorded via a WBAI broadcast, and newly digitized and 
     transcribed here, Chisholm's opening remarks for the 1969 
     panel are expansive, yet immediate. She's radical in one 
     moment, citing the divisive author Eldridge Cleaver, and 
     pronouncedly centrist in the next, pointing back to personal 
     responsibility: ``The law cannot do it for us. We must do it 
     for ourselves.'' Chisholm's words are charged and nuanced and 
     controversial, she is hearing the unheard, endeavoring to 
     listen and to keep listening and vowing to fight. Here are 
     her remarks.
       Shirley Chisholm:
       The topic this morning of course is, ``do women dare?'' And 
     I have said, of course women dare. Do women dare? I assume 
     that the question implies do women dare take an active part 
     in society and, in particular, do they dare to take a part in 
     the present social revolution? And I find the question as 
     much of an insult as I would the question, ''Are you, as a 
     Black person, willing to fight for your rights?'' America has 
     been sufficiently sensitized to the answer, whether or not 
     Black people are willing to both fight and die for their 
     rights. To make the question itself is asinine and 
     superfluous. America is not yet sufficiently aware, but such 
     a question applied to women is equally asinine and 
     superfluous.
       I am, as is obvious, both Black and a woman. And that is a 
     good vantage point from which to view at least two elements 
     of what is becoming a social revolution. The American Black 
     revolution and the women's liberation movement. But it is 
     also a horrible disadvantage. It is a disadvantage, my 
     friends, because America as a nation, is both racist and 
     antifeminist. Racism and antifeminism are two of the prime 
     traditions of this country that we have to face objectively. 
     For any individual, therefore, challenging social traditions 
     is a giant step. A giant step, because there are no social 
     traditions which do not have corresponding social sanctions, 
     the sole purpose of which are to protect the sanctity of the 
     traditions.
       Then when we ask the question, ``do women dare?'' we are 
     not asking are women capable of a break with tradition so 
     much as we are asking, are they capable of bearing with the 
     sanctions that will be placed upon them? Coupling this with 
     the hypothesis presented by some social thinkers and 
     philosophers that in any given society the most active group 
     are those who are nearest to the particular freedom that they 
     desire, it does not surprise me that those women, most active 
     and vocal on the issue of freedom for women, are those who 
     are young, white, and middle class. Nor is it also too 
     surprising that there are not more from that group involved 
     in the women's liberation movement. There certainly are 
     reasons why more women are not involved, and this country, as 
     I said, is antifeminist. Few, if any Americans, are free of 
     the psychological wounds imposed by racism and antifeminism.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Jackson 
Lee for reminding us of Shirley Chisholm's history here in the Capitol 
as a member of the Agriculture Committee.

[[Page H1005]]

  Now, you know I worked for the late Ron Dellums starting in 1975, and 
I worked for him for 11 years. I got a chance to be with Congresswoman 
Chisholm many times, also with Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, so I got a 
chance to know her and her brilliance and her stately demeanor and her 
huge intellect.
  And I remember very clearly that Congresswoman Chisholm also was on 
the Rules Committee. And I know she was only the second woman to ever 
be appointed to the Rules Committee. Again, I have to go back to 1789 
because I want the public to understand the centuries that took place 
during the interim.
  First, Congresswoman Chisholm was the second woman on the Rules 
Committee since 1789, and I believe--and we are checking--I think that 
she may have been the first member of the CBC on the Rules Committee 
also. But also, in terms of Congresswoman Chisholm's history and 
bringing it current, she was an original board member, first honorary 
copresident in 1969 of the National Abortion Rights Action League, 
better known as NARAL, and she was a fierce advocate for women's 
reproductive rights and justice. And she was also only one of 16 Black 
women who courageously led a movement for reproductive freedom that 
began with the publishing of the very seminal brochure ``We Remember: 
African American Women Are For Reproductive Freedom.'' And that was in 
1989.
  And so Congresswoman Chisholm has been honored in so many different 
ways throughout the years, but we need to do more. We are going to 
start with our Chisholm Trail. For those who want to join us this year 
we are going to commemorate the Chisholm Trail.
  I was so pleased that Chairwoman Beatty mentioned the Shirley 
Chisholm stamp. It took us a long time to do this, but it was a 
bipartisan effort. We finally have a Forever Congresswoman Shirley 
Chisholm's historical stamp from the Postal Service.
  Also, she posthumously was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom 
from President Barack Obama. For her official portrait, I thank Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi because that was one of her first efforts working with us. 
And you remember Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald, another 
African-American woman, brilliant woman, from Southern California who 
passed away. She was chairing the House Administration Committee, and 
we got together. And this wasn't easy. And I thank Speaker Pelosi for 
helping us because it was a heavy lift to get this beautiful portrait 
painted by a young brother down in Southern California into this temple 
of democracy.
  And at first, there were those who wanted the portrait to be hidden 
in some little corner. Well, Speaker Pelosi and Lorraine Miller, Clerk 
of the House, made sure that she was placed in a prominent place so 
that people, especially young people, could get a chance to know her 
and to love her because what she did for this country was so amazing 
for everyone, for the voiceless, and she was a person, a woman, a Black 
woman who loved to bring people together from all backgrounds.
  So there are so many other memorials across the country to remember 
her fortitude and to honor her grit and tenacity. And she taught me 
once again, and I know Congresswoman Jackson Lee knows this, that Black 
women can't go along to get along. Again, 1789.
  These rules weren't made for us. So we must change these rules of the 
game, so that we must address gender and racial equity at its core.
  Before Congresswoman Chisholm passed away, she was asked how she 
wanted to be remembered. And I remember she said: I want history to 
remember me not just as the first Black woman to be elected to 
Congress, not as the first Black woman to have made a bid for the 
Presidency of the United States, but as a Black woman who lived in the 
20th century and dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a 
catalyst for change in America.
  And so I can confidently say that that is her legacy. Well done, Mrs. 
C, well done. Her staff and many of us called her ``Mrs. C.'' She had a 
phenomenal staff, Carolyn Smith. She had an African-American woman as 
her chief of staff. She was one of the few, like Ron Dellums, who had 
senior staff members who were Black, Black women, three of us on the 
Hill at that point. So she lived a life that we can all be proud of and 
how she paved the way for so many of us to be here as Members of 
Congress, but also throughout the country as members of elected bodies 
and corporate boardrooms. Congresswoman Chisholm made sure that she 
left her legacy so that, yes, as someone said earlier, we finally have 
the first African-American Vice President in the country. Because of 
Shirley Chisholm, I am. Because of Shirley Chisholm, Kamala Harris is.
  Madam Speaker, I thank my staff Rico Doss and Kayla Williams on my 
staff for really pulling this all together and helping us with all of 
this. And, Sheila, your staff and the Congressional Black Caucus 
members' staff because without our staff--as I know because I was a 
staffer for many years--none of this would have happened tonight. So I 
thank you guys very much.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I often say that I am 
operating in an institution and system that was not designed by or for 
people who look like me. Today, however, I celebrate a pioneer who 
wanted to change the system so that it would work for all the people--
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.
  I stand proudly on the shoulders of the first Black woman in 
Congress. She entered Congress ``unbossed and unbought'' and brought 
this energy to each of her seven terms. She paved the way for me to be 
here as the first Black woman to represent the people of Georgia's 
Fifth District in Congress.
  We are the next generation of Black excellence because of Shirley 
Chisholm. As we face trying times, we must remember that we stand on 
the brink of progress. The courage of Shirley Chisholm paved the way 
for Black women in Congress to fight for a future that our children can 
believe in:
  Voting rights regardless of our ZIP code.
  Lasting investments in our HBCUs.
  The Black Maternal Health Momnibus to end the Black maternal 
mortality crisis.
  The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to end police brutality.
  My Abolition Amendment legislation that will close a loophole in the 
Thirteenth Amendment and truly end slavery in America.
  As we reflect on how far we have come this Black History Month, I am 
looking forward to the future we are building together because of the 
path set by Congresswoman Chisholm.
  However, we have a long way to go. The halls of Congress are full of 
portraits and statues of mostly men, while depictions of women are 
scattered here and there. Images of trailblazers like Shirley Chisholm 
and Rosa Parks remind me of the imbalance of women lining the halls, 
and I am determined to change that.
  May we always remember Congresswoman Chisholm for her tenacity, her 
boldness, and her guts. That is what we will need to ensure that our 
story continues.
  Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of the 
first African American woman to serve in the United States Congress and 
the first woman to run for President of the United States, the 
Honorable Shirley Chisholm. As we celebrate Black history month, we 
must also commemorate our sheroes for their contribution to protecting 
and preserving our precious democracy.
  I, including many of my colleagues here in Congress, stand on the 
shoulders of this courageous woman who was a champion for progressive 
policy that sought to improve the lives of society's most vulnerable 
both internationally and domestically. In particular, she fought 
against the oppressive Apartheid Regime in South Africa and the Vietnam 
War. In addition, she was instrumental in the movement for women's 
rights and the poor.
  The Honorable Shirley Chisholm understood the plight of the poor and 
working-class in this country. The reality is that there is no American 
Dream without economic equity. I am committed to continuing her 
activism in addressing the wealth gap. The average Black household has 
$24k in wealth, whereas the average White family has $188K in wealth. 
Approximately 30 percent of my District's residents live on under $75K 
a year, while 21% live under $30K.
  To address these systemic challenges, it is vital to ensure that 
Congress resembles the diversity that exists in this nation. However, 
in states like mine, the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is 
committed to disfranchising voters through gerrymandering in violation 
of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. Ron DeSantis took the 
unprecedented and anti-democratic step of proposing his own 
Congressional map for the state of Florida. Under DeSantis' proposed 
plan, two Congressional seats currently held by African-American 
representatives elected overwhelmingly by working Floridians would lose 
their seats.
  This is yet another attack on Floridians' sacred right to vote and a 
blatantly undemocratic

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power grab. We believe that voters should choose their representatives, 
not the other way around. By injecting partisanship into the 
redistricting process, DeSantis is attempting to dilute minority 
representation and undermine the true will of Florida voters. He is a 
threat to our democracy. My colleagues and I will continue to fight 
against his racist and discriminatory proposal.
  The Honorable Shirley Chisholm once said, ``I want to be remembered 
as a woman . . . who dared to be a catalyst of change.'' I hope that 
her legacy and commitment to service will inspire us all to continue 
defending the United States Constitution and fight tirelessly to 
improve the lives of our constituents through progressive policy.

                          ____________________