[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 45 (Monday, March 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1137-S1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Tribute to Dr. Ngozi Ezike

  Madam President, my remaining statement is a tribute to an 
extraordinary individual, a lady who is a doctor and was the head of 
the Illinois Department of Public Health during the worst part of the 
pandemic.
  Her name is Dr. Ngozi Ezike. I saw her on TV every day when I was 
back home during the pandemic, and she was such an inspiring person, so 
talented. She was calm. She was wise. She was compassionate. And she 
was professional. She really made life bearable during an unbearable 
time. She saved lives.
  A Harvard-trained, board-certified internist and pediatrician, she 
worked at all levels of public health. For the last 3 years, she has 
been our State's top doctor. She had been in that post for a little 
over a year when COVID hit. We were lucky she was there.
  Directors of State health departments usually work outside the public 
spotlight. She was in the spotlight every day. Appearing with Governor 
JB Pritzker in his daily briefings, she was the public face of 
Illinois' effort to contain the virus and save lives. What a reassuring 
presence. She dispensed daily doses of compassion and empathy along 
with the facts and statistics, the realities, pleas for mask wearing 
and handwashing. She delivered her message calmly, clearly, and then, 
without missing a beat, delivered it again in Spanish.
  Her sincerity was obvious and never more so than at a news conference 
about 7 months into the pandemic when she broke down as she was 
delivering the day's grim statistics. She paused to regain her 
composure and then urged Illinois residents to fight the fatigue and 
keep doing what is needed to protect themselves and each other from the 
virus. After seeing that on television, I wrote her a fan letter, and 
many others did too. She really cared.
  Two weeks ago, she was at another news conference with the Governor. 
With the number of Illinois residents hospitalized with COVID below 
1,000 for 3 days for the first time since last August, the Governor 
said it was time to lift our mask mandate, time to move toward normal 
life in Illinois.
  Dr. Ezike surprised everybody by announcing that she was going to 
return to normal life herself; she was leaving her position. In 
announcing her decision, she thanked her husband and four kids ``for 
tolerating the absences, the last-minute changes in plans, the endless 
multitasking and the ever-present cellphones.'' And she added:

       Now it's time--

  She said to her family--

     to make you my priority and give back a portion of the 
     encouragement and support that you have lavished on me.

  She thanked the people of Illinois ``for their sacrifices'' and asked 
we continue to show each other compassion and tolerance. She remembered 
the nearly 33,000 people in our State who have died of COVID since the 
beginning, and she said:

       All of the people and all of their stories, I will carry 
     always in my heart.

  And she said:

       I'm so blessed to have been able to bring some measure of 
     comfort to Illinoisans, to quiet some of the chaos and to 
     infuse some calm.

  Dr. Ezike, I would say that the blessing was ours.
  As the first Black woman ever to head the Illinois Department of 
Public Health in its 143-year history, Dr. Ezike added that she was 
also ``glad that I served as a role model to young girls, girls of 
color, little Black girls, that they can be leaders in any field.''
  In addition to shepherding our State through the worst COVID crisis, 
I am

[[Page S1138]]

grateful for her tremendous leadership in one other area too: 
preventing pregnancy-related death. This is a preventable tragedy that 
affects women and babies of color especially hard.
  I have been working with Robin Kelly, the Congresswoman from the 
Chicagoland area, on this issue; and last April, Illinois received a 
waiver from Medicaid, allowing us to become the first State in the 
Nation to expand healthcare coverage for new moms on Medicaid from 60 
days after pregnancy to a full year, a change I am certain that will 
save lives.
  In the American Rescue Plan, Congress expanded that option to all 
States for 5 years. We continue to fight to make this change permanent 
for all new moms on Medicaid. I thank Dr. Ezike for helping to make the 
case for that change; for her service, courage, and leadership; and for 
her caring heart at a time when Illinois and America needed her so 
much.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.