[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 4738 COVID-19 AMERICAN HISTORY PROJECT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 6, 2022

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
H.R. 4738, the ``COVID-19 American History Project Act.''
  This bill directs the American Folklife Center at the Library of 
Congress to establish the COVID-19 American History Project which will 
collect and make publicly available individual stories and records of 
experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
  The bill includes a requirement to collect video and audio histories 
and testimonials of those who were affected by the pandemic.
  Madam Speaker, the United States will soon reach a grave milestone. 
As of 9 o'clock this morning, there have been 974,277 American deaths 
from COVID-19. In the coming weeks, we will reach 1,000,000 deaths.
  However, I believe that only focusing on that horrific number, though 
nonetheless important, makes us forget about who we lost.
  Therefore, with this time I would like to tell the stories of my 
fellow Houstonians who sadly passed because of this unprecedented 
public health crisis.
  The stories I will be recounting are all courtesy of Houston Public 
Media, of whose journalists I have been a strong supporter.
  Knowing that his daughter would be unable to walk at her college 
graduation commencement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Carlos 
Araujo-Preza threw his daughter, Andrea Araujo, a belated graduation 
celebration with her close friends and family in late October. She said 
he really put in the effort to give her the best ceremony he could.
  Dr. Araujo-Preza always went out of his way to make sure his daughter 
and her brother were taken care of, despite a busy work schedule at 
Tomball Regional Hospital. The siblings and their father spent their 
weekends together binge-watching movies and TV shows together.
  But in 2020, Andrea Araujo was forced to spend her 23rd birthday 
without her father.
  Araujo-Preza was two weeks away from receiving his first round of the 
COVID-19 vaccine before he passed away. He died Nov. 30, 2020, at the 
age of 51.
  He knew at a young age he was meant to pursue a career in the medical 
field. Coming from a family of doctors himself, Araujo-Preza was viewed 
as a loving caregiver and someone his patients could always rely on.
  Araujo-Preza was the leading doctor at his hospital who specialized 
in plasma research, while also distributing COVID-19 vaccines to 
nurses.
  ``His colleagues were fans of him,'' she said. ``They loved when he 
came into work.''
  He would go out of his way to give his personal phone number to 
patients and would accommodate their needs at any time of day. Araujo 
said her father would wake up as early as 3 a.m. to go into work. 
Araujo-Preza would sleep in the hospital for days and sometimes weeks 
at a time to always be on call for his patients.
  Now, Araujo said she tries to live by a saying her father used to 
share in Spanish: ``The sun always rises the next day.'' Araujo-Preza 
would tell his children to not let daily challenges in life hold them 
back. Because, he said, as life goes on, you should too.
  ``I feel like people always say, `with time, things get better', but 
I've noticed it's quite the opposite,'' she said. ``Every day gets 
harder.''
  That story was courtesy of Emily Jaroszewski at Houston Public Media.
  The next story is one that is especially close to my heart: Dick 
Cigler from the University of Houston.
  Those who were mentored by Dick Cigler would tell you he left a 
lasting impression as one of the most influential staff members at the 
Daily Cougar--a highly regarded champion of free speech at the 
University of Houston's newspaper.
  ``He taught us about the importance of journalism,'' said Tanya 
Eiserer, an Emmy-award winning reporter for WFAA in Dallas and former 
Daily Cougar student editor. ``He really taught us the importance of 
doing the right thing, doing it for the right reasons, and standing up 
for the underdog.''
  Nowhere was that more evident than when, in the 1990s, a group of UH 
journalists wrote a series of articles challenging the decreased 
university budget for UH downtown students and the increased budget for 
subsidiary campuses.
  Dick allowed the students to voice their concerns brazenly.
  ``He didn't try to, you know, tell us to back down,'' Eiserer said. 
``He ran interference, and they knew that we were an independent news 
operation.''
  Eiserer remembers Cigler as being a listening ear and a guiding 
mentor when she transferred from Baylor University to UH. She regarded 
him as one of the people who helped her become the reporter she is 
today.
  ``I learned how to be a journalist at the Daily Cougar,'' said 
Eiserer. ``I would not give that time back for all the money in the 
world.''
  Cigler worked as Director of UH's Student Publications department, 
now known as the Center for Student Media, for 23 years until his 
retirement in 2010.
  His impact on the Daily Cougar can be felt to this day.
  Cigler died on Jan. 24, 2021, at the age of 79. He leaves behind his 
two daughters Kerri Runge and Michelle Cigler.
  That story was courtesy of Myrakel Baker at Houston Public Media.
  The last individual I want to mention is someone who is a local hero 
but should be a national one. That person was John Bland.
  More than 60 years ago, a group of Texas Southern University students 
took seats at the lunch counter at Weingarten's Supermarket at 4110 
Almeda Road, knowing they wouldn't be served.
  It was Houston's first sit-in, and that spring, Black college 
students in cities across the country forced the beginning of an end to 
racial segregation--at lunch counters, department stores, and city 
halls.
  One of the TSU students at the sit-in was John Bland, a 20-year-old 
who spent the rest of his life working to advance civil rights and 
equal opportunity.
  Bland worked as a bus operator at HouTran, now called Metro, and he 
spent more than 50 years organizing with the Transport Workers Union. 
He served as a vice president of the Texas State AFL-CIO, a president 
of the Houston chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, a 
precinct judge, and a member of the Houston Police Department Citizen 
Review Committee.
  ``When workers would doubt their ability to beat the odds and make 
change, Mr. Bland would say, `When we fought for integration in the 
1960s, they arrested me 27 times, jailed me, and fined me, but that 
didn't stop us,' '' Hany Khalil, Executive Director of the Texas Gulf 
Coast Area Labor Federation, said.
  Bland died on July 9, 2020, at the age of 80. He leaves behind his 
wife, Betty Davis Bland, and their two daughters and grandson.
  That story was courtesy of Jen Rice at Houston Public Media.
  I wish I could mention every Houstonian and honor their lives because 
they all deserve it. They were mothers, wives, fathers, husbands, sons, 
daughters, and so much more. They will all be missed and are not just 
another number.
  It is for that reason, Madam Speaker, that I strongly support H.R. 
4738 and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

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