[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 188 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6951-S6952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Jesse White

  Mr. President, this is a statement I have been reluctant to make 
because it relates to a dear friend of mine and my fellow colleague 
from Illinois, Senator Duckworth. I am sure what I am about to say, she 
agrees with completely because I have talked to her many times about 
the subject.
  But in our State of Illinois, we are home to a select group of 
elected leaders who have done what many people consider to be 
politically impossible. It is a feat that only three elected officials 
have achieved in modern history: winning all 102 counties in the State 
of Illinois, from Cairo--as we pronounce it--all the way to Chicago.
  Even more impressive, there is only one of these three leaders who 
has continually won by landslide margins in one election after another. 
His name is Jesse White.
  He has served as secretary of state in Illinois for more than two 
decades; and, really, it is no wonder that he has won the hearts and 
minds of the voters across our State.
  Secretary White is a rare leader: a legend and truly a humble man. He 
loves his work because he works for the people he loves, the people of 
Illinois.
  Throughout his life, he has been a model of integrity, compassion, 
and unwavering commitment to public service. Later this month, 
unfortunately for us, he is going to be stepping aside from his 
recordbreaking sixth and final term as secretary of state.
  On behalf of everyone in Illinois, I want to say thank you to one of 
the most beloved leaders in our State's history, my friend Jesse White.
  There is a simple explanation for his unrivaled record of political 
success: He really cares for people. He has devoted his life to 
building a better State for our kids, and he radiates a warmth and 
sincerity to everybody he meets. And it is hard to keep up with him. 
Whenever Secretary White enters a room, he won't leave until he shakes 
every hand, whether it is a foreign dignitary or a person clearing the 
tables.
  Even cultural barriers don't hold him back. He points with pride to 
the fact that he can express a greeting in seven different languages, 
and I think I have heard all seven.
  I will tell you, personally, he is one of the most loyal friends you 
can count on. When I ran for the Senate in 1996 as a downstate 
Congressman, nobody in Chicago knew who I was. Well, lo and behold, it 
was Secretary Jesse White who spent Sunday after Sunday introducing me 
to parishioners in Black churches throughout the city. And even though 
we were both on the ballot that year, he acted like I was the only 
candidate who needed a helping hand. It was an act of generosity that I 
am going to always remember.
  Really, this is the most consistent thing throughout Secretary 
White's entire career--service to others. In every role Secretary White 
has undertaken, he has done his part to build the ``Beloved Community'' 
envisioned by the man who mentored him in his early life, none other 
than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  As a student at Alabama State in the 1950s, Jesse White leaned on the 
wisdom of Dr. King, who was his minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist 
Church. In fact, under Dr. King's leadership, Secretary White 
participated in the Montgomery bus boycott, one of the earliest 
demonstrations in our country of the power of nonviolent direct action. 
It was a formative experience that molded Jesse White into the 
inspiring leader he is today.
  In the decades since, Secretary White has carried Dr. King's legacy 
forward by practicing the mantra the members of his staff know all too 
well: ``Do something good for someone every day.''
  His political career began with his election to the Illinois General 
Assembly in 1974. For 16 years, he brought together an eclectic group 
of communities in Chicago from what he called the Gold Coast to the 
Soul Coast. Whether his constituents lived along Lake Shore Drive or in 
the Cabrini-Green Homes housing project, they all knew Jesse White was 
on their side.
  In 1992, he moved up to be Cook County Recorder of Deeds. It is a 
role in which his reputation as a miracle worker began to take shape. 
Secretary White put painstaking efforts into modernizing the office. In 
the words of his former chief of staff, and one of my lead employees, 
Margaret Houlihan, ``It was like a social service agency. Everyone 
would line up outside the office to wait and see'' if Jesse could help 
them in any way, ``even when it had nothing to do with his role as 
Recorder of Deeds.''
  Jesse White would listen and do everything he could to find housing, 
find a job for someone, help a young child who was in trouble.
  Jesse White was elected our secretary of state in 1998--the first 
Black Illinoisan to occupy the office. Today, he remains the longest 
serving secretary of state. He transformed an office that had been 
marred by corruption and greed into an efficient and effective agency.
  When he was first elected, he declared that he would ``strive to be 
the best Secretary of State'' that we had ever seen. Safe to say, he 
lived up to that aspiration.
  He cleaned the office up, first, by banning the solicitation of 
campaign contributions by employees. He has made our streets safer by 
imposing tougher rules and regulations for drivers as well as 
implementing a comprehensive teen driving program that has saved lives.
  His integrity has shined every step of the way, and he has kept the 
promise he made when he first ran in 1998; that the secretary of 
state's office would be his ``last stop in the political arena.''

[[Page S6952]]

  Outside of the political arena, he is legendary as well. He is 
admired for perhaps his proudest legacy. It is a title he has held for 
more than 60 years. He is the founder of the Jesse White Tumblers. He 
first launched the team back in 1959 to give the kids in the 
neighborhood something positive to do. And over the decades, he has 
recruited more than, listen to this, 18,500 young kids to his tumbling 
team, training generations of our city's children into expert acrobats.
  Their handsprings and back flips have entertained crowds around the 
world from Canada to China. The Tumblers have flown through the air at 
major sporting events, made an appearance at President Obama's 
inaugural. You may remember them from ``Ferris Bueller's Day Off.''

  With his tumbling team, Secretary White has created a safe, welcoming 
space for Chicago's kids to grow and flourish. As long as they maintain 
decent grades and abstain from drugs and alcohol, he can't wait to get 
them on his team. Previous Tumblers have gone on to become doctors, 
teachers, accountants, community leaders, and more--countless lives 
changed for the better.
  One more story about Jesse White that captures the person he is. It 
is not what he talks about often. You see, as a young man, he was a 
pretty good baseball player. After he graduated from Alabama State, he 
was recruited by the Chicago Cubs to play in the minor leagues. His 
staff tells me he had a lifetime batting average of .291. I should be 
so lucky. The top batting average in Major League Baseball today is 
.326.
  Amazingly, days before he was set to leave for spring training with 
the Cubs and begin his minor league baseball career, he was drafted 
into the Army. He went to jump school and trained as a paratrooper, 
serving the Army's 101st Airborne Division and eventually completing 35 
jumps, out of what he used to say was a perfectly safe airplane.
  It may have been the first time that Secretary White put service to 
his country and community over his own self-interests, but it wouldn't 
be the last because that is exactly what he has dedicated himself to 
every day: doing his part to build the ``Beloved Community'' and 
earning his reputation as our State's most beloved public servant.
  To Secretary White, you have been every Illinoisan's ``happy 
warrior,'' championing the needs of our families and defending the 
rights of those who have been left behind.
  Thank you for your leadership and your lifetime of friendship.
  Loretta and I wish you a long, happy retirement with your daughters, 
Glenna and Lorraine; your son Mark, and your two grandchildren, Susan 
and Jesse.
  Madam President, last week--last Friday, I went to the Irish 
Fellowship Luncheon in Chicago. It is quite a festive event. And I 
wasn't surprised when that honorary Irishman ``Jesse O'White,'' got the 
greatest round of applause of all.
  Jesse, you deserved it, and you will always be my pal.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.