[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H953-H954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONGRATULATING JOANNA McCLINTON

  (Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you proud--
proud of Pennsylvania; proud of my Democratic colleagues in the 
Pennsylvania House; proud of the thousands of volunteers who helped 
deliver a statehouse majority last November in Pennsylvania, a house 
majority that on this last day of Black History Month is celebrating 
history--or should I say her-story--Pennsylvania made today.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and celebrate Representative Joanna 
McClinton, my colleague, my friend, and, as of today, speaker of the 
Pennsylvania House, the first woman, the first African-American woman, 
to be called Madam Speaker.
  Speaker McClinton follows in the footsteps of men like Leroy Irvis, 
the first African-American speaker of the Pennsylvania House, and 
African-American trailblazers like Barbara Jordan and Karen Bass.
  What a crucial time in our State's history, our Nation's history, to 
have Speaker McClinton lead us, a time when we can fairly fund our 
education, rebuild roads, and combat gun violence and the opioid 
epidemic while protecting the planet for our children and children to 
come.
  Joanna, a mother, a minister, a former public defender, now our 
speaker, what a way to end Black History Month. Congratulations to the 
Pennsylvania House. Congratulations, and Godspeed, Speaker McClinton.

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