[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1131-H1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     WELCOMING THE HONORABLE JENNIFER L. McCLELLAN TO THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Scott) is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the dean of the 
Virginia congressional delegation, who you see in the well, to 
introduce and welcome to Congress the newest Representative from the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, Jennifer McClellan.
  Representative McClellan was born in Petersburg, Virginia, and is the 
daughter of educators at Virginia State University, an HBCU in 
Virginia's Fourth Congressional District, which she now represents. She 
is a graduate of the University of Richmond and received her law degree 
from the University of Virginia.
  A dedicated public servant, Representative McClellan has represented 
the Richmond area in the House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia 
for the last 17 years. Through her time in the Virginia General 
Assembly, she has been a committed and principled legislator working to 
expand access to voting rights, reproductive rights, and environmental 
protections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She has successfully 
sponsored more than 350 pieces of legislation during her tenure in the 
Virginia General Assembly.
  She lives in Richmond with her husband, David Mills, and their two 
children, Jackson and Samantha. With her victory in last month's 
special election, she made history as the first Black woman ever 
elected to Congress from Virginia.
  I know she will continue making history with her steadfast commitment 
to the Fourth Congressional District, fighting for their voices to be 
heard in this Chamber, and I know she will also carry on the legacy of 
her predecessor, our dear late friend, the Congressman from the Fourth 
District, Donald McEachin.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to now yield to the gentlewoman from 
Virginia (Mrs. McClellan).
  Mrs. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Scott for his 
introduction. I also thank the Members of the Virginia delegation, and 
my new colleagues.
  I rise as the newest Member of Virginia's Fourth Congressional 
District and the first African-American woman elected to this body from 
the Commonwealth of Virginia. I thank the voters of the Fourth 
Congressional District for placing their trust in me to serve in this, 
the people's House.
  Today, I succeed, but can never replace, A. Donald McEachin, who was 
a friend, mentor, and colleague whom I served with in the Virginia 
House of Delegates and succeeded in the Senate in Virginia. I stand on 
his shoulders. I stand on the shoulders of John Mercer Langston, the 
first African American to represent Virginia, also from the Fourth 
District.
  Mr. Speaker, I did not make this journey alone, and I thank my 
friends, family, and supporters who have supported me along the way.
  First and foremost, I thank my husband, David Mills. I thank my son, 
Jackson, who is excited to show off his dance moves, and my daughter, 
Samantha.

[[Page H1132]]

  I thank my mother, Lois McClellan. She will be the first to tell you 
that she is half responsible for me. She and my late father, Dr. James 
F. McClellan, Jr.--on whose Bible I took the oath of office--are why I 
am here.
  I grew up listening to their stories of their childhood during the 
Depression, coming of age during World War II and its aftermath, and 
raising a family through the tumult of the 1960s and 1970s. They saw 
the best of government in the New Deal. They saw the worst of 
government in Jim Crow.
  Their stories and the love of history that they sparked in me taught 
me at a young age that at its best, government is a force for helping 
people and solving problems. At its worst, government is a force that 
oppresses some for the benefit of a few.
  Their stories sparked a desire to dedicate myself to making a 
government by, of, and for the people actually work for the people, 
solving problems and making their lives and communities better.
  That desire led me to serve in the Virginia General Assembly for 18 
sessions where, as the daughter and granddaughter of men who paid poll 
taxes and the great-granddaughter of a man who took a literacy test and 
had to find three White men to vouch for him to be able to vote, I was 
able to pass over 370 pieces of legislation, including the Voting 
Rights Act of Virginia.
  I stand on the shoulders of my parents, grandparents, and great-
grandparents, recognizing that in a lot of ways I am fighting the same 
fights that they did, and I stand here to ensure that my children and 
yours don't have to fight those same fights.
  I am honored, humbled, and excited to get to work with you for the 
people of Virginia's Fourth Congressional District and this great 
Nation of ours.

                          ____________________