[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 101 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING BISHOP WILLIAM J. BARBER II

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2023

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true man of faith, 
Bishop William J. Barber II, who is stepping down from his ministry at 
North Carolina's Greenleaf Christian Church after serving his 
congregation and community for 30 years with love and devotion.
  Under Rev. Dr. Barber's remarkable leadership, Greenleaf Church 
blossomed into a vibrant parish proclaiming the gospel in all aspects 
of community life. He secured investments to provide the community with 
a childcare center, computer literacy job training, affordable housing 
for families, a low-income senior living facility, a celebrated after-
school program, a restaurant, a free community garden, a gang-
prevention program, and an HIV/AIDS ministry. During the COVID-19 
pandemic, he kept services going and grew a massive online ministry. 
During Rev. Dr. Barber's tenure, seven individuals have received a call 
to ministry from Greenleaf and have gone on to complete Master of 
Divinity and doctoral degrees, and three of them now pastor other 
congregations.
  As an active community leader, Rev. Dr. Barber famously built a 
powerful grassroots coalition to advocate for moral public policy in 
the North Carolina General Assembly, leading the way to expand ballot 
access, increase the state minimum wage and pass the Racial Justice 
Acts challenging the racist application of the death penalty. This 
coalition, which grew into the Forward Together movement, also helped 
secure the freedom of several innocent Black men who had been awaiting 
execution on death row. In 2013, the coalition's ``Moral Monday'' 
demonstrations mobilized tens of thousands of people to protest voter 
suppression and other acts of what Rev. Dr. Barber calls ``policy 
violence.''
  In 2015, Rev. Dr. Barber founded Repairers of the Breach, a 
nonpartisan, interfaith movement that advances moral and constitutional 
values to combat policies affecting the most vulnerable communities. 
After a 26-state ``moral revival'' tour in partnership with the Kairos 
Center for Religion, Rights & Social Justice, Rev. Dr. Barber and 
Repairers of the Breach re-launched the Poor People's Campaign: A 
National Call for Moral Revival in 2018. This powerful movement is 
continuing the work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other 
leaders who first launched the Poor People's Campaign in 1968 to build 
a broad, interracial movement for economic justice. Under Rev. Dr. 
Barber's leadership, the revived Poor People's Campaign has built a 
national community of hundreds of organizations committed to addressing 
the interlocking injustices of poverty, racism, ecological devastation, 
militarism and religious nationalism.
  Rev. Dr. Barber's extraordinary eloquence and moral passion have 
uplifted the fortunes of countless Americans. He previously served as 
president of the North Carolina NAACP and on the National NAACP Board 
of Directors. He has published four books and hundreds of articles, and 
inspired the introduction of a Third Reconstruction Resolution in the 
U.S. House of Representatives during the 117th Congress. Rev. Dr. 
Barber earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina Central 
University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a doctorate 
from Drew University with a concentration in Public Policy and Pastoral 
Care. He has had ten honorary degrees conferred upon him.
  Yale Divinity School recently honored Rev. Dr. Barber by naming him 
as Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public 
Policy.
  I hope that the House will join me in celebrating Bishop William J. 
Barber II for his three decades of selfless service at the Greenleaf 
Christian Church and for his contributions to our Nation as a moral 
movement leader. I look forward to continuing to work together for many 
years to come.

                          ____________________