[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 172 (Thursday, October 19, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E998-E999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TRIBUTE TO DR. IRIS SHANNON, NURSE, EDUCATOR AND ADMINISTRATOR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 19, 2023

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker Pro Tempore, today, I wish to pay 
my deepest respects to Dr. Iris Shannon--a nurse, educator and 
administrator. I met and got to know Iris Shannon in the late 1960s 
when I began to work in healthcare, first at the Dr. Martin King Health 
Center, the Westside Health Planning Organization and Mile Square 
Health Center.
  I knew Iris as a competent, involved nurse, as Director of Nursing at 
Mile Square, as Director of Nursing at Rush Medical Center and as a 
Nursing Professor at Rush Medical School. The late 1960s and early 
1970s were very serious health interest years and health activity due 
to the civil rights activity, changes in health law and the leadership 
of Democrats in government. These changes in health took place at all 
levels of government and Iris was what I call an activist.
  There were meetings about health all over the place and practically 
all of the time. Iris was often present at many of these meetings, 
sharing her knowledge, her expertise and her wisdom. Iris worked with 
nurse groups, administrative groups, community groups, women

[[Page E999]]

groups, black power group and the list goes on.
  If it was about health and health care needs, Iris was there. Iris 
was an organizer, a joiner, a promoter, a practitioner, a scholar, a 
teacher, a mentor and a role model, not loud, but a leader who became 
President of the American Public Health Association.
  Iris made her mark during what I call ``movement time'', a period 
when Black Americans were greatly moving out of the shadows of society. 
As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Shannon was not loud, but she was proud and 
as black as the ace of spades, if you know what I mean.
  Iris possessed Black pride, expressed Black principles, stood up for 
Black people and exuded Black excellence. Iris was a caring and 
wonderful nurse, a great scholar, teacher and administrator, a 
visionary leader and an amazing friend.
  I am so glad to have known and worked with her. Dr. Iris Shannon was 
a role model to so many and will be missed by the multitudes, but her 
legacy of service shall endure.

                          ____________________