[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H2944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CELEBRATING OPAL LEE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Veasey) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate an amazing Fort 
Worth, Texas, and now U.S. hero, Ms. Opal Lee, better known as the 
grandmother of Juneteenth. She is an incredible gift to not just Fort 
Worth but, again, the entire Nation.
  This past Friday, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom 
for her efforts in establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday. When 
I say effort, I mean effort. Ms. Opal Lee, literally, at 90-plus years 
of age, walked across the country and took many steps, literally, to 
make this happen.
  At 97, not only did she receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
but she will also be receiving an honorary doctorate from Southern 
Methodist University at their upcoming commencement. I am so glad to 
see all this work that Ms. Opal Lee is doing be rewarded and 
recognized.
  I also want to touch on a few of the other things that she is doing. 
She has an amazing community garden that feeds people all over Tarrant 
County and Fort Worth. She also has an incredible food bank that is 
doing similar work.
  I know that everyone is watching what Ms. Lee is doing and proud of 
her accomplishments and just all of the fame that she has brought to 
Fort Worth. The United Riverside community is also proud of her, as 
they get to call her a neighbor.
  Keep up the good work. We are proud of Ms. Lee and cannot wait until 
we get that museum done.


         Celebrating Champion Track Athletes Across Fort Worth

  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of some of our young people in Fort Worth.
  In 2024, at the Texas Relays, we had three State champions. You may 
have heard these names before, and it is because they were also State 
champions in previous meets.
  First, I want to highlight Kalani Lawson from Paul Laurence Dunbar 
High School, who defended her State championship in the girls 4A 100-
meter hurdles. She is only a junior. Not only that, she broke last 
year's record that had been on the books since the 1990s, and she broke 
her own record again this year in taking home the gold running the 100-
meter hurdles in 13.89 seconds.
  I also want to take the time to highlight another back-to-back 
champion, Fort Worth's O.D. Wyatt's Malik Franklin, who won the State 
championship in the class 5A boys' 400-meter, with a winning time of 
47.23. Again, Malik won back-to-back championships. He is also a great 
student and star of the football team. You should check out some of his 
videos on MaxPreps. Malik is going to take his talents and continue his 
track career at Arizona State University. Again, we are very proud of 
his accomplishments.
  I also want to give a shout-out to A.P. Ranch and Greg Sholars, and 
the coaches out there that are just bringing home those championships 
for north Texas and working with so many of our kids, really making 
north Texas one of the great areas for sprinters and distance runners.
  Last but not least, I want to recognize Angel Sanchez of Diamond 
Hill-Jarvis High School. He had an injury last year, but he won the 
State championship his sophomore year. He claimed the boys 4A 3200-
meter and also the mile championship.
  During the 3200 meters, he posted a time of 9:14.44, which was nearly 
five seconds faster than the second-place finisher. In the 1600, he 
posted a 4:13.08, which is a new class 4A record. Angel has literally 
raced all around the country. He has been highlighted running in Oregon 
and running in many other high school meets. Upon his graduation here 
in a couple weeks, he is going to be headed to Oklahoma State to 
continue to run. Go Pokes.
  We will continue to watch Angel run while he is at Oklahoma State. I 
really want to congratulate him for everything that he has done for 
Diamond Hill-Jarvis. That entire community on the north side of Diamond 
Hill is just extremely proud of Mr. Sanchez and what he is doing and 
can't wait to continue to see him run.

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