[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9678]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2100
                       JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, yesterday we lost a devoted colleague and 
friend, Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald.
  Congresswoman Millender-McDonald was a dedicated public servant who 
worked tirelessly on behalf of her constituents in the 37th 
Congressional District of California. As we know, prior to her coming 
to Congress, she made a name for herself as the first African American 
woman to serve on the City Council in Carson City and the chairwoman of 
two powerful committees, Insurance and Revenue.
  But many people don't know that in recognition of women who served 
our country in uniform during wartime, Congresswoman Millender-McDonald 
initiated the first annual Memorial Day Tribute to Women in the 
Military at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. And 
she led the fight to secure $15 million for the maintenance of the 
memorial. She also secured $50 million for counseling services for our 
returning men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  Bold initiatives have been her trademark. In 2005, Congresswoman 
Millender-McDonald, along with other CBC members, unveiled a portrait 
of Joseph Rainey, the first African-American to be seated in Congress. 
She was very proud of that because she contacted members of his family 
who are alive today, and there was a tremendous celebration.
  Internationally, she spoke out against genocide in Cambodia and 
Darfur and other regions of the world where human rights are in danger. 
She worked with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and 
Ambassador John Miller on human trafficking and women's rights issues 
globally.
  She reminds me of a poem I learned as a youngster in elementary 
school, actually; but it is appropriate because her memory will live 
on. The poem is called, ``The Arrow and a Song.'' It said:
  ``I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to Earth I know not where. 
For so swiftly it flew, my sight could not follow it in its flight.
  ``I sang a song into the air, it fell to Earth I know not where. For 
who has sight so keen and strong that can follow the flight of a song? 
But long, long afterwards in an oak I found the arrow still unbroke. 
And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a 
friend.''
  And so I say that to say that what Juanita did will live on. Her work 
for the persons who worked in the Library of Congress who were 
minorities and women who were being terminated, and we felt unfairly, 
she took on that responsibility to fight to see that those women, 
primarily, would be placed in other positions.
  She worked hard, and the dignity and the beauty and her perfection 
were certainly noticed. And I can tell you, the women talk about the 
grace that she had. Well, let me make it clear that the men also 
noticed that grace and that beauty and that charm. And so we will 
remember her as she moves on up that highway.

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