[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9882-9883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CHAIRWOMAN JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 2\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. JEFFERSON. I thank the Chair.
  A 17th century poet John Donne speaks to death thusly: ``Death be not 
proud,'' he says, ``though some have called you mighty and dreadful, 
for thou art not so. And those thou thinkest thy doth overthrow die 
not, poor death. A short sleep past, we wake eternally and death shall 
be no more.''
  This is the confidence in her Christian faith with which our sister, 
Juanita Millender-McDonald, lived and with which she passed from this 
earth. This is what she meant when she told her family that she was 
going home. This is what we saw and at which we marveled as we observed 
her peace on display in the final hours that she worked amongst us, 
giving not a hint of distress or brokenheartedness or loss of 
confidence. Her grace and elegance in her final months and years when 
she knew well her earthly fate is a lesson in how to live and how to 
leave this life for those of us who still live on this side.
  Chairwoman Juanita Millender-McDonald was serious about her work. I 
had the pleasure of finding this out firsthand when I was Chair of the 
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Juanita was chair of the 
CBCF's annual legislative weekend. She helped to organize this event, 
which drew over 40,000 African American leaders to Washington, with 
great attention to detail, taxing all of us--sometimes we thought then 
too much--to meet our responsibilities and on time. But the result was 
a magnificent event heralded by all of us as one of our very best. This 
House got only a glimpse of her profound organizational skills as she 
had the chance to serve us only a short time in her post as Chair of 
the Committee on House Administration. It would have been wonderful for 
we who work here and for our Nation if we had been privileged to see 
more.
  As it is now, we welcome our sister to her rest in the bosom of her 
Lord and we pray for comfort and peace for James, her husband, and 
their five children and grandchildren, and we thank her for her 
friendship and commitment to the House, to her constituents, and

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to her country. She served us proudly and well, and she will be well 
remembered.

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