[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING DR. DOROTHY I. HEIGHT

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I come to the floor today to pay 
tribute to a great civil rights leader of our Nation, a woman who was 
memorialized today at the National Cathedral here in Washington, DC. Of 
course, I am speaking of Dr. Dorothy Height, who was a tremendous 
trailblazer, a true heroine of our time, a great leader of the civil 
rights movement. She had tremendous courage and tremendous 
determination that allowed women all over our Nation and, in fact, the 
world to break through irrational limits set by society at large. She 
was an inspiration to me and I know to the Presiding Officer and to 
other women who serve in this Chamber and to women leaders in all 50 
States.
  She was the chair and president emerita of the National Council of 
Negro Women. The council was founded, as we know, by Mary McLeod 
Bethune when she brought 28 women's organizations together to improve 
the quality of life for women. Dr. Height embraced that vision and 
continued her work, her crusade for justice. Through her leadership, 
she changed our Nation by shining a light on discrimination and 
injustice, which was all too common in the century that has just ended. 
And we still find versions and, unfortunately, visions of it here 
today.
  She was a member of many other organizations that have come to 
represent so many good things about America, such as the YWCA. She was 
a very proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and traveled here 
frequently with her sorority sisters, who I know are in true mourning 
for her today as well. Through her dedication and commitment to these 
organizations, she encouraged women to be leaders in national and 
community organizations and on college campuses.
  She had an extraordinary presence, a very big and warm heart. She was 
a great intellect. She had a passion for people, and in her own quiet 
but very forceful way, she brought great change to our Nation.
  She has received any number of awards. Many of those were mentioned 
today and in the past weeks, as we remember her fondly--the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, the Congressional Gold Medal 
Award.
  I was proud to join many of my colleagues in introducing a resolution 
honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Height. She will be greatly missed. 
She will be fondly remembered. There are very few women who will live 
in this century and have the kind of impact she has had on so many of 
us. So our prayers and thoughts are with her family and with her 
closest of friends. But I wanted to give a moment of honor to her on 
the Senate floor today.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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