[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5538-5539]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    WELCOMING MINISTER YOLANDA ADAMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we have faced enormous tragedies this 
week with the horrific tragedy of Boston, and now today the tragedy of 
explosions in West, Texas. I rise today to salute Minister Yolanda 
Adams, who has taken her music to a step where she is ministering and 
giving comfort to those who need comfort.
  As reflected in her prayer and through her music, Yolanda Adams has 
taught us to embrace God's grace and mercy, and for those who will 
listen, to stand in the sunlight of joy as one looks toward the 
hopefulness of their future or of their lives.
  Yolanda Adams is a native-born American, native-born Houstonian, and 
in fact someone who grew up in the public schools of Houston and began 
her life in music after she began her life as a teacher. She graduated 
from Sterling High School in 1979 and is the oldest of six siblings.
  After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, she 
began a career as a schoolteacher, and then she began her career as a 
professional singer. But she wanted to do more and combined her singing 
with ministering.
  She is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, but she also 
has a heart for giving, and she provides every year in our community a 
health forum for women to make them healthier, to make them take care 
of themselves, to provide them with information. She has a wonderful 
album, ``Songs from the Heart,'' with the wonderful song ``Fragile 
Heart.'' In 1999, she was able to move her career beyond this local 
community. Her songs included ``Yeah'' and ``Open My Heart.'' Many of 
you have heard her sing ``Believe,'' ``Never Give Up,'' and ``Battle is 
the Lord's.'' Yolanda Adams comes to us as a person who believes that 
her ministry can comfort, but she can also comfort in song. She never 
leaves anyone behind.
  She had the privilege and honor of giving to President Barack Obama 
and adding to the song, ``Yes We Can: Voices of a Grass Roots 
Movement.'' She has sung the national anthem at the BCS national 
championship football game, as well as making a lot of other 
contributions to American music. She is a supporter of music education 
for our children, the mother of a daughter, and, yes, a prominent 
American.
  But I think what says the most about Yolanda Adams is that she never 
stops evangelizing and seeking to help those who are hopeless and in 
despair. She brings joy to those who seek it and believes that everyone 
is a child of God.
  I'm grateful to know Yolanda Adams and to claim her as a constituent 
of the great city of Houston and the great State of Texas. But most of 
all, she is an American and a believer and understands the value of 
America's freedom to be able to worship. She continues to soldier on to 
save souls, and we're delighted to have been able to have her bless us 
this morning.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a great American artist. I 
wish to first thank Ms. Adams for her thoughtful, and inspirational 
prayer. As the representative of the 18th District of Texas I am proud 
to say that she is a constituent and represents what is best about the 
State of Texas.
  As was reflected in her prayer, Yolanda Adams through her music, has 
taught us to embrace God's grace and mercy, and for those who will 
listen, to stand in the sunlight of joy as one looks toward the 
hopefulness of the future.
  Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy and Dove-award winning Gospel 
music singer

[[Page 5539]]

and radio show host. The oldest of six siblings, Yolanda Adams was 
raised in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Sterling High School in 
Houston in 1979.
  After graduating from University of California Berkeley, she began a 
career as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston, Texas. 
Eventually she gave up teaching to become a professional singer.
  Her enormous talent attracted the attention of Thomas Whitfield and 
Sound of Gospel Records which signed her recording contract and 
released her first album, Just As I Am in 1987. In 1990, she released 
her second album, Through The Storm, released by Tribune Records.
  Songs from the Heart, her album released through Verity Records, 
featured the inspirational ``Only Believe,'' ``Still I Rise,'' a song 
dedicated to Rosa Parks and inspired by Maya Angelou's poem of the same 
name.
  ``Fragile Heart,'' was dedicated to the memory of Yolanda's long time 
road manager who died in 1998. Her album ``Mountain High . . . Valley 
Low'' in 1999 extended her popularity and appeal outside the urban 
contemporary gospel arena. The album went Platinum in 2000 and won her 
a Grammy Award. Notable singles from the album include ``Yeah,'' 
``Fragile Heart,'' and ``Open My Heart.''
  In 2001, Yolanda Adams released a live album, The Experience, which 
won her a second Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. 
Believe, which included the hit ``Never Give Up'' was released in 2001. 
She would later go on to perform this song at ``The Salute to Gospel 
Music'' at the White House during President George W. Bush's 
administration. Believe was certified Gold in 2002. The Divas Of 
Gospel, with Albertina Walker, (Queen of Gospel), was also released in 
2001.
  Yolanda Adams recorded the song for the 2003 hit film, Honey titled 
``I Believe'' and was also a judge for the 2nd Annual Independent Music 
Awards.
  Yolanda Adams' song ``Hold On'' is included in a compilation in 
support of Barack Obama's campaign entitled `Yes We Can: Voices of a 
Grass Roots Movement'.
  Yolanda Adams performed the National Anthem at the 2009 BCS National 
Championship football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida.
  I want to thank Yolanda Adams for her bountiful contribution to 
American music, songs which have enriched our lives for a decade and 
cascade like the blessings from the heaven above.
  Mr. Speaker, Yolanda Adams has sold 4.5 million albums since 1991 
according to Soundscan. Although she is proud of that achievement, she 
has said that her greatest treasure is being a child of God.

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