[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3645]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING SAM SMITH

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the life of Sam 
Smith from Las Vegas, NV. Mr. Smith passed away last month.
  Mr. Smith was a retired firefighter and the founder of the bookstore 
and treasured community establishment, Native Son. Native Son operated 
in West Last Vegas for 17 years, and throughout that time Mr. Smith was 
its heart and soul. Mr. Smith offered free math and reading classes and 
helped many students prepare for fire department entrance exams. He had 
a saying, ``People who study calculus don't go to jail.'' Mr. Smith 
cared about the people in his community, and he worked to improve their 
lives.
  Mr. Smith helped people like Trina Jiles become the first Black woman 
in the Clark County Fire Department. When she came into Native Son in 
1995 he told her there were no Black women firefighters and asked how 
many pushups she could do. When she did 20, he told her she would be 
all right and began teaching her in his free math and reading classes. 
Soon after, she passed all of her tests and became Clark County's first 
Black female firefighter. She went on to work her way up the department 
to become an arson investigator.
  Through his years of service, Sam Smith was a fixture in the West Las 
Vegas community. I appreciate all he has done, and I celebrate his 
life.

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