[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7573-7574]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO FATHER GEORGE CLEMENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a true hero in 
my heart and the hearts of so many in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois: 
Father George H. Clements.
  Father Clements, yesterday, celebrated the 60th anniversary of his 
ordination into the Roman Catholic Church. His path towards divinity 
began early in life when he became the first Black graduate of 
Chicago's Quigley Academy Seminary in 1945. From there, he went on to 
pursue his education and earned a bachelor of arts degree in sacred 
theology and a master of arts degree in philosophy from St. Mary of the 
Lake Seminary.
  Mr. Speaker, after ordination, Father Clements continued his role as 
a trailblazer when, in June of 1969, he became the first Black priest 
of Holy Angels Catholic Church, which we in the First District of 
Illinois are proud to claim.
  Mr. Speaker, from that position, Father Clements has had a tremendous 
impact on lives all across the city of Chicago and all across our great 
Nation. One such incident of tremendous significance to me personally 
are his actions that he undertook in the aftermath of the assassination 
of my dear friend and deputy chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the 
Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton.
  On December 4, 1969, Fred Hampton was assassinated. December 4, 1969, 
is a dark day in the history of the civil rights movement and in the 
struggle for social justice here in our great Nation. Mr. Speaker, that 
is the day that Fred Hampton, as I said before, was assassinated by 
members of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, who worked in 
conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is only by the grace of God that I escaped that same 
fate. Knowing that I was being pursued as a target of the FBI, the Cook 
County State's Attorney's Office, and the Chicago Police Department, 
this same extraordinary priest, Father George Clements, offered me 
protection under the very old ecclesiastical right of sanctuary that 
has been honored throughout many centuries here and all across the 
world in a church not only in America, but in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, if not for the heroic actions of Father Clements on that 
day, I would not be standing here in the well of the House on this very 
day.
  Father Clements just didn't stop on that infamous day of December 4, 
1969. Throughout the years, countless others have also benefited from 
Father George Clements' boundless love for humanity. In 1980, he 
started the Catholic church's first One Church One Child program, an 
effort to increase the adoption race of African-American orphans. He 
took this noble, gigantic step so to heart that, in 1981 he himself 
adopted a child; something that had been unheard of in the history of 
the Catholic church: a Catholic priest adopting a child.

                              {time}  1445

  He did not stop there, Father Clements. He has taken personal 
responsibility for and adopted other children. He has been an excellent 
father to four wonderful children: Joey, Friday, Stewart, and Saint 
Anthony.
  Father Clements' selfless devotion to humanity did not stop there. 
After retiring from the Holy Angels Catholic Church in 1994, Father 
Clements made his way to our Nation's Capital. He came here to 
Washington, D.C., to establish the One Church-One Addict program 
beginning here in our Nation's Capital.
  Mr. Speaker, as some of us more seasoned folks in this Chamber may 
recall, this was a time when our Nation's Capital was known as the 
``murder capital'' of America. This fact did not deter Father Clements 
from seeking to help those in need, from trying to be a solution to a 
highly recognized problem. Father Clements' unboundless love was in 
full effect once again. Even after all of his years of selfless, 
sacrificial, hard work, Father Clements still had more to give.
  In 1999, he established the One Church-One Inmate program, which was 
a shared effort to help prison inmates and their families by helping 
inmates transition from incarceration to a life as productive and 
``spiritually healed,'' law-abiding citizens.
  What a remarkable man Father George C. Clements was, and what a 
remarkable man he is this very day.
  The Nation, Hollywood has recognized this glorious man. They made a 
movie after him, called, ``The Father Clements Story,'' where the 
award-winning actor Lou Gossett starred as Father Clements.
  In short, Mr. Speaker, Father Clements has been a beacon of light 
during the dark days of our Nation. He has been a community leader, a 
selfless advocate for the downtrodden, and above all, he has been a 
true and loyal friend to those who are in need. He is a religious man 
who walks the walk just as he talks the talk.
  I can speak no better words for this great American hero, Father 
George C. Clements, no better words than those that are taken from the 
Bible, from Holy Scriptures. Let me close, Mr. Speaker, with these very 
words taken from the Book of Proverbs at 22:9. The Bible says: ``He who 
has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the 
poor.'' This is the manner, the mind of the man, Father George C. 
Clements.
  Mr. Speaker, I honor, I love, I am grateful for, and I am indebted to 
the

[[Page 7574]]

remarkable love and work, commitment and dedication of my friend Father 
George C. Clements.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. 
Davis), my colleague, my comrade, my cohort, my coconspirator, my 
friend from the Seventh District of Illinois.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I know that Congressman 
Rush has extolled the virtues of Father Clements sufficiently, and I 
certainly won't need 45 or 46 additional minutes to do that; but I can 
tell you that Father George Clements is an exemplary, extraordinary, 
unordinary man, a priest of the highest order, but a man who adopted 
four sons, and he has just been tributed not only here, but certainly 
back in our hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
  The thing about his four sons that he adopted, being a single priest, 
that was not the easiest thing in the world to do. But all four of them 
have become outstanding individuals everyplace they have been 
throughout America.
  Father Clements not only saved my colleague at a time of great peril, 
at a time of great need, which demonstrated tremendous courage, but 
down through the years, he has continued to provide creative leadership 
and great initiatives, especially as related to children and the needs 
that they had--One Church-One Child, One Church-One Family, one church 
helping individuals who were in need of help.
  Mr. Speaker, I join with Congressman Rush in paying tribute to this 
outstanding humanitarian, Father George Clements.


   Tribute to Ms. Ruth Life, Educator, Friend, and Community Activist

  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I also come to the floor 
to give tribute to a lady, Ms. Ruth Life, an educator, friend, and 
community activist.
  I have been fortunate, Mr. Speaker, to have known many outstanding 
individuals during my lifetime, but never have I known anyone more 
outstanding, more passionate, more consistent, more reliable, or more 
giving of herself than Ms. Ruth Life, whom I met in the 1960s.
  I met Ms. Life during the time when community activism was at a 
serious, high level, especially in the city of Chicago, Illinois, where 
I come from. Ms. Life, like many of our generation, was involved, 
actively engaged in efforts to make life for people who lived in the 
communities where we lived and worked better.
  Both of us worked for the Chicago Public Schools system at that time. 
We were working in District 10, where Mr. Joseph Rosen was 
superintendent of schools and Ms. Ida Mae ``Ma'' Fletcher, as we called 
her, was the leading school activist.
  As time went on, I left the teaching profession but continued to run 
into Ms. Life at meetings and church activities. When it came to 
teaching, there were none better.
  As she became the assistant principal at the Roswell B. Mason 
Elementary School, she was creative, encouraging, and imaginative. When 
you walked into Roswell B. Mason Elementary School, you knew that 
teachers were teaching and students were learning.
  Thirty-eight years is a long time to teach and educate, but Ms. Life 
spent a lifetime of service to humanity, especially through her church, 
the People's Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ, where 
Michael Eaddy is the pastor and visionary. Their church has just 
recently developed a $13 million housing project through their 
community development association, of which Ms. Life was secretary.
  As she passes away and moves to another level of being, I can almost 
hear the Master speaking to her, saying: ``Well done, my good, and 
faithful servant. You have done exceptionally well here on Earth. Now I 
invite you to come on up to the bosom of Abraham, where you can rest in 
peace and spend eternity.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to have had this opportunity to 
exemplify the life of this outstanding woman, Ms. Ruth Life.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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