Cedric Richmond

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Dave Bartholomew, a legendary New Orleans musician, who passed away on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at the age of 100. Mr. Bartholomew was born on December 24, 1918 in Edgard, Louisiana, the seat of St. John the Baptist Parish. He was the son of a jazz trumpet player, growing up in a musical household, this led to Mr. Bartholomew learning how to play the tuba before moving on to trumpet. Mr. Bartholomew wore several hats in his career including music producer, arranger, and songwriter. He also served our nation's Army and played a key role as one of the architects of rock `n' roll and the unique soundscape that defines New Orleans music today. His accomplishments throughout his career earned him recognition from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammys, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. It was Mr. Bartholomew's work in the 1950's and 1960's with Antoine ``Fats'' Domino that served as his most celebrated of accolades. Mr. Bartholomew's impactful presence behind the scenes helped create some of the biggest records of this era including ``Ain't That a Shame'', ``I'm Walkin'', and ``Let the Four Winds Blow.'' Mr. Bartholomew lived an extradentary life that cannot be overstated. He was committed to elevating others, perfecting his craft and producing quality music. Mr. Bartholomew was a musical trailblazer and his musical legacy along with spirit will remain a guiding force for all future musicians. Mr. Bartholomew is survived by his wife, Rhea Bartholomew. He also survived by his five sons; Dave Jr., Don, Ron, Darrell, and Alvin in addition to his three daughters; Deborah, Diane, and Jacqueline, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Dave Bartholomew.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Donna Maria Grant, a trailblazer in the field of education, who passed away on June 10, 2019, at the age of 71. Dr. Grant was born on February 4, 1948 in Tampa, Florida, to Mr. Smile Benton and Mrs. Daisy Johnson. In 1966, she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida, earned a B.S. degree and M.Ed degree from Florida A&M University in Elementary Education, and completed all coursework towards a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1974, she married Mr. Robert ``Bob'' Grant. Dr. Grant worked her entire professional career in education. She passionately worked with all ages of students from elementary through graduate school. After spending over 30 years in the Miami-Dade Public School System, Dr. Grant retired as an elementary school principal. However, due to her love for education, her retirement was short lived. In 2006, Dr. Grant moved to New Orleans and began working as an Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at Southern University at New Orleans. At the time of her death, Dr. Grant served as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services at Southern University at New Orleans. Dr. Grant, always having a heart for the community, was a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), Just Us (Miami chapter), and numerous other community empowerment organizations. Also, Dr. Grant was a faithful member of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. Dr. Grant lived an extraordinary life that cannot be overstated. She was committed to elevating minds, bringing students together, and improving access to higher education for all. She was an intellectual titan, trailblazer in the field of education, and her legacy as well as her spirit will remain a guiding force for all. Dr. Grant is survived by two sons; Christopher Grant and Robert ``Bobby'' Grant, two daughters; Sherri Grant and Micheline Lyles, a brother; Rickey Perkins, grandchildren; Christopher, Jr., Jeremiah, James, Ciera, Jamica, Kerry, Cameron, Eric, and Deshun, and a host of relatives and friends. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Donna Maria Grant.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of musical icon Mr. Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., universally known as Dr. John. Mr. Rebennack passed away on Thursday, June 6, 2019 at the age of 77. During his iconic career, Dr. John won several Grammy awards, released more than 30 albums, and was highly regarded not only as a performer, but also as a songwriter, composer, and producer. His sound played a pivotal role in shaping New Orleans culture and the music that makes it so distinctive. Dr. John was born on November 20, 1941 in New Orleans' 3rd Ward. A precocious young talent, he honed his God-given gifts at Jesuit High School where he grew immensely at his craft. His time spent with older musical peers helped Dr. John lay the foundation for the success he would enjoy later in his career. After serving time in the 1960's, Dr. John spent some time in Los Angeles, California before releasing his debut album, ``Gris-Gris'' in the beginning of 1968. The album, which could be described as an eclectic mixture of rock and traditional New Orleans-themed music, included ``I Walk on Guilded Splinters,'' which is widely considered one of his most recognizable songs. Four years later, Dr. John released ``Dr. John's Gumbo'' followed by ``In the Right Place'' in 1973, and ``Desitively Bonnaroo'' in 1974. Dr. John performed at several large platforms during his career, including the White House and the 2006 National Football League Super Bowl in Detroit where he performed the national anthem with Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville as part of a tribute to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. John was a Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer who proudly spread New Orleans culture through his music. He embodied New Orleans and personified its bold character. While he will be sorely missed, his imprint and legacy in New Orleans history will remain present for a lifetime to come. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Chef Leah Lange Chase, New Orleans' matriarch of Creole cuisine, who fed civil rights leaders, musicians and presidents in a career spanning seven decades. Mrs. Chase passed away on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at the age of 96. Mrs. Chase was born on January 6, 1923 in Madisonville, Louisiana. Her parents, Charles Lange and Hortensia Lange, raised 13 children. When she was 13 years old, Mrs. Chase moved to live with her aunt in New Orleans, so she could attend St. Mary's Academy. Upon graduation, Mrs. Chase took on several different jobs before she finally entered into the culinary industry as a French Quarter restaurant waitress. After meeting Edgar ``Dooky'' Chase Jr. in 1946 and eventually marrying him three months later, she transformed his family's sandwich stand into a full-fledged restaurant known as ``Dooky Chase'' that served as the only top-tier dining option available to African Americans in New Orleans. During the following decade, Dookie Chase became a key location for leaders of the Civil Rights movement to come together, organize, and discuss pressing social issues. ore broadly, countless black entertainers and icons dined at her restaurant including James Baldwin, Thurgood Marshall, Quincy Jones, and Ray Charles. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged her home and her restaurant with devastating flood waters . However, it was her steadfast determination and sheer will to rebuild the restaurant that made it possible to re-open its doors a mere two years later. Mrs. Chase's talent and contributions led to numerous accolades, including awards from the James Beard Foundation, the NAACP, and Southern Foodways Alliance. In her honor, the Southern Food and Beverage museum even named a permanent gallery after her. Mrs. Chase served on several boards including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Arts Council of New Orleans, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Mrs. Chase was known to most as the legendary Queen to Creole Cuisine, but to me, she was a close friend , mentor, and source of inspiration. Her passion and skill in culinary arts served as a vessel not only to bring people together at a time when our nation faced racial strife and segregation, but also as a way to heal communities, champion the Civil Rights movement, and transcend institutional barriers to success. Mrs. Chase's personable demeanor made her the matriarch of New Orleans. Her heart and soul touched the lives of so many who traveled from far and wide to experience the iconic cuisine of Dooky Chase Restaurant. I cherish the time spent with Mrs. Chase and offer my sincere condolences to the Chase family. While she will be sorely missed, her imprint and legacy in New Orleans history and culture will remain present for a lifetime to come. Mrs. Chase is survived by her son, Edgar Chase III; her two daughters, Leah Chase Kamata and Stella Chase Reese.; in addition to siblings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Chef Leah Lange Chase.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, first, let me start off by including in the Record a Harvard Public Health journal article, ``America Is Failing Its Black Mothers.'' America Is Failing Its Black Mothers For decades, Harvard Chan alumni have shed light on high maternal mortality rates in African American women. Finally, policymakers are beginning to pay attention. Serena Williams knew her body well enough to listen when it told her something was wrong. Winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, she'd been playing tennis since age 3--as a professional since 14. Along the way, she'd survived a life- threatening blood clot in her lungs, bounced back from knee injuries, and drowned out the voices of sports commentators and fans who criticized her body and spewed racist epithets. At 36, Williams was as powerful as ever. She could still devastate opponents with the power of a serve once clocked at 128.6 miles per hour. But in September 2017, on the day after delivering her baby, Olympia, by emergency C-section, Williams lost her breath and recognized the warning signs of a serious condition. She walked out of her hospital room and approached a nurse, Williams later told Vogue magazine. Gasping out her words, she said that she feared another blood clot and needed a CT scan and an IV of heparin, a blood thinner. The nurse suggested that Williams' pain medication must be making her confused. Williams insisted that something was wrong, and a test was ordered--an ultrasound on her legs to address swelling. When that turned up nothing, she was finally sent for the lung CT. It found several blood clots. And, just as Williams had suggested, heparin did the trick. She told Vogue, ``I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!'' But her ordeal wasn't over. Severe coughing had opened her C-section incision, and a subsequent surgery revealed a hemorrhage at that site. When Williams was finally released from the hospital, she was confined to her bed for six weeks. Wanda Irving holds her granddaughter, Soleil, in front of a portrait of Soleil's mother, Shalon Irving, at home in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Wanda has been raising Soleil since Shalon--an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--died in 2017 from complications of hypertension a few weeks after giving birth. Like Williams, Shalon Irving, an African American woman, was 36 when she had her baby in 2017. An epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she wrote in her Twitter bio, ``I see inequity wherever it exists, call it by name, and work to eliminate it.'' Irving knew her pregnancy was risky. She had a clotting disorder and a history of high blood pressure, but she also had access to top-quality care and a strong support system of family and friends. She was doing so well after the C-section birth of her baby, Soleil, that her doctors consented to her request to leave the hospital after just two nights (three or four is typical). But after she returned home, things quickly went downhill. For the next three weeks, Irving made visit after visit to her primary care providers, first for a painful hematoma (blood trapped under layers of healing skin) at her incision, then for spiking blood pressure, headaches and blurred vision, swelling legs, and rapid weight gain. Her mother told ProPublica that at these appointments, clinicians repeatedly assured Irving that the symptoms were normal. She just needed to wait it out. But hours after her last medical appointment, Irving took a newly prescribed blood pressure medication, collapsed, and died soon after at the hospital when her family removed her from life support. Viewed up close, the deaths of mothers like Irving are devastating, private tragedies. But pull back, and a picture emerges of a public health crisis that's been hiding in plain sight for the last 30 years. Following decades of decline, maternal deaths began to rise in the United States around 1990--a significant departure from the world's other affluent countries. By 2013, rates had more than doubled. The CDC now estimates that 700 to 900 new and expectant mothers die in the U.S. each year, and an additional 500,000 women experience life-threatening postpartum complications. More than half of these deaths and near deaths are from preventable causes, and a disproportionate number of the women suffering are black. Put simply, for black women far more than for white women, giving birth can amount to a death sentence. African American women are three to four times more likely to die during or after delivery than are white women. According to the World Health Organization, their odds of surviving childbirth are comparable to those of women in countries such as Mexico and Uzbekistan, where significant proportions of the population live in poverty. Irving's friend Raegan McDonald-Mosley, chief medical director for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told ProPublica, ``You can't educate your way out of this problem. You can't health-care-access your way out of this problem. There's something inherently wrong with the system that's not valuing the lives of black women equally to white women.'' Lost mothers Speaking at a symposium hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in September 2018, investigative reporter Nina Martin noted telling commonalities in the stories she's gathered about mothers who died. Once a baby is born, he or she becomes the focus of medical attention. Mothers are monitored less, their concerns are often dismissed, and they tend to be sent home without adequate information about potentially concerning symptoms. For African American mothers, the risks jump at each stage of the labor, delivery, and postpartum process. Neel Shah, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, recalls being struck by Martin's ProPublica-NPR series Lost Mothers, which delved into the issue. ``The common thread is that when black women expressed concern about their symptoms, clinicians were more delayed and seemed to believe them less,'' he says. ``It's forced me to think more deeply about my own approach. There is a very fine line between clinical intuition and unconscious bias.'' For members of the public, the experiences of prominent black women may prove to be a teachable moment. When pop superstar Beyonce developed the hypertensive disorder pre- eclampsia--which left untreated can kill a mother and her baby--after delivering her twins by emergency C-section in 2017, Google searches related to the condition spiked. According to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, pre-eclampsia--one of the leading causes of maternal death--and eclampsia (seizures that develop after pre- eclampsia) are 60 percent more common in African American women than in white women, and also more severe. If it can happen to Beyonce--an international star who presumably can afford the highest-quality medical care--it can happen to anyone. Weathering report Arline Geronimus, SD '85, has been talking about the effects of racism on health for decades, even when others haven't wanted to listen. Growing up in the 1960s in Brookline, Massachusetts, Geronimus, who is white, absorbed the messages of the Civil Rights movement and the harrowing stories of her Jewish family's experiences in czarist Russia. When she headed off to Princeton as an undergraduate, she resolved to find a way to fight against injustice. Her initial plan to become a civil rights lawyer gave way when she discovered the power and potential of public health research. Geronimus worked as a research assistant for a professor studying teen pregnancy among poor urban residents, and, as a volunteer at a Planned Parenthood clinic, witnessed close-up the lives of pregnant black teens living in poverty in Trenton, New Jersey. She felt a chasm open up between what some of her white male professors were confidently explicating about the lives of these adolescents and how the young women themselves saw their lives. According to the conventional wisdom at the time, Geronimus says, teen pregnancy was the primary driver of maternal and infant deaths and a host of multigenerational health and social problems among low-income African Americans. Researchers focused on this issue while ignoring broader systemic factors. Geronimus sought to connect the dots between the health problems the girls experienced, like asthma and type 2 diabetes, and negative forces in their lives. She visited them in their crumbling apartments and accompanied them to medical appointments where doctors treated the girls like props, without agency in their own care. And she noticed that they seemed older, somehow, than girls the same age whom Geronimus knew. ``That's when I got the fire in my belly,'' she says, her voice rising. ``These young women had real, immediate needs that those of us in the hallowed halls of Princeton could have helped address. But we weren't seeing those urgent needs. We just wanted to teach them about contraception.'' Geronimus came to the Harvard Chan School to learn how to rigorously explore the ways that social disadvantage corrodes health--a concept for which she coined the term ``weathering.'' Her adviser, Steven Gortrnaker, professor of the practice of health sociology, provided data for her to correlate infant mortality by maternal age. While most such studies put mothers into broad categories of teen and not- teen, Geronimus looked at the risks they faced at every age. The results were surprising even to her. White women in their 20s were more likely to give birth to a healthy baby than those in their teens. But among black women, the opposite was true: The older the mother, the greater the risk of maternal and newborn health complications and death. In public health, the condition of a baby is considered a reliable proxy for the health of the mother. Geronimus' data suggested that black women may be less healthy at 25 than at 17. ``Being able to see those stark numbers was essential for me,'' says Geronimus, who is now a professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. And the implications were staggering. If young black women were already showing signs of weathering, how would that play out over the rest of their lives--and what could be done to stop it? Geronimus' questions were ahead of their time. The press and the public--even other scientists--misinterpreted her findings as a recommendation that black women have children in their teens, she says, recalling with a sigh such clueless headlines as, ``Researcher says let them have babies.'' In the 1970s, even researchers who broached the topic of racial differences in health outcomes--and few did--focused on small pieces of the puzzle. Some were looking at genetics, others at behavioral and cultural differences or health care access. ``No one wanted to look at what was wrong with how our society works and how that can be expressed in the health of different groups,'' Geronimus says. Over time, her ideas would become harder to dismiss. The tide began to turn in the early 1980s, when former Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler convened the first group of experts to conduct a comprehensive study of the health status of minority populations. As the field of social epidemiology took off, the Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health (also known as the Heckler Report) brought Geronimus' animating questions into mainstream debate. Then, in 1993, researchers identified a physiological mechanism that could finally explain weathering: allostatic load. ``We as a species are designed to respond to threats to life by having a physiological stress response,'' Geronimus explains. ``When you face a literal life-or-death threat, there is a short window of time during which you must escape or be killed by the predator.'' Stress hormones cascade through the body, sending blood flowing to the muscles and the heart to help the body run faster and fight harder. Molecules called pro-inflammatory cytokines are produced to help heal any wounds that result. These processes siphon energy from other bodily systems that aren't enlisted in the fight-or-flight response, including those that support healthy pregnancies. That's not important if the threat is short term, because the body's biochemical homeostasis quickly returns to normal. But for people who face chronic threats and hardships--like struggling to make ends meet on a minimum wage job or witnessing racialized police brutality--the fight-or-flight response may never abate. ``It's like facing tigers coming from several directions every day,'' Geronimus says, and the damage is compounded over time. As a result, health risks rise at increasingly younger ages for chronic conditions like hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Depression and sleep deprivation become more common. People are also more likely to engage in risky coping behaviors, such as overeating, drinking, and smoking. Geronimus' foundational work in the 1980s and 1990s has been cited by David R. Williams, the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard Chan School, an internationally recognized expert in the ways that racism and other social influences affect health. His Everyday Discrimination Scale is one of the most widely used measures of discrimination in health studies. It includes questions that measure experiences such as being treated with discourtesy, receiving poorer service than others in restaurants or stores, or witnessing people act as if they're afraid of you. As he explained in a 2016 TED MED talk, ``This scale captures ways in which the dignity and the respect of people who society does not value is chipped away on a daily basis.'' Maternal Mortality in the U.S.: A Human Rights Crisis Despite high-tech medical advances of the last century, women around the world are still dying in pregnancy and childbirth from age-old scourges such as hemorrhage and pre- eclampsia and, increasingly, from complications related to chronic diseases, obesity, and advanced maternal age. In 2000, the global health and development community acknowledged the need for action in Goal 5 of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which aimed to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters in 15 years (it declined by 45 percent). While press and publicity around the push offered harrowing stories, women reading these stories in the U.S. may well have come away believing that it was a problem for mothers in villages in Sierra Leone--but surely not in Atlanta or Washington, D.C. Starting in 2008, human rights groups around the world began calling on the U.S. to do more to keep its mothers from dying. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern about inequities in maternal mortality and recommended that steps be taken to improve access to maternal health care, family planning, and sexuality education and information. A 2012 Amnesty International report declared that these steps weren't enough: ``Preventable maternal mortality can result from or reflect violations of a variety of human rights, including the right to life, the right to freedom from discrimination, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.'' Having ratified two key international treaties guaranteeing these rights, the authors wrote, the U.S. government should be held accountable. Four years later, representatives from the advocacy organization SisterSong, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health issued a report to CERD further exploring these issues. CERD adopted the groups' recommendations, including addressing stereotypes that promote discrimination in clinical settings and standardizing data collection on maternal deaths. In 2015, an advocacy organization called Black Mamas Matter emerged out of this effort to keep pushing the agenda forward. To the women leading the charge, one central fact was clear: Racism is an undeniable thread running through the stories of black mothers who die. But as Elizabeth Dawes Gay, co-director of Black Mamas Matter and a public health professional, wrote in The Nation, providers and researchers often place ``the onus for large-scale change on individuals rather than the systems that we know cause harm.''

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, I rise today with an amendment to increase funding for the State Maternal Health Innovation Program by $7 million. This program is specifically tasked with reducing care gaps, maternal mortality, and disparities in maternal health. The United States is the greatest country in the world with the most innovative healthcare system around. We continue to develop cutting- edge treatments that stretch the bounds of what is possible. Within the last two decades, we have mapped the human genome, conducted surgeries over the Internet, and grown organs out of stem cells. We have cured diseases and revolutionized treatments. Despite all that progress, more of our mothers and mothers-to-be are dying today than at the turn of the century. Somehow, we have seen our maternal mortality rate increase over the past 25 years, and preventable near-deaths related to pregnancy have increased over 200 percent. The statistics are shocking, and the reality for Black mothers is a crisis. Black mothers in Louisiana are now 4 times more likely to die than White mothers. The rate of Black maternal deaths is closer to the rates in developing countries than the nations we usually compare ourselves to. With our vast resources and advanced technology, these deaths are unacceptable. This is a problem that demands our immediate attention. That is why I am here today with this amendment. With this increased funding, more States can implement programs to improve the care that mothers receive. More families can remain whole. More children can grow up with their mothers. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, if there are no other speakers, I am prepared to close. Madam Speaker, let me just say, simply put, for Black women far more than for White women, giving birth can amount to a death sentence. When Black women express concern about their symptoms, clinicians are more delayed and seem less likely to believe them. And the question becomes, as Harvard put it, whether it is clinical intuition versus unconscious bias. So as we look around the country and we see the complications from motherhood for African American women, we can look at Serena Williams; we can look at Beyonce; we can look in my household; we can look at Ashley Mitchell, whose funeral I went to just this past weekend. This is a crisis we have the ability overcome. We are America. We do great things when we put our mind to it, and this amendment simply asks this body to put our mind to maternal health, especially for African American women, but for all women in this country, to make sure that the best thing about womanhood, an ability to give birth, does not become a death sentence. Madam Chair, I ask for everyone's support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Isaac Joseph, a veteran educator and the first African-American superintendent of the Jefferson Parish Public School System. Dr. Joseph passed away on Monday, June 3, 2019 at the age of 64. Dr. Joseph was a graduate of Southern University at Baton Rouge, where he earned a B.S. degree in Health and Physical Education and a Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling. He completed all coursework towards a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of New Orleans. Dr. Joseph led Louisiana's largest school district from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, Dr. Joseph resigned as the leader of Jefferson schools. In 1986 Dr. Joseph began his career in education as a teacher in Jefferson Parish. Throughout his career he served in a variety of roles including principal, assistant superintendent of human resources, and executive director of grants and federal programs. In 1987 and 1989, Dr. Joseph was bestowed the Waggaman School Teacher of the Year award. Less than a decade later, Dr. Joseph was named Educator of the Year by the National Council on Educating Black Children. Dr. Joseph loved the city and the people of New Orleans. His legacy will forever be a part of the city and his dedication to community embodies the spirit of New Orleans. We cannot match the sacrifices made by Dr. Joseph, but surely, we can try to match his sense of service. We cannot match his courage, but we can strive to match his devotion. Dr. Joseph is survived by a wife, Faith. The couple had a son and Dr. Joseph had two other sons and daughters. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Isaac Joseph.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Attorney Jennifer Ashley Mitchell-Carter, a Louisiana-licensed attorney and a founding partner at Pearson & Mitchell, LLC. Mrs. Mitchell-Carter passed away on Monday, May 27, 2019 at the age of 34. Mrs. Mitchell-Carter was born and reared in Shreveport, Louisiana where she graduated from Caddo Parish Magnet High School in 2003. In 2007, she graduated with honors from Louisiana State University College of Arts and Sciences where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science. Two years later she became a certified mediator by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services. In 2011, she went on to earn a master's degree in political science from Southern University Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and a Jurist Doctorate from Southern University Law Center. During her career in state government, Mrs. Mitchell-Carter served as the attorney for the Louisiana State Senate's Senate and Government Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Women and Children, and as support staff for the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus. Moreover, she was the youngest Executive Director of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus and Executive Director of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus Foundation. Mrs. Mitchell-Carter was a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the American Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, Baton Rouge Bar Association, and Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. Mrs. Mitchell-Carter was an integral part of her community and will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and all the members of the community who felt a special connection with her. Her legacy will live on through the many people and organizations she supported in our great state. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Attorney Jennifer Ashley Mitchell-Carter.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to pay tribute to the life and legacy of one Mrs. Leah Chase, a world- famous chef and businesswoman in New Orleans who is known around the world as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. She passed away this past Saturday at the age of 96. Mrs. Chase was someone who was admired by all she came in contact with. Her restaurant was the nerve center of the New Orleans civil rights movement. Civil rights leaders and activists used Dooky Chase Restaurant to meet, strategize, and organize. She fed leaders from the Freedom Riders to Dr. Martin Luther King to celebrities like Nat King Cole, and including Presidents of the United States, both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mrs. Chase was a personal friend, mentor, and inspiration to me. Her ability to connect with leaders and patrons of all backgrounds, coupled with her passion of people and culinary arts, makes her legacy forever imprinted in American and New Orleans history and culture. Mr. Speaker, my condolences go out to the family of Mrs. Chase, and in recognition of her and her late husband, Mr. Dooky Chase, for all that they did to make this a more perfect union.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of a great man who exemplified the true meaning of being a trailblazer, Coach Otis Washington. From St. Augustine High School, to Louisiana State University (LSU), to Southern University, Coach Washington positively touched the lives of so many young men. Through the game of football, he taught valuable lessons about the importance of leadership, perseverance, and teamwork. Coach Washington was a giant whose career transcended wins, losses, first downs, and touchdowns. A man who dedicated his life to making others better, he also broke down barriers to make one of our most venerated institutions better. As the first African-American coach hired at LSU, he paved the way for all of those who have since followed in his footsteps and reached coaching heights once unknown and unseen. In his earlier days, Coach Washington played a pivotal role for St. Augustine High School when the integration of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association was in its nascent stages. Dunng his time there he amassed a remarkable 113-17 record despite pervasive racial tension. As we look back on his storied life, his profound commitment to excellence on every level was clear and his on-field success was unmatched. Today I offer my deepest condolences to his family during this difficult time as they cope with the pain of losing someone so dear to so many people. The state of Louisiana is forever indebted to Coach Washington for all he did for the community. Moving forward, it is now the responsibility of all of us he impacted to passionately carry on his legacy of greatness, selflessness, and leadership. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Coach Otis Washington

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I was unable to be present for the following votes on Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th. Had I been present, I would have voted: NAY on Roll Call No. 195; YEA on Roll Call No. 196; YEA on Roll Call No. 197; YEA on Roll Call No. 198; YEA on Roll Call No. 199; YEA on Roll Call No. 200; NAY on Roll Call No. 201; and YEA on Roll Call No. 202.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Reverend Jesse Bernard Bilberry, Jr.'s lifetime of service. Reverend Bilberry has dedicated nearly four decades of pastoral service and educational leadership throughout the State of Louisiana. I am proud to have Reverend Bilberry as my constituent. He just recently retired from the historic Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in Scotlandville, Louisiana, and was named pastor emeritus. Reverend Bilberry began his career in service as an officer in the United States Army, and we owe him a deep seed of gratitude for his service to our country. After an honorable discharge from the Army, Reverend Bilberry spent several years as an administrator at Southern University, ending his tenure there as director of admissions. Reverend Bilberry has distinguished himself as a well-respected community and religious leader both at home and abroad. From leading missionaries in the West Indies to leading several service-oriented organizations and his church, Reverend Bilberry has led a life of compassion and courage that has resonated with the people of Baton Rouge and throughout the State of Louisiana. I thank Reverend Bilberry for his tireless contributions serving his community throughout his career in ministry and education.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of William M. ``Bill'' Detweiler, a strong advocate for veterans who was a former national commander of the American Legion. He passed away on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at the age of 79. Mr. Detweiler, a native of New Orleans, grew up near the St. Roch Playground. He graduated from St. Aloysius High School and earned undergraduate and law degrees at Loyola University. Mr. Detweiler served in the Army. After graduating from its Infantry and Intelligence schools, he was operations officer on the G-2 Staff of the U.S. Air Defense Command at Fort Bliss, Texas. After his discharge from active duty in 1965, Mr. Detweiler returned to New Orleans, where he served in the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of captain. Upon his return to civil life, Mr. Detweiler started practicing law. In 1978, he was elected constable of New Orleans' First City Court, a position to which he was re-elected twice and from which he stepped down at the end of 1996. In 1973, United States President Richard Nixon appointed Mr. Detweiler to the Veterans Administration's National Rehabilitation and Education Advisory Committee; he was named its chairman in 1975. He also served on military advisory boards for the governor, the Louisiana Senate and New Orleans' mayor. In 1995, United States President Bill Clinton invited Mr. Detweiler to fly with him on Air Force One to Russia to represent America's veterans at the 50th annual commemoration of the Allies' victory in World War II. Mr. Detweiler received the Andrew J. Higgins Award for Exceptional Leadership from the Mayor's Military Affairs Committee of Greater New Orleans in 1998. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Mr. Detweiler was a guiding force in getting the New Orleans VA Medical Center rebuilt, serving on the advisory committee for the project's design team. He was at both the new facility's groundbreaking and grand opening and is credited with crafting the words now engraved in stone at the front entrance of the medical center: ``THE PRICE OF FREEDOM CAN BE SEEN WITHIN THESE WALLS.'' In 2010, Mr. Detweiler was appointed to lead the American Legion's committee assigned to investigate the existing science and procedures for treating traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2013, Mayor Mitch Landrieu appointed Mr. Detweiler to the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Building Corp. He was elected its president in 2017, which was the year when the organization assumed the responsibilities of the Canal Street Development Corp. Mr. Detweiler also was instrumental in bringing what is now the National World War II Museum to the city of New Orleans. He served as a member of the executive leadership team for the museum until his death. In December 2018, Mr. Detweiler was presented the French National Order of Merit by Consulate General of France Vincent Sciama. He was honored for his work at the museum, including helping launch the annual World War II Conference at the museum in 2007 when it re-opened after Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Detweiler loved the city and the people of New Orleans. His legacy will forever be a part of the city and his dedication to community embodies the spirit of New Orleans. We cannot match the sacrifices made by Mr. Detweiler, but surely, we can try to match his sense of service. We cannot match his courage, but we can strive to match his devotion. Mr. Detweiler, in addition to his wife, survivors include two sons Scott Reed Detweiler and Keith Michael Detweiler; two daughters, Bonnie Detweiler Shor and Jeannie Detweiler Miller; and six grandchildren. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of National Commander William M. Detweiler.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Reverend Samson ``Skip'' Alexander, a New Orleans pastor and civil rights leader who befriended and worked alongside Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., photographed Dr. King's life and career and was present during some of the Civil Rights Era's pivotal moments. He passed away on Sunday, March 24, 2019 at the age of 88. Rev. Alexander graduated from Gilbert Academy and Booker T. Washington High School in New Orleans. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree at Clinton University and a doctorate in theology at A.P. Clay Theological College. Rev. Alexander became an active minister in the 1970s and he preached at churches throughout the city. He was associate minister at Christian Unity Baptist Church. In 1957, Rev. Alexander attended the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in New Orleans. At a meeting at the New Zion Baptist Church in Central City, Dr. King was elected president of the group, which would go on to become one of the most important organizations in the civil rights movement. Rev. Alexander marched with Dr. King during many of the marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, seeking voting rights for African- Americans. During the marches in 1965, Rev. Alexander suffered a bump to the back of his head from a state trooper's baton. Rev. Alexander's friendship with Dr. King and his interest in photography led him to capture the civil rights icon's life and career on film. He also captured an iconic photo of King's widow, Coretta Scott King, sitting in the front row of her husband's 1968 memorial service, holding their daughter Bernice on her lap. In addition to his work with civil rights causes, Rev. Alexander was also a labor organizer and led striking workers in Memphis and New York. Also, he was involved in many 1960s New Orleans sit-ins and demonstrations seeking to integrate Canal Street lunch counters and department stores and efforts to desegregate the U.S. Custom House on Canal Street. As an Air Force veteran, he led the effort to desegregate an Air Force base near Denver, Colorado. Balancing his time with the civil rights movement, Rev. Alexander continued preaching well into his 80s. He also hosted a radio show on WBOK and was involved in politics as a member of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee. Rev. Alexander loved the city and the people of New Orleans. His legacy will forever be a part of the city and his dedication to community embodies the spirit of New Orleans. We cannot match the sacrifices made by Rev. Alexander, but surely, we can try to match his sense of service. We cannot match his courage, but we can strive to match his devotion. Rev. Alexander's survivors include a son, Jerome Alexander; three daughters, Gloria Irvin, Joanne and Jacqueline Alexander; six grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and five great-great- grandchildren. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Reverend Samson ``Skip'' Alexander.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I thank both the majority leader and the minority whip for yielding me time. Today is a great day, but it is also a sad day for me. I am losing my chief of staff, the only one that I have had since I have been here, Virgil Miller, who, the funny story is, John Dingell made the reference for me to hire him. The one thing I appreciate now is that when I called John Dingell for a recommendation, he was on the House floor, but told his staff, ``No matter where I am, pull me off so I can talk about how great Virgil Miller is.'' Some of you may have seen the news, but Virgil proposed. More importantly, Kirby said yes. So he is getting married and starting another chapter of his life. It was great to have him here in this body, and I hope for him the best. He is not only my chief, but he has come to be part of our family and like a younger brother to me. I just want to wish him the best as he goes off to start a more exciting part of his life and wish him the best. Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for allowing me to say a few words.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Let me just say that we are better than this, and we have seen in this body where we have had Members attacked. We came together right here in this body, where we all held hands. We said that words have consequences, and we were going to do better. We were going to set an example. Before we could walk off the floor, there was a commercial running to attack the character of our then-leader, Nancy Pelosi. So hollow words mean nothing to me. Booker T. Washington once said that we are as separate as the fingers, but we are as whole as the hand. We come together today, hopefully as whole as the hand, to condemn anti-Semitism, bigotry, racism, all of the phobias, Islamophobia, homophobia. What we do is push love, like Dr. King said. But in the eulogy for Dr. King, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays blamed, in part, the American people for the assassination. He pointed out that the assassin heard enough condemnation of Dr. King and of Negroes to feel that he had public support. When Dylann Roof murdered nine worshippers in Charleston, he thought he had public support. The shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh thought he had public support. The neo-Nazis and the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville thought they had public support. The shooter of Gabby Giffords thought he had public support. The shooter of Steve Scalise thought he had public support. What we are doing here today is making it unequivocally clear to the public that no one has the support to engage in discrimination and racism and anti-Semitism. Dr. Mays went on to challenge us as Americans to do better. He said: ``We, and not the assassin, represent America at its best.'' He said we have the power--not the prejudiced, not the bigoted, not the anti- Semite, not the assassin--to make things better. We, too, in Congress have the power and the obligation to make things right. Though we come from dramatically diverse backgrounds and though we have lived very different lives, we must all, right now, stand together against bigotry. We must make clear to those who traffic in all forms of hatred--neo- Nazis, white nationalists, racists of all kinds, anti-Semites, Islamophobes, homophobes, transphobes, and those who demonize and demean immigrants from Latin America and throughout the world--that they have no place in the public discourse. For the record, this will be our third time on anti-Semitic measures. We voted against both of them. You all voted for one and then voted against the other.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I join former Congressman Cleo Fields and the entire Baton Rouge community today in honor of Reverend Jesse Bernard Bilberry, Jr. Rev. Bilberry has spent the entirety of his life dedicated to educational and community development. Revered as a trailblazer throughout his lifetime, Rev. Bilberry most recently retired after 34 years of pastoral service at Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. Rev. Bilberry was born on May 12, 1929 in Marion, Louisiana the oldest of ten children of Jesse Bernard Bilberry, Sr. and Joe B. Bilberry. He was baptized at the age of 14 at the Bloomberg Grove Baptist Church in Farmerville, Louisiana. Rev. Bilberry went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University and A&M College. An Army veteran, Rev. Bilberry was honorably discharged from the United States Army after serving from August 18, 1951 to July 21, 1953. After Rev. Bilberry' s return from the Army, he went on to marry Verta Lee Hamilton on December 23, 1953. The couple has one daughter, Cassandra Gail. Rev. Bilberry began a new chapter in life after marriage that started his esteemed trajectory in educational and community development. He began his career as the principal of Tensas Rosenwald High School in St. Joseph, Louisiana from 1956 to 1969. During this time, he completed his Master of Education from Louisiana State University in 1957. He was also awarded the Human Rights Award for Creative Leadership in Education in 1968. In 1969, Rev. Bilberry took his talents back to Southern University where he served as the Freshman Complex Director until 1971. He then implemented and directed the inaugural Office of High School Relations at Southern from 1971 to 1973. The following year, Rev. Bilberry was promoted to Director of Admissions of Southern University, where he served this role until 1984. During his early years as Director of Admissions for Southern, Rev. Bilberry first became acquainted with Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in 1975. He was later ordained a Deacon and asked to serve as the Chairman of the Finance Committee. By 1981, he became an Associate Minister. Rev. Bilberry retired from Southern University and the State of Louisiana in 1984. That same year, he accepted the pastorate of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. Rev. Bilberry continued his studies of the church and graduated from Christian Bible College in 1988 with a Master of Theology and a Doctorate of Theology in 1990. Throughout his lifetime, Rev. Bilberry has received numerous awards and recognition, including Minister of the Year in 1989 from the Early Risers Kiwanis Club, two-time recipient of the M.S. Tally Walk on the Water Award from the Department of Christian Education in 1991 and 1992, and the Frontiersman Award from the Sunday School Publishing Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. in 1993 for his work leading a mission trip to Dominica, West Indies. Rev. Bilberry has also dedicated his time to a plethora of scholastic and service-oriented organizations, including the Southern University and A&M College Board of Supervisors, supervisor and instructor for the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, and a member of East Baton Rouge Parish Ministers Conference, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and Phi Delta Kappa Honorary Society. Rev. Bilberry's trajectory in leadership continued as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crestworth Learning Academy, President of the Fourth District Missionary Baptist Association, and State Director of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Congress of Christian Education. Rev. Bilberry has led a life of exemplary service, leadership, and compassion that has resonated throughout the entire Baton Rouge community and the state of Louisiana. His lifetime body of work should be well known and celebrated not only by those he has influenced throughout the years, but by all who seek to make a difference in this world through the vocation of ministry and education. Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor the life and work of Rev. Jesse Bernard Bilberry, Jr. and wish him luck in his retirement.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Frank Robinson, a trailblazing figure who was a Major League Baseball (MLB) Hall of Famer, the first black manager in Major League Baseball, and had an amazing career that spanned 21 seasons. Mr. Robinson passed away on Thursday, February 7, 2019 at the age of 83. Starting out in an era when Mays, Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams were the big hitters, Mr. Robinson more than held his own more than 2 1 seasons. He finished with 1,812 RBis, hit .294, played in the World Series five times and homered in each of them. Additionally, he had a .389 on-base average boosted by 1,420 walks against 1,532 strikeouts. Extremely alert on the bases, he had 204 steals. Mr. Robinson was born August 21, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas. He was the youngest of Ms. Ruth Shaw's 10 children. His parents separated when he was an infant, and he accompanied his mother to Northern California when he was 4. Mr. Robinson attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, California. At 14 years old, he began playing for local coaching legend George Powles, and won an American Legion national championship. In the days before the Major League Draft, Robinson was signed by the Cincinnati Reds out of McClymonds in 1953 for a $3,500 bonus and made his Major League debut three years later. He won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and made his first All-Star appearance that season. During 10 seasons with the Reds, Robinson averaged 32 home runs and was a six-time All-Star. He won the 1961 NL Most Valuable Player Award and finished fourth in NL MVP Award voting in 1962 and 1964. In December 1965, Robinson was the centerpiece in what would ultimately be one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history, going to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson became an instant hit with the Orioles in 1966 as the unanimous AL MVP and a Triple Crown winner. On May 8, he became the only player ever to hit a home run completely out of Baltimore's home park, Memorial Stadium. The drive came against Cleveland ace Luis Tiant and the spot where the ball sailed over the left-field wall was marked by a flag that read ``HERE'' that remained in place until the Orioles left for Camden Yards in 1991. Mr. Robinson batted .316 with 49 home runs and 122 RBIs during his first season in Baltimore. He then homered in the first inning of the 1966 World Series opener at Dodger Stadium and capped off the four-game sweep of Los Angeles with another homer off Don Drysdale in a 1-0 win in Game 4. Mr. Robinson hit two home runs against the Reds in teaming with future Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson to win another crown for the Orioles in 1970. Mr. Robinson was an All-Star in five of his six seasons with Baltimore, reaching the World Series four times and batting .300 with 179 home runs. He was traded to the Dodgers before the 1972 season and played for the California Angels in 1973 and was dealt to Cleveland late in the 1974 season. Mr. Robinson hit 586 home runs and was a 14-time All-Star and the only player to win Most Valuable Player Awards in both leagues--1961 for the Reds in the National League and 1966 for the Orioles in the American League. Mr. Robinson managerial debut came 28 years after Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier as a player. He became Major League Baseball's first African American manager on April 8, 1975, as the manager of the Cleveland Indians. Mr. Robinson, still an active player, celebrated the occasion with a home run in the Indians' 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees. Mr. Robinson also managed the San Francisco Giants, the Orioles and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals over the course of his career. Mr. Robinson served as manager of the Orioles from 1988-91. In 1989, he was named the American League Manager of the Year for guiding the Orioles to an 87-75 record, 33 more victories than the previous season. Three teams--the Reds, Orioles and Indians--have retired Robinson's No. 20. All three teams honored Robinson with statues. And he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2005. Aside from being one of the great home run hitters, Mr. Robinson was innovator in his involvement of the development of the youth aspect of the game. In 2012, he was hired by MLB as the vice president of player development. He managed to emphasize important aspects such as the Urban Youth Academy and the Future Game, as well as the Civil Rights Game. He was given the special position to become Honorary President of the American League. Mr. Robinson was not hesitant to give appreciation to the Negro League players who came before him. His youth academy emphasized expressing to future generations the importance of the game outreach to urban areas to keep the youth in the game. Mr. Robinson was a trailblazer and had a huge influence on Major League Baseball. His legacy will forever be a part of Major League Baseball and his dedication to community embodies the spirit of America. We cannot match the sacrifices made by Mr. Robinson, but surely, we can try to match his sense of service. We cannot match his courage, but we can strive to match his devotion. Mr. Robinson's survivors include his wife Barbara, and daughter Nichelle. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Frank Robinson.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the work of Mrs. Millie Ruth McClelland Charles, a legendary social worker and native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Mrs. Charles was born July 25, 1923 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Rev. Williams McClelland, a Baptist preacher, and Frankie Little, a school teacher. Mrs. Charles entered Dillard University when she was only 15 years old and graduated with a degree in secondary education. However, after a few years of teaching in north Louisiana and loving the children in her classes, she realized she could find more fulfillment in social work because she would be able to help children and their families find ways to solve problems. Therefore, she earned a master's degree in the subject at the University of Southern California in the mid-1950s. Millie McClelland Charles has greatly impacted the field of health and mental health through her leadership in the founding and guiding of the Southern University of New Orleans School of Social Work (BSW and MSW programs) into fully accredited programs providing opportunity for professional development to countless students. She is currently Dean Emeritus and founder of the School of Social Work. The founding of Southern University in New Orleans was a highly political event when it took place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, reportedly to discourage black students from attending the predominately white University of New Orleans, located less than a mile away. Millie Charles' ability in ultimately taking the handful of social work courses taught at the University of New Orleans, which were transferred to Southern University of New Orleans, and subsequently expanding on them and developing them into fully accredited BSW and MSW programs is considered somewhat of a miracle in New Orleans. The high caliber Programs have attracted a well-credentialed, culturally diverse faculty; the student population is now well integrated also. Dean Charles' interests in social work education go far beyond just working in the state of Louisiana. She has served as the Co-Chair, Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Meeting; a Member of the CSWE Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum Standards; and a Site Visitor for the CSWE Accreditation Commission. In addition, since 1972, she has consulted with numerous Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Programs around the U.S., advising them on Curricula. Millie Charles has received numerous awards. Some of them are: National Social Worker of the Year (NASW), 1975; Humanitarian of the Year, Federal Women Employees Association, 1975; Founders Award, New Orleans Chapter, National Association of Black Social Workers, 1979; Doctor of Humane Letters, Dillard University, 1993; and she also was one of four women honored by the New Orleans YWCA for lifetime of service to the community. Millie Charles was hailed as a lifelong crusader for equality during a ceremony in which she was presented The Times- Picayune Loving Cup on Tuesday June 24, 2013. Throughout her life, Charles, a native of New Orleans' Central City, has said consistently that anything she might have accomplished was the result of a group effort. Madam Speaker, I honor the work of Mrs. Millie Ruth McClelland Charles.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Mrs. Millie Ruth McClelland Charles, a legendary social worker and native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Mrs. McClelland passed away at the age of 96. Mrs. Charles was born July 25, 1923 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Rev. Williams McClelland, a Baptist preacher, and Frankie Little, a school teacher. Mrs. Charles entered Dillard University when she was only 15 years old and graduated with a degree in secondary education. However, after a few years of teaching in north Louisiana and loving the children in her classes, she realized she could find more fulfillment in social work because she would be able to help children and their families find ways to solve problems. Therefore, she earned a master's degree in the subject at the University of Southern California in the mid-1950s. Mrs. Charles was married briefly, to Charles Carrol Charles, in 1950, while she was working in the City Welfare Department, Children and Family Services Division. He died while she was pregnant with her only child, who goes by the name H.M.K. Amen. In or about 1965, Dr. Emmett W. Bashful, asked an energetic, passionate 42 year old Mrs. Charles to start a social work program at Southern University in New Orleans (SUNO). In its beginnings, it was a department of Social Work. Under the leadership of Mrs. Charles, the department transformed into a fully-accredited school of social work offering baccalaureate and masters level degrees. Mrs. Charles's work has been recognized nationally. The National Association of Social Workers named her Social Worker of the Year. SUNO has a Millie McClelland Charles Endowed Chair of Social Work, and the Louisiana Legislature passed a special resolution to name SUNO's School of Social Work building after her. The building opened in 2016. Mrs. Charles served as Co-Chair of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Meeting; a Member of the CSWE Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum Standards; and a Site Visitor for the CSWE Accreditation Commission. In addition, since 1972, she has consulted with numerous Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Programs around the U.S., advising them on curricula. Mrs. Charles has received numerous awards: National Social Worker of the Year (NASW), 1975; Humanitarian of the Year, Federal Women Employees Association, 1975; Founders Award, New Orleans Chapter, National Association of Black Social Workers, 1979; Doctor of Humane Letters, Dillard University, 1993; and she also was one of four women honored by the New Orleans YWCA for lifetime of service to the community. Mrs. Charles was hailed as a lifelong crusader for equality during a ceremony in which she was presented The Times-Picayune Loving Cup on Tuesday, June 24, 2013. Mrs. Charles loved the city and the people of New Orleans. Her legacy will forever be a part of the city and her dedication to community embodies the spirit of New Orleans. We cannot match the sacrifices made by Mrs. Charles, but surely, we can try to match her sense of service. We cannot match her courage, but we can strive to match her devotion. Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and legacy of Mrs. Millie Ruth McClelland Charles.

Mr. RICHMOND

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, I rise today to offer a simple bipartisan amendment. This amendment would ensure the language in the bill conforms with current law. All of us who represent areas around the country that have experienced natural disasters know how difficult and complicated the recovery process can be. Last Congress, we came together to pass the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, a bipartisan bill that made key changes to improve how we respond after disasters and also make recovery an easier process. One of those changes was a provision outlining a better way to handle concerns over duplication of benefits after a disaster. It created a process that allows greater flexibility to respond to the unique situations that occur after every disaster. It is important to my constituents and anyone dealing with the effects of a natural disaster that this administration has clear instructions and that they can readily act on what Congress has instructed them to do. The language of this amendment eliminates the risk of any confusion over what process the administration should follow. Madam Chair, this is just another attempt by my colleague and me from Louisiana who have, unfortunately, had the benefit of surviving through a number of natural disasters and just trying to make it easier for our constituents to navigate the process and difficulty of FEMA and recovery. So what this amendment does is helps every area that will have a disaster deal with the question of duplication of benefits. Madam Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment. Madam Chair, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), who is the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Chair, I would just offer support for the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.