Tribute to the Late Congresswoman Julia Carson
December 18, 2007
Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]: Madam Speaker, I'd like to thank the congresswoman from Ohio for initiating this memorial moment in the Congress of the United States for Julia Carson. This is a very special and important time because we're here this evening to talk about a woman that we truly loved and a woman who gave so much in public service to her country. I know that her family's saddened by her loss because it is a great loss.
She has been referred to this evening as a jewel, as the queen, and I came to understand this quite some time ago.
I've known Julia for many years, long before I came to Congress and long before she came to Congress. I served in the State legislature of California, and she was a State legislator also, and like Diane Watson and others, we all worked with the Conference of State Legislators and the Conference of Black State Legislators. And so she knew legislators from all over the country.
And after I came here, I kept in contact with Julia, and when she ran for office, she called me and she told me that she wanted me to help her. I thought she wanted me to raise some money or maybe come someplace to do something. And after talking with her for a few minutes, she made it very clear she wanted me to get Muhammad Ali to come to help her out. She didn't want me. She wanted Muhammad Ali, and so she said, Well, you know him, don't you? And I said, Yes, I do. She said, Well, if I could get Muhammad Ali here, then that would seal the deal. That's exactly what I need.
And of course, I asked him and he went to campaign with her, and he often asked after that how she was doing. And his award-winning photographer, Mr. Howard Binghan, would oftentimes ask me how she was doing, what she was doing so he could report to Muhammad Ali how his candidate that he had helped to win that election was doing in the Congress of the United States of America.
Well, let me just say, she was doing wonderfully well legislatively. Some people have referred to not only the fact that she was responsible for the recognition that Rosa Parks got getting the gold medal, but she was working on some tremendous legislation. And as I stand here before you this evening as the Chair of that Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, her legislation is really before us. It is known as HEARTH. It means the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act. And, you know, we've got to pass that legislation, and we've got to pass it, that is, H.R. 840, in the way that she wants it passed.
She was expanding the definition of homelessness. She was expanding it so that more people, many of whom who were not considered homeless, we should be qualifying for homeless assistance, that did not get it, could now be drawn in with this legislation.
So, it is important for all of us to give support to the work that she was involved in because, again, this very special woman really did not suffer fools. I mean, I know that you've heard the story about the time she stepped on the elevator and another Member of Congress, who had not been here maybe quite as long as Julia, said to Julia when she stepped on the elevator, This elevator is for Members of Congress. And of course, she got the look that only Julia can give, and told somebody, Close the door, because that's how she handled someone who did not have the sense to be gracious enough to whomever was getting on the elevator, but certainly she should have known who her colleagues were getting on the elevator.
But there are many stories you will hear about Julia Carson, because not only was she brilliant, she had this sense of humor and she had this wit that was just undeniable. And of all of the people who spoke at Rosa Parks' funeral, and I was at the funeral in Washington, D.C., when Julia spoke, she was the most engaging, the most memorable, the one that really caught the attention of everyone at that service.
Julia Carson was truly a queen, and the descriptions that you've heard about her this evening and how she was loved, you have to go to Indianapolis to understand it. You have to hear people talk about her to really get a sense of the queen, and they referred to her as 'the queen.'
And so I'm very proud to be a part of this discussion, remembering her this evening, and she will rest in peace, having done her part, having given all that any human being could give.
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Contact: Mikael Moore
202-225-2201
