Recognizing the Legacy of the Honorable Yvonne B. Miller

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Black History Month, I rise today to recognize the legacy of the Honorable Yvonne B. Miller, who became the first Black woman to serve in the Virginia General Assembly when she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates 40 years ago. Four years later, she became the first Black woman to serve in the Senate of Virginia. As a young member of the Virginia House of Delegates, I had the opportunity to work with Senator Miller when I was in the house until her untimely death of stomach cancer in 2012.

I was proud to build on her legacy in the senate, and one of the habits that I took from Senator Miller was whenever she would have visitors come to her office, whether they were interns, students, university presidents, she would have them sit at her desk for a picture and she would say: This seat belongs to you as much as it belongs to me.

She treated everyone the same whether you were a Governor, an intern, or anyone in between. You would often hear her shout in her loud, booming voice: You look gorgeous. She was a lifelong educator. She was a champion for those underprivileged and underserved communities, including her own in Norfolk, that she proudly represented.

As the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia, I stand on Yvonne Miller's shoulders. I join my former colleagues in the Virginia General Assembly who recognized her with a commemorating resolution last week and are working on a tribute to her in our State capitol, where as a child she often did not feel welcome, but she broke barriers to ensure that Black women everywhere knew they belonged in that capitol. I honor her today and miss her very much, but I still hear her voice saying: You look gorgeous.

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