Welcoming the Honorable Laura Richardson to the House of Representatives

WELCOMING THE HONORABLE LAURA RICHARDSON TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES -- (House of Representatives - September 04, 2007)

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Ms. RICHARDSON. Speaker Pelosi, Leaders Hoyer, Clyburn, Emanuel, Becerra, Caucus Chairs Lofgren, Kilpatrick, Baca and Honda, the California delegation, thank you all for meeting with me, kind of putting me

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under your wing, and really sharing your pearls of wisdom.

To Congresswoman Waters, for the last 120 days you have been tirelessly, unrelentingly instructive and even graciously transparent in your efforts to help me to get here. Thank you.

To my supporters and friends and family in the gallery, my consultant, manager, labor brothers and sisters, volunteers, friends and staff, I will individually thank you in the reception that will follow, but I would be remiss to not publicly acknowledge the dedicated work that you did to get me here. Thank you very much.

To my new colleagues, yes, on both sides of the aisle, it is my desire to establish a reputation to be a Member's Member. What that means to me is to be a hard worker, to be responsive, to be straightforward and honest, even if we disagree; and I hear that happens a few times here. You know, or you will learn to know, that I will keep my word.

To the constituents of the California 37th Congressional District, my job will be to focus as much on the war in America, the war of crime, poverty, inadequate health care, failing education, crumbling infrastructure, and sparse development as much as I will focus on the war in Iraq.

My job will be to prove that the poor aren't just poor because they want to be or because they don't want to work, that with job training and livable wages, not all urban youth choose gang life, and that blighted areas are not a result of ``white flight.'' Rather, they're a result of lack of investments and revitalization.

I also believe I have a responsibility to unveil the shameful sin of injustice, inequality and inequities that still do exist, and I've seen them and lived them, in this wonderful country today.

To the McDonald family, I will always be grateful to Congresswoman McDonald, who first hired me and trained me over 10 years ago. As a staffer, I almost got fired my first week because I left her in a church. And I fondly recall her saying to me, ``I guess I can't throw the baby out with the bath water.'' I respectfully stand today on her legacy as I reach towards my own destiny.

Finally, to the God that I serve and to my family who support me and love me dearly, my mother, my sister, my uncle, my nephew, haven't we come a mighty long way? My maternal grandparents, who emigrated here freely from Ireland and from Germany, and yet my fraternal grandparents, completely the opposite, who came here forcibly in chains and centuries of bondage. Who would have thought that the cost had a price that would require my payment?

A seed of hope, yet equally a seed of despair, a seed of opportunity, yet equally a seed of why I can't, a seed of love that was met with seeds of hate. Who would have thought, I guess those who built and have served in this sacred Chamber, many of you, that after all, that's what this place is for. For a girl like me at the age of six, who chose, after watching and living the civil rights movement, that really those of us who lived through the pains of struggle would one day have an opportunity to make sure that everyone really was free. I welcome this responsibility. Thank you.

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