Tribute to the Late Congresswoman Julia Carson

Floor Speech

TRIBUTE TO THE LATE CONGRESSWOMAN JULIA CARSON -- (House of Representatives - December 18, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. I met Andy Jacobs in the Young Democrats, many, many years ago. I drove Andy Jacobs to a speaking engagement at the Young Democrats at a restaurant not too far from the Baltimore Washington International Airport. A few years later I was elected to Congress, and Andy Jacobs was a Member of the Congress of the United States, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, an extraordinary Member of this House. And there came a time shortly thereafter when Andy decided to retire. And there were a number of people who expressed an interest in running for this seat. Andy came to me and he said JULIA CARSON's going to win this race. You be for JULIA CARSON.

Our beloved colleague, JOE DONNELLY has just said, she never lost a race.

Now, I didn't know JULIA CARSON. And there were some pretty active people, men and women, in that race; and we had met a couple of them. They were pretty impressive. I had not met JULIA CARSON. But Andy Jacobs, her predecessor, a Congressman for some 25 years, at least, said to me, JULIA CARSON's going to win this race. And sure enough, JULIA CARSON won the race. And those of us who served in this body had the privilege of getting to know JULIA CARSON, getting to know her as a friend, getting to know her as a colleague, getting to know her as a leader in her community.

I went to Indianapolis. I see my friend, my very, very close and dear friend Baron Hill here. Baron and I have been in Indianapolis a number of times, and I did a number of fund-raisers in Indianapolis for and with JULIA. And then in the last campaign I went out to Indianapolis to be with JULIA and we were at a senior citizens center, and it was the essence of JULIA CARSON. JULIA CARSON, who was sort of one of the most, ``acerbic'' is not the right word, I've been searching for the right word, but JULIA could be very direct. And there was no fooling around. You knew where JULIA stood and you knew what she was thinking. She didn't have time for just jiving. She knew what she wanted to say, she knew what she wanted to do and she told you.

And I went to the senior center, and I spoke on her behalf. But so many people were speaking on her behalf. It was thought to be a tough campaign. She won better than she was expected to win. But you got the essence of JULIA CARSON as you went around and talked to those seniors who had been active in the community for many, many years, as JULIA had been, who worked herself up to be a Member of Congress, but she was not appointed by anybody.

The community loved JULIA CARSON. And when I say the community, the community writ large, not the African American community, the white community, this community or that. The community, writ large, loved JULIA CARSON because she was honest, she was direct, she cared and she worked hard for her people. JULIA CARSON was an asset to her district, to Indianapolis, to Indiana, to this institution, the House of Representatives, and to our country.

JULIA CARSON is now back home in Indiana. We'll miss her. But this body was better for her service. And I thank the gentlelady for giving me this brief time to pay honor to a great woman and a great American.

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