House Proceeding 02-23-09 on Feb 23rd, 2009 :: 1:40:00 to 1:58:30
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1:39:42 to 1:40:03( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: without objection -- remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: in commemorating black history month this year, it is certainly fitting that the members of the congressional black caucus has chosen to honor unsung heroes since all of us know men and women in our communities who are laborering tirelessly to

1:40:00 to 1:58:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Donald M. Payne

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Donald M. Payne: improve the quality of life for others while seeking no recognition for themselves. let me begin by commending the young new member to the congressional black caucus, congresswoman fudge, for her outstanding work in a short period of time that she has

1:40:25 to 1:40:45( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: been in the caucus. as you know, she replaced the congresswoman from cleveland, congresswoman sphanie tubbs jones whose untimely death left a big hole in our heart and the

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Donald M. Payne: congressional black caucus. . but we a welcome her and she is starting with a sprint and her experience as a former mayor and active in civic and government affairs throughout her life have prepared her for this task and so the a pleasure

1:41:07 to 1:41:27( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: to share this hour with you. . it's our pleasure to share this hour with you. it's only fitting and proper that we recognize unsung heroes because there are so many in our community, whether it was the

1:41:28 to 1:41:48( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: underground railroad, people at the battle of bunker hill, who led the boston massacre. we could go on through history. so many african americans were were unsung heroes, many whose names do not appear in our

1:41:49 to 1:42:09( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: history books and we have our living legends in our community and it's so important to have the opportunity to mention a few of them in our district, my district, the 10th congressional district of new jersey, encompassing parts of 22 towns and three counties. i will focus on several who live

1:42:10 to 1:42:30( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: in the city of newark and irvington. those who have devoted their time and energy to lifting others up and truly performing labors of love and communities in our nation. our community activists who have had a significant positive impact on my home city of newark

1:42:31 to 1:42:52( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: and surrounding communities for a period spang over 30 years is a dedicated human rights active ist, larry hamm who i have known since a high school student. he has been described as a forceful and articulate spokesperson for educational

1:42:53 to 1:43:15( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: needs and aspirations for the students in the city of newark. and he was appointed to the newark school board when he was only a high school student himself and transformed the local board of education to listening to the needs and the ideas of young people, those who were supposed to be served by the board of education and felt

1:43:16 to 1:43:37( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: they were not being served, add an active voice on the school board. he graduated from our high school in newark. even achieved an outstanding record as a long distance runner, once again showing the endurance that he learned as a young person. he then went to princeton university.

1:43:38 to 1:44:00( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: and at princeton, he did not sit on his laurels. he actually organized a student protest against the oppressive system of apart eyed in south africa arguing that it had a moral obligation to divest its interests in that nation. as you may recall, there was the

1:44:01 to 1:44:21( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: question of divestiture in south africa's p.w. botha apartheid -led government and there was a move to have institutions of higher learning, other kinds of foundations divest their funds

1:44:22 to 1:44:42( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: in companies that did business in south africa. and by having that economic strangelehold on the finances going into south africa, that was one of the weapons that helped bring down that evil system of apartheid that

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Donald M. Payne: strangled people of color in south africa. and larry convinced the board of trustees at princeton university to divest from south africa. after earning his degree, mr. hamm returned to newark and became active in local politics.

1:45:04 to 1:45:24( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: as district leader, he was the founder and director of the peoples energy cooperative, a community fuel oil cooperative. as you know, cooperatetives tend to help people make affordable the cost of energy and he did an outstanding job in that position.

1:45:25 to 1:45:46( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: and then he served as director of the community organization program of the united church of christ, commission for racial justice, along with renched been chavers, he organized the registration drive in alabama. and he is known locally for his

1:45:47 to 1:46:07( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: work in the peoples organization for progress. an independent political grassroots organization that is active in newark and the northern part of new jersey. under mr. hamm' leadership it promotes access in quality education and affordable health

1:46:08 to 1:46:28( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: care. he currently is supporting h.r. 676, universal health care legislation to protesting racial profiling in pluse brutality, where he has been active in cases in the local communities. he says people united can never

1:46:29 to 1:46:51( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: be defeated and says if there is no justice, there can be no peace, and he continually raises the question of police brutality and excessive use of police authority. he is a wonderful committed young man. he has always be in the

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Donald M. Payne: forefront in the struggle for justice and equality. most recently, he arranged for five buses to bring 300 new jersey residents to washington, d.c. so they could experience the historic inauguration of president obama. as a matter of fact, he had to

1:47:13 to 1:47:34( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: come down early, because he wanted to be sure that all 300 people had metro cards, thinking ahead, rather than have them wait in line that day, he took another day off to come down and purchased them and brought them back so when his group got here they were able to proceed in an

1:47:35 to 1:47:55( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: orderly fashion. we are all certainly proud of larry hamm and wish him well in his pursuit of equality for all. all of us know individuals who are literally doing the lord's work. and that is the pastors and

1:47:56 to 1:48:20( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: church volunteers who reach out to meet e material and spiritual needs of those they serve. there are many, many great pastors in our communities as we know, but there's one young one that i would like to mention. his name is reverend ron christian in irvington, new

1:48:21 to 1:48:42( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: jersey in the 10th congressional district of snuge. he inspires those who find their way to his church with his message of compassion, for giveness. he coaxes former gang members to give up their past and fulfill

1:48:43 to 1:49:04( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: their god-given potential. reverend christian welcomes all with open arms and he has said that his philosophy is come as your let god worry about the rest. as a matter of fact, our court system depends on reverend ron because they allow him to run a community service program for

1:49:05 to 1:49:27( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: young men and teenagers who have -- had problems with the law, but they send them to reverend ron's church to do community service. and he has taken so many young men and have turned them around. each sunday, many young men come and women to give their life to god who said they are turning

1:49:28 to 1:49:49( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: their life around because of how reverend ron has inspired them. he is just a wonderful young man. and not only does he do work here in the local community, but he has gone overseas to africa, to liberia, where he has had projects to help over there. he is just an exciting young man.

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Donald M. Payne: and he said he is finally pleased that he is performing more weddings th young people. of course, as we know in our communities, there is an unbelievable carnage of young people with gun violence. but he is turning so many of

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Donald M. Payne: those young lives around. as we talk about these two young men, let me talk about a remarkable woman in my community, miss eddie may livingston. you would think she was as young as the two gentlemen, but was

1:50:33 to 1:50:53( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: born in 1919. ms. livingston -- you said it was all right for me to mention your age once before, so i remembered that. and you are a remarkable 90-year-old and the work that you continue to do is amazing. it's hard to believe that ms.

1:50:54 to 1:51:14( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: livingston will be 90 this summer. actually i pushed it up a couple of months, because she remains interested and active every day. early in her professional career, she worked for the federal government providing family allowances to soldiers' families. she was prevented from

1:51:15 to 1:51:36( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: transferring because of discriminatory laws. after the naacp intervened, she was allowed to move to newark where she worked for its office of dependents' benefits. she work included working as a counselor for unwed mothers. she retired from the city of newark in 1992.

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Donald M. Payne: she holds two life memberships and two golden heritage memberships with the naacp. . livingston has been honored for her work at her church where she actually sends donations to students from her church to simply help them with their

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Donald M. Payne: books and things of that nature.

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Donald M. Payne: she just has such a big heart. madam speaker, i ask my colleagues here in the united states house of representatives to join me in honoring these devoted volunteers who are the glue helping to hold our communities together and the light helping our neighborhoods to shine. we appreciate their service and in that spirit, we pause this

1:58:25 to 1:58:32( Edit History Discussion )

Donald M. Payne: evening to say thanks to all you do. it's been a pleasure to have an opportunity to just shine the