Barbara Lee: “First of all, I thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for that very warm and gracious introduction. But also let me…”

“First of all, I thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for that very warm and gracious introduction. But also let me just thank the gentlewoman for her steadiness, her persistence, and her perseverance and for bringing the truth about so many issues about Black people in the diaspora in our own country to the forefront and providing a moment and, yes, being in Galveston for the first time where my grandfather W.C. Parish was born. My great-grandmother was enslaved in Galveston, and I had never been to Galveston except for this weekend. So I thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for her hospitality. I also thank her--and I must mention this--that after my friend championed the legislation for a national holiday, all of the polls, all of the surveys, and all of the news reports indicate that twice as many people in our country know about the African-American culture, history, and what took place before 1865. So that is in large part due to the tireless effort of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She said over the weekend that Juneteenth provides for a moment of unity and for a moment of healing. As we move forward now, and the gentlewoman knows I have got to mention H.R. 40 because that is next in terms of understanding and developing the commission to study and develop reparations. But I think this weekend really put us on another path, a more aggressive path now to get that done. So I thank the gentlewoman very much.…”