Barbara Lee: “Let me first take a moment to thank Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for her leadership and to thank the chair…”

“Let me first take a moment to thank Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for her leadership and to thank the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the entire Congressional Black Caucus for leading this tribute tonight to our colleague, our sister, and our friend. To Sheila's family, her community, her friends, my deepest condolences. You know how much we love Sheila, and we know how much they loved her and how much she is missed already. Now, let me say a couple of things. First of all, I met Sheila before I met Sheila. This was when I was in the legislature. I went to the graduation where my niece was attending college, Prairie View College right out of Houston, Texas. There was a great orator who spoke at that commencement. This was probably '95, '96. This orator spoke for probably about 2 to 3 hours in the hot sun. It was a great speech, and I will never forget that speech. It was over 2 hours, and everyone was listening intently in that hot sun. Finally, when I actually met Sheila, coming to Congress, I felt that I knew her because this speech was so profound. She was, first of all, an effective legislator. We know her well as being right down here on the floor. I think she had an amendment for every single bill that came to the floor, and they passed. She worked with Republicans. She worked with all of us. She was at the Rules Committee until midnight.…”