On the recordSeptember 22, 2011
I have asked some of my colleagues to join me today to pay tribute to a wonderful, wonderful stateswoman who represented Florida's 17th Congressional District for more than a decade--Congresswoman Carrie Pittman Meek. It is my present district. As a part of the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, her colleagues are honoring her today for her distinguished service to greater Miami, to Florida, and to this Nation. In Congress, she focused on issues near and dear to her heart and to those of her constituents, including economic development, education, affordable housing, and issues affecting Haiti and Haitian Americans. The Miami-Dade County community has shown its appreciation to her by naming an elementary school, a health clinic, a boulevard, a branch of a local college, and a community center in her honor. Congresswoman Meek once said, ``Service is the price you pay for the space which God has let you occupy.'' I cannot think of someone who embodies this principle more than she. Thank you, Carrie Pittman Meek, for standing up for all of us, and we are all standing on your shoulders. ____________________
