On the recordJune 4, 2019
It is with a heavy heart that I rise today to pay tribute to the life and legacy of one Mrs. Leah Chase, a world- famous chef and businesswoman in New Orleans who is known around the world as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. She passed away this past Saturday at the age of 96. Mrs. Chase was someone who was admired by all she came in contact with. Her restaurant was the nerve center of the New Orleans civil rights movement. Civil rights leaders and activists used Dooky Chase Restaurant to meet, strategize, and organize. She fed leaders from the Freedom Riders to Dr. Martin Luther King to celebrities like Nat King Cole, and including Presidents of the United States, both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mrs. Chase was a personal friend, mentor, and inspiration to me. Her ability to connect with leaders and patrons of all backgrounds, coupled with her passion of people and culinary arts, makes her legacy forever imprinted in American and New Orleans history and culture. Mr. Speaker, my condolences go out to the family of Mrs. Chase, and in recognition of her and her late husband, Mr. Dooky Chase, for all that they did to make this a more perfect union. ____________________
