Political Quotes

“I take this time to join, I know, all the Members of this House to acknowledge that in the next few days this House will be losing one of its most distinguished Members, a person who has contributed much to this Nation, who will be resigning to take on the presidency of the NAACP. I refer to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Maryland, Kweisi Mfume. When Congressman Mfume resigns from Congress, I will be losing one of my closest friends in this House, and one of my closest colleagues. Both of us were elected to Congress at the same time in the 100th Congress. Both of us were elected from Baltimore to represent that community in the Congress of the United States. He is my seatmate, he is my colleague, he is my advisor and friend, and I will miss him dearly here in the House. We share the same vision for our communities, and we have worked together in order to effectively represent those communities here in the Congress of the United States. What a record has Congressman Mfume achieved during his now 9 years in the Congress of the United States. He has been an articulate spokesperson for the Nation's cities. As a result of his work, we now have empowerment zone legislation that is working to renew America's cities. Because of Congressman Mfume's role, Baltimore is designated as one of those empowerment zones, and we are already seeing the fruits of that labor in Baltimore, thanks to Congressman Mfume's leadership here in the Congress of the United States.”