G. K. Butterfield: “Thank you, Ms. Kelly. Let me begin this evening by first thanking Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., from the Tenth District…”

“Thank you, Ms. Kelly. Let me begin this evening by first thanking Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., from the Tenth District of New Jersey for his friendship and for his tireless work on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus and on behalf of the people that he represents back home in the great State of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Payne, for your work, and thank you for the kind words that you had to say about me this evening. And to my other colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly from the Second District of Illinois, not only do you manage the floor on Monday nights, Ms. Kelly, on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, but you also are the chair of our CBC Health Braintrust that does so much for so many. You also have carved out a niche. You have begun to focus the attention of the Nation on the issue of gun violence in our country. So I want to begin this presentation this evening by thanking both of you for your work. {time} 1945 Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues here this evening, especially the newer ones to this body, may not fully understand what the CBC is. The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization. It is a caucus of African American Members of Congress. We were founded in 1971. But, Mr. Speaker, that does not mean that 1971 was the first year that this body had African American Members of Congress. Actually, the first African American was elected to Congress in 1870.…”