Donald M. Payne: “I would like to thank the gentleman from Missouri and the gentleman from Texas for giving me this opportunity to speak…”

“I would like to thank the gentleman from Missouri and the gentleman from Texas for giving me this opportunity to speak on a true hero in our community. In New Jersey, Ms. Tolentino is someone that is looked to with great esteem. She led the way on many issues moving women and minorities forward and showing that they had a rightful place at the table of power, the ability to serve, and the distinction to lead. I rise today in support of H.R. 1376, to name the postal facility located at 369 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Jersey City, New Jersey, after the late Honorable Shirley A. Tolentino. Shirley Tolentino was born in Jersey City, served as a distinguished jurist in Hudson County for over 26 years, and was a trailblazer for women and African Americans as public servants in New Jersey. She was a product of the local public school system in Jersey City, where she was an honor student, graduating from Snyder High School. She then earned a scholarship to attend the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey, graduating with a degree in Latin with honors. To put herself through law school, Judge Tolentino worked as a high school Latin and English teacher while attending Seton Hall University School of Law, graduating as the only African American female in the class of 1971. After law school, she became a deputy attorney general in the State of New Jersey, where she remained until she rose to the bench in Jersey City in 1976.…”