Political Quotes

“Madam President, Kenny Evans recently passed after being with me for some 30 years. I had known Mr. Evans in Philadelphia for a long time, but when I ran for the Senate in 1980, I asked him to be my campaign deputy in the African-American community. When I was elected, I brought him in as my key operative in the African-American community because of the urgency of having active minority representation. He came to be known and loved and admired as a leading public official in the city. He served longer than most anybody else who had been in public office. He took on a great role in housing and in job training and in education, on civil rights issues and on immigration. When we had a proposal advanced by Congressman Chaka Fattah called GEAR UP almost a decade ago, with a $300 million price tag, I consulted with Kenny Evans, listened to his advice and recommendations and helped provide $300 million a year, which has now come to be in the $2.5 billion range, not only servicing Philadelphia but the entire country. When we had a controversy last summer about African-American children being excluded from a swim club which said they were not welcome there, Kenny Evans took the lead in consultation and advice on how to handle it with the Civil Rights Division, and action has been taken to correct a wrong there. He was an unusual public servant and an extraordinary man.…”