Chaka Fattah: “Let me ask that we place into the Record a number of letters from local elected officials back home in Philadelphia…”

“Let me ask that we place into the Record a number of letters from local elected officials back home in Philadelphia: Councilwoman Marian Tasco, State Senator Vincent Hughes, State Senator Anthony Williams, City Councilwomen Blondell Reynolds Brown and Cindy Bass, and State Representative Dwight Evans. Marian B. Tasco, City of Philadelphia, City Council. To the Members of the 113th Congress: Respectfully, I join with friends, family and my constituents to submit this letter for The Congressional Record memorializing a world- class citizen, with a keen sense of purpose, a man of God, a champion at the forefront of ending apartheid in South Africa, and a man who humbly served the least of these. Over the past 40 years, I have called The Honorable William H. Gray III many things: pastor, my candidate, a mentor, my congressman, and of greatest importance to me, my friend. Undoubtedly, Bill Gray lived a beautiful life. Having succeeded his father as pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1972, I came to know Bill Gray very well. He knew best how to engage the people he was charged to lead. And, he knew how to help individuals identify their best qualities and develop and expand upon them. I credit Bill Gray for helping me to recognize my own ability to organize. Compelled to be his campaign manager when he ran for congress, and later his director of constituent services, he was a mentor to me and others locally and nationally who sought public office.…”