Madeleine Dean: “I stand before you proud-- proud of Pennsylvania; proud of my Democratic colleagues in the Pennsylvania House; proud of…”

“I stand before you proud-- proud of Pennsylvania; proud of my Democratic colleagues in the Pennsylvania House; proud of the thousands of volunteers who helped deliver a statehouse majority last November in Pennsylvania, a house majority that on this last day of Black History Month is celebrating history--or should I say her-story--Pennsylvania made today. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and celebrate Representative Joanna McClinton, my colleague, my friend, and, as of today, speaker of the Pennsylvania House, the first woman, the first African-American woman, to be called Madam Speaker. Speaker McClinton follows in the footsteps of men like Leroy Irvis, the first African-American speaker of the Pennsylvania House, and African-American trailblazers like Barbara Jordan and Karen Bass. What a crucial time in our State's history, our Nation's history, to have Speaker McClinton lead us, a time when we can fairly fund our education, rebuild roads, and combat gun violence and the opioid epidemic while protecting the planet for our children and children to come. Joanna, a mother, a minister, a former public defender, now our speaker, what a way to end Black History Month. Congratulations to the Pennsylvania House. Congratulations, and Godspeed, Speaker McClinton. ____________________”