Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, we are nearing the end of Black History Month. We had a special program yesterday recognizing foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. It reminded me of a man who is a foot soldier up here in Washington, Wade Henderson. Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund. He announced he is going to be retiring after 20 years as the head of that organization at the end of this year. Wade Henderson has worked with Republicans and Democrats both to bring about change in our country. He was largely responsible for work on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act when it passed and had been working on trying to get it renewed in this Congress. He worked in a major way on the Fair Sentencing Act that took away the disparity in crack and cocaine sentences that was wrongful. Before he came to his position at the Leadership Conference, he was active in the NAACP here in Washington, where he was the bureau director, and he worked on other issues with the ACLU and other groups on civil and human rights. When Wade Henderson came to the Capitol, he was a voice of conscience. He and Hilary Shelton, together with the NAACP, are two of the most conscientious men I know. They have served this country well. I will miss him in his retirement. I appreciate the remaining time he has. He is a foot soldier. I thank him for his service. ____________________”