On the recordFebruary 14, 2017
I came to the floor this evening primarily to talk about issues and opportunities at the VA and the successful confirmation of our new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin, but I would be remiss in not thanking my colleague from Texas (Mr. Green) for his powerful words about the NAACP and the profoundly positive impact that they have had on this country and on our ability to make the most of the potential that we have in every single community in the United States. Mr. Green is well aware of the inordinate pride that I have in the community I represent of El Paso, Texas, and how the first chapter of the NAACP was started in El Paso, Texas, through the good work of Dr. Lawrence Nixon, who also has the distinction of having been the man who effectively desegregated voting in the State of Texas, ending the all- White primary which had prevailed following Reconstruction in our State, much to our lasting shame. But to our immense pride, he was the man and our community was the place where that successful fight began. As Mr. Green also knows, because I had the pleasure and honor of joining him in a Special Order not too long ago, El Paso also was the home of Thelma White, who, along with some other young, courageous El Pasoans, had gone to the all-African-American high school, Douglass High School, in El Paso.…
