Sheila Jackson Lee: “Yesterday evening, I joined Ambassador Etienne at the French Embassy to acknowledge the DC JazzFest. But I also was…”

“Yesterday evening, I joined Ambassador Etienne at the French Embassy to acknowledge the DC JazzFest. But I also was there, more importantly, to pay tribute to the Honorable John Conyers. Yesterday, I took a minute on the floor to indicate that I would be speaking about him over a period of days and weeks because his 53 years as a mentor and beloved colleague deserve that tribute. But yesterday, I was probably at a place John Conyers enjoyed the most. Many people may not know that he was a jazz enthusiast and maybe prepared to become a jazz musician in his early years as a young, young man. His father, a strong union organizer, a UAW worker, thought that might not be the best approach for his young son, I believe the oldest of their four children. John, being a dutiful son, went on to Wayne State and graduated from its law school as well. That was our gift to the American people. I want to take a moment to be able to highlight the very undercore, if you will, the underpinnings of the leadership of John Conyers, a progressive before the term could even be defined. I don't believe that he looked at himself in that way, but I think he looked at himself as one who would break through doors that others could not. Of course, he was one of the original cofounders of the Congressional Black Caucus.…”