On the recordApril 21, 2021
I will bring this Special Order to a close, and I want to remind our colleagues of this very special Special Order led by Chairwoman Joyce Beatty. Then, we heard from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sanford Bishop, Bennie Thompson, Eddie Bernice Johnson, our Majority Leader Hoyer, Barbara Lee, and Gwen Moore. We heard from Lucy McBath and Val Demings, and we heard from others in their voices throughout the day and in their statements. {time} 1945 So let me try to summarize this life. This giant of a man was a Federal judge and a tireless fighter for justice and equality. He was the dean of the Florida delegation. He led an international organization never before led by an American, never before led by an African American. But let me tell you what I believe really meant something to Alcee's life. First, his beautiful wife, Patricia, and all of his family members who we pay tribute to for sharing him with us. But he was a Florida A&M man. He was a Fisk man. All over the country, I would hear Fiskites saying: ``Alcee Hastings went to Fisk.'' And Alcee Hastings would let you know he went Fisk University. He honored that university, and they honored him. As a member of the National Bar Association myself, that is where I got to know Alcee Hastings. Oh, as a little, small pip of a lawyer myself, I looked up to Alcee Hastings and the words that he would say. In his own organization, he would be a guest speaker, a civil rights lawyer, as well as a civil rights fighter.…
