Sheila Jackson Lee: “It is not often that you come to the floor of the House with joy and with sadness. And it is with both that I stand to…”

“It is not often that you come to the floor of the House with joy and with sadness. And it is with both that I stand to honor a fallen friend, Lenora "Doll" Carter, a champion of a woman, and of course someone who led in our community. Doll Carter was the publisher of the Forward Times newspaper in Houston, Texas. She and her husband Julius founded that newspaper in 1960, reporting on all of the civil rights matters, the assassination of Dr. King, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and 1965 Voting Rights Act. And then his untimely death in 1971 caused this young woman and young mother, the mother of Karen and Constance, to take up the helm of this great paper. This paper became the third most read newspaper in the southwest after two of our major papers in Houston, and this lady became the doll of all of us. Her name clearly was a name that we favored. Lenora "Doll" Carter was born in Arizona. But as her good friend John Smith said, Doll was not only a friend toward the advancement of African American achievement, overall she personified distinctive grace, character, and style as a champion for the common good. She was also my friend. She passed away this past Saturday. We honor her, we salute her. She is a great hero of America. Doll, we will miss you. May you rest in peace.”