Sheila Jackson Lee: “I am glad the gentleman from Waco emphasized Waco, Texas, and I thank Congresswoman Crockett for bringing us together.…”

“I am glad the gentleman from Waco emphasized Waco, Texas, and I thank Congresswoman Crockett for bringing us together. Our friend, our colleague, was mighty proud of being born in Waco, Texas. For that reason, I want to take note of her loving parents, Edward Johnson, a tailor, and Lillie Mae White Johnson, a stay-at-home mother. They, of course, instilled in our friend, our sister, the love of this country and that you could do anything you wanted to do. She was surrounded by their love and the love of her siblings. She had in her the gifts of faith and charity and the importance of education. As a child, she knew she wanted to be a doctor, but how many have heard the word ``no'' from those who were part of her educational journey? Some said it was because she was a woman. Others knew it was because of her race. Eddie Bernice Johnson was not to be denied. She left the State of Texas ultimately and went to St. Mary's College in Notre Dame. We have heard some stories about how even the veterans hospital thought they were hiring a man when she finally came back and became chief of psychiatric medicine as it relates to the Veterans Administration. As I speak about her today, I simply want to say that she elevated the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.…”