Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and let me thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey)…”

“Let me thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and let me thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) for their kindness. I wish to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished gentleman. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Price for the assistance and resources he has helped direct to my home State of Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and for his commitment to revitalizing the Nation's infrastructure in a way that preserves our Nation's cultural heritage. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the landmark National Historic Preservation Act, which, among other things, established the National Register of Historic Places. Independence Heights is just one of the dozens of communities throughout the United States that can trace its beginning to freed slaves. Since its beginning in 1915, it has survived economic hardship and natural disasters in the period of 1919 to 1921 called the burnings. Because of its historical significance, Independence Heights is included in legislation I have introduced, H.R. 434, that will create the Emancipation National Historic Trail, which begins at the location in Galveston, Texas, where General Gordon Granger announced President Lincoln's emancipation of slaves on June 19, 1865. Mr.…”