The publication is reproduced in full below:
CARRIE MEEK: THE SUNSHINE STATE'S PUBLIC SERVANT
______
HON. KWEISI MFUME
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a champion for all people, a fighter for fair housing, an unrelenting advocate, and an American trailblazer. This woman was a friend and was our colleague as a former member of this body. The champion I rise to salute today is the Honorable Carrie Mae Pittman Meek--the Sunshine State's Public Servant.
Congresswoman Meek was born the grandchild of a slave and daughter of a sharecropper. As the youngest of 12 children growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, she excelled in academics and used education to overcome systemic obstacles that were the routine reality of those times, including sexism, racism and discrimination.
After earning her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University, Congresswoman Meek enrolled at the University of Michigan to earn her master's degree because Florida banned Black students from attending state graduate schools at that time, according to her Congressional biography. The state government would pay her out-of-state tuition ``if we agreed to get out of Dodge,'' she once recalled.
The then-single mother of two started her professional career as a college professor and coach at Bethune Cookman University, then taught at her alma mater Florida A&M University, before taking her talents to Miami-Dade Community College as its first Black professor, associate dean and assistant to the vice president.
With a firm foundation as a college professor, our former colleague beat out 12 other candidates when she ran for the Florida state House in 1978. Just five years later, she became the first Black woman elected to the Florida state Senate. Carrie would go on to leverage her state service into a successful U.S. House campaign in 1992. Alongside former Representatives Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings, Carrie joined Congress as one of the first Black members elected from Florida since the Reconstruction Era.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Meek knew the importance of investing federal dollars to provide opportunities for all people and in all communities across this great nation. Her work ethic, thorough knowledge of the legislation before her, and mastery of the legislative process are as much a part of her legacy as her support for public education, affordable housing, and programs to prevent poverty.
As a fighter for women's rights, Congresswoman Meek worked to protect victims of stalking at the state level and focused Congress on important legislation like the Violence Against Women Act. Indeed, her effectiveness as a public servant was only rivaled by her warmth and grace. Warmth, grace, compassion, tenacity, and savvy are some aspects of the Sunshine State's Public Servant that we will always remember.
Congresswoman Meek recently passed away after living a full life of over 95 years. Her funeral services and homegoing celebration are taking place today as I stand before you in this Chamber.
Carrie is survived by her three children Lucia Davis-Raiford, Sheila Davis Kinui, and retired Congressman Kendrick B. Meek of Florida, as well as seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Her entire family will remain in our prayers. May they be comforted to know the courageous spirit of the Honorable Carrie Mae Pittman Meek lives on.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(1), Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(2)
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