REMEMBERING REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, SR.

On 2026-04-14, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) delivered a floor speech titled "REMEMBERING REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, SR." in the House. The speech addressed healthcare and also covered taxes, trade policy.

REMEMBERING REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, SR.

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2879-H2881] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] REMEMBERING REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, SR. (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms. Waters of California was recognized for 30 minutes.) Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, the very Reverend Jesse Jackson Presidential candidate and civil rights leader was not only my close friend and confidant, he was my longtime political ally and mentor. Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., was my idol and spiritual and political leader. He was a brilliant, gifted, and courageous civil rights leader who inspired millions. He registered millions to vote and challenged and changed the Democratic Party. Just a little bit about his background. I want you to know that Reverend Jackson at 30 years old was one of the youngest followers of Dr. Martin Luther King. Reverend Jackson spent his life continuing to protect and save the gains that were made during the civil rights movement. Now, I became a dedicated and committed follower of Jesse Jackson. I worked with Reverend Jackson in both the 1984 and the 1988 Presidential campaigns. I was a top adviser on the national campaign and was appointed by Reverend Jackson to chair and lead the California campaign. {time} 2040 Mr. Speaker, I hear a lot said about Reverend Jackson. Most people knew him from television, radio, and his public speeches, but I was a close-up witness to Reverend Jackson's brilliant campaign strategies and developments. He used his voice and his organizing skills to create the beautiful Rainbow [[Page H2880]] PUSH Coalition, long before there was any understanding or appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion. For all intents and purposes, Reverend Jackson made sure that the campaign that he headed included Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Whites, women, LGBTQ, organized labor, and others. He brought together pastors, preachers, and multifaith leaders from all over the country. I recall his work and his outreach to small farmers in rural areas. Jesse Jackson went into areas in rural America where those who did not know him hated him and thought, for some reason, that he could be of no use to them. Once he got into those communities and started to work with the rural farmers, many of them were having their farms foreclosed on at that time, and Reverend Jackson learned a lot about how to talk with bankers about loan modifications so that those farmers could stay in business. Even today, there are farmers and their families who remember what Reverend Jackson did for them in these rural communities. It was an amazing kind of development and association that he made. He was responsible for cracking open the doors of America's corporate community and those in Silicon Valley. Reverend Jackson was also an international ambassador for peace. He used his tremendous influence to champion human rights. I worked with him in the Free South Africa movement, where he helped free Nelson Mandela and bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. We had a wonderful experience of attending the inauguration when Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa. Of course, Reverend Jackson helped to secure the release of U.S. hostages all around the world. The one that stands out to me is when he went to Syria and negotiated the release of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, Jr. Reverend Jackson was an extraordinary human being and a true human rights advocate. I can recall when we went to public housing projects. In Los Angeles, he was at Nickerson Gardens housing projects, where the gangbangers and others met him for the first time. When he went to Nickerson Gardens, they were not believers. They didn't know an awful lot, and so they challenged him to stay overnight in public housing at Nickerson Gardens, and he did. Right now, when you go to Nickerson Gardens, some of those older members who remembered him from when he came to Nickerson Gardens will point to the unit where Reverend Jackson slept in Nickerson Gardens housing project, but that is not enough. You saw Congressman Cleo Fields here tonight. I want you to know that when Katrina happened, Reverend Jackson organized me and some others. We went to New Orleans, where Cleo Fields rented a bus. We got on that bus, and we traveled all over New Orleans. Why did we do that? It was because there were people who had been left on rooftops with no way to get down, and some of them were helped down by Reverend Jackson, Cleo Fields, and myself. Many of them had been dropped along the wayside, hoping that somebody would come and pick them up. I can recall when we went to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where there were people who were sitting there who had been dropped off because they had been helped to get off of a roof, but no one could help them any further. We put them in that bus, and we rode through all of New Orleans, particularly in the areas around Alexandria and other cities in the Louisiana area. We took them to State houses. We took them to rescue places. We took them to wherever we could find a place for them to sleep. Reverend Jackson was a huge political individual at that time, recognized all over the world for his advocacy for the least of these, helping to get people to understand that everybody was special and that everybody was important. He taught that message through his brilliant way of connecting: ``I am somebody.'' He made little young boys and girls, who really didn't think they were somebody, think, now that they met Reverend Jesse Jackson, that they were somebody. I want you to know that his humanitarianism was the likes of which I have never seen before. He truly cared about people. The Reverend Jesse Jackson was a religious man, and he prayed before meetings. He prayed after meetings. Even though, at the time that I started working with him, I did not know a lot about the power of prayer, but I learned that being on the road with him and how he cared about everybody, how he cared about the young and the old and the veterans and the imprisoned, on and on and on. He was truly an unusual human being, married to an unusual woman. His wife was not only, in her own right, a civil rights activist and leader, but she supported him in every way that she possibly could. The two of them raised five brilliant children, one of which who served in this House. That was Jesse Jackson, Jr. Today, we have the brilliant, young Jonathan Jackson who is serving. They come with the spirit of their daddy. I lived with the spirit of Reverend Jesse Jackson. It is in me, and so you can call it whatever you want to call it. You can call it progressive. You can call it liberal. You can call it whatever you want. In the final analysis, it is Reverend Jesse Jackson who changed so many lives, who helped people to understand that they did not stand alone, that he was there for them, speaking for them. Whether he was talking to kings and queens, or he was talking to the man on the block, we could count on Reverend Jesse Jackson. In the final analysis, Reverend Jackson more than earned his place in history. Rightfully so, his work will never be forgotten and will be taught in communities all over the world in places low and high, in our schools and universities. I will live the rest of my life with the memories that I will cherish for the time, the effort, and the phenomenal work that I experienced with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Jr., Presidential candidate and civil rights leader. I am thankful for the opportunity to be here this evening, and I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly). Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the late Reverend Jesse Jackson. Reverend Jackson, as you know, is a global civil rights leader and a moral voice for our Nation. I am proud to have called the reverend a friend, a supporter, and most of all, my constituent. No matter where the fight for justice took him, Reverend Jackson always returned home to the south side of Chicago. From being a leader alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to a two-time Presidential candidate, Reverend Jackson was already a giant in civil rights. He never forgot to leave the door open for Black people and, frankly, any people following in his footsteps. In 2002, when I was challenging a tenure incumbent to become a State legislator, the first time I ever ran, Reverend Jackson supported me. He was a hero, a behemoth of a freedom fighter, and he decided to support a newbie, an underdog, someone who was counted out, like me. Time and time again, Reverend Jackson showed his support. He was large on the global stage, but he never forgot us Southsiders. He founded Rainbow PUSH, which continues to empower countless people across Illinois and in my district, the Second District. {time} 2050 Reverend Jackson was a renowned world leader, but he never forgot how to be a friend. Over 2 years ago, when my husband died, he, even though he was not in good health, came to my husband's funeral. He also came to the burial. It meant the world to me, and I will never ever forget his kindness. In turn, I so appreciate that his family allowed me to be at his bedside to visit him at the hospital 6 to 8 weeks before he died. Even though Reverend Jackson is gone, his legacy is not. I stand on his shoulders alongside my colleagues who continue his fight for equality, justice, and freedom. We do have to remember that we are somebody and to keep hope alive. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers at this moment, and I yield back the balance of my time. [[Page H2881]] ____________________