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Extensions of Remarks E1914 HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR. HON. ROB

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Extensions of Remarks E1914 HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR. HON. ROB E1914 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks October 2, 1997 character and entrepreneurial spirit as they Conference Report. But I also want to restate looked like the opening of a department celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mario's my concern over the way in which we were store sale, as tourists from around the world, Tacos. I ask my colleagues to join me in salut- not given the opportunity to vote up or down in sneakers, shorts and T-shirts, along with other diners in waiting, some in their Sun- ing this fine establishment and extending on the cost-of-living adjustment for Members day best, anticipated the moment when they Mario and Celia Jimenez our fondest wishes of Congress during the fiscal year 1998 appro- could surge inside. for their continued success. priations process. If I had been given the When the door opened at 12:30 P.M., about f chance, I would have voted against it. 100 customers pressed forward, eager for fried I am a strong supporter of a number of im- chicken, salmon croquettes, collard greens, IN LOVING MEMORY OF BESSIE portant provisions in the conference report that candied yams, black-eyed peas and the live GILMORE has returned from the House/Senate Con- music of Sylvia's Sunday gospel brunch. For those for whom soul food has literal ference Committee, and that is why I feel meaning, the weekly four-hour feast, in HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR. compelled to support it. These provisions in- which hundreds gather, was a reaffirming OF NEW JERSEY clude funding levels that are consistent with evocation of down home. For other toe-tap- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the bipartisan IRS restructuring and reform ping diners, it was a plateful of black cul- legislation I am sponsoring, including $377 ture, a taste of church suppers, backyard Thursday, October 2, 1997 million of critical funding to address the Year cookouts and old-fashioned, black hospi- Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 2000 problem in IRS computer systems. It tality. call to your attention the loving memory of also includes $326 million in needed informa- The only thing missing was the queen of soul food herself, the owner, Sylvia Woods. Bessie Gilmore, from Paterson, NJ. tion technology investments for the IRS. Mrs. Woods doesn't work on Sundays any- Bessie was born on September 12, 1920 in Furthermore, this conference report includes more. After 35 years of 15- and 16-hour days Camden, SC. She was the daughter of the $1.6 billion for activities related to drug abuse. to establish her restaurant, on Lenox Avenue late Charles June, Sr. and Margaret Bracey It includes critical funding for the Drug Free near 127th Street, as a temple of black June Jackson. Communities Act, which I authored this year to Southern dining up north, Mrs. Woods, 71, Bessie moved to Paterson, NJ at a very encourage effective community-based drug and her husband, 72 Herbert, are taking it a young age and was baptized at St. Augustine prevention programs. little easier. And, given the recent reports about ques- They may need the energy: from modest Presbyterian Church in Paterson. A graduate beginnings in rural South Carolina, they are of Paterson Public School No. 6, she attend tionable usage of the White House for political on the cusp of national success. Eastside High School and graduated from fundraising, it has important provisions to in- Mrs. Woods's mother mortgaged the family Brown Home Mather Academy in Camden, crease accountability for the financing of politi- farm so that her daughter, than a waitress, SC. cal events at the White House to ensure that and son-in-law, then a cabdriver, could open As a community leader, Bessie spoke for taxpayers are not subsidizing fundraisers. the restaurant in 1962. But now, investors led After weighing the overall effect of this legis- by the J.P. Morgan Community Development the disenfranchised citizens of Paterson. She Corporation are helping to take the Woodses' spearheaded numerous civic action commit- lation, I felt it would be improper to oppose the entire legislation package over the issue of the vision of a cozy place to break cornbread and tees, served as chief organizer for the Federa- transplant it across the country. tion of Neighborhood Councils, which is a divi- COLA. That issue has already been debated Mrs. Woods, a round-faced women with sion of the Paterson Task Force for Commu- before this bodyÐwhere I expressed my op- outsize eyeglasses and a generous smile, nity Action, and coorganized the Welfare position. finds that prospect pleasing. Rights Organization. f ``We've come such a long ways, but in a sense it feels like it was just yesterday,'' Bessie served as a commissioner on the HARLEM'S HISTORIC SYLVIA'S Mrs. Woods said, with her husband at her Paterson Board of Adjustment and a member RESTAURANT IS GOING ON THE side. ``I put my life in this restaurant.'' of the Board of Directors of the Bergen/Pas- ROAD Her regulars enjoy the couple's success. saic County Health Systems Agency, the ``I have watched their development,'' said WPAT Coalition Committee, and Title One HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL Percy Sutton, a leading Harlem businessman Committee. A Fourth Ward Democratic co- and former Manhattan Borough President. `I OF NEW YORK know of no two more deserving and gracious leader and County Committeewoman, she was IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES people than the two of them. I am deliriously a member of the NAACP and the Citizens happy for them.'' Committee for the Passaic County Vocational Wednesday, October 1, 1997 The expansion began in February, when High School. Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, not long ago, I the first Sylvia's branch opened in downtown Bessie's many honors included the War was honored to present to Herbert and Sylvia Atlanta. Others are planned for Brooklyn, Against Poverty Award, presented to her by Woods an award as New York State's Parents St. Louis and Baltimore. the Paterson Task Force for Community Ac- of the Year. The owners of Harlem's world-re- Another arm of this food empire is being masterminded by their eldest son, Van tion, the Major's Award for Civic Contributions, nowned Sylvia's Restaurant had earned the DeWard Woods, 52: a Sylvia's line of bottled and the Paterson Chapter of the Black Wom- accolade as a married couple who had raised spices, sauces, dressings and canned seasoned en's Health Project Award. four children and had been blessed by many beans, greens and peasÐwith Mrs. Woods's Bessie is survived by her husband Louis grandchildren. smiling face on the front. The products are Gilmore, her daughter Deborah Jamison Jeter, I said then that the Woods' had dem- appearing on the shelves of specialty shops and two brothers, Charles June, Jr., and onstrated what life is truly about: nurturing, and supermarkets chains in New York and James Jackson, Jr. educating, and inculcating in their children the nationally, including D'Agostino, Pathmark values that had allowed them to carry on suc- and A.&P./Food Emporium. Mr Speaker, I ask that you join me, our col- The Woodses are at the leading edge of a leagues, Bessie's family and friends, and the cessfully in their own lives. But in addition, the new interest in soul food. This fall, 20th Cen- city of Paterson in paying tribute to the loving Woods', who came from the humblest of back- tury Fox is set to release the feature film memory of Bessie Gilmore. grounds in South Carolina, have made a huge ``Soul Food,'' a sentimental homage. The f mark in the world of business, building a small cuisine, born on slave plantations and rely- family-owned restaurant in Harlem into a na- ing heavily on cast-off cuts of meat, fried CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2378, tional operation in the culinary industryÐres- foods, gravies and spices, is being reimag- TREASURY, POSTAL SERVICE, taurants in several cities and a line of bottled ined, often for diet-conscious customers, at AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT AP- spices. popular restaurants like George's in Los An- PROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998 Recently reporter Michel Marriott chronicled geles and the Soul Cafe and Motown Cafe in midtown Manhattan. their story in an article in the New York Times. In recent years, Mrs. Woods has given a SPEECH OF That inspirational story of hard work, persever- nod to the calorie-conscious by offering a few HON. ROB PORTMAN ance, and determination follows for the edifi- items on her menu that are baked and grilled, not fried. She also seasons her col- OF OHIO cation of my colleagues. lard greens with smoked turkey, rather than [From the New York Times, Sept. 3, 1997] IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the traditional ham hocks, after some cus- QUEEN OF SOUL FOOD TAKING ``DOWN HOME'' Tuesday, September 30, 1997 tomers asked if they could get their greens ON THE ROAD sans pig. Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to (By Michel Marriott) Even with these accommodations, it's still express my support for the overall fiscal year The scene on the broad, cracked sidewalk the same restaurant that has become world 1998 Treasury, Postal Service Appropriations outside Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem renowned. October 2, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks E1915 Its very walls pronounce its fame. The Summit, N.Y. ``I worked side by side with national security implications of what the So- central element of the decor, which Mrs. her. She wanted to get somewhere. Believe viet Union had accomplished.
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