E1474 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 19, 2014 through the Jazz Development Workshop, Though many changes have occurred in the months in office when some of us junior mem- where she was taught by Marcus Belgrave. past 150 years, one thing has remained con- bers managed to revive the state side match- She then came to Washington, D.C., where stant, and that is the dedication of Sunshine ing program, of the LWCF the landslide con- she received a degree from Howard University Elementary faculty and staff to their students. servation program. in Jazz Studies in 1979. At Howard, she stud- Past and current faculty and staff have con- It certainly was a proud moment and since ied under composers Thomas Kerr, pianists tributed long hours of committed service in then I have led an annual effort to fund the Raymond Jackson, John Malichi, Fred Irby, providing each Sunshine Elementary student LWCF. Arthur Dawkins, and Komla Amoaku. She then with the best education possible. This year 170 members of congress joined left D.C. for New York City, where she learned Sunshine Elementary would not be nearly me in a letter to appropriators to provide fund- from bop pianist Kenny Barron. She then as successful without the help and support ing for the LWCF. But it is not enough if we moved on to study ethnomusicology at the provided by the surrounding Springfield com- don’t reauthorize it now and provide full find- University of Pittsburgh, earning her masters munity. Its strong ties to the neighborhood ing. there. She returned to New York, where she have allowed parents and faculty to work This Congress I am also proud to be the began touring with Mary Wilson and the closely together, creating an environment es- sponsor of two wilderness bills of national im- Supremes in 1982. She later helped charter pecially conducive to learning and success. portance, the Udall-Eisenhower Artic Wilder- the Black Rock Coalition and the Brooklyn M- Sunshine Elementary started out as a one- ness Act, to permanently designate the Arctic Base movement. She would collaborate on room building 150 years ago and over the Refuge Coastal Plain as wilderness, and the several works with a fellow charter member of years has grown into a great elementary Red Rocks Wilderness Act, to protect as wil- that group, Steve Coleman. school for Springfield students. derness Utah’s Red Rocks area. Her own albums have displayed a depth of I congratulate Sunshine Elementary School We’re going to get these bills passed one range and skill. Her first album, The as the school celebrates 150 years. way or another, we must. It is so important, not just because of the naturalness that is pre- Printmakers, displays what many have called f an avant-garde talent. In 1995, her album served, but because of what it says about our Twenty-One, won the Soul Train’s Lady of LWCF AND WILDERNESS 50TH country. Soul Award for album of the year. In 2008, ANNIVERSARY The Wilderness Act, when Hubert Hum- Ms. Allen won a Guggenheim Fellowship in phrey and others introduced it, sat around on Composition, which allowed her to release her HON. RUSH HOLT the legislative agenda for years—Congress after congress. It was the support of citizen composition Refractions: Flying Toward the OF NEW JERSEY activists that created the momentum nec- Sound, which celebrates the work of Cecil IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES essary to pass The Wilderness Act. And it will Taylor, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock. Thursday, September 18, 2014 She is the youngest person and the only be the work of activists like those with the woman to receive the Danish JAZZPAR Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to com- Alaska Wilderness League, the Southern Utah award. memorate the 50th Anniversary of two of our Wilderness Alliance, and the Wilderness Soci- In addition to the massive number of awards country’s most transformational conservation ety that will continue to work for the passage she has received, which are simply too numer- laws, the Wilderness Act and the Land and of wilderness bills. The Wilderness Act provides some of the ous to mention here, Ms. Allen has also been Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act. strongest land protections in the world by rec- a remarkable mentor to younger jazz musi- Earlier this month I celebrated the Anniver- ognizing wilderness areas as where the earth cians. One example of such efforts is found in sary of LWCF and the Wilderness Act at the and its community of life are untrammeled by the powerful For the Healing of the Nations, a Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New humans, where humans ourselves are visitors tribute to the survivors of 9/11, which was per- Jersey. This area was the first wilderness es- who do not remain. formed with Howard University’s Afro-Blue tablished within the Department of the Interior From the Great Swamp Wilderness in New Jazz Choir. In addition to her work with her following the passage of the Wilderness Act. Jersey to the Arctic Refuge in Alaska—wilder- alma mater, she has been a professional edu- LWCF money has also contributed to the ness is essential to safeguard our nation’s cator for many years, having taught jazz at the preservation of the Great Swamp, and in fact most wild and beautiful areas, not simply to University of Michigan, and presently at the LWCF money totaling more than 400 million preserve beautiful scenery, but to give nature University of Pittsburgh. dollars has come to New Jersey. In other the necessary resilience to sustain itself, and Despite this list of accomplishments, she states around the country the LWCF has con- also to give humans places to renew and has yet to slow down and take a break. She tributed even more. master ourselves. recently released a recording celebrating our I, along with Secretary Jewell and many collective home town: Grand River Crossings: members of Congress, have advocated mak- f Motown & Motor City Inspirations. On May 10, ing permanent full funding for the LWCF. We IN RECOGNITION OF ST. JOHN 2014, she received an Honorary Doctorate of must remember that over 50 years, in only A.M.E. CHURCH’S 144TH ANNIVER- Music from the Berklee College of Music. ONE year has the LWCF received the full au- SARY Geri Allen is a living national jazz treasure, thorized funding. The idea was to take reve- and I encourage my colleagues to learn more nues from depleted resources, in other words from off shore oil drilling and mineral extrac- HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR. about her tremendous contributions to the OF GEORGIA most American of art forms. tion, and use that to preserve other resources, land. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES f Ecologists have made it especially clear in Thursday, September 18, 2014 RECOGNIZING SUNSHINE ELEMEN- recent years that we really must have inter- Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is TARY SCHOOL’S SESQUICENTEN- locking tracts of land, what Frederick Law my honor and pleasure to extend my sincere NIAL Olmstead called emerald necklaces, across congratulations to the congregation of St. John the country. It is not enough to protect only African Methodist Episcopal Church in Colum- HON. BILLY LONG isolated places; that is not enough for migrat- bus, Georgia as the church’s membership and OF MISSOURI ing species and even plant communities, who leadership celebrates a remarkable 144 years. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES must interact over long distances. St. John A.M.E. Church will usher in this mile- Wilderness is important for so many rea- stone with a celebration, aptly named ‘‘Stung Thursday, September 18, 2014 sons. Wilderness provides more than simply By The Spirit,’’ and a day of service on Sun- Mr. LONG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to rec- beautiful vistas, it is how nature heals herself day, September 21, 2014. ognize Sunshine Elementary School’s sesqui- and it is critically important for human well- St. John A.M.E. Church was founded as St. centennial. being. What we forget is that preserving only John’s Chapel in 1870 and was located on On October 24th, Sunshine Elementary a few headliner areas is insufficient. And that Fifth Avenue in Columbus. Reverend John G. School will celebrate 150 years of providing is why Congress really must reauthorize and Mitchell served as the first faith leader to the the children of Springfield, Missouri, with an fully fund the Land and Water Conservation founding congregation, a dynamic group of outstanding education. Sunshine Elementary Fund because it is critically important to this faithful and steadfast Reconstruction-era has always striven to provide children with the whole picture. Christians who helped bring the church to life. tools and skills necessary for them to be suc- One of my proudest moments in my now 16 The church grew and evolved over the next cessful in life. year career in congress was in the early century and on September 30, 1980, it was VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Sep 20, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A18SE8.055 E19SEPT1 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with REMARKS September 19, 2014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1475 placed on the list of National Historic Build- The Local 155 is a union which works to en- community’s ongoing effort to raise awareness ings. This honor was attributed to the church’s rich the lives of residents in the Central Valley. and advance medical research. We extend our Victorian Gothic architectural design, the melo- They have proudly served the Fresno area sincerest gratitude and strong support as dious bell in the steeple towering over the bril- and have made outstanding strides for the these dedicated individuals come together to liant stained glass windows, and its long and local economy.