Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the primary author and the official home of "Yankee Doodle".

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Dennis Walcott, New York City's Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development for enthusiastically joining the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and envoys from Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago in celebrating the Caribbean Week.

I was a co-sponsor of the recent bill (H. Con. Res. 51) that declared the month of June as the Caribbean Heritage Month in order to recognize and applaud the contributions of the Caribbean-American communities to the United States. I have participated in celebratory activities in the said communities, including those in my district, such as parades, carnivals and festivals to commemorate this month and present an opportunity to explore the diversity within the Islands.

Mr. Walcott has joined me in this celebration. A celebrity cricket match, a Caribbean Gospelfest, Town Hall meetings featuring Ministers of tourism from the region, a Caribbean Fair at South Street Seaport, and cooking demonstrations by some of the region's top chefs has taken the city by storm. Mr. Walcott, who traces his origin to the islands of Barbados and St. Croix, envisions a win-win tourism relationship between the Islands and New York City, as well as the Nation.

Mr. Speaker I wish to enter into the Record, the article from the June 27,2006 edition of The New York Carib News, titled Deputy Mayor Walcott Embraces Caribbean Week.

Deputy Mayor Walcott Embraces Caribbean Week

New York.--According to Dennis Walcott, New York City's

Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development, the

recent Caribbean Week in New York, staged by the Caribbean

Tourism Organization (CTO), is deeply important to the City

of New York and people and nations of the Caribbean.

Walcott underscored the importance of the Diaspora to the

City, and said Caribbean Week is a reinforcement of his

personal roots as well as a reminder of the importance of the

Caribbean here. Walcott, who traces his roots to the islands

of Barbados and St. Croix, said Caribbean-Americans are key

players in the running of New York City.

Caribbean Week presents an opportunity for people to

understand the diversity of the Caribbean, and according to

Walcott appreciate the various countries that are part of the

Diaspora of the Caribbean. The Deputy Mayor envisions a win-

win tourism relationship between the City of New York and CTO

member nations.

A celebrity cricket match, a Caribbean Gospelfest, Town

Hall meetings featuring Ministers of Tourism from the region,

a Caribbean Fair at the South Street Seaport, the popular

Media Marketplace and cooking demonstrations with some of the

region's top chefs, were some of the exciting events that

took the City by storm during Caribbean Week in New York.

Addressing a town hall meeting at Medgar Evers College in

the borough of Brooklyn, Ministers of Tourism from Grenada,

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago told the audience about the

importance of tourism to their respective economies, and

updated nationals on crime fighting strategies in their

territories.

Minister Brenda Hood unveiled plans to work with the VFR

(Visiting Friends and Relatives) market, and pledged her

commitment to review proposals from the Diaspora media and

communications community to promote Grenada, Carriacou and

Petite Martinique in the marketplace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my congratulations to Rep. Barbara Lee of California for her leadership in championing legislation that would designate a national Caribbean-American Heritage month.

I am looking forward to the signing of this legislation by the President and to having the first celebration of Caribbean-American Heritage Month later this year. We as a nation will enthusiastically participate in this celebration in recognition and gratitude for the contributions made by our Caribbean-American communities. We have been richly blessed by this immigrant community who have followed and achieved their American dream through hard work and devotion to self- improvement.

As you know Mr. Speaker, the United States Senate earlier this month unanimously approved the legislation, H. Con. Res. 51, introduced by Rep. Lee last year. Last summer, the bill was approved by the House of Representatives and had 81 co-sponsors and support from more than 40 non-governmental organizations working on Caribbean-American issues. As the most senior Democratic woman on the House International Relations Committee, and a member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Rep. Lee has worked to strengthen U.S.-Caribbean relations and wanted to raise awareness about the role that Caribbean people and their descendants have played in the United States by introducing the bill.

As an original co-sponsor of H. Con. Res. 51, I am ecstatic that the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and the Senate lent their support to such a worthy bill. The Caribbean people have been a blessing both to the 15th Congressional District of New York and the country. There have been many influential Caribbean-Americans in U.S. history who have changed the fabric of this fine nation. Shirley Chisolm, the first African-American Congresswoman and first African- American woman candidate for President, had familial roots in Barbados. The parents of Colin Powell, the first African-American Secretary of State, were Jamaican. In the area of the arts, Celia Cruz, the world- renowned queen of Salsa music, was Cuban, while the parents of Sidney Poitier, the first African-American actor to receive the Academy Award for best actor in a leading role, hailed from the Bahamas.

It is undeniable that great patriots of the United States have cultural roots in the beautiful countries of the Caribbean. Mr. Speaker, please join me again in congratulating Rep. Lee on her hard work to advance this legislation and lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and the Senate on passing H. Con. Res. 51. I also hope you will join me in urging the President to designate the month of June for annual national recognition of Caribbean-American Heritage Month.