G. K. Butterfield

Madam Speaker, the House is honored today to welcome a great theologian and humanitarian, my friend and constituent, the distinguished William J. Barber, II.

I have known Bishop Barber since he was a college student. A native of Roper, North Carolina, Bishop Barber has dedicated his life to preaching God's word of salvation and embracing the least of these in civil society.

Bishop Barber's trajectory to national prominence began when he organized a multiracial, multigenerational social justice movement in Raleigh, North Carolina, to expose the racial and economic inequities facing our Nation.

The Moral Monday protests catapulted Bishop Barber to a place where he is now a nationally recognized voice for the poor. As the founder of Repairers of the Breach, Bishop Barber leads a movement that challenges systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, and what he calls the distorted narrative of religious nationalism. Bishop Barber seeks to build an agenda rooted in love, justice, and morality.

Bishop Barber is the senior pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He and his wife, Rebecca, have five very accomplished children who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields.

We are honored today, Madam Speaker, to have Bishop Barber with us today to pray over this sacred institution that we call the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my dear friend, Earle Francis Jones who recently announced his retirement from Comcast NBCUniversal. Earle has been a fixture on the Hill for many years and I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating him on a successful and storied career. Furthermore, I'd like to acknowledge the contributions Earle has made to the CBC community. They are too many to list here, but suffice it to say, the CBC can't thank Earle enough for his support and counsel to the CBC and the CBCF throughout the years.

Earle was born in Washington, D.C. to Earle Sr. and the former Sylvia Carroll. He is a product of the District of Columbia Public School system where he attended historic Coolidge High School.

There, he excelled in sports, music, and community service. Earle furthered his education by attending American University in Washington, D.C. He then went on to attend the University of California at Berkeley where he received his Juris Doctorate from the prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law.

Following law school, Earle practiced law at Holland and Hart in Denver, Colorado before entering private practice. During that time, he served on the Judicial Ethics Advisory Board as the Ethics Counselor for Colorado lawyers and as an adjunct Law Professor at the University of Denver.

Upon returning to Washington, D.C., Earle joined Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) in 1989 where he served as Division Director for Government Affairs and then its Federal Communications Commission Washington Counsel. For three years, he led Washington, D.C.'s District Cablevision as its General Manager and oversaw Comcast's acquisition of District Cablevision from AT&T in 2001.

In 2009, Earle joined Comcast Corporation's Washington Federal Government Affairs where he cultivated a reputation for being an expert on issues and a sought-after counselor and mentor to many on the Hill-- especially in the CBC community.

Madam Speaker, I'm proud to say Earle Jones is my friend. I've always been impressed by his integrity and his ability to have empathy for others. I'd like to thank him for all the years he served on the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Board where he always provided excellent counsel and support.

Please join me in congratulating Earle Jones on a remarkable career and wishing him the best as he spends more time with his son Steve, daughter-in-law Heather and grandchildren Ryan and Rachel.

On behalf of the United States House of Representatives I congratulate Earle Francis Jones on his remarkable career and his contributions to our Country and our community.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mrs. Dingell and the ranking member for their courtesy, and I also thank the Natural Resources Committee for all the work they do. I am not on that committee, but I have great respect and admiration for the committee and its chairman. I thank you for letting me have 5 minutes to present this amendment.

Madam Speaker, this amendment is rather simple. It is straightforward. The underlying bill establishes a new, competitive grant program to support innovative strategies to help species recovery. That is the underlying bill we have been debating all afternoon. However, as drafted, the bill limits those competitive grants to only State wildlife agencies.

Specifically, my amendment expands the eligibility of the grant program to include nonprofit organizations like the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, the Pamlico Albemarle Wildlife Conservationists, and so many more wonderful organizations in my State, and perhaps in your States all across the country.

Many of these nonprofits have tremendous expertise in helping species recover and they should be eligible to participate in this new program under this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, which will strengthen our species recovery efforts.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to the gentleman from Arkansas, and I respect his position, but I just want to remind my colleagues that in my State and most States these organizations that are not nonprofits who care about the environment and care about protecting endangered species--in most States and in all of your States--these are not radical groups. These are good grassroots nonprofit organizations who really care about the environment and want to do their part in protecting our economy and our environmental economy.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please vote for this amendment. I understand the gentleman's concern, but I assure him that the nonprofits that I speak of are not radical groups, they are good environmental organizations.

Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).

Madam Speaker, in closing, let me thank the gentlewoman from Michigan for supporting this amendment. It is a very simple amendment. It is a very commonsense amendment. It will allow and authorize nonprofit organizations, as Mrs. Dingell said, to compete for funding.

It will not be a guarantee of funding. It will be an opportunity to compete for funding. It is a worthwhile amendment, and I ask my colleagues to vote ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.