Rep. Maxine Waters Reflects on the Powerful Legacy of Nelson Mandela
Rep. Maxine Waters Reflects on the Powerful Legacy of Nelson Mandela
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, submitted the following statement into the Congressional record to pay tribute to South African President Nelson Mandela on what would have been his 101stbirthday:
Madame Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who absolutely put his life and freedom on the line for a cause greater than himself: South African President Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela was a transformative leader and freedom fighter who was imprisoned for 27 years, and became the first black President of South Africa. He used his tenure to dismantle apartheid, combat institutional racism, and heal his nation.
Nelson Mandela's courageous leadership inspired my own involvement in the anti-apartheid movement in the United States, where I was a national leader of the Free South Africa Movement and TransAfrica, and fought for the passage of my bill, Assembly Bill 134, which forced California to divest $12 billion in state pension funds tied to South Africa's apartheid regime.
Nelson Mandela will always be a personal hero and a dear friend to me. I cherish the opportunities that I had to visit him in South Africa, and host him in the United States: first, as the chair of a Welcome Home Celebration that filled the Los Angeles Coliseum, and again at a Congressional ceremony that I hosted in his honor in the U.S. Capitol.
Today, on what would have been his 101st birthday, let us all remember the powerful lesson of courage, sacrifice, and service that is the legacy of our beloved "Mandiba."