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Floor Speech
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Mr. LEE. Madam President, the State of Utah, last night, lost a dedicated public servant, a loving mother, and a trailblazing leader, as well as a friend to many: Mia Love returned home to her Heavenly Father at the age of 49 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, leaving behind a legacy of faith, service, and an unshakable belief in the American dream.
Mia was a woman of many firsts. She was the first Haitian American elected to Congress. She was also the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress; a first generation American whose parents immigrated to this country with just $10 in their pockets but with the firm belief that America was and still is a land of opportunity.
She was never one to follow a script, at least not one written by someone else. Mia spoke her mind and never allowed others to define her. Mia knew that this country wasn't defined by where you start but by the opportunities you seize and the work you put in.
Her parents Marie and Jean Maxime Bourdeau fled the brutal dictatorship of Francois Duvalier and came to the United States in search of freedom.
Born in Brooklyn on December 6, 1975, Mia grew up watching her parents' sacrifices and learning the value of hard work:
[T]he America I came to know growing up was filled with all the excitement found in living the American dream, she once wrote.
Her family moved to Connecticut in 1981, and later, while she was attending the University of Hartford, Mia's life would drastically change in two ways: She became a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and met Jason, then a young missionary for that church.
After Jason had completed his mission, the two would later reconnect, marry, and move to Utah, building a life together and raising three wonderful children: Alessa, Abigaile, and Peyton.
Utah quickly realized the natural-born leader in Mia. She cited that one of the driving factors in her decision to run for Congress was an episode in which the Supreme Court was considering a case to remove the words ``under God'' from the Pledge of Allegiance. She believed that words mattered, and those words mattered in particular so much so that she got into the business of politics.
Her convictions carried her through her time on the Saratoga Springs City Council, throughout her tenure as mayor, and later in her historic election and service to Congress.
It quickly became apparent to everyone watching that Mia Love was a rising star in politics, not just throughout the State of Utah but throughout America, and we saw the beginning stages of that when Mia made the decision to run against a then-Democratic incumbent Congressman, Representative Jim Matheson, who is a member of one of Utah's most prominent political families.
The GOP field that year was crowded in the race to replace the Democrat, Matheson, with a Republican, but Mia Love delivered many powerful speeches that election season, including on the day of the Republican Convention, in 2012. Those speeches would make her an icon on the national Republican stage.
Her narrow loss in that race in 2012 would not deter her. If anything, her loss that year spurred her to action, returning her to the field with a reinvigorated sense of enthusiasm for pursuing office.
She ran for Congress again and was elected in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Doug Owens in one of the most competitive districts in the country. She would go on to defeat Owens a second time to win reelection in 2016.
Mia Love never backed down from a challenge, whether it was breaking barriers, standing up for constituents, or taking on difficult fights, like her relentless efforts to bring Josh Holt home after 2 years of unjust imprisonment in Venezuela.
When Josh Holt finally stepped off the plane in Salt Lake City, Mia was there to welcome him home. But that, of course, was the end and not the beginning of that process. She had actually been there the day before, when she met Josh in person for the first time. You see, Mia fought for 2 years to get this man out of a Venezuelan prison--a man she had never met, but she recognized him as a Utahn overseas in need of help.
I discovered that day, at the White House, while visiting with President Trump and Mia Love and a few others that were gathered there, that Mia had taken on this challenge and had been in constant contact with Josh Holt's family the entire time he was in prison. She would not let go until he was home, and she got him home.
Even when faced with her greatest personal challenge, she leaned on the same principles that guided her throughout her entire life: her faith, her optimism, and her refusal to give up.
``Don't underestimate the power of a positive attitude,'' she told CNN's Jake Tapper after her diagnosis, and she never, ever did give up.
Mia knew she had a role to play in our Nation's future. She was a fighter, a leader, and, above all, a woman of deep conviction who lived her life in service to her faith, to her family, and to her country.
I hope the Nation will join me in praying for Mia Love's family and remembering her as the friend, the mother, the trailblazer, and the patriot we all knew.
One of my favorite characteristics of Mia Love--one that surfaced in my every interaction with her--was her defiant positivity. No matter how hard things were in Washington at any given time, every single time I saw Mia, she had a smile on her face, and she had words of encouragement for me and for everyone around her.
Whether they agreed with her on a particular issue or not, she was there offering encouragement and a way forward. That is the kind of leader we all benefit from knowing and the kind of friend that I feel very blessed to have made.
May Mia Love rest in peace, and may the great things that she worked for in this life inspire the people of Utah--and all Americans, for that matter--to better serve each other, our families, and our country.
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