Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on H.R. 1743, which would award the Congressional Gold Medal to Harriet ‘Moses’ Tubman in recognition of her contributions to the United States as an abolitionist who resisted slavery and liberated hundreds of men, women, and children who were held in bondage.

“Born in Maryland as Araminta “Minty” Harriet Ross,  Harriet Tubman became a leader in the effort the end the evil of slavery and to protect her people from the cruelty of slavery that denied to millions of African Americans the basic right to human dignity. After she had escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania, she would risk her life to return to the South to rescue dozens of slaves who would themselves find freedom in the North or in Canada. For her leadership in guiding these men, women, and children to freedom, Harriet Tubman was known as ‘Moses.’ Harriet Tubman’s courage in defiance of  evil will remain forever an inspiration to all those individuals of good conscience who resist tyranny and refuse to submit to injustice, here in the United States and around the world.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.