{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://richmond.house.gov/press-release/rep-richmond-statement-retirement-norman-francis", "Rep. Richmond Statement on the Retirement of Dr. Norman Francis", "2014-09-08", "2014", "2014-09", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Cedric Richmond", "R000588", "richmond.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 Today Rep. Richmond (LA-02) issued the following statement congratulating Dr. Norman Francis on his retirement after 45 years as President of Xavier University. Dr. Francis is the nation\u2019s-longest serving university president and is a noted educator and community leader. In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States for his outstanding contributions to civic causes.\n\u201cPresident Norman Francis is an exemplary man, champion of civil rights, and one of the finest educators in this nation,\u201d said Rep. Richmond. \u201cHis service to Louisiana and devotion to his students are unparalleled and have received commendation from the highest office in the land. His leadership of Xavier transformed the university into a pillar of our community and his leadership in New Orleans played an instrumental role in rebuilding our city after Hurricane Katrina. Throughout his illustrious tenure at Xavier he has been a guiding light to the community, a mentor to other HBCU Presidents, and a true servant to his students and his community.\n\u201cI am proud to have had the honor of working with President Francis and wish he and his wife Blanche continued success and happiness in all their future endeavors.\u201d\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://richmond.house.gov/press-release/rep-richmond-statement-retirement-norman-francis"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9579649195075035, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}