NO. 31

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

The Senate assembled at 11:00 A.M., the hour to which it stood adjourned, and was called to order by the ACTING PRESIDENT, Senator WALKER.

The following remarks by Senator JACKSON were ordered printed in the Journal of February 17, 2026:

Thank you, Mr. PRESIDENT and members of the Senate. Thank you to my friend and colleague, Senator ALLEN. Members of this Senate, I would not be where I am if it had not been for Jesse Jackson. He is a family friend. My dad and Reverend Jackson were very, very close. I was a student at Benedict College and Reverend Jackson came to campus and recruited me to run for student government president. As a matter of fact, he called my dad, called my uncle and the conversation went like, "I told Darrell he is running for student body president." And I ran and I won.

In 1984 I had the privilege of being one of, if not the youngest, staff member on Jesse Jackson's 1984 Presidential Campaign, and went to San Francisco with Reverend Jackson when he gave that great speech, I am somebody and keep hope alive. Just recently, in 2020, Reverend Jackson was here in Columbia and spoke at the church where I pastor. He was our guest speaker. Following that he did something I didn't realize was significant -- he asked me to get my sons and at the time my granddaughter, and he said he wanted to take a picture with them in front of my father's picture. He said to them, "Legacy carries on things that are important." He looked my two sons in the eyes and said, "Just remember, that you are always somebody." And so, I will say this, that the lasting legacy of Reverend Jackson -- I woke up this morning and my son had already texted me that Reverend Jackson died and I shared the picture when we were together.

I'll leave you with this. I remember in 1984 being just a young man flying to San Francisco and standing on that floor with Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Speaker of the House, Speaker Brown from California, who was Reverend Jackson's friend. And there was a reception afterwards. There was an age limit. If you know anything about Speaker Brown, you understand why there could have been an age limit for that. I was just going back as a young man to my room and Reverend Jackson called the late Dr. Walker Solomon, the late Kevin Jay and said, "I need you to get Darrell because I need to introduce him to some legislators." He looked at me and said, "Son, one day you can do what they are doing. Just keep hope alive and remember that you will always be somebody." So I salute my friend, my mentor, a great leader and a great humanitarian, the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson.

The following remarks by PRESIDENT ALEXANDER were ordered printed in the Journal of March 3, 2026:

Thank you members of the Senate. The Constitution is greater than any Governor or any Senate. This is to make sure that we have an understanding going forward from today with interim appointments. I will be clear. We will hold harmless any appointment that has been received prior to today. This is prospective going forward from today so there is no misunderstanding on interim appointments whether it is this Governor or any future Governors, that this is the position of the Senate.

As this Sense of the Senate motion is presented to you, I encourage each and every one of us to support this Sense of the Senate motion for the good of this institution and for the good of the Constitution that we took an oath to preserve and protect. Thank you.

The following co-sponsors were added to the respective Bills:
S. 831 (Word version)     Sen. Sutton
S.   856     Sen. Allen
S. 979 (Word version)     Sen. Grooms

At 11:04 A.M., on motion of Senator CROMER, the Senate adjourned to meet next Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 12:00 P.M.

This web page was last updated on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 9:27 A.M.