Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to present Senate bill 1314 for consideration. This legislation would designate the United States postal facility located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office. Hopefully, today we will finish an effort I've been involved with for the last two Congresses to accomplish this honor for Dr. King, but more important, for our community. This legislation passed last Congress, but the Senate somehow didn't get around to acting upon it, and we passed it again this Congress, September 22, by a 411-0 margin. The legislation enjoys the unanimous support of the entire Oregon House and Senate delegation.

Senate bill 1314 was introduced by my friend and colleague, Senator Ron Wyden, last June, and passed the Senate this summer by unanimous consent. Mr. Speaker, I would thank the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform for their continued partnership in moving the legislation through the House and bringing us to this consideration. I am pleased to have worked with Senator Wyden to move his identical Senate version of the bill back to the House, as our legislation was held under a procedural hold in the Senate.

Regardless, we have an opportunity now to be able to put a final note on this chapter to make this important link to a postal service in our community. It is appropriate as we think about the United States Postal Service that has been voted for five consecutive years as the most trusted government agency. For Americans, the Postal Service provides a consistent and positive connection between the government and the people. And it's, I think, appropriate that the genesis of this legislation was the result of a community-led effort that was inspired by two local letter carriers from my district.

Back in 2007 Mr. Jamie Partridge and Mr. Isham Harris collected employees' signatures supporting the naming, as well as letters of support from all the surrounding neighborhood associations. These individuals brought the community together to honor not just Dr. King, but also Oregon's somewhat rocky path to racial equality and social justice. While our State ratified the 14th amendment expanding citizenship and providing equal protection under the law back in 1868, our State, sadly, continued to deny African Americans the right to vote under the terms of the original state constitution.

This was an area of great struggle in our community. Oregon had a sad chapter where it had a virulent, powerful, Ku Klux Klan presence, electing elected officials and inspiring some really unfortunate State legislation. In part, inspired by this struggle, in 1914, the NAACP opened a chapter in Portland which continues to this day as the oldest continually chartered chapter of the NAACP west of the Mississippi. They were part of the leadership that finally amended the Oregon Constitution in 1927 to remove the clause denying African Americans the right to vote. For the next 30 years they were involved in efforts with leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King not just to end segregation and racial discrimination, but to promote equality. It was a struggle that we faced continuously in our community in the 1950s, such as battles over open housing.

We are well familiar, all of us, with the remarkable life and legacy of Dr. King, who provided a face and a voice to the civil rights movement, one of the greatest orators in the history of the United States who provided national leadership and local inspiration in our community. I am pleased to honor this legacy with the full support of the Oregon congressional delegation. This post office will serve as a daily reminder of Dr. King's legacy and of the struggle in Oregon and around the country to reach our objective of individual dreams being fulfilled free of artificial barriers such as skin color, religious affiliation, gender, and sexual orientation.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 1314 and achieve that goal.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Tennessee for his thoughtful words of support, for his concern and his adding historical perspective on how we're all in debt to Dr. King and how it has, in fact, inspired people north, east, west and south to be able to deal with the legacy of promoting a world hopefully free of discrimination. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the House would join us in approving this measure to honor not just Dr. King, but, as I mentioned, focus on the struggle in our community to reach these ideals, one that continues to this day. The designation of the post office in honor of Dr. King will be an ongoing reminder of what we have to do ahead as well as the progress we've made.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time.

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