To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3751 West 6th Street in Los Angeles, California, as the "Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the House Government Reform Committee, I am pleased to join my colleague in the consideration of H.R. 1822, legislation naming the postal facility in Los Angeles, California, after the honorable Dosan Ahn Chang Ho. This measure, which was introduced by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) on April 11, 2003, was unanimously reported by our committee on April 1, 2004. It enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire California delegation.

Mr. Ahn was emigrated from Korea in 1902. He moved to San Francisco with his new wife. While en route to America, Mr. Ahn resolved to stand tall above the sea of turmoil existing at that time in Korea and to call himself Dosan, which means Island Mountain.

While living in San Francisco, Dosan organized and guided the Koreans living in the area to form the first Korean American community. Two years later, he moved with his family to Riverside, California, and again worked tirelessly to unite and organize Korean Americans. He established the first English school for Koreans and formed a cooperative association which later became the basis for the Korean National Association. Years later, Mr. Ahn served as president of that association.

Nine years later in 1913, Dosan Ahn Chang Ho moved to Los Angeles and again played a significant role in the growth of the Korean American community in that city. In Los Angeles, he founded the Hung Sa Dahn, the Young Korean Academy. Mr. Ahn is credited with helping to relieve the blighted living conditions of his fellow Korean Americans and became the spiritual leader of the Korean Independence Movement.

Except for a brief 2-year return to the United States, Mr. Ahn then went to Shanghai to establish the Korean provisional government. He was a devoted independence fighter in China until his death in 1938.

Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson), for seeking to honor the spiritual and humanitarian legacy of Dosan. His efforts to assist, organize, and lift up the Korean community in California were noble indeed. Naming a postal facility in Los Angeles after this great man is recognition of all his work on behalf of Korean Americans, and all Koreans.

I urge the swift adoption of this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1822 would designate that a United States Post Office in the Koreatown section of my district would be renamed the ``Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office.''

Los Angeles is the home to the largest Korean American population in the country. In fact, more people of Korean heritage live and work in Los Angeles than any place outside of Korea. LA's Koreatown neighborhood is the epicenter of that community, and the economic and cultural wealth of this area are testaments to the achievements of Korean Americans.

It is fitting to mark these achievements by naming this post office after

a man who is possibly the most celebrated Korean American of them all. Ahn Chang Ho, often known by the name of Dosan or Iron Mountain, is credited by many as being the spiritual father of modern, independent and democratic Korea. His vision is what guides the Korean people to this day, first to free themselves from foreign occupation and now to unite Koreans in one unified, peaceful, and democratic nation.

Today, Korean Americans honor Dosan Ahn Chang Ho for his contributions to the Korean nation, but all Americans can take pride in the fact that much of Dosan's vision of Korean democracy was formed by his encounters with American democracy.

Ahn Chang Ho came to the United States in 1902 and stayed more than a decade. During this time, he worked tirelessly to unite the Korean community, founding schools and cultural organizations and helping to improve living and working conditions for his fellow Korean Americans; and along the way, he emerged as the spiritual leader of the Korean independence movement.

Dosan was not the only advocate for Korean independence at that time, but Dosan's values and approach were what set him apart. He was concerned not just with the means of achieving independence, but in educating Koreans in democratic governance and civic virtue, to ensure that independence would endure.

I am proud that I sponsored this bill on behalf of the Korean American community in my district. Dosan Ahn Chang Ho is not only a symbol of Korean success in America. He is also a symbol of the shared experience and shared democratic values of all Koreans and all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1822) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3751 West 6th Street in Los Angeles, California, as the ``Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on Government Reform, I rise today in support of H.R. 1822. This post office designation introduced by the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson), also a member of the committee, honors one of the earliest Korean American leaders of our Nation, Dosan Ahn Chang Ho. Each of the other 52 members of the California congressional delegation has also cosponsored the legislation, which I think in itself is worthy of mention.

Ahn Chang Ho emigrated to San Francisco from Korea in 1902. After Japan colonized Korea in 1910, Ahn Chang Ho traveled around the world to pull together financial and political opposition to Japan's imperial rule in Korea, and that lasted until the end of World War II. In addition to fighting for Korean freedom, Ahn Chang Ho worked hard here in the United States to establish schools, social organizations, and job-training programs for Korean Americans in California.

In 1932, the Japanese arrested Ahn Chang Ho in Shanghai, China, and accused him of a bombing incident in which he was not involved. He was taken to prison and ultimately died at a Korean hospital in 1938.

Mr. Speaker, Dosan Ahn Chang Ho was an extremely important political leader and educator and a humanitarian for people in the United States and Korea at the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, I am pleased that the House is considering H.R. 1822. I commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) for her work.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 1822, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 2, 2004, at 10:15 a.m., in closed session to receive a briefing on the situation in Iraq.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on ``The Role of State Securities Regulators in Protecting Investors.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on fire fighting aircraft.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on nominations.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 2, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on the Greater Middle East Initiative.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 at 10 a.m. to hold a business meeting to consider pending Committee business.