To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 950 Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois, as the "Katherine Dunham Post Office Building".

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Illinois for yielding the time and thank him for his cosponsorship of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of H.R. 5929, the Katherine Dunham Post Office Designation Act. Katherine Dunham was a legendary dancer, choreographer, and social activist. Katherine Dunham always said she wanted a useful legacy, a legacy that was more than being a dancer. She truly achieved that goal.

Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909, in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn. She was one of the first African Americans to attend the University of Chicago, where she eventually earned

her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in anthropology. She achieved broad critical acclaim both in the United States and abroad for her performances, borrowing movements and rhythms from the Caribbean and South America, while also adhering to classical ballet. Her technique is still taught and bears her name.

Ms. Dunham used her fame to focus the public's attention on social injustices around the world, including enduring a 47-day hunger strike at the age of 82 to help shift public awareness to the international relationship between America and Haiti. Further, she received many awards and recognition for her work such as the Presidential Medal of Arts, Southern Cross of Haiti, the Kennedy Center Honors, the French Legion Honor and the NCAAP Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1967, Ms. Dunham moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, where she helped open a performing arts training center and established a dance anthropology program at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. The center in East St. Louis was eventually named the Katherine Dunham Center for the Arts and Humanities.

Honoring Katherine Dunham with this post office designation is fitting and appropriate, not only to Katherine and her family, but the residents of the city of East St. Louis and the congressional district that I am privileged to represent. East St. Louis is a community that has suffered hard times, but through it all, Katherine Dunham and her center served as a focal point for revitalization and hope for the city and its people.

Mr. Speaker, Katherine Dunham touched the world, not only through her artistic gifts, but with her conscience as well. Through her, we grew as a Nation. Just as she challenged the norms of dance, she challenged all of us to confront the important issues of our time. Renaming this post office for Katherine Dunham is a small gesture, but it is one way to say thank you for her continuing contributions to the people of East St. Louis, which she was proud to call home.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5929, and I thank my friend from Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5929) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 950 Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois, as the ``Katherine Dunham Post Office Building''.

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

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

Katherine Dunham was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in 1909, and from a very early age, she was passionate about the arts. She attended Chicago University and went on to earn a master's and doctoral degree in anthropology. In 1931, she opened her first dance school, and in 1948, she participated in a tour that was the first to bring African American dance to the European public.

Upon returning from Europe, Dunham directed a production on Broadway, and in 1963, she became the first African American to choreograph for the Metropolitan Opera. Perhaps one of the most defining moments of her career, however, was receiving the Albert Schweitzer Music Award for a life's work dedicated to music and devoted to humanity at New York's Carnegie Hall.

In recognition of her countless achievements and contributions to the arts, I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 5929.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 5929, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), the sponsor of this resolution.

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

If I just might close, I am pleased to join with my colleague from Illinois in this legislation. Katherine Dunham was an academician, a scholar, an activist, an anthropologist, a great dancer, a choreographer, a culturess, I do not know of many things that she was not, a businesswoman, a person who brought life and spirit wherever she was, and she was fortunate to live to a ripe old age.

All of us who have studied her, had the opportunity to see her, to know about her, our lives have indeed been enriched, and I am pleased to join in the sponsorship and urge passage of this resolution.

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

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate en bloc consideration of H.R. 6075, H.R. 5224, and H.R. 5929, postal naming bills which were received from the House.

I ask unanimous consent the bills be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record en bloc.