To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon, as the "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy.

I rise today in asking my colleagues to join me in this legislation to designate the facility of the postal service on Northeast Killingsworth in Portland as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Post Office.

Dr. King, as a powerful symbol of racial justice and social equality in our country, is a fitting designation for this facility. I have had some experience in the community dealing with recognition for Dr. King. Some 20 years ago as Portland's Commissioner of Public Works that I worked with the community, notably of my friend Bernie Foster, the publisher of The Scanner newspaper, and others, to designate Union Avenue after Dr. King. It was an eye opening experience for me, a reminder of the troubled racial past of our community and our State. While Oregon has a rich cultural heritage for black Americans, it had a rocky path towards racial equality.

While slavery was declared illegal early in Oregon's history, in 1848, the provisional government had exclusionary laws surrounding land ownership. And when Oregon was admitted to the Constitution, it had exclusionary laws then. It was only after a long and aggressive struggle that progress was made.

In 1914, the NAACP opened a chapter in Portland, and continues to be the oldest continually chartered chapter west of the Mississippi. This movement was bolstered by the independent black owned weekly newspaper, The Advocate, that dated back 105 years in Portland that tirelessly featured articles and editorials dealing with the evils of segregation, lynching, employment opportunities, and other issues that kept the reality of Jim Crow and the pressing need for civil rights in the State, local, and national agenda in the forefront. Sadly, it wasn't until 1927 that the Oregon State Constitution was finally amended to remove the clause denying blacks the right to vote, even though Oregon had ratified the 14th amendment in 1868.

We have been, in our community, trying to come to grips with that past. And, as I mentioned, it was a tumultuous experience we had 20 years ago in the renaming of Union Avenue after Dr. King. But it did come to pass. In the course of the 20 years, we have watched steady progress as we have dealt with our past and as we look forward to the future.

I find the renaming of this post office after Dr. King to be significant on so many different levels. First of all, it came about as the result of a grassroots community effort led by local letter carriers, Jamie Partridge and Isham Harris, that epitomized the service from that particular post office, something that people in the community remark to me as sort of an island, one of these 37 outposts of the post office where half the world's mail is delivered every day. But this is a linkage to people, and it is a very special office signified by the leadership of letter carriers themselves.

Starting with their fellow workers, moving out through the Piedmont and Concordia Neighborhood Associations, the Sabin Neighborhood Association, showing deep community pride in its heritage.

I find today, Mr. Speaker, that it is particularly noteworthy because we are going to make history, in all likelihood, tonight or tomorrow, where there will be enough votes for the nomination of the first African American nominee of a major party for President of the United States, and one who I sincerely hope is elected.

Having the opportunity to reflect on that great national achievement, while we have the recognition locally for Dr. King and his achievements and the progress that has been made in our community gives me great pride. I'm pleased that we take a small step forward with the designation of this Post Office in the honor of Dr. King, and hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support of this bill designating the post office located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most important public figures of our times. His leadership during the civil rights movement helped to make America the country it is today, a country that strives for equality, justice and liberty for all its citizens. Dr. King is an American icon and, as such, deserves this honor and recognition.

Dr. King, a southern Baptist minister, was instrumental in leading the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 60s. After his march on Washington in 1963, Dr. King's memorable and often quoted I Have a Dream speech established him as one of the greatest public speakers of his time.

In over 2,500 speeches over the course of his career Dr. King cried out against segregation and other forms of racial inequity, bringing discrimination to the forefront of people's minds and making civil rights a primary concern.

His ceaseless efforts to end racial discrimination and segregation through nonviolent means earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, making him the youngest recipient in history. He has also been honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal. In 1983 Congress established a national holiday as a tribute to his memory.

Widely recognized as one of the most pivotal figures in the battle to end bigotry and discrimination on the basis of race, Dr. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, and was instrumental in orchestrating the famous Birmingham, Alabama protests.

Towards the end of his life, Dr. King expanded his message to apply to impoverished Americans. The Poor People's Campaign focused on the economic injustice and tried to reach out to poor people of all races and cultures. Dr. King dedicated his life to ensuring the principles this country holds so dear, those of liberty and justice for all citizens.

I thank my respected colleague, Earl Blumenauer, for introducing this legislation, and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the State of Idaho (Mr. Sali).

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1734) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon, as the ``Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the sponsor of this resolution, Representative Blumenauer from the State of Oregon.

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

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, it is my unique pleasure to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 1734, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office.

The naming of a postal facility in Northwest America, hundreds of miles from Dr. King's civil rights battlefield in the Deep South, is a strong testimony to the far-reaching impact this pivotal figure had on our Nation as a whole.

H.R. 1734 was introduced by Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon on March 28, 2007, and was considered by and reported from the Oversight Committee on April 9, 2008, by voice vote.

Mr. Speaker, we're all well aware of the activism of Dr. Martin Luther King during his lifetime on this Earth. From his leadership in helping to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, to his riveting I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King reminded our country of its fundamental responsibility to safeguard the natural, God-given rights of all men so that we are free to pursue our goals and aspirations without the artificial walls of skin color, religious affiliation, sexuality or any other pointless barrier that separates us from our fellow human persons.

Mr. Speaker, let us join our colleagues from the great State of Oregon, and once again pay tribute to the life and work of the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by renaming this postal facility at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon in honor of this great American hero. I strongly urge passage of this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time and urge support for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to designate this Portland post office in the name of and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While I support this designation, I note with some disappointment that we are not also addressing rising fuel prices on this week's schedule. Dr. King spoke passionately about our Nation's moral obligation to make sure that the needs of the poor and the elderly are met.

American senior citizens and low-income households have been disproportionately affected by higher energy costs. In 2006, before the skyrocketing and record-breaking fuel price increases we are seeing today, low-income households in America spent nearly 20 percent of their income on energy-related expenditures.

This is a moral issue, an issue which, for many low-income families, senior citizens and hardworking families, affects their access to education, and even to their doctors. It's time for Congress to act on that moral obligation to take care of the poor and the elderly, and lift the restrictions on America's energy rich public lands to increase exploration for and production of American crude oil and natural gas, and do so in an environmentally friendly manner.