To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the "Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5446) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the ``Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office''.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5446, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office.

H.R. 5446 was introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from Florida, Representative Bill Posey, on May 27, 2010.

Mr. Speaker, Harry Tyson Moore was born in Houston, Florida, on November 18, 1905. He excelled in his schooling and graduated from Bethune-Cookman College in 1936. He soon after accepted a teaching position in a segregated school in Cocoa, Florida, and later became principal of the Titusville Colored School in Brevard County. There, he met Harriette Simms. The two married on Christmas Day, 1926, and had two daughters, Annie and Juanita.

After the birth of their two daughters, Harry and Harriette Moore founded the first branch of the NAACP in Brevard County, Florida, in 1934. They also helped the Florida State Conference of the NAACP in 1941, and Harry Moore took an unpaid position as its secretary.

The Moores led a successful effort to advance civil rights. In 1937, Harry Moore filed the first lawsuit in the Deep South to equalize salaries of black teachers with white teachers in public schools. This effort failed at first, but it laid the foundation for other lawsuits that succeeded.

In 1943, Moore began reviewing every incident of lynching involving black people in the State of Florida, taking affidavits from victims' families and launching investigations. He pursued this effort for the rest of his life.

In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Allwright that all-white primaries in Texas and other States were unconstitutional, a major victory for the NAACP. Moore then organized a group called the Progressive Voters League and spent 6 years registering over 116,000 black voters in the Florida Democratic Party. This activism led the Florida public school system to fire and blacklist the Moores in 1946, after which Harry Moore became a full-time paid activist for the Florida NAACP.

In July 1949, he got involved in a police brutality case in Groveland, Florida, where he uncovered evidence that four black men accused of rape had been beaten. Moore leveled brutality charges against Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall. Three of the defendants were convicted in 1949, but two of the convictions were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lake County prepared to put the two on trial again, and on November 6, 1951, while Sheriff McCall drove them back to Lake County for a pretrial hearing, he shot the two handcuffed men, killing one and critically wounding the second. Moore immediately called for Sheriff McCall to be suspended and indicted for murder.

Six weeks later, on Christmas Day, 1951, Harry Moore was killed when a bomb exploded beneath the floor joists under his bed. Harriette died of her injuries 9 days later. Harry Moore was the first NAACP official murdered in the civil rights struggle, and Harry and Harriette Moore remain the only married couple to be murdered for their activism in the era. The FBI was unable to file charges due to a lack of evidence, but it was suspected to be the work of central Florida members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Harry Moore has been called the first martyr of the 1950s civil rights movement. The Moores' murder sent a shock around the country and around the world, drawing attention to the movement.

Mr. Speaker, the extensive efforts of the Moores during the civil rights movement is worthy of our greatest praise. Let us now pay tribute to the life and work of Harry T. and Harriette Moore by designating the postal facility on Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, in their honor. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 5446.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of legislation I introduced earlier this year (H.R. 5446) to name the U.S. Post Office in Cocoa, Florida in honor of Harry T. and Harriette Moore.

Harry T. Moore and his wife Harriette Moore served as pioneer trailblazers of the modern civil rights movement, propelling the struggle for justice and equality far beyond the borders of their home in Brevard County, Florida. Remembered for their dignity, compassion, and emphasis on education, Mr. and Mrs. Moore left a legacy that remains close to the hearts of community members; one that is sure to outlast the lengths of their lives that were so tragically cut short.

Harry began his first job as an elementary teacher at Monroe Elementary School in Cocoa, Florida in 1925. It is only fitting that the Post Office in the community where he began his service to this community bear his name. Two years later, Harry began a decade of service as a High School Principal in Titusville. Then, from 1936-1946 he served as Principal and Fifth and Sixth Grade teacher in Mims.

The couple first met in Brevard County when Harry was serving as a principal in Titusville and Harriette was an elementary school teacher. They were married on Christmas Day in 1926. They were blessed with two daughters and they committed the duration of

their lives to the pursuit of civil justice for African Americans.

In 1934, the Moores founded the Brevard County Chapter of the NAACP, which led to a Statewide NAACP Conference in 1941. Mr. Moore served as the President of the Florida State Conference of NAACP chapters, as well as the founder and Executive Director of the Progressive Voters League. It was through these channels that the Moores propelled progress on such issues as equality, education, and voter registration. Their steadfast adherence to equality was not without a price, however, as both Mr. and Mrs. Moore were fired from their teaching jobs and found it difficult to find employment due to their activism. To proclaim them pillars of the community would be an understatement.

As the couple also celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Christmas Eve, 1951, a bomb exploded beneath their home. Mr. Moore died on the way to the hospital, and Mrs. Moore died as a result of her injuries 9 days later. The tragic murder, which cut short the lives of this heroic couple, sparked an even more resounding outcry for civil rights.

Having recognized the profound impact the Moores made on the community, Brevard County has since honored them by designating their homesite a Florida Historical Heritage Landmark, creating the Harry T. and Harriette Moore Memorial Park and Interpretive Center, and naming its Justice Center after the trailblazing couple. Additionally, the NAACP posthumously awarded Mr. Moore the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American. Both of these fine citizens undoubtedly touched the lives of others with the dedication, integrity, persistence, compassion, and commitment each of them so courageously demonstrated.

Approving H.R. 5446 will further honor the achievements and sacrifices of Harry T. and Harriette Moore, the leaders and first martyrs of our Nation's modern civil rights era. By designating the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida as the ``Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office'', we will commemorate the Moores' legacy in a town where Mr. Moore began his service to others. This will serve as a reminder to this community of the important and lasting contribution the Moore's made to Cocoa and the Nation. I urge my colleagues to support me on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably absent on December 15, 2011. If I was present, I would have voted on the following: H.R. 5446--rollcall No. 631--``yea''; H. Res. 1759--rollcall No. 632--``yea''; S. Con. Res. 72--rollcall No. 633--``yea''; H.R. 6205--rollcall No. 634--``yea''; H. Res. 1764--rollcall No. 635-- ``yea''; H. Res. 1761--rollcall No. 636--``yea''; H. Res. 1743-- rollcall No. 637--``yea''; H.R. 2965--rollcall No. 638--``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, let me simply say the majority has done a wonderful and thorough job of describing the justification for this bill. I commend Mr. Posey, our colleague from Florida, for introducing this bill and urge support of this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.