A bill 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 move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1314) 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 would 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'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.

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.

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

Madam Speaker, due to an illness, I was absent for votes on November 16, 17, 18 and 19. Please see a list of votes I missed.

Rollcall vote No. 889: S. 1314: 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.''

Rollcall vote No. 890: H.R. 3539: To Designate the Facility of the United States Postal Service Located at 427 Harrison Avenue in Harrison, New Jersey, As the ``Patricia D. Mcginty-Juhl Post Office Building.''

Rollcall vote No. 891: H.R. 3767: To Designate the Facility of the United States Postal Service Located at 170 North Main Street in Smithfield, Utah, As the ``W. Hazen Hillyard Post Office Building.''

Rollcall vote No. 892: H.R. 3360: Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act: H.R. 3360.

Rollcall vote No. 893: H. Res. 841: Expressing Support for Designation of November 29, 2009, As ``Drive Safer Sunday.''

Rollcall vote No. 894: On Approving the Journal.

Rollcall vote No. 895: H. Res. 891: Expressing the Gratitude of the House of Representatives for the Service to Our Nation of the Coast Guard and Marine Corps Aircraft Pilots and Crewmembers Lost Off the Coast of California on October 29, 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 896: H. Con. Res. 214: Providing for a Conditional Adjournment of the Two Houses.

Rollcall vote No. 897: Previous Question on H.R. 3791, Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 898: Rule for H.R. 3791, Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 899: Perlmutter of Colorado Amendment to H.R. 3791.

Rollcall vote No. 900: Flake of Arizona Amendment to H.R. 3791.

Rollcall vote No. 901: H.R. 3791: Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 902: Previous Question on H.R. 2781 to Amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to Designate Segments of the Molalla River in Oregon, As Components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for Other Purposes.

Rollcall vote No. 903: Rule for H.R. 2781 to Amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to Designate Segments of the Molalla River in Oregon, As Components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for Other Purposes.

Rollcall vote No. 904: S. 1599; Reserve Officers Association Modernization Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 905: H.R. 2781: To Amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to Designate Segments of the Molalla River in Oregon, As Components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for Other Purposes.

Rollcall vote No. 906: H. Con Res. 212: Expressing the Sense of Congress on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of Historic Events in Central and Eastern Europe, Particularly the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and Reaffirming the Bonds of Friendship and Cooperation Between the United States and the Slovak and Czech Republics.

Rollcall vote No. 907: Table the Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair on the Motion to Recommit H.R. 3961: Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 908: Motion to Recommit H.R. 3961: Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 909: H.R. 3961: Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009.

Rollcall vote No. 910: H.R. 1834: Native American Business Development Enhancement Act of 2009.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to first commend my colleague, the gentleman from Oregon, for bringing this legislation to the floor today, and I rise to express my strong support for this bill designating the post office located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon, as the ``Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office.'' The leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the civil rights movement helped to make America the country it is today. Because of Dr. King's many accomplishments in the pursuit of justice and liberty, he clearly deserves this simple honor and recognition that we can bestow on him.

Dr. King began his career as a Baptist minister who was also the leading civil rights figure in this country during the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. King's lifelong crusade to end all forms of racial inequity and discrimination was instrumental in enlightening the country with regard to civil rights for all citizens. 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 protest.

Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, which helped show the world that racial discrimination

could be ended through nonviolent means. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal. In recognition of his many accomplishments for our country, in 1983 Congress established a national holiday as a tribute to his memory. Later in Dr. King's life, he expanded his message of equality to apply to impoverished Americans 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 of our citizens.

Not quite 4 years ago, Mr. Speaker, I was given the honor of being the grand marshal of the Martin Luther King parade in Knoxville, Tennessee. And I believe I have attended all but one of the many Martin Luther King celebrations at the Greater Warner Church in Knoxville. I'm also very proud of the fact that my father, who served for 6 years as mayor of Knoxville, led the peaceful integration of that city. And in 1962, Look magazine awarded Knoxville an All-America City Award, primarily because of the peaceful integration that we accomplished in our city.

I think this legislation is very fitting and appropriate, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

I have no other speakers, and so I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I was absent for three rollcall votes on Monday, November 16, 2009. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote Nos. 889 and 890, and ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 891. The items of legislation I would have voted on are as follows:

Yea on S. 1314--A bill 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''.

Yea on H.R. 3539--To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 427 Harrison Avenue in Harrison, New Jersey, as the ``Patricia D. McGinty-Juhl Post Office Building''.

Aye on H.R. 3767--To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 170 North Main Street in Smithfield, Utah, as the ``W. Hazen Hillyard Post Office Building''.

Madam Speaker, I regret missing floor votes on Monday, November 16, 2009. If I was present, I would have voted:

``Yea'' on rollcall 889, agreeing to S. 1314, A bill 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''.

``Yea'' on rollcall 890, agreeing to H.R. 3539--To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 427 Harrison Avenue in Harrison, New Jersey, as the ``Patricia D. McGinty-Juhl Post Office Building''.

``Aye'' on rollcall 891, agreeing to H.R. 3767--To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 170 North Main Street in Smithfield, Utah, as the ``W. Hazen Hillyard Post Office Building''.