[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 11, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H5809-H5811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HENRY W. McGEE POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3909) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 4601 South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago,
Illinois, as the ``Henry W. McGee Post Office Building.''
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3909
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. HENRY W. MCGEE POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 4601 South Cottage Grove Avenue in
Chicago, Illinois, shall be known and designated as the
``Henry W. McGee Post Office Building''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the
facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be
a reference to the ``Henry W. McGee Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. McHugh) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh).
General Leave
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H.R. 3909.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would admit to some bias in the bill just passed and
that, as a Member of this House, it brings a particular sense of
pleasure to be able to bestow a naming honor upon a former colleague.
However, as a citizen, and perhaps for the purposes of this initiative,
more importantly as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Postal Service,
I think it is particularly appropriate when we have, as we do on this
particular bill, the opportunity to bestow an honor upon an individual
who has dedicated, in this case, his life to service of the United
States Postal Service itself.
The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) introduced this legislation on
March 14. As the Clerk has read, it does designate the Postal Service
facility at
[[Page H5810]]
4601 South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, as the ``Henry W.
McGee Post Office Building.''
Mr. McGee began his life in Texas, in Hillsboro, Texas, but moved to
Chicago in 1966. He began working for the Postal Service when he was
just 20 years old and retired in 1973 after 45 years, 4\1/2\ decades of
selfless and dedicated service to that great organization.
Mr. McGee was Chicago's very first African-American postmaster in
1966, and he was also the first career postmaster in the great city of
Chicago. He thereafter went on to accrue long lists of achievements and
accrue long lists of sacrifices on behalf of his community, on behalf
of his country.
In World War II, he was a member of the Illinois State Militia. He
made every effort to better himself through continued education and was
a founding board member of the Rochelle Lee Fund for Children's
Literacy where he also attempted to help the education and the
betterment of so many others.
Sadly, Mr. McGee died in March of this year at the wonderful age of
90, but behind him left the kind of life from which all of us can
derive a great deal of inspiration and certainly can derive a great
deal of lessons as well.
I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for his
initiative, and I urge all of our Members to join us in supporting this
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, H.R. 3909, and to
further extend upon the remarks of the gentleman from New York
(Chairman McHugh). I want to thank him for his efforts to bring this
legislation to the forefront. It is true that Mr. McGee is someone
vastly deserving of this honor.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Rush) to speak on this matter, the prime sponsor of
this bill.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh)
for their efforts in bringing this legislation to the floor today. I
also owe a great deal of gratitude to the entire Illinois delegation
for their cosponsorship of this worthy piece of legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise in support of H.R. 3909, a bill
that I introduced in March, which designates the United States Post
Office located at 4601 South Cottage Grove in my district, the first
district of Illinois, as the ``Henry W. McGee Post Office Building''.
H.R. 3909 pays fitting tribute to Henry W. McGee, the first black
postmaster of Chicago, who gave 44 years of outstanding service to the
United States Postal Service.
Mr. McGee who died on March 18, just days after I introduced this
bill, began his career in 1929 as a temporary substitute letter
carrier. But Mr. McGee determined that his position would not just be
temporary and that he would not remain a substitute employee.
When he retired from the United States Postal Service in 1973, Mr.
McGee was the general manager of the eight metropolitan districts of
Chicago. Under his leadership, Chicago obtained a reputation among the
best managed Post Offices in the Nation.
With Mr. McGee at the helm, the Chicago Postal Service was able to
improve its delivery and its delivery rates and its delivery
effectiveness in meeting the needs of its consumers.
While working hard to achieve his career goals, Mr. McGee continued
to pursue his education, earning his bachelor of science degree from
the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949. In 1961, Mr. McGee
received a master's degree in public administration from the University
of Chicago, while currently being promoted to personnel manager for the
Chicago region of the Post Office department, which encompassed both
the State of Illinois and also the State of Michigan. Five years later,
Mr. McGee became the first black postmaster of Chicago appointed by
President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
But the accomplishments of Mr. McGee do not end there. While working
hard to promote his career and to gain an education, Mr. McGee found
time to get involved in the community and take on issues greater than
himself.
In 1939, Mr. McGee coordinated the arrangements for the annual
convention of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees. He
had joined the group 2 years earlier, but he immediately began taking
on a leadership role. In 1945, Mr. McGee became president of the
Chicago branch of the National Alliance.
In 1946, he was selected to serve as president and acting executive
director of the Chicago chapter of the NAACP. While there, he dedicated
himself to the causes of ending segregation and fighting for equal
justice.
In addition to the NAACP, he became one of the charter members of the
Joint Negro Appeal, a self-help organization. As president, Mr. McGee
served diligently for more than 17 years and raised many thousands of
dollars to help neighborhood groups.
This legacy that Henry W. McGee leaves is both inspirational and
impressive. I believe that this legislation is a fitting tribute to
Henry W. McGee, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3909.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), another gentleman who is a member
of the Illinois delegation and most importantly in reference to this
legislation is a member of the Subcommittee on Postal Service, and
serves with both the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) and myself
and provides a great deal of leadership on the committee.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to, first of
all, commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for introducing
this very important legislation. I would also like to express
appreciation to the gentleman from New York (Chairman McHugh) and the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), ranking member, for bringing
this legislation to the floor.
I rise in support of H.R. 3909, which names the post office on South
Cottage Grove after Henry McGee. I was fortunate to have worked for and
with Henry McGee. As a matter of fact, one of the very first meaningful
jobs that I ever had was a job working in the Chicago Post Office as a
clerk. I can recall at that time that Mr. McGee was an esteemed
executive; and one would hear his name being called on the intercom,
practically all day in terms of somebody saying, Mr. McGee, please call
your office, or Mr. McGee, you are wanted on floor 9, or Mr. McGee, you
have a telephone call, or you have a message. Many of us were young
people wondering who was this guy McGee. I mean, all day long one
constantly heard his name.
Then as we got to meet him and got to know him, we were tremendously
impressed because he reminded us so much that it is not always a matter
of where one begins, but oftentimes it is a matter of where one ends.
So here comes Henry McGee beginning as a temporary letter carrier at
the very bottom of the process and then working his way all the way to
the point of becoming postmaster of one of the largest postal
operations in America.
But then as my colleagues have already noted, not only did he excel
in terms of his chosen profession, but Henry McGee found the time while
operating the Chicago Postal Service to also be actively involved in
other civic and community affairs.
{time} 1715
In addition to those already having been mentioned, he was also
appointed by Mayor Daley to serve as a member of the Chicago Board of
Education. And during those years, serving as a member of the Chicago
Board of Education was kind of like being in the military. A board
member needed to get hazardous duty pay. And yet Henry McGee was able
to do all of that.
He was also a great churchman and was seriously involved in his
church and was consistently known as the guy who kept the records, who
always made sure that the money was handled properly and was accounted
for. Not only did he raise money, but he also accounted for money.
But then he lived to be 90 years old and to be actively engaged even
up to that point. People often talk about a lack of role models, a lack
of individuals in African-American communities
[[Page H5811]]
especially or minority communities in general. I think that young
people need not look any further than to look to the Henry McGees of
the world, a man who started at the bottom but rose to the top of his
profession and ended life as an outstanding and esteemed American.
Again, I certainly commend and thank my colleague, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Rush) for taking the time to recognize this great
American, and I certainly would urge that we all support this
legislation.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
thank once again my colleagues, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush)
in particular, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for bringing
the life and legacy of Mr. McGee forward to this House in this way.
I think that among the many, many pieces of legislation that we will
pass in this session naming post office facilities, this one is more
appropriate than most in the sense that this gentleman worked his
entire life in the postal service making sure that the mail,
notwithstanding the weather, was delivered and delivered accurately. He
is a gentleman who has a great and varied background, including his
work on the board of the children's literacy effort in Illinois, which
is something that I appreciate and admire him for.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
thank the ranking member for his efforts through this continuing labor
on behalf of the subcommittee. I understand he has to go off for other
business while we complete the final bill, but, as always, he has been
a leader and an engine of cooperation.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McHUGH. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. FATTAH. I would just advise my colleague that my daughter is in
my office, and I have been holding her up, so I am going to yield the
remainder of the time for another member of the committee to manage the
last remaining bill.
Mr. McHUGH. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that. We
always know, whether the gentleman is on the floor or somewhere else,
that he is working on all our behalves, and I mean that with all
sincerity.
Before I yield back, Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with
virtually all the speakers on the other side of the aisle. I think they
made very poignant, very appropriate comments about the appropriateness
of this particular bill.
As I tried to indicate in my opening remarks, this is a special bill,
amongst a series of special bills. This gentleman, through his efforts
in the postal service and this gentleman through his efforts in his
community, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) so aptly put it,
can indeed serve as a source of inspiration, of leadership far beyond
any minority community but across the wide horizon. He is the kind of
individual and gentleman to which all peoples, young and old alike, can
look to for real landmarks in how to guide and live their lives.
So this is a particularly fine bill, and I am proud to be here today
with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) and others who have made it
possible.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3909.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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