[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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