[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 11, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H5811-H5812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SAMUEL H. LACY, SR. POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4447) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 919 West 34th Street in Baltimore, Maryland, as the 
``Samuel H. Lacy, Sr. Post Office Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4447

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SAMUEL H. LACY, SR. POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 919 West 34th Street in Baltimore, 
     Maryland, shall be known and designated as the ``Samuel H. 
     Lacy, Sr. 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 ``Samuel H. Lacy, Sr. Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. McHugh) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 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. 4447.
  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, this final bill, regardless of its sequence in the 
legislative calendar, is certainly equal to the high standards that 
have been set not just here today on the floor but I think historically 
through this Congress with respect to postal namings.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for 
working so hard to bring this very meritorious piece of legislation 
before us. As the Clerk said, it does seek to designate the United 
States Post Office facility located at 919 West 34th Street in 
Baltimore, Maryland, as the Samuel H. Lacy, Sr. Post Office. And as was 
true with the previous three initiatives, Mr. Speaker, each Member here 
too of the House delegation from the great State of Maryland has joined 
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) in cosponsoring this bill.
  All of us who come to this floor find ourselves laboring beneath a 
podium that is suspended above the House here that is the place put 
aside to seat the members of the various media. And, indeed, those of 
us who have the honor of serving this House and in government and 
politics sometimes find ourselves in an interesting love-hate 
relationship with many members of the media. But I think it is fair to 
say for all of us that, at the end of the day, despite our occasional 
disagreements, those of us in public office have a great deal of 
respect, a great deal of admiration for those who serve in that 
capacity of keeping the people of this country informed. Certainly our 
Constitution, our Founding Fathers and founding mothers, understood the 
importance of a free press and an active press, and one that was never 
afraid, never too shy to come forward and to report the facts and the 
truth as they saw it.
  My understanding of Mr. Lacy is that he has dedicated his life to 
that kind of effort. And, in fact, he has accrued some 60 years in 
journalism, working in radio, television, and the print media. He was a 
renowned sportswriter and editor for the Baltimore Afro-American 
Newspaper, starting back in 1944. And, in fact, even to this day he 
still resides in the great city of Baltimore and still works in 
journalism, adding each and every hour of each and every day to that 
fine list of achievements.
  So we have, I think, a very fitting finale to our four-bill calendar 
today, seeking to honor this gentleman who has served in the media, 
fulfilled that solemn commitment that is embodied in our Constitution 
of a free and unfettered press, in defense of the first amendment and 
freedom of speech. So I want to again thank the gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Cummings) for his initiative, and certainly urge all our Members 
and colleagues to support this very worthy bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to thank the chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
McHugh), and the ranking member, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.

[[Page H5812]]

Fattah), of the Subcommittee on Postal Service of the Committee on 
Government Reform for their support in bringing this bill to the floor 
today. I believe that persons who have made meaningful contributions to 
society should not only be recognized but memorialized.
  The naming of a postal building in one's honor is truly a salute to 
the accomplishments and public service of an individual. H.R. 4447 
designates the United States Postal Service building located at 919 
West 34th Street, Baltimore, Maryland, as the Samuel H. Lacy, Sr. Post 
Office Building.
  I am pleased to be able to speak today about my constituent, Mr. 
Lacy, a true trailblazer and hometown hero in Baltimore's African-
American community, this country, and the world. Mr. Lacy has served 
since 1944 to the present in one of the greatest African-American 
institutions in the world, the Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper. The 
Afro, as it is called, is one of the oldest black-owned and operated 
weekly newspapers in the country.
  During World War II, the Afro and other black press documented the 
heroism of our soldiers, sailors and airmen; valor that the majority 
press largely ignored. Then, during the Red Scares of the 1950s, 
newspapers like the Afro were forced to struggle against both financial 
pressure and attacks by the agents of the McCarthy era. The black press 
exposed the brutal face of Jim Crow and the fundamental unfairness of 
segregation. Before Selma and Birmingham, they helped to provide the 
social and intellectual foundations for protests in the movement toward 
civil rights.
  In the words of ``Soldiers Without Swords,'' Stanley Nelson's 1998 
documentary for PBS, the black press ``gave a voice to the voiceless.'' 
They gave us the news we needed to know when no one else would declare 
the truth about our lives. For families like my own, new to Baltimore 
from the fields of South Carolina, the Afro-American Newspaper offered 
us the vision of a powerful business owned and controlled by black men 
and women of intellect, education, and courage.
  Samuel Lacy is a part of that legacy. He has been a renowned 
sportswriter and editor for the Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper since 
1944. He has worked for 60 years, over half a century, in journalism, 
working with radio, television, and the print media. And as the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) said, he is still working at 96.
  As a sportswriter, he conducted interviews with many great sports 
figures. However, his unique position as an African-American writer 
provided for insightful behind-the-scenes stories about Jackie Robinson 
and other great black sportsmen, unfortunately, because they were often 
relegated to the same segregated accommodations. Lacy's earnest prose 
during these times played an important part in the effort to 
desegregate major league baseball. His contributions led to his 
induction into the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
  He also served as a sports commentator for WBAL TV in Baltimore and a 
sports and managing editor for the Washington Tribune, even covering 
six Olympic games, including Los Angeles. To this day, at the age of 
96, he continues to write a weekly column for the Afro.
  Mohammed Ali, the greatest boxer of all times, once said that, and I 
quote, ``Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on 
earth.'' Samuel Lacy, as a man and as a member of the African-American 
press, has paid his rent over and over and over again. As such, I urge 
my colleagues to support this postal naming bill that salutes a person 
from my district who has spent his life giving service to others and 
giving life to life.
  Just this weekend, I was with Mr. Lacy at a funeral of John Oliver, 
Sr., the editor of the Afro-American, who had served for over 47 years.

                              {time}  1730

  When Mr. Lacy got up to speak, he talked about how Mr. Oliver had 
contributed so much to the lives of others. What he did not say and 
would have been appropriate at that moment to say was that he and Mr. 
Oliver and many others provided a newspaper so that young boys and 
girls of African-American descent could look up to them and know that 
they were going somewhere, that they presented an image, that they 
presented a business, a family-owned business, that they presented a 
legacy by which many of us could follow.
  Again, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) so much for 
bringing this bill to the floor. I want to thank the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Burton), who was very instrumental, and certainly the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the ranking member, and the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking member of the 
subcommittee. I know for a fact that Mr. Lacy is looking on, and I know 
that this act today will not only touch his life but will touch the 
lives of his family and his friends.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me express my appreciation again to the gentleman from Maryland 
for his efforts on this bill but also for his very gracious comments 
and for his words of thanks; but with all due respect, I would suggest 
that it is all of us that owe the thanks to the gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Cummings) for his efforts in bringing to us an individual who as 
he so eloquently stated has done so much and contributed so many times 
including this very moment. We look forward to many days ahead of 
additional sacrifice and additional achievement on behalf of this very 
worthy gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of our colleagues to join us in supporting 
this bill.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4447, which designates a U.S. post 
office located at 919 West 34th Street in Baltimore, Maryland after 
``Samuel H. Lacy, Sr.'' was introduced by Congressman Elijah Cummings 
on May 17, 2000.
  Samuel H. Lacy, Sr., is a renowned sports writer and editor for the 
Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper, a position he has held since 1944. 
He has spent 60 years in journalism, working in radio, television, and 
print media.
  At 96 years young, Mr. Lacy still authors a weekly column for the 
Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper. He has served as a Sports 
Commentator for WBAL-TV in Baltimore and a Sports and Managing editor 
for the Washington Tribune. Mr. Lacy has covered six Olympic Games, 
including the games in Los Angeles and is most proud of receiving the 
Frederick Douglass Award for excellence in journalism.
  Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in expressing support for H.R. 
4447, which would name a post office after a truly talented and 
dedicated man, Mr. Lacy. I urge swift passage of this bill.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, 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. 4447.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8, rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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