[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H9522-H9524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ROBERTO CLEMENTE POST OFFICE

  Mrs. MORELLA. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4831) to redesignate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 2339 North California Street in Chicago, 
Illinois, as the ``Roberto Clemente Post Office,'' as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4831

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

     SECTION 1. ROBERTO CLEMENTE POST OFFICE.

       (a) Redesignation.--The facility of the United States 
     Postal Service located at 2339 North California Avenue in 
     Chicago, Illinois, and known as the Logan Square Post Office, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Roberto Clemente Post 
     Office''.
       (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 Roberto Clemente Post Office.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Maryland (Mrs. Morella) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. MORELLA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 4831, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, the bill before us, H.R. 4831, was introduced by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) on July 12 and amended by the 
Committee on Government Reform on October 5. The amendment simply 
changes the word ``Street'' to ``Avenue'' as determined after review by 
the United States Postal Service.
  H.R. 4831, as amended, designates the post office located at 2339 
North California Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, presently known as the 
Logan Square Post Office as the Roberto Clemente Post Office. Each 
member of the House delegation from the State of Illinois has 
cosponsored this legislation pursuant to the policy of the Committee on 
Government Reform.

                              {time}  1500

  Roberto Clemente was born in 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the son 
of a foreman of a sugar cane plantation and grocery store operator. He 
played softball as a youngster, and then he played with the 
professional major league caliber team until 1953 when his .356 batting 
average came to the attention of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
  The Dodgers gave Roberto a bonus and sent him to the Montreal Royals, 
ordering that he should not be played lest another team draft him. He 
was, however, drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates after an observant 
Pirate scout spotted him.
  Roberto Clemente played for several years as their star outfielder 
until 1972 when he met his untimely and tragic death when he was only 
38 years old. He was thought by many as the greatest and most complete 
player, but he was also the victim of dual discrimination for being 
black and Hispanic.
  Now, 28 years after the fatal plane crash while on a mission of mercy 
taking humanitarian supplies to the victims of an earthquake in 
Nicaragua, he is no longer the invisible player.
  Roberto Clemente led the Pirates to World Series victories in 1960 
and 1971. He was the National League batting champion in 1961, 1964, 
1965, and 1967. He was ordered 12 gold gloves. He established a major 
league record by leading the National League in assists five times. He 
was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, the first 
Latin player to be so honored.
  Roberto Clemente may not have been a resident of Chicago, but this 
citizen of the world is recognized by the Nation, and he is recognized 
by all lovers of the sport of baseball as a great athlete, 
humanitarian, and a role model.
  I urge all of our colleagues to support H.R. 4831, naming a Post 
Office in Chicago after this hero.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4831, to redesignate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 2339 North California Street in 
Chicago, Illinois, as the ``Roberto Clemente Post Office'' was 
introduced by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), my 
distinguished colleague and good friend, on July 12, 2000.
  The bill was amended on October 5, 2000 in the Committee on 
Government Reform to change the address designation from California 
Street to California Avenue.
  Mr. Roberto Walker Clemente was born in 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico 
and rose from an impoverished background in his hometown to become the 
star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972. He helped 
the Pirates win two World Series in 1960 and 1971.
  Mr. Clemente was a four-time National League batting champion, was 
awarded 12 gold gloves, and was one of only 16 players to have 3,000 or 
more hits during their career.
  Mr. Roberto Clemente, a victim of dual discrimination for being black 
and Hispanic, died in 1972 in a plane crash delivering relief supplies 
to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. This proud son of Puerto Rico 
was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 
Cooperstown.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for this measure, and I ask, Mr. 
Speaker, that we recognize the fact that Roberto Clemente was, not only 
a great baseball player, but he was a great role model and a great 
humanitarian.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I have no other requests to participate, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 10 minutes to 
the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) who is the 
sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to do my share of duty to history. 
Today I rise to celebrate the life of Roberto Clemente and to recognize 
his

[[Page H9523]]

enormous contributions to humankind. I am very honored to do so. In 
this particular case, I respectfully think that I contribute, however 
humbly, to add to the prestige of this House. This is the people's 
House. Today I rise to pay very deserving tribute to a hero of the 
people.
  As a son of Puerto Rican parents, I pay homage to who was, perhaps, 
the favorite son of Puerto Rico. In doing so, I feel doubly proud. 
Today I feel prouder than ever of being a Member of this august body, a 
body that in recognizing the greatness of this champion elevates its 
own.
  As a Puerto Rican myself, my heart fills with joy knowing of the 
effect this humble action of ours here today will have in the minds and 
the souls of hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico and Hispanic youth in 
my district in Chicago, throughout the country, and in Puerto Rico.
  Much is made from rags to riches stories. In this case, it is 
different. Because, in achieving what the former Commissioner of 
Baseball, Mr. Bowie Kuhn, called ``the touch of royalty,'' Roberto 
Clemente enriched us all.
  Roberto was the son of a cane sugar worker, Melchor Clemente, and his 
mother, Luisa Walker. He was the youngest of seven children. He was 
born in the municipality of Carolina, Puerto Rico, in Barrio San Anton. 
As my friend, the Honorable Jose Aponte, Mayor of Carolina, is fond of 
saying, Carolina greets most visitors to Puerto Rico, because that is 
where the international airport lies. Carolina has beautiful rolling 
hills that lead to El Yunque, the mountain where our Taino Indians 
believed to be home to the Supreme Creator, Yukiyu.
  Roberto Clemente was born in the midst of the depression of the 
1930s, but was raised by a family full of love and with the best of the 
Puerto Rican traditions of respect and civility.
  Cane sugar workers in Puerto Rico lived a very humble life and a life 
of poverty. Roberto began playing baseball like many of his 
contemporaries did, doing batting practice with a broken broomstick 
hitting bottle caps. He said that, after swinging hundreds of times at 
bottle caps, a baseball looked as big as a coconut.
  Roberto made by hand the first baseball he ever owned, using a 
discarded golf ball as its core and many layers of string from burlap 
dried beans and rice bags, finally covered with tape.
  From a skinny, smallish boy, Roberto grew to become a superb athlete, 
demonstrating with hard work and dedication what one can achieve.
  Unlike Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente was not the first one of his 
race to break into the majors. Unlike Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente 
faced a double kind of discrimination, as he was both black and Puerto 
Rican. Unlike Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente faced also a language 
and cultural barrier.
  But Mr. Speaker, Roberto Clemente was like his people. Puerto Ricans, 
like their Latino brothers and sisters, are hard working, proud, and 
dignified. Despite centuries of colonialism, Puerto Ricans continue to 
search for a solution to their colonial situation. As they struggle 
with the scourge, they have continued to create and develop, working 
hard to improve both their island and communities where they migrated 
to and reside in the United States, communities like mine in Chicago, 
where we will now have the honor of naming a Post Office after Roberto 
Clemente.
  After a short stint in Montreal, Clemente was traded in 1955 to the 
Pittsburgh Pirates where he would end his glorious career. The team 
rebuilt around him, and he led it to contend for the pennant in 1958 
and to the world championship in 1960.
  Unfortunately, after a season in which he hit .314 and drove in a 
club leading 94 runs, he finished behind three white teammates and 
others in the vote for most valuable player.
  Undeterred, Roberto Clemente went on to compile one of the brightest 
lifetime records in Major League Baseball: four batting titles, Most 
Valuable Player in 1966, 12 Golden Gloves, 14 appearances in the All 
Star Games, a National League record of five consecutive seasons 
leading in outfield assists, and a lifetime batting average of .317.
  In the 1971 World Series, when he again led his team to the World 
Championship, Roberto Clemente hit .414 and two home runs, including 
the winning blow in game seven and made two extraordinary catches. For 
his performance, he was awarded the World Series Most Valuable Player 
award.
  Next year in 1972, as if to say good-bye to all the children and 
admirers the world over, Roberto Clemente became the 11th player in the 
history of organized baseball to reach the 3,000 hit mark.
  Benjamin Franklin said, ``There was never yet a truly great man that 
was not at the same time truly virtuous.'' Those wise words from one of 
the wisest of our Founding Fathers never rang so true as when spoken 
about Roberto Clemente. For today, and forever, we will remember 
Roberto Clemente as much for what he accomplished in the playing field 
as for what he accomplished outside of it.

  Roberto Clemente became a symbol to Puerto Rican, Hispanic and 
minority youth, actually to all youth. He was the essence of a success 
story, yet he was always a true gentleman, a caring father, a devoted 
husband, and someone dedicated to uplifting all around him. He never 
forgot whence he came from. He devoted countless hours to youth, 
especially poor youth.
  We can have a real measure of a man, not only by the way he lives, 
but also by the way he dies.
  The end came to Roberto Clemente in such a way that he is now 
enshrined forever in the hearts of all Hispanics along with Simon 
Bolivar, Jose Marti, and Cesar Chavez.
  After a devastating earthquake virtually destroyed Managua, 
Nicaragua, Roberto Clemente became the leader of the aid efforts to 
Managua. After reports reached him that the first supplies that landed 
in Nicaragua had been grafted by the members of a corrupt military, 
Roberto Clemente decided, against all advice, to fly with the next 
airplane load of supplies to ensure that they would reach the poor and 
needy of Nicaragua.
  He could have sent a check. He could have sent the supplies, but he 
wanted to make sure. This baseball player got on the plane. I wonder 
how many of us would get on a similar airplane.
  As people were partying the arrival of the new year, Roberto Clemente 
died when his plane went down in 120 feet of water just north of the 
same international airport of his hometown of Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, there has been countless acts that seek to justly 
recognize the great man that was Roberto Clemente. Among them, let me 
cite a few. In 1973, Major League Baseball made an exception to the 5-
year rule and accepted Roberto Clemente into the Hall of Fame, roughly 
a year after he played his last year in the majors. It was, I believe, 
most fitting for the greatest of Latino players to become the first 
Hispanic player ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
  In 1973, Major League Baseball renamed its award that recognizes the 
player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, 
community involvement and the individual's contributions to his team, 
formerly the ``Commissioner's Award'' to the Roberto Clemente Award.
  But Roberto Clemente is honored every day, in song, in poetry and in 
actions that emulate his own by young and old alike in Puerto Rico, in 
Chicago, in Pittsburgh, and everywhere. Everywhere there are Hispanic 
or lovers of baseball or good people who admire a deed of sacrifice and 
love, there is a school or a baseball park or a road bearing the name 
of this true hero of the people.
  The U.S. Postal Service issued the first Roberto Clemente stamp in 
1984 and recently featured Roberto Clemente as part of its Legends of 
Baseball Series issued in Atlanta on July 6, 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, in voting for H.R. 4831, this House is joining with 
millions of Latinos and sports fans everywhere to pay dual tribute to 
Roberto Clemente.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Gutierrez) for introducing this bill to name the post office and also 
for his very eloquent statement about Roberto Clemente.
  In my jurisdiction, also, there is a school named for Roberto 
Clemente. He is a great role model for the youngsters of that school to 
learn something about his sacrifice.

[[Page H9524]]

  Character does count, respect for the truth, respect for hard work, 
respect for each other. He demonstrated that as a role model. So I 
thank him. I thank the members of the Committee on Government Reform 
and the Subcommittee on Postal Service for bringing this bill out on 
the floor of the House. So I ask people to vote for it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time we have 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gibbons). The gentleman Maryland (Mr. 
Cummings) has 8 minutes remaining.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, as I listened to the distinguished gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), I could not help, Mr. Speaker, but think 
about my own life in South Baltimore and watching Roberto Clemente on 
television.
  I just want the gentleman from Illinois to know, Mr. Speaker, that he 
is absolutely right. Roberto Clemente was more than a hero to just the 
Puerto Rican community or Hispanic community, but he was a hero to all 
of us. When we look at what he accomplished in his life, he not only 
touched the Hispanic and Puerto Rican community, but he touched the 
world. He touched the world in a way that we could probably never do 
right by in these proceedings.

                              {time}  1515

  Last but not least, I was also very moved, Mr. Speaker, by the 
comments of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), when he talked 
about the naming of a post office so that the children could have an 
opportunity to see that name on that post office. Many, many years from 
now, when that post office stands and that name is up there, it may be 
so long from now that somebody may say, well, who was that. The fact is 
that somebody will know who he was and will know that he came upon this 
Earth, he saw it, he looked and said, I can make a difference by simply 
being the best that I can be, working hard, and giving to mankind.
  Mr. Speaker, I applaud the gentleman for this bill. I want to thank 
the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) and the entire committee 
for making sure this bill got to the floor, and I urge all my 
colleagues to vote in favor of it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gibbons). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4831, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
redesignate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 
2339 North California Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, as the `Roberto 
Clemente Post Office'.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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