[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 136 (Tuesday, September 30, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H8981-H8982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               JUDGE EDWARD RODGERS POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 2075) to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 1905 West Blue Heron Boulevard in West Palm 
Beach, Florida, as the ``Judge Edward Rodgers Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2075

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

     SECTION 1. JUDGE EDWARD RODGERS POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1905 West Blue Heron Boulevard in West 
     Palm Beach, Florida, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Judge Edward Rodgers 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 Judge Edward Rodgers Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Watson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will defer to my friends on the other side of the 
aisle to speak on this worthwhile legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am representing the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Davis) as a member of the Committee on Government Reform, and I am 
pleased to join the gentleman in consideration of H.R. 2075, 
legislation naming a postal facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, after 
Judge Edward Rodgers.
  H.R. 2075 was sponsored by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) 
on May 13, 2003. The bill has met the Committee on Government Reform 
policy, and has been cosponsored by the entire Florida delegation.
  Edward Rodgers has lived in West Palm Beach since 1950 when he 
married West Palm Beach native Gwendolyn Baker. Mr. Rodgers began his 
career as a teacher, later becoming an assistant principal. In reaction 
to the injustices of teaching in a segregated society, Mr. Rodgers 
became an attorney, graduating from Florida A&M University Law School 
in 1963.
  He went on to become the first black county prosecutor and the first 
black judge in Palm Beach County. Judge Rodgers served on the bench for 
22 years before retiring in 1995. On his first run for office in 1999, 
Judge Rodgers won a seat on the Riviera Beach City Council, where he 
presently serves as council chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, Judge Rodgers has spent a lifetime working hard to 
assist those in need, championing the rights of those with drug 
addictions and those who are suffering from mental illness. Judge 
Rodgers has used his legal and judicial talent to improve his town, 
establishing a Saturday drug court, working as a mediator and court-
appointed special master in arbitration and investigating back-room 
judicial appointments. Passage of H.R. 2075 maintains our tradition of 
recognizing those very special and deserving individuals.
  I applaud our colleague for seeking to honor Judge Edward Rodgers in 
this manner, and I urge the swift passage of H.R. 2075.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings).
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding me this time, and I also thank the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for participating and allowing this to come to the 
floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2075, a bill to name the 
Riviera Beach U.S. Post Office in honor of Judge Edward Rodgers. Eddie 
was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to West Palm Beach, 
Florida, in 1950, where he met his bride and now-deceased wife, who was 
also a friend of mine.
  Although he studied political science as an undergraduate student, he 
became a teacher schooling soldiers at segregated Roosevelt High School 
in West Palm Beach. Before being promoted to assistant principal, Eddie 
found himself in the position of arguing before the school board for 
equal pay for black teachers, but support was not there. The tyranny of 
segregation at that time caused him to go to law school at Florida A&M 
University where I had the good fortune of meeting him and his wife and 
his children. They all came to law school together.
  The reason I know that story very well is I was in Judge Rodgers' 
class, one of six of us that graduated in that class from Florida A&M 
University. He went on to become Palm Beach County's first black 
prosecutor and then Palm Beach County's first black Court of Competent 
Jurisdiction judge. He would serve in the civil, criminal, and probate 
courts before retiring in 1995, after 22 remarkable years on the bench.
  His accomplishments are numerous, and I have outlined some of them 
which I will include for the Record. He retired in 1995 and then really 
did not retire because he went on to seek elected office in Riviera 
Beach and went to work to restore his hometown, which he loves so much, 
as president of the Riviera Beach City Council.
  Eddie Rodgers is a man that is known for his compassion, for his 
fairness, and his strength. He is a man that is respected and loved by 
his peers. In the entire community of Palm Beach, throughout the State 
of Florida, and this Nation, he finds himself a loved individual. I am 
honored to recognize a humanitarian activist, a former colleague, but 
most importantly, a great friend by naming the Riviera Beach Post 
Office in his honor. I obviously would urge the adoption of this bill. 
I

[[Page H8982]]

thank Members of the House of Representatives for participating and 
allowing this fine gentleman to be recognized. I wish him so many more 
honors because he is certainly deserving.
  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2075, a 
bill to name the Riviera Beach U.S. Post Office in honor of Judge 
Edward Rodgers.
  Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Edward Rodgers moved to West Palm 
Beach, Florida in 1950 after he met and married Palm Beach County 
native Gwendolyn Baker.
  Although he studied political science as an undergraduate student, he 
became a teacher, schooling soldiers at segregated Roosevelt High 
School before being promoted to assistant principal. Disturbed by the 
bureaucratic tyranny of teaching in the segregated South, Rodgers set 
his sight on becoming an attorney.
  He attended Florida A&M University Law School and along with myself, 
was one in a six-person class to graduate in 1963. Within 2 short 
years, Rodgers was appointed the first black county prosecutor in Palm 
Beach county, then the first black judge, and he would serve in civil, 
criminal, and probate courts before retiring in 1995 after 22 
remarkable years on the bench.
  His accomplishments are many. However, some of his career highlights 
include helping former Governor of Florida Lawton Chiles investigate 
allegations that the Palm Beach County's Judicial Nominating Commission 
made back-room judicial appointments. Establishing a Saturday drug 
court in Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, and Delray Beach to champion 
the rights of the mentally ill and drug addicted. Establishing the Gwen 
Baker Rodgers Memorial Fund to honor his late wife. Serving as 
Assistant State Attorney. And working as a mediator and a court-
appointed special master in arbitration cases.
  When he retired in 1995, Judge Edward Rodgers pledged to continue to 
work to restore his town. In fact on his first run for office in 1999, 
Rodgers won a seat on the Riviera Beach city council, where he 
presently serves as council chairman.
  Mr. Speaker Judge Rodgers is a man that is known for his compassion, 
fairness, and strength. He is a man that is respected and loved by his 
peers and within his community. I am honored to recognize a 
humanitarian, activist, former colleague, but most importantly a great 
friend through naming the Riviera Beach post office in his honor. I 
urge the adoption of the bill.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. 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. 2075.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Hastings) for having the House consider his bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2075.
  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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