[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF THE OBAMA WAY COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2010

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the efforts of a 
remarkable group of citizens in my Central California district. They 
are gathering today to commemorate our nation's historic election, 
nearly two years ago, of its first African-American President. No 
American could remain unmoved by this great historic watershed. That is 
particularly true in the California Central Coast Community of Seaside.
  Seaside grew up as an Army town, the neighboring community to Fort 
Ord, one of the U.S. Army's largest training and operational bases for 
much of the 20th Century. That alone would have made Seaside much like 
any other Army town across the country--except that Fort Ord was the 
first Army facility to desegregate following President Truman's 1948 
executive order. So while the home states of many prominent Army bases 
remained gripped by segregation, Fort Ord and its surrounding 
communities became a magnet for African American soldiers to serve and 
later to retire. As Seaside's first lawyer, my father, the late State 
Senator Fred Farr, represented many soldiers who wanted to avoid 
reassignment to a southern state post because they had married a white 
or Asian woman during their time in the service and could not return to 
a State where that marriage was illegal.
  So the election of an African-American child of a mixed marriage 
holds a special symbolism for a community that grew out the same hard 
fought tradition of multi-racial tolerance. Which brings me to the 
efforts of this remarkable group of Seaside community members.
  Following the election, the idea arose that Seaside should rename one 
of its primary thoroughfares in honor of President Obama. An informal 
committee of volunteers took the idea and worked through the 
intricacies to municipal administration. A full name change posed 
significant challenges to the businesses and residents who had invested 
in the Street's traditional name. A compromise was reached. So this 
afternoon Seaside community members and elected leaders will gather to 
give Broadway Avenue the honorary designation of `Obama Way' in 
recognition of our Nation's historic election of its first African-
American President. To my knowledge this is one of the first such 
street designations in the United States in honor of the President, 
though I am confident that many more will follow.
  In closing, I formally recognize those leading citizens who played 
the central role in this small, but remarkable achievement. They 
include the Chairman of the Obama Way Committee LTC(R) Morris McDaniel, 
former Seaside Mayor Don Jordon, his wife Alice Jordon, former 
Councilmember and MPUSD Trustee Helen Rucker, the Rev. H.H. Lusk, 
Ruthie Watts, Kathy Badon, Sandra Lackey, Yolanda Grimble, and Carlos 
Ramos. Madam Speaker, I know that I speak for the whole House in 
commending them for their community service.

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