[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 165 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8310-H8311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HARRY T. AND HARRIETTE MOORE POST OFFICE

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 5446) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the ``Harry 
T. and Harriette Moore Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5446

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

     SECTION 1. HARRY T. AND HARRIETTE MOORE POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Harry T. and Harriette 
     Moore 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 ``Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post 
     Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CHU. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5446, a bill to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida 
Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post 
Office.
  H.R. 5446 was introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from 
Florida, Representative Bill Posey, on May 27, 2010.
  Mr. Speaker, Harry Tyson Moore was born in Houston, Florida, on 
November 18, 1905. He excelled in his schooling and graduated from 
Bethune-Cookman College in 1936. He soon after accepted a teaching 
position in a segregated school in Cocoa, Florida, and later became 
principal of the Titusville Colored School in Brevard County. There, he 
met Harriette Simms. The two married on Christmas Day, 1926, and had 
two daughters, Annie and Juanita.
  After the birth of their two daughters, Harry and Harriette Moore 
founded the first branch of the NAACP in Brevard County, Florida, in 
1934. They also helped the Florida State Conference of the NAACP in 
1941, and Harry Moore took an unpaid position as its secretary.
  The Moores led a successful effort to advance civil rights. In 1937, 
Harry Moore filed the first lawsuit in the Deep South to equalize 
salaries of black teachers with white teachers in public schools. This 
effort failed at first, but it laid the foundation for other lawsuits 
that succeeded.
  In 1943, Moore began reviewing every incident of lynching involving 
black people in the State of Florida, taking affidavits from victims' 
families and launching investigations. He pursued this effort for the 
rest of his life.
  In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Allwright that all-white 
primaries in Texas and other States were unconstitutional, a major 
victory for the NAACP. Moore then organized a group called the 
Progressive Voters League and spent 6 years registering over 116,000 
black voters in the Florida Democratic Party. This activism led the 
Florida public school system to fire and blacklist the Moores in 1946, 
after which Harry Moore became a full-time paid activist for the 
Florida NAACP.
  In July 1949, he got involved in a police brutality case in 
Groveland, Florida, where he uncovered evidence that four black men 
accused of rape had been beaten. Moore leveled brutality charges 
against Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall. Three of the defendants were 
convicted in 1949, but two of the convictions were overturned by the 
U.S. Supreme Court. Lake County prepared to put the two on trial again, 
and on November 6, 1951, while Sheriff McCall drove them back to Lake 
County for a pretrial hearing, he shot the two handcuffed men, killing 
one and critically wounding the second. Moore immediately called for 
Sheriff McCall to be suspended and indicted for murder.
  Six weeks later, on Christmas Day, 1951, Harry Moore was killed when 
a bomb exploded beneath the floor joists under his bed. Harriette died 
of her injuries 9 days later. Harry Moore was the first NAACP official 
murdered in the civil rights struggle, and Harry and Harriette Moore 
remain the only married couple to be murdered for their activism in the 
era. The FBI was unable to file charges due to a lack of evidence, but 
it was suspected to be the work of central Florida members of the Ku 
Klux Klan.
  Harry Moore has been called the first martyr of the 1950s civil 
rights movement. The Moores' murder sent a shock around the country and 
around the world, drawing attention to the movement.
  Mr. Speaker, the extensive efforts of the Moores during the civil 
rights movement is worthy of our greatest praise. Let us now pay 
tribute to the life and work of Harry T. and Harriette Moore by 
designating the postal facility on Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, in 
their honor. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 5446.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, let me simply say the majority has done a 
wonderful and thorough job of describing the justification for this 
bill. I commend Mr. Posey, our colleague from Florida, for introducing 
this bill and urge support of this bill.
  Mr. POSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of 
legislation I introduced earlier this year (H.R. 5446) to name the U.S. 
Post Office in Cocoa, Florida in honor of Harry T. and Harriette Moore.
  Harry T. Moore and his wife Harriette Moore served as pioneer 
trailblazers of the modern civil rights movement, propelling the 
struggle for justice and equality far beyond the borders of their home 
in Brevard County, Florida. Remembered for their dignity, compassion, 
and emphasis on education, Mr. and Mrs. Moore left a legacy that 
remains close to the hearts of community members; one that is sure to 
outlast the lengths of their lives that were so tragically cut short.
  Harry began his first job as an elementary teacher at Monroe 
Elementary School in Cocoa, Florida in 1925. It is only fitting that 
the Post Office in the community where he began his service to this 
community bear his name. Two years later, Harry began a decade of 
service as a High School Principal in Titusville. Then, from 1936-1946 
he served as Principal and Fifth and Sixth Grade teacher in Mims.
  The couple first met in Brevard County when Harry was serving as a 
principal in Titusville and Harriette was an elementary school teacher. 
They were married on Christmas Day in 1926. They were blessed with two 
daughters and they committed the duration of

[[Page H8311]]

their lives to the pursuit of civil justice for African Americans.
  In 1934, the Moores founded the Brevard County Chapter of the NAACP, 
which led to a Statewide NAACP Conference in 1941. Mr. Moore served as 
the President of the Florida State Conference of NAACP chapters, as 
well as the founder and Executive Director of the Progressive Voters 
League. It was through these channels that the Moores propelled 
progress on such issues as equality, education, and voter registration. 
Their steadfast adherence to equality was not without a price, however, 
as both Mr. and Mrs. Moore were fired from their teaching jobs and 
found it difficult to find employment due to their activism. To 
proclaim them pillars of the community would be an understatement.
  As the couple also celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on 
Christmas Eve, 1951, a bomb exploded beneath their home. Mr. Moore died 
on the way to the hospital, and Mrs. Moore died as a result of her 
injuries 9 days later. The tragic murder, which cut short the lives of 
this heroic couple, sparked an even more resounding outcry for civil 
rights.
  Having recognized the profound impact the Moores made on the 
community, Brevard County has since honored them by designating their 
homesite a Florida Historical Heritage Landmark, creating the Harry T. 
and Harriette Moore Memorial Park and Interpretive Center, and naming 
its Justice Center after the trailblazing couple. Additionally, the 
NAACP posthumously awarded Mr. Moore the Spingarn Medal for outstanding 
achievement by an African American. Both of these fine citizens 
undoubtedly touched the lives of others with the dedication, integrity, 
persistence, compassion, and commitment each of them so courageously 
demonstrated.
  Approving H.R. 5446 will further honor the achievements and 
sacrifices of Harry T. and Harriette Moore, the leaders and first 
martyrs of our Nation's modern civil rights era. By designating the 
United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, 
Florida as the ``Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office'', we will 
commemorate the Moores' legacy in a town where Mr. Moore began his 
service to others. This will serve as a reminder to this community of 
the important and lasting contribution the Moore's made to Cocoa and 
the Nation. I urge my colleagues to support me on this measure.
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5446.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of XX and the Chair's 
prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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