[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 115 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5725-H5726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FIRST LIEUTENANT OLIVER GOODALL POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1975) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 281 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California,
as the ``First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1975
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FIRST LIEUTENANT OLIVER GOODALL POST OFFICE
BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 281 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena,
California, shall be known and designated as the ``First
Lieutenant Oliver Goodall 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 ``First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post
Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma.
General Leave
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. LANKFORD. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1975, introduced by the gentleman from California
(Mr. Schiff), would designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 281 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California,
as the ``First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building.'' The
bill was introduced on May 24 and was reported out of the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform on June 22.
Oliver Goodall was born May 28, 1922. After the United States entered
World War II, he joined the United States Army Air Corps at Tuskegee,
Alabama, in February 1943. By 1944, he had earned the right to fly as a
multiengine pilot and was assigned to the 477th Bomber Group based at
Godman Field, Kentucky.
In 1945, First Lieutenant Goodall was among a group of African
American officers that were arrested for trying to peacefully integrate
an all-white officers' club. This event later came to be known as the
Freeman Field Mutiny. This act of courage was an essential step in the
movement towards the full integration of the U.S. Armed Forces, which
took place in June 1949.
Mr. Goodall moved to Los Angeles after World War II, where he began
his career as a postal service employee. After decades of service to
both his country and his community, Mr. Goodall was awarded the
Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Sadly, in November of last year, Mr.
Goodall passed away at 88 years old.
Mr. Speaker, First Lieutenant Goodall is a very worthy designee of
this postal facility naming, and I urge all Members to join me in
support of this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such
time as he may consume to the author of this measure, Representative
Adam Schiff from California.
Mr. SCHIFF. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to thank the
chair and ranking member for their support of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of the bill to
designate the U.S. Postal Service building located at 281 East Colorado
Boulevard in Pasadena, California, as the ``First Lieutenant Oliver
Goodall Post Office Building.'' Doing so will honor Mr. Goodall's
decades of service to the community and country as a Tuskegee Airman,
public information officer, and postal worker.
It's my pleasure to honor the contributions of an inspirational man
who answered his country's call to service in the face of immense
adversity.
Oliver Goodall and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen fought the injustice of
fascism abroad while combating racial segregation at home. The Tuskegee
Airmen enlisted as America's first African American military pilots at
a time when segregation infused both the armed services and much of the
country. The Tuskegee Airmen exhibited commendable spirit and will in
serving their country with extraordinary courage and sacrifice even as
their every achievement was met with criticism or obstruction.
In June 1941, the Tuskegee program officially began with the
formation of the 99th Fighter Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama. The first class graduated in 1942, and the program would
eventually graduate 994 pilots, many of whom would go on to serve with
valor in the war efforts in Europe.
Goodall entered the service at Tuskegee in February 1943. In October
1944, he graduated as a multiengine pilot and was assigned to the 477th
Bomber Group at Godman Field, Kentucky, in January 1945, where he
attained his first pilot's rating in 6 months.
Despite an excellent service record, including a Silver Star, 150
Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, and 744 Air Medals by
war's end, the Tuskegee Airmen faced rigid segregation on Air Force
bases. White and African American officers and enlisted men were
separated in almost all activities, including admittance into the
officers' club.
On April 5, 1945, at Freeman Airfield in Indiana where the 447th
Bomber Group was stationed, Oliver Goodall and 60 other African
American officers challenged the segregation of the officers' club,
brushing past the base provost marshal into the all-white officers'
club. All of the officers were arrested. Most were soon released. But
all of the African American officers on the base were ordered to sign
an order that indicated they understood the regulation that officially
barred them from the club and established a separate officers' club for
African Americans. Goodall and all but eight of the African American
officers on the base refused to sign the order and to enter the African
American officers' club. Asked why he refused to sign the order,
Goodall responded: Because it's just another form of segregation.
The officers that refused to sign the order were arrested again. They
were released on April 19, 1945. By then, news of the incident and the
dignity that Goodall and the other officers had displayed in entering
the whites-only officers' club and refusing to sign the order had
spread across the country.
{time} 1820
The ensuing protest compelled the War Department to establish the
McCloy Committee to investigate segregation in the Armed Forces. The
McCloy Committee played a critical role in the abolishment of
segregation in the military.
World War II ended in September 1945, and after the conclusion of the
war, Oliver Goodall moved to southern California and took a job with
the U.S. Postal Service where he worked until he retired. He was an
active member of the community, serving as fund-raising chairman of the
Tuskegee Airmen Foundation Scholarship Fund, which assists financially
disadvantaged and deserving students interested in the fields of
aviation, aerospace and science to achieve academic success. In 1961,
he bought a home in Altadena, where he lived until he passed away in
October of 2010.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1975 to designate the post
office as the ``First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building.''
This legislation is a small but fitting way to honor the legacy of
Oliver Goodall and of the other Tuskegee Airmen who bravely stood by
[[Page H5726]]
their country at a time when few would stand by them.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I want to thank the gentleman from California
for his introduction of this very thoughtful measure. I can't help but
recall the fact that I was given a Tuskegee Airmen jacket by the DODO
Club, the DODO Chapter in Chicago. I wear it whenever I get a chance in
honor of Lieutenant Goodall and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen.
I urge the passage of this measure, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, this is a worthy man to be able to honor--
a life that served many people and a life that stood up and made a real
difference, so I urge the Members to support the passage of H.R. 1975.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1975.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. LANKFORD. 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 of 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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