[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H4000-H4001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1600
REVEREND ABE BROWN POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 3276) to designate the facility of the United States
Postal Service located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa,
Florida, as the ``Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3276
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REVEREND ABE BROWN POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa,
Florida, shall be known and designated as the ``Reverend Abe
Brown Post Office Building''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation,
document, paper, or other
[[Page H4001]]
record of the United States to the facility referred to in
subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the
``Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in 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 Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
H.R. 3276, introduced by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor),
would designate the facility of the United States Postal Service
located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the
Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building. This bill was introduced on
October 27, 2011, and reported from the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform with a favorable recommendation on February 7, 2012.
Reverend Brown served the Tampa Bay community for years. He was the
beloved pastor of the First Baptist Church of College Hill,
Hillsborough County public schools educator, football coach, dean of
the Chamberlain High School, and founder of Prison Crusade Ministries,
later renamed Abe Brown Ministries. He was the dean of students at
Chamberlain when Congresswoman Castor attended school there. Sadly,
Reverend Brown passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2010, at the age
of 83.
Reverend Abe Brown is a very worthy designee of this postal facility
naming, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I
am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 3276, a
bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service on
Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post
Office Building. This bill meets the requirements of our committee.
At this time, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. Castor) such time as she may consume.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from
Missouri and also my colleague from Texas. I rise in strong support
today of H.R. 3276, a bill to name the post office located at 2810 East
Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post
Office. I introduced this bill to honor the life and the
accomplishments of the late Reverend Abe Brown. Reverend Abe Brown was
an educator and a pastor, and he devoted his entire life to helping
others, whether it was in the classroom, in the guidance office, on the
football field, in church, or through his ongoing ministries.
Reverend Brown was a Tampa native. He was a 1946 graduate of the
great Middleton High School and a 1950 graduate of Florida A&M
University. He came home after he graduated from A&M and started work
at Hillsborough County public schools. He worked for the school
district for 38 years--as a teacher, coach, dean of students, and an
administrator.
As an educator and a coach, he promoted 16 athletes to professional
football. He loved football. These professional players attribute their
success in life and not just on the football field to the firm
foundation and inspirational teachings of their beloved Middleton High
School coach, Reverend Abe Brown.
I had the honor of attending Hillsborough's Chamberlain High School
when Reverend Brown served as the dean of students before he retired in
1988, and he was tough. He was tough on the outside, but inside he had
a heart of gold. Reverend Brown also served as the pastor for the First
Baptist Church of College Hill for many years.
His deep and abiding faith called him to found the Prison Crusade
Ministries, which was renamed the Reverend Abe Brown Ministries, Inc.,
a nonprofit organization that enables offenders, ex-offenders, their
families, and others at risk to achieve productive and spiritually
fulfilling lives. It has made a real difference throughout the Tampa
Bay area.
Reverend Brown continued his social outreach, and in 1991 he received
nationwide coverage and honor through an article in the Reader's Digest
regarding his active establishment and implementation of an effort to
stop drug street sales in Tampa's College Hill community.
Reverend Brown passed away in September 2010 after serving the Tampa
Bay area in many capacities for many years.
With the help of the East Tampa community, we fought to keep this
particular post office open last summer. It was considered for closure,
but it is a real focal point for the East Tampa community, and it is a
very busy branch. So I look forward to dedicating this station to
Reverend Abe Brown, as does our entire community. He was a role model
for young people and an inspiration for our entire community. He
selflessly devoted his life to others and, instead of abandoning those
who had lost their way, he worked tirelessly to help them get back on
track.
I thank the entire Florida delegation who sponsored this legislation
on a bipartisan basis, I thank the committee, the ranking member and
the chair, and I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3276 in honor of
Reverend Brown's selfless service to the Tampa Bay community.
Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, and I
ask that we pass the underlying bill without reservation to recognize
Reverend Abe Brown's contributions, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I was moved by the recollections of
the gentlelady from Florida of Reverend Abe Brown, and I am confident
that my colleagues will join me in supporting the bill, H.R. 3276,
renaming the post office at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa,
Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3276.
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. CLAY. Madam 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, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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