[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 119 (Monday, July 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6202-H6203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WAYNE K. CURRY POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4890) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, as 
the ``Wayne K. Curry Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4890

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

     SECTION 1. WAYNE K. CURRY POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, 
     Maryland, shall be known and designated as the ``Wayne K. 
     Curry 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 ``Wayne K. Curry Post Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Ms. Plaskett) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALKER. Mr. 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 North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4890, a bill to name the post 
office at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, after Wayne K. 
Curry.
  Mr. Curry was born in Brooklyn in 1951, but grew up in Cheverly, 
Maryland. After graduating from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel 
College, Curry began working for Prince George's County while earning 
his law degree at night. In 1944, Wayne Curry ran and was elected to 
the position of county executive.
  Curry passed away from lung cancer on July 2, 2014, at the age of 63.
  He was a dedicated public servant, and we honor him today by naming a 
post office after him in the county in which he served.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H6203]]

  

  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of 
H.R. 4890 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, as the Wayne 
K. Curry Post Office Building.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Brown) to tell us more about Mr. Curry.
  Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the 
Virgin Islands for yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the committee for its 
consideration in support of H.R. 4890 as well as thank all the members 
of the Maryland delegation for their steadfast support.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4890, which designates the 
post office at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in 
Maryland's Fourth Congressional District the Wayne K. Curry Post Office 
in honor of our late county executive.
  Wayne Keith Curry was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in a 
racially segregated neighborhood in Cheverly, Maryland. His family was 
among the first non-White families to integrate the community in the 
early 1950s. He and his older brother were the first African American 
students to integrate Cheverly Tuxedo Elementary School and then 
Bladensburg High School.
  Wayne began his career in public service in the administration of 
Prince George's County Executive Winfield Kelly, Jr., from 1975 to 
1978. Through his vision, devotion, and tireless work ethic to make a 
better Prince George's County, he quickly rose through the ranks of 
county government.
  He went on to serve in various roles, including community affairs 
assistant, administrative assistant to the county's chief 
administrative officer, and senior assistant to the executive.
  Mr. Curry commuted nightly to Baltimore, eventually graduating with 
honors from the University of Maryland Law School, receiving his juris 
doctorate in 1980.
  From 1980 until 1983, Wayne worked as counsel for a large real estate 
development company in Prince George's County, and later decided to 
start his own law practice in 1984. During this time, he served as 
general counsel for Dimensions Health Corporation, among other high-
profile clients.
  Although he was a partner at a lucrative law firm, public service had 
a strong grasp on his heart. He served as chairman of the United Way 
Campaign of Prince George's County, president of the Prince George's 
County Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the School Superintendent's 
Advisory Committee on Black Male Achievement, and chairman of the 
Prince George's County Substance Abuse Advisory Board.
  When the opportunity presented itself, he ran for Prince George's 
County executive in 1994. Running as the underdog, he ultimately 
prevailed. He made history when he became the first African American to 
serve in the county's highest elected office.
  He brought a renewed vitality to the office and focused his 
administration on the economic empowerment of his constituents.
  The transformation of Prince George's Count reflected Wayne Curry's 
own life from a sleepy southern hollow that was rural and all White to 
a large African American majority and increasingly cosmopolitan.

  County Executive Curry presided over a period of unprecedented 
population growth, development, and modernization of Prince George's 
County and making it the national standard of African American success 
in local governance. Under Wayne's leadership, Prince George's County 
became the first county in our history where education and income 
levels rose as it transitioned from majority White to majority African 
American.
  His business-friendly approach led Prince George's County through a 
severe financial crisis, the end of court-mandated bussing, the 
construction of 26 new schools and a new stadium for the Washington 
Redskins.
  He saw the county go from a deficit of $108 million to enjoying a 
$120 million surplus, protecting the county's AAA bond rating.
  County Executive Wayne K. Curry passed away on July 2, 2014, at the 
age of 63 after losing his battle to lung cancer. He is survived by his 
wife, Sheila Curry; his son, Julian Curry; and daughter, Taylor Curry.
  Wayne Curry never sought to make history, but simply to serve the 
community and the people and to better their lives. He was always about 
the future and getting it right.
  Wayne K. Curry will live on through his historical impact on the 
people that I represent, and this bill will honor the vision, 
contribution, and legacy of the iconic Wayne K. Curry and will be a 
daily remainder in the heart of the county he cared so deeply about.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time.
  I urge passage of H.R. 4890, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
4890, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 9801 Apollo Drive in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, as 
the ``Wayne K. Curry Post Office Building.'' I thank my colleague from 
Maryland, Congressman Anthony Brown, for his leadership in introducing 
this bill, which I am proud to co-sponsor.
  Wayne Curry was an exceptional leader whose vision and commitment led 
to many of the groundbreaking developments that have helped make Prince 
George's County such a vibrant and dynamic county today. He was also a 
trailblazer committed to opening the doors of opportunity for African 
Americans in business and government.
  Mr. Curry was a graduate of Western Maryland College and of the 
University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore. He worked for many 
years in commercial real estate and then eventually led the Prince 
George's Chamber of Commerce. Early in his career, he served as an aide 
to former County Executive Winfield M. Kelly.
  Mr. Curry was elected the County Executive of Prince George's County 
in 1994--one of the first African Americans to be elected to lead a 
county in the nation--and was re-elected in 1998. As County Executive, 
he was a fierce advocate for Prince George's County and for its 
residents, and fought to increase funding for public schools, to ensure 
that economic development in the county benefited all residents, and to 
ensure that minority contractors had a fair chance to compete for 
government-funded contracts.
  The Washington Post wrote that Mr. Curry was ``A champion of black 
affluence'' who ``believed that economic power was the last milestone 
of the civil rights struggle.''
  We are blessed to have the memory and example of Wayne Curry to help 
lead us as we continue to fight to reach that last milestone and 
achieve the equality of economic opportunity that is essential to 
making the American dream a reality for minorities across this nation.
  I urge all Members to support H.R. 4890 and again thank Congressman 
Brown for his work on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4890.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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