[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 119 (Monday, July 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6203-H6205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MAJOR ROBERT ODELL OWENS POST OFFICE

  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5238) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New York, as the 
``Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5238

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

     SECTION 1. MAJOR ROBERT ODELL OWENS POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New 
     York, shall be known and designated as the ``Major Robert 
     Odell Owens 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 ``Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands

[[Page H6204]]

(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 today in support of H.R. 5238, a bill to name the 
post office at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New York, after 
Major Robert Odell Owens.
  Major Owens led a life of public service, beginning as a librarian at 
the Brooklyn Public Library. At around the same time, Owens became a 
member of the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, 
where he worked to fight racism and discrimination in New York City.
  From 1975 to 1982, Owens served as New York State senator. In 1982, 
Owens won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he went 
on to serve 24 years as a representative to the citizens of New York 
City.
  In Congress, Owens fought passionately for many causes, including 
education policy. He was active in the Congressional Black Caucus 
Education Brain Trust, promoting reading, science, and math education.
  This bill would honor Congressman Owens' service by naming a post 
office in Brooklyn in his name.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1530

  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. 5238, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New York, as the 
Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office.
  This is particularly important to me, as Congressman Owens was my 
Congressman as a child growing up, and Saint Johns Place was the street 
on which my mother lived when she came from the Virgin Islands to live 
in New York City.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Clarke), and from that great place called Brooklyn, 
to tell us more about Congressman Owens.
  Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the 
U.S. Virgin Islands and quasi-Brooklynite for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues' support for H.R. 
5238, the Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office designation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of a former colleague, a 
groundbreaking legislator, who is credited and lauded for being a 
forerunner of the progressive political movement in Brooklyn, New York, 
my predecessor, the Honorable Major Robert Odell Owens.
  Congressman Owens served in this body from 1983 to 2007, and he 
served in both Brooklyn's 12th and 11th Congressional Districts of New 
York. Congressman Owens still brings to memory for many the fond 
recollections of his groundbreaking legislative accomplishments as a 
senior, longstanding member of the Education and the Workforce 
Committee, and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mr. Owens spent 8 years in the New York State Senate before he was 
elected to serve in Brooklyn, New York's 12th Congressional District, a 
seat previously held by the Honorable Shirley Chisholm, his 
predecessor.
  Mr. Owens then went on to serve his community for over two decades. 
Through his committee work and work with the Congressional Black 
Caucus' Education Brain Trust, Major Owens became known as the 
Education Congressman, but he was also deemed with another moniker, the 
Rapping Rep, due to his ability to intertwine his political perspective 
into rhythmic poetry.
  Mr. Owens will always be remembered for the legislative victories he 
achieved on the Hill, and his spectacular fight, particularly for the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, for which he is credited with 
its passage.
  His accomplishments in Congress are vast, and many are stemmed from 
his lifelong passion for education, community development, and 
equality. Mr. Owens' passion for education began during his career in 
librarianship where he served as the community information librarian at 
the Brooklyn Public Library for a decade.
  His friends and fellow activists in the Brooklyn community note that 
Mr. Owens was known to place collections from the Brooklyn Public 
Library in local stores, restaurants, laundromats, and more because his 
passion lay within sharing knowledge and resources to those who may not 
have immediate access to it.
  Mr. Owens was one of the founders of the New York Social 
Responsibilities Roundtable which was an organization that is now a 
part of the New York Library Association. Their mission is to create a 
central position for libraries and librarians in the battle for civil 
rights, social justice, peace, and ever-improved public access to 
education and information.
  Congressman Owens' dynamic passions for public education, information 
sharing, equality, and civil rights became driving forces for him to 
run for Congress as a former head of the Congress of Racial Equality.
  His legacy in Brooklyn led him to become a continued featured speaker 
at the White House Conference on Library and Information Services, as 
well as a recipient of the American Library Association's highest 
honor: honorary membership.
  Fittingly nicknamed the Librarian in Congress, Mr. Owens was 
dedicated to helping communities of color receive access to information 
resources through local public libraries.
  Mr. Owens was a pillar within the United States Congress as an 
advocate for Americans with disabilities, social justice reform, 
library funding, education reform, as well as development in public 
schools and libraries to ensure that underserved communities did not 
lack access to information and education resources.
  As a young public servant myself, I was inspired by Mr. Owens' work 
with the disabilities activists who often visited his office and 
eventually provided testimony before Mr. Owens' House Subcommittee on 
Select Education where he fought to pass the Americans with 
Disabilities Act, the ADA.
  Today, Brooklynites benefit from public library resource initiatives 
because of his advocacy for funding. The ADA still stands as a law to 
prevent discrimination against Americans with disabilities, as it 
guarantees to create equal opportunity for the special needs community.
  To this day, my colleagues and I work to protect this law at all 
costs, thanks to Congressman Owens' dedication to ensure that this law 
was enacted. I am so proud to be his successor.
  H.R. 5238 would designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1234 Saint Johns Place in Brooklyn, New York, the 
Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office.
  Congressman Owens will always be remembered in the district that he 
represented, and I am extremely pleased that the House will consider 
this bill in honor of his rich legacy and contributions to our great 
Chamber.
  As I continue the distinct honor of representing the Ninth 
Congressional District of New York, I look forward to commemorating the 
life, memory, and integrity of our former House colleague, Congressman 
Major Robert Odell Owens, my trailblazing predecessor.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge passage 
of H.R. 5238, 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.
  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. 5238.
  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.

[[Page H6205]]

  

                          ____________________