[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 158 (Monday, September 14, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4359-H4360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REVEREND CURTIS WEST HARRIS POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3847) to designate the facility of 
the United States Postal Service located at 117 West Poythress Street 
in Hopewell, Virginia, as the ``Reverend Curtis West Harris Post Office 
Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3847

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

     SECTION 1. REVEREND CURTIS WEST HARRIS POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located 117 West Poythress Street in Hopewell, 
     Virginia, shall be known and designated as the ``Reverend 
     Curtis West Harris 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 ``Reverend Curtis West Harris Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Cloud) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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 this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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. 3847, to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located 
at 117 West Poythress Street in Hopewell, Virginia, as the ``Reverend 
Curtis West Harris Post Office Building''.
  Mr. Speaker, Reverend Curtis West Harris was born in Dendron, 
Virginia, on July 1, 1924. After graduating from high school and the 
Virginia Union University in Richmond, he worked at Allied Chemical.
  After an executive order was issued to prohibit discrimination at 
companies that received contracts from the Federal Government, Reverend 
Harris successfully sued Allied Chemical for violating the order.
  Reverend Harris continued the fight for social justice and would be 
arrested more than a dozen times for acts of peaceful protest and civil 
disobedience.
  In 1960, he joined the national board of the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference. He would eventually head its Virginia chapter 
for more than 30 years.
  Reverend Harris was one of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's top 
lieutenants, joining Dr. King's 54-mile march in 1965 from Selma to 
Montgomery. Reverend Harris continued to lead marches and engage in 
other forms of action for decades despite repeated threats against his 
life and his family.
  He later would be elected to the Hopewell City Council and became 
Hopewell's first Black mayor in 1998.
  Reverend Harris died on December 10, 2017, at the age of 93. He was 
buried in Appomattox Cemetery, the same cemetery he fought to integrate 
in 1960.
  Naming a post office after Reverend Curtis West Harris would 
celebrate the memory of a civil rights icon who fought throughout his 
life for social justice.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished Member from Virginia, 
Representative McEachin, for this legislation to honor a civil rights 
leader and hero.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3847, which would designate a 
Virginia Postal Service facility as the ``Reverend Curtis West Harris 
Post Office Building''.
  Reverend Harris was a native Virginian who attended the Carter G. 
Woodson High School and Virginia Union University. After college, 
Reverend Harris began to work at the Allied Chemical Plant in Hopewell, 
Virginia. He successfully sued Allied Chemical after an executive order 
that prohibited discrimination at companies that received government 
contracts. This began Reverend Harris' lifelong fight for social 
justice.
  In 1960, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail for staging a sit-in at 
a segregated drugstore. He also protested the segregation of Hopewell's 
cemetery and swimming pool. He joined the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference's national board and would eventually head up the Virginia 
chapter.
  During this time at SCLC, Reverend Harris became close to Reverend 
Dr. Martin Luther King and joined him on the 54-mile march from Selma 
to Montgomery.
  Reverend Harris was an influential and well-respected member of the 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of 
H.R. 3847, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1600

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3847.
  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 H4360]]

  

                          ____________________