[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 36 (Monday, February 28, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1169-H1170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1630
                INDIANA HUNT-MARTIN POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2142) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 170 Manhattan Avenue in Buffalo, New York, as the 
``Indiana Hunt-Martin Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2142

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

     SECTION 1. INDIANA HUNT-MARTIN POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 170 Manhattan Avenue in Buffalo, New York, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Indiana Hunt-Martin 
     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 ``Indiana Hunt-Martin Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Donalds) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
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 the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2142, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 170 Manhattan 
Avenue in Buffalo, New York, as the Indiana Hunt-Martin Post Office 
Building.
  Mrs. Indiana Hunt-Martin was born on May 30, 1922, in Georgia. Her 
family moved to western New York when she was in elementary school, and 
she was one of only two Black students in her high school class.
  She aspired to a business career but faced limited opportunities and 
had to take jobs picking peaches and cleaning restrooms at a TNT 
factory.
  In 1944, Mrs. Hunt-Martin joined the newly formed Women's Army Corps. 
The Women's Army Corps had more than 800 Black female soldiers serving 
in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the Six 
Triple Eight. The Six Triple Eight was the only all-African-American 
Women's Army Corps.
  Mrs. Hunt-Martin was one of the original 500 African-American female 
soldiers who were chosen to sail across the Atlantic. The soldiers 
feared they would not make it alive because they were being chased by a 
German U-boat. Fortunately, they arrived safely in Liverpool, England.
  In England, the soldiers were assigned to horrific conditions, 
staying in dilapidated schools infested with rats and parasites. 
Regardless of the conditions, the Six Triple Eight cleared a backlog of 
more than 17 million pieces of mail and packages in only 3 months.
  They were then relocated to Rouen and Paris, France, where they 
continued adhering to their motto, ``No mail, low morale.''
  In February 1946, the Six Triple Eight returned to a segregated 
United States. The unit received honorable discharges when they were 
disbanded but no recognition of their accomplishments.
  Mrs. Hunt-Martin went on to have a distinguished career at the New 
York Department of Labor, working there for 41 years and retiring in 
1987.
  She met her husband at the New York Department of Labor, with whom 
she had a loving daughter, Janice Martin.
  Throughout the years, Mrs. Hunt-Martin was an active life member of 
several veterans organizations and mentored young African-American 
women who chose to serve in the military.
  She was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame and 
received several service medals.
  Mrs. Hunt-Martin passed away peacefully on September 21, 2020, at the 
age of 98.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in honoring this American 
hero by naming the post office at 170 Manhattan Avenue as the Indiana 
Hunt-Martin Post Office Building.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DONALDS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would name a 
post office in New York after Indiana Hunt-Martin.
  Mrs. Hunt-Martin was born in Uvalda, Georgia, during a time when 
opportunities for Black Americans were very limited. Her family moved 
to western New York, where she was one of two Black students at Niagara 
Falls High School.
  In 1944, Mrs. Hunt-Martin joined the only all-African-American 
Women's Army Corps, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, 
known as the Six Triple Eight.
  She was then chosen to serve overseas in England, where she worked 
with fellow soldiers under harsh and challenging workspace conditions.
  In only 3 months, they cleared a 2-year backlog of mail destined for 
nearly 7 million members of the United States military and others 
serving in the European theater. This was certainly an important 
contribution to

[[Page H1170]]

the war effort, which the Six Triple Eight recognized with the motto: 
``No mail, low morale.''
  In 1946, Mrs. Hunt-Martin returned to the United States and received 
an honorable discharge. She then worked at the United States Department 
of Labor for 41 years. During this service, she met her husband and had 
a daughter, Janice Martin.

  After her service to the Nation, Mrs. Hunt-Martin became an active 
member of several veterans organizations and mentored young Black women 
who served in the military.
  Sadly, on September 21, 2020, Indiana Hunt-Martin passed away.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this bill to honor Indiana Hunt-
Martin's exemplary life of service.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Higgins), the author of this important bill.
  Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 2142, legislation designating the Central Park Post Office in 
Buffalo, New York, as the Indiana Hunt-Martin Post Office Building.
  It is fitting that consideration of this bill celebrating the life 
and service of an American trailblazer take place today during Black 
History month and upon Women's History Month.
  Born in 1922, Indiana Hunt-Martin moved to Niagara Falls as a child 
and graduated from Niagara Falls High School before joining the Women's 
Army Corps in 1944.
  Following enlistment, she traveled by railroad to Fort Oglethorpe in 
Georgia, where she underwent training.
  She recalled encounters with segregation as she traveled south: a 
train stop in Washington, D.C., where passengers were separated into 
railcars based on race; separate restrooms and drinking fountains; and 
fellow military members getting in trouble for refusing to sit in the 
back of the bus.
  Indiana Hunt-Martin was a member of the Six Triple Eight Central 
Postal Directory Battalion within the Women's Army Corps, the first 
Black female battalion and the only all-women battalion to be deployed 
overseas.
  The unit sorted and redirected millions of backlogged letters and 
packages sent to soldiers, working around the clock to deliver 
approximately 65,000 pieces of mail each shift.
  Indiana Hunt-Martin served this Nation selflessly and was honorably 
discharged from the United States Army on November 10, 1945.
  After the war, she worked for the New York State Department of Labor 
for 41 years, retiring in 1987.
  In addition to serving her country, she served her community through 
numerous veterans, church, and neighborhood organizations.
  In 2014, we had the distinct privilege of presenting her with the 
medals she earned while serving in the United States Army, including 
the Women's Army Corps Service Medal, the European-African-Middle 
Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the 
Honorable Service Lapel award for her service during World War II.
  The idea for this legislation was brought to us by Korean war veteran 
Sandi Williams, who serves as president and founder of the United 
Veterans of Buffalo.
  The bill has the bipartisan support of the entire New York 
congressional delegation, the Bennett-Wells American Legion Auxiliary 
Post, the Johnetta R. Cole AMVETS Post, the Jesse Clipper American 
Legion Post, and many others.
  From 1978 until her passing, Indiana Hunt-Martin frequented the post 
office on Manhattan Avenue in Buffalo weekly to purchase stamps, pick 
up mail, and send letters.
  There are post offices named for Presidents and famous celebrities, 
but I might argue that there would be none more fitting than the one 
paying tribute to the legacy of Indiana Hunt-Martin and her service to 
our country.
  I am proud to lead this effort, and I urge my colleagues to join me 
in approving this legislation.
  Mr. DONALDS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, with no further speakers, I urge passage 
of H.R. 2142, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
H.R. 2142, to honor Ms. Indiana Hunt-Martin, a member of the Women's 
Army Corps (WAC) groundbreaking 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion 
(Six Triple Eight), the only all-black WAC battalion deployed overseas 
during WWII.
  As a cosponsor of this bill and the author of the House measure to 
award a Congressional Gold Medal to all the women of the Six Triple 
Eight that the Congress will soon enact, Ms. Hunt-Martin's story is the 
story of most of the women who served in the 6888.
  According to her daughter, ``she was born in a time and place where 
share cropping, lynching, and hatred of people, especially males of 
color were everyday occurrences.''
  Yet, she was not deterred from serving her country. Born in Georgia, 
she moved to New York in the 1920's when she was still a young child. 
After graduating high school, she read about an effort by First Lady 
Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, the founding president 
of the National Council of Negro Women, to ensure that women of color 
could join the war effort as part of the WAC.
  So she applied. And waited. And after, her application was apparently 
``lost'', she did not give up. She applied again, was accepted, and 
enlisted.
  She was subsequently chosen to serve in the Six Triple Eight. And 
served honorably with that groundbreaking unit.
  After her military service, she worked for the New York State 
Department of Labor, retiring after some 40 years of service. In 2014, 
in a story that is very familiar to me, she reached out to her local 
congressman, Mr. Higgins, for help getting the medals she had earned 
through her service so many decades earlier. This story is familiar to 
me because my own constituent, Ms. Anna Mae Robertson, who also served 
with the Six Triple Eight, similarly reached out to my office around 
the same time to help her get the service medals she had earned.
  This evening, I will have the honor of hosting Ms. Hunt-Martin's 
daughter in my office as we celebrate the passage of this bill and my 
Six Triple Eight Gold Medal bill (H.R. 1012/S. 321). While Ms. Hunt-
Martin and the vast majority of the women who served with the 6888 may 
no longer be with us, today we make sure that their service and 
sacrifice is not forgotten.
  As noted by Debbera Ranson, the commander and founder of the Johnetta 
R. Coles AmVets post in Buffalo, NY, ``There are so many times when 
African American soldiers have done wonderful things but it takes 
forever for them to get recognized. Many times, the honors that they 
eventually received--if they even do--is way after they have passed. 
And so, as we do these different honors, at least family members will 
be able to enjoy knowing that their loved ones have been honored.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2142.
  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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