[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 118 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4717-H4718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               JOHN MERCER LANGSTON POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 7385) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 29 Franklin Street in Petersburg, Virginia, as the 
``John Mercer Langston Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 7385

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

     SECTION 1. JOHN MERCER LANGSTON POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 29 Franklin Street in Petersburg, 
     Virginia, shall be known and designated as the ``John Mercer 
     Langston 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 ``John Mercer Langston Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
South Carolina (Ms. Mace) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from South Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Ms. MACE. 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 this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from South Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would rename a 
post office in Petersburg, Virginia, for Mr. John Mercer Langston.
  Mr. Langston grew up in Ohio and became an attorney who helped 
recruit African-American troops during the American Civil War. Later, 
Mr. Langston went on to serve as Virginia's first African-American 
Member

[[Page H4718]]

of Congress from 1890 to 1891 and the first president of Virginia 
Normal and Collegiate Institute, known today as Virginia State 
University.
  I support naming a post office in memory of former Congressman 
Langston, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7385.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia 
(Ms. McClellan) for any remarks she may have.
  Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 7385, to rename 
the Petersburg Post Office as the John Mercer Langston United States 
Postal Service Building.
  John Mercer Langston broke barriers and redefined what was possible 
for Black Virginians in the late 19th century.
  Born in 1829 in Louisa, Virginia, he was an abolitionist, attorney, 
diplomat, voting rights advocate, educational administrator, community 
leader, the founding dean of the law school of Howard University, 
founding president of Virginia State University, and my predecessor as 
the first African American elected to Congress from Virginia 
representing the Fourth District.
  My connection to Mr. Langston is personal. My parents worked at 
Virginia State University where he was the first president. I grew up 
on that campus.
  My father would often go to that post office to pay bills and to 
collect mail from the box. We used to joke he was the mayor of the post 
office because he knew everybody there. Now, as the first African-
American woman elected to Congress from Virginia in the same district 
that Mr. Langston represented, it is my honor to put forth this bill 
and ask my colleagues to support renaming the post office, that I 
literally grew up in, after a legendary trailblazer in the Commonwealth 
of Virginia, John Mercer Langston.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support 
this bill honoring an American academic leader and former Member of 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7385.
  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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