[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9974-9975]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1600
                REVEREND ABE BROWN POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3276) to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, 
Florida, as the ``Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3276

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

     SECTION 1. REVEREND ABE BROWN POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, 
     Florida, shall be known and designated as the ``Reverend Abe 
     Brown 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 Abe Brown Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam 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 Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 3276, introduced by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), 
would designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the 
Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building. This bill was introduced on 
October 27, 2011, and reported from the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform with a favorable recommendation on February 7, 2012.
  Reverend Brown served the Tampa Bay community for years. He was the 
beloved pastor of the First Baptist Church of College Hill, 
Hillsborough County public schools educator, football coach, dean of 
the Chamberlain High School, and founder of Prison Crusade Ministries, 
later renamed Abe Brown Ministries. He was the dean of students at 
Chamberlain when Congresswoman Castor attended school there. Sadly, 
Reverend Brown passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2010, at the age 
of 83.
  Reverend Abe Brown is a very worthy designee of this postal facility 
naming, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I 
am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 3276, a 
bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service on 
Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post 
Office Building. This bill meets the requirements of our committee.
  At this time, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Castor) such time as she may consume.
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from 
Missouri and also my colleague from Texas. I rise in strong support 
today of H.R. 3276, a bill to name the post office located at 2810 East 
Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post 
Office. I introduced this bill to honor the life and the 
accomplishments of the late Reverend Abe Brown. Reverend Abe Brown was 
an educator and a pastor, and he devoted his entire life to helping 
others, whether it was in the classroom, in the guidance office, on the 
football field, in church, or through his ongoing ministries.
  Reverend Brown was a Tampa native. He was a 1946 graduate of the 
great Middleton High School and a 1950 graduate of Florida A&M 
University. He came home after he graduated from A&M and started work 
at Hillsborough County public schools. He worked for the school 
district for 38 years--as a teacher, coach, dean of students, and an 
administrator.
  As an educator and a coach, he promoted 16 athletes to professional 
football. He loved football. These professional players attribute their 
success in life and not just on the football field to the firm 
foundation and inspirational teachings of their beloved Middleton High 
School coach, Reverend Abe Brown.
  I had the honor of attending Hillsborough's Chamberlain High School 
when Reverend Brown served as the dean of students before he retired in 
1988, and he was tough. He was tough on the outside, but inside he had 
a heart of gold. Reverend Brown also served as the pastor for the First 
Baptist Church of College Hill for many years.
  His deep and abiding faith called him to found the Prison Crusade 
Ministries, which was renamed the Reverend Abe Brown Ministries, Inc., 
a nonprofit organization that enables offenders, ex-offenders, their 
families, and others at risk to achieve productive and spiritually 
fulfilling lives. It has made a real difference throughout the Tampa 
Bay area.
  Reverend Brown continued his social outreach, and in 1991 he received 
nationwide coverage and honor through an article in the Reader's Digest 
regarding his active establishment and implementation of an effort to 
stop drug street sales in Tampa's College Hill community.
  Reverend Brown passed away in September 2010 after serving the Tampa 
Bay area in many capacities for many years.
  With the help of the East Tampa community, we fought to keep this 
particular post office open last summer. It was considered for closure, 
but it is a real focal point for the East Tampa community, and it is a 
very busy branch. So I look forward to dedicating this station to 
Reverend Abe Brown, as does our entire community. He was a role model 
for young people and an inspiration for our entire community. He 
selflessly devoted his life to others and, instead of abandoning those 
who had lost their way, he worked tirelessly to help them get back on 
track.

[[Page 9975]]

  I thank the entire Florida delegation who sponsored this legislation 
on a bipartisan basis, I thank the committee, the ranking member and 
the chair, and I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3276 in honor of 
Reverend Brown's selfless service to the Tampa Bay community.
  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, and I 
ask that we pass the underlying bill without reservation to recognize 
Reverend Abe Brown's contributions, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Madam Speaker, I was moved by the recollections of 
the gentlelady from Florida of Reverend Abe Brown, and I am confident 
that my colleagues will join me in supporting the bill, H.R. 3276, 
renaming the post office at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, 
Florida, as the Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3276.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________