[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14123-14127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          GEORGE THOMAS ``MICKEY'' LELAND POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 78) to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston, Texas, as the 
``George Thomas `Mickey' Leland Post Office Building.''
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 78

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

     SECTION 1. GEORGE THOMAS ``MICKEY'' LELAND POST OFFICE 
                   BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston, Texas, shall 
     be known and designated as the ``George Thomas `Mickey' 
     Leland 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 ``George Thomas `Mickey' Leland Post 
     Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Collins) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. 
Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 78, which was introduced 
by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. H.R. 78 would designate 
the post office located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston, Texas, as the 
George Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland Post Office Building.
  Mickey Leland was an effective spokesman for disadvantaged people 
across the United States and the world. During his six terms in 
Congress and 6 years as a Texas State legislator, he strongly advocated 
for civil rights, hunger relief, and health care for the poor. He 
helped establish the House Select Committee on Hunger, of which he was 
chairman.
  Under Mickey's leadership, the Select Committee reemphasized the 
priority of hunger and the alleviation of poverty within the foreign 
assistance programs of the United States. He succeeded in expanding 
funding for primary health care in developing countries and fought 
against the injustice of apartheid in South Africa.
  Additionally, his legislative initiatives included establishing the 
National Commission on Infant Mortality, providing better access to 
fresh food for at-risk women, children, and infants, and instituting 
the first comprehensive services for the homeless.
  Mickey was a powerful advocate on other causes as well. While 
chairing the House Select Committee on Hunger, he was a member of the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittees on 
Telecommunications and Finance, Health and the Environment, and Energy 
and Power. He chaired the Subcommittee on Postal Operations and 
Services, and he served on the Committee on Post Office and Civil 
Service and the Subcommittee on Compensation and Employment.
  Tragically, Mickey was killed in a plane crash, along with 15 others, 
following a humanitarian mission to Ethiopia. He was survived by his 
wife, Alison, and three children: Jarrett, Austin, and Cameron.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the legacy 
and example of Mickey Leland by passing H.R. 78.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 
such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee), the author of this legislation.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it was really good to hear the initial 
description of Congressman Mickey Leland. He loved being called Mickey 
Leland. Although his full name is George Thomas, Mickey was what he 
went by. He was a person of the people.
  Today, I stand here in support of H.R. 78, designating the facility 
of the United States Postal Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in 
Houston, Texas, as the George Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland Post Office 
Building.
  I thank the ranking member and the chair of the full committee of the 
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for their kindness and 
their diligence in helping to bring this to the floor of the House. It 
is appropriate to have it in this year, the 25th commemoration of 
Mickey's death, along with 15 other brave individuals who were flying 
to provide lifesaving commodities for those who were starving and 
dying.
  This bill will acknowledge this 25th year that we have lost Mickey 
Leland.

[[Page 14124]]

It will acknowledge the charitableness of his heart. It will 
acknowledge he was a person who was willing to sacrifice his own life. 
It will also acknowledge that he was our fellow colleague in the United 
States Congress.
  I am glad that we are doing this, and I again thank the committee 
because it is important to note that, over the years of this very 
historic, hallowed institution, Members have come and they have served. 
That should be our continuing challenge: to serve America and to serve 
the world.
  Mickey was born in November 1944. He was born to George Thomas and 
Alice Raines in Lubbock, Texas. Soon, Mom brought the family to 
Houston, Texas--to our advantage and benefit. He thrived in this city, 
where as a youth he enjoyed a successful career as a high school sports 
star at historic Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, which 
is still standing. In fact, as I speak on the floor today, there are 
advocates trying to preserve the historic old Wheatley High School 
where Mickey went to school.
  Mickey entered Texas Southern University in 1965 and received a 
bachelor of science degree in pharmacy in 1970. In fact, we called 
Mickey ``the pharmacist,'' as a nickname. It introduced him to caring 
about people and health care.
  Mickey was so good, he served after graduation as an instructor of 
clinical pharmacy at TSU for 1 year. While working there, he 
established a door-to-door outreach campaign in low-income 
neighborhoods to educate people about medical care options and to 
perform preliminary health screenings.
  Can you imagine, Mickey Leland, a graduate of the Texas Southern 
University pharmacy school, helping those poor people who really had no 
access to health care?
  His first effort in public service was to work with the City of 
Houston health officials to set up community health clinics. We could 
call him the father of that endeavor. Then, of course, he also was an 
activist trying to improve the civil rights of African Americans in the 
fifth ward community, and also involved himself in the Jensen Medical 
Referral Service.
  In 1972, he was elected to the 88th session of the Texas House of 
Representatives. He was one of the first groups of African Americans to 
be elected to that body.

                              {time}  1515

  Heretofore, prior to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, there were no 
African Americans of number in the Texas State Legislature, including 
the Honorable Barbara Jordan, who was able to be elected as well during 
that time after the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
  He was reelected for 2 years, two terms, serving until 1978, and 
then, during that tenure, he served on the senate-house conference 
committee as a member of the house appropriations committee, and then 
came to the United States Congress.
  He will be remembered in the United States Congress as someone who 
helped create and support health maintenance organizations, HMOs. He 
did that through the State of Texas.
  He then came to Congress in January of 1978, was elected in 1978 to 
the 18th Congressional District, and he served 10 years here. He was 
chosen as a freshman majority whip and an at-large majority whip, 
chaired the Congressional Black Caucus, advocated for ethnic diversity 
through affirmative action and broadcast, served as a member of the 
Energy and Commerce Committee, and he and Bill Emerson established the 
Select Committee on Hunger.
  Now, my colleagues, this is where his heart showed even larger than 
it did in his local community. He was an effective spokesperson for 
ending the suffering of hunger in the United States, and he joined with 
his good friend, Republican William ``Bill'' Emerson, who represented 
Missouri's Eighth Congressional District. His wife later represented 
him.
  Through the power of bipartisanship, Mickey Leland and Bill began a 
mission that still resonates today--that food is a basic right and 
should never be used as a weapon.
  Today we still have the Mickey Leland Hunger Center, of which I serve 
on the board, and many are still advocating around the world, Mickey 
Leland Fellows who are around the world and who are fighting against 
hunger.
  Bill died in office and, as I indicated, his wife took his place.
  But Mickey married, in 1983, his wonderful wife, Alison. His 
beautiful sons, Jarrett David and twins Austin Mickey and Cameron 
George Leland, and his mother, Alice Raines, of course, are still 
living.
  In 1983, in the midst of the civil war, the nation of Ethiopia 
experienced the worst famine in nearly 100 years, which led to more 
than 400,000 deaths. Mickey heard that cry, and so the Speaker of the 
House asked him to go there to Sudan in 1985.
  The hunger was so overwhelming he came back and passed the African 
Famine and Relief and Recovery Act of 1985. He then continued to serve 
on the Select Committee on Hunger, led by himself and Bill Emerson, and 
provided $8 million for a vitamin A program.
  Mickey loved people. He loved solving their problems, and so it was 
maybe fate that he would die on August 7, 1989, on the side of an 
Ethiopian mountain with other brave individuals, such as Hugh Anderson 
Johnson, Jr., and Patrice Yvonne Johnson, two of his aides; Joyce 
Francine Williams, an aide to Ron Dellums; Robert Woods, a political 
aide at the American Embassy; Gladys Gilbert, a staff person with 
USAID; and Thomas Warrick, the USAID representative, and many others 
who were on that flight with him.
  I can only say that, in closing, it is an honor to introduce this 
legislation, and I would ask my colleagues to support this legislation, 
not in the honor of a colleague so much as in honor of an American who 
cared enough about people to be willing to sacrifice his life.
  I ask my colleagues to support this legislation in the 25th year of 
the commemoration of the death of the Honorable Mickey Leland, George 
Thomas Mickey Leland, the late Congressperson of the 18th Congressional 
District.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, at this point I have no other 
speakers and am ready to close.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I had the good fortune to know former Representative 
Mickey Leland, and I am pleased to join my colleagues in the 
consideration of H.R. 78, a bill to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 4110 Alameda Road in Houston, 
Texas, as the George Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland Post Office Building.
  Born in Lubbock, Texas in 1944, Mickey Leland earned a degree in 
pharmacy from Texas Southern University in 1970. He quickly became a 
local civil rights leader, organizing the Black Citizen Action Team in 
protests against police brutality while using his medical background to 
found a door-to-door outreach campaign to educate low-income 
individuals about their medical care options.
  In 1972, Mickey continued his health advocacy work in the Texas State 
House of Representatives, passing legislation to provide better access 
to affordable medications and HMOs.
  In 1979, Mickey Leland was elected to Congress as the Representative 
for Texas' 18th District. After serving as the freshman majority whip, 
Representative Leland later served twice as at-large majority whip, 
chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 1985 to 1987, and was 
reelected five times.
  As a Member of Congress, Representative Leland advocated for an 
increase in hiring quotas for women and minorities in the 
telecommunications industry, and focused much of his attention on 
alleviating hunger across the globe, particularly in Africa.
  During the 98th Congress, Representative Leland's efforts led to the 
creation of the Temporary Select Committee on Hunger, which studied the 
effects of domestic and international hunger and poverty.
  Tragically, Representative Leland's career was cut short on a trip to 
Africa during the 1989 congressional recess. While checking on the 
progress of establishing a refugee camp in Addis

[[Page 14125]]

Ababa, Representative Leland and three of his congressional aides lost 
their lives when their plane crashed over a mountainous region of 
Ethiopia.
  Mr. Speaker, we should pass this bill to honor Mickey Leland's life 
and career as a tireless advocate for underserved and minority 
populations, both at home and abroad.
  I urge passage of H.R. 78, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I appreciate my colleagues and what they have shared about a former 
colleague. I think once served here we are always colleagues, and I 
think the example that he set is one that is well worth remembering.
  I appreciate the gentlelady from Texas for bringing this and look 
forward to supporting it, and would ask that all Members support the 
passage of H.R. 78.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of H.R. 78, Designating the facility of the United States 
Postal Service Located at 4110 Alameda Road in Houston, Texas, as the 
``George Thomas `Mickey' Leland Post Office Building.''
  I had the pleasure of serving with Congressman Leland and even taking 
my first oath for public office together, along with Congressman 
Leland's successor, Congressman Craig Washington. Congressman Leland, 
my friend and mentor, made a lasting impact on Congress that has helped 
bring focus to aid parts of the world that suffered from extreme hunger 
and poverty. Congressman Leland was a transformative leader not only in 
our home state of Texas, but throughout the world.
  Congressman Leland was elected to Congress in 1978 to represent the 
18th Congressional District of Texas, filling the seat vacated by 
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan when she retired. He was a progressive 
leader that twice chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. Congressman 
Leland helped to form the House Select Committee on World Hunger in 
1984 which generated awareness within Congress regarding national and 
international hunger and prompted a bipartisan effort to find solutions 
to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world.
  Congressman Leland made a lasting impact that can be felt today 
through the Congressional Hunger Center. Former Democratic Congressman 
Tony Hall, a close friend of Congressman Leland and former chair of the 
House Select Committee on Hunger, joined Republican Representative Bill 
Emerson to form the bi-partisan Congressional Hunger Center in 1993. 
Soon after its formation, the Congressional Hunger Center established 
the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program to serve as a 
living legacy to Congressman Leland and his world-changing work to end 
hunger. The Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program trains 
emerging leaders during a two-year period to eradicate hunger 
worldwide.
  Congressman Leland's legacy continues to thrive in Congress. I urge 
my colleagues to support Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's legislation 
to designate the U.S. Post Office in Houston, Texas as the Mickey 
Leland Post Office building as a tribute to my dear friend and former 
colleague.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 78, 
which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston Texas as the ``George Thomas 
`Mickey' Leland Post Office Building.''
  I thank the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Oversight and 
Government Reform for taking up consideration of H.R. 78, which I 
introduced to honor our beloved former colleague George Thomas `Mickey' 
Leland, by having a post office in the 18th Congressional District 
designated in his name.
  My thanks to Congressman Doug Collins and Congressman Danny Davis for 
management of the floor debate on this bill.
  In 1983, Mickey Leland married Alison Clark Walton, and fathered 
three wonderful children, Jarrett David; and twins, Austin Mickey and 
Cameron George Leland, who were born on January 14, 1990, following his 
tragic death.
  On November 27, 1944, George Thomas Leland, III was born to George 
Thomas Leland, II and Alice Raines, in Lubbock, Texas.
  Mickey Leland's mother moved the family, which included his brother 
William Gaston Leland, to Houston where she worked in a drugstore and 
later became a teacher.
  Mickey Leland thrived in the city of Houston where as a youth he 
enjoyed a successful career as a high school sports star at the Phyllis 
Wheatley High School in Houston.
  In 1965, Mickey graduated in the top 10% of his class from Wheatley 
High School and enrolled in Texas Southern University (TSU), where he 
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy in 1970.
  Mickey Leland had heart, passion and brains and he used all three to 
the benefit of the poor and working poor living in the city of Houston.
  Following his graduation from TSU he was hired as an Instructor of 
Clinical Pharmacy at TSU from 1970-1971. This was not enough for Mickey 
who saw so much work that needed to be done for those in need.
  While working as a TSU instructor he established a ``door-to-door'' 
outreach campaign in low-income neighborhoods to educate people about 
their medical care options and to perform preliminary health 
screenings.
  Benjamin Mayes once said, ``The tragedy of life is often not in our 
failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but 
rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, 
but rather in our living below our capacities.''
  Mickey Leland was not complacent--one of his first efforts in public 
service was to work with city of Houston health officials to set up 
community health clinics.
  Mickey Leland, as an active member of the Black Community Action 
Team, (``Black Cats'') worked towards other reform measures, which led 
to the establishment of the health system for Casa del Amigos.
  In Fifth Ward, Houston, Mickey Leland helped initiate a free 
community health clinic called the Jensen Medical Referral Service. 
Long before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, he was creating an 
opportunity for universal health care for poorest of the poor living in 
the 18th Congressional District.
  In 1972, he made the full transition to public servant when he ran 
for and won election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent 
the 88th District of Houston Texas. He was reelected to successive two-
year terms, serving in the Texas House until 1978.
  Mickey Leland was the first African-American legislator in the Texas 
State legislature to serve on the Senate-House conference Committee as 
a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
  During his time as a member of the Texas House of Representatives 
Mickey Leland is remembered for promoting legislation that provided 
Texas residents access to generic prescription medication; and for his 
support of employment opportunities for minorities.
  He also supported the creation of universal access to health care for 
Texas residents through establishment of Health Maintenance 
Organizations (HMO's).
  In 1978, Mickey Leland expanded his public service to include the 
entire 18th Congressional District when he was elected to Congress, 
succeeding the legendary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.
  Congressman Leland served in the United States House of 
Representatives for nearly 10 years.
  He was chosen Freshman Majority Whip in his first term, and later 
served twice as At-Large Majority Whip.
  Martin Luther King, said, ``Human progress is neither automatic nor 
inevitable . . . Every step toward the goal of justice requires 
sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and 
passionate concern of dedicated individuals.''
  During his time in Congress Mickey Leland engaged in tireless and 
passionate concern for others. As a member of Congress, he Chaired the 
Congressional Black Caucus; Advocated for ethnic diversity through 
affirmative action in broadcast employment both on and off camera to 
promote responsible and realistic television and cable programming; 
served as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee; chaired the 
Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services; served on the Committee 
on Post Office and Civil Service and the Subcommittee on Compensation 
and Employment; established the Select Committee on Hunger.
  Mickey Leland was an effective spokesman for those suffering from 
hunger in the United States and he joined with Republican Congressman 
William ``Bill'' Emerson, who represented Missouri's 8th Congressional 
District, to create the House Select Committee on Hunger.
  Through the power of bipartisanship Mickey Leland and Bill Emerson 
began a mission that still resonates today--that food is a basic human 
right--and should never be used as a weapon.
  The Select Committee on Hunger led by Mickey Leland and Bill Emerson 
is credited gaining Congressional approval of an $8 million annually 
appropriation for a developing the nation's Vitamin A program that is 
believed to have reduced child mortality.

[[Page 14126]]

  The anti-hunger committee also worked to improve hunger conditions 
for impoverished neighborhoods in the United States.
  Bill Emerson died while in office and was succeed by his wife Jo Ann, 
who served the people of Missouri's 8th District for many years.
  In 1983, in the midst of civil war, the nation of Ethiopia 
experienced the worse famine in nearly 100 years, which led to more 
than 400,000 deaths. A significant drought contributed to the famine, 
but it had more to do with the war that impeded aid and the violence 
that was visited upon people who were displaced as they searched for 
food.
  He led the effort for the Africa Famine Relief and Recovery Act of 
1985. The legislation provided $800 million in food and humanitarian 
relief supplies.
  He was asked by then Speaker Tip O'Neill to lead a bipartisan 
Congressional delegation to assess conditions and relief requirements 
in Ethiopia.
  Mickey Leland's trip to the Sudan in the spring of 1989, made a 
tremendous impression on him, which made his mission against hunger a 
personal commitment to help the Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia.
  Throughout his time in the House of Representatives his commitment to 
end hunger and homelessness became his mission and now it is his 
legacy.
  Nelson Mandela observed that, ``If you talk to a man in a language he 
understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, 
that goes to his heart.''
  Mickey Leland knew how to speak to the hearts of people to move them 
to action with the goal of relieving suffering where he found it.
  The international attention Congressman Leland brought to the plight 
of famine victims in Ethiopia by his personal commitment to bring non-
governmental assistance to support government efforts saved thousands 
of lives.
  Mickey Leland met personally with Pope John Paul II about food aid in 
Africa.
  Pope John Paul II once said, ``Have no fear of moving into the 
unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, 
therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in 
complete faith and confidence.''
  While Chairing the Congressional Black Caucus he proudly presented 
the first awards the Caucus had ever given to non-black recipients: 
Rock musician Bob Geldorf and news person Ted Koppel.
  Bob Geldorf was honored for his Band Aid concert and fundraising 
efforts for Africa Famine victims; and Ted Koppel was honored for his 
news stories on the African famine.
  On Leland's sixth visit to Africa on August 7, 1989, his plane 
crashed near Gambela, Ethiopia on a mountainside on his way to visit 
the Fugnido refugee camp on the Sudan-Ethiopian border. The camp held 
more than 300,000 Sundanese escaping famine and war in their adjacent 
country.
  The plane, carrying sixteen people, was found after a six day search 
in southwestern Ethiopia.
  Congressman Leland was joined on that fateful flight by: Hugh 
Anderson Johnson Jr.; Patrice Yvonne Johnson, both his Congressional 
aides; Joyce Francine Williams, an aide to fellow Congressman Ronald V. 
Dellums, who served as an expert on child nutrition; Y. Ivan Tillen, a 
New York businessman and friend of Congressman Leland's; Robert Woods, 
a political and economic officer at the American Embassy in Addis 
Ababa; Gladys Gilbert, a special projects officer for the mission of 
the U.S. Agency for International Development attached to the embassy; 
Thomas Worrick, the acting AID representative in Ethiopia, and 
Worrick's wife, Roberta.
  Also seven Ethiopians were killed including Debebe Agonofer, an 
Ethiopian agricultural economist with the AID mission, and six other 
Ethiopians, including the plane's crew of three.
  Mickey Leland's dedication and service were honored at services 
throughout the State of Texas and in Washington, DC. The U.S. Congress 
named the Mickey Leland Harris County Courthouse Annex located in the 
city of Houston in his name. TSU honored Mickey Leland and Barbara 
Jordon by dedicating the School of Public Affairs as the ``Barbara 
Jordan and Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.''
  Mickey Leland was laid to rest in accordance to his wishes in a plain 
pine coffin, under an oak tree in Houston's Golden Gate Cemetery 
located in his former neighborhood.
  Mickey Leland we stand on this floor among the shadows of yesterday 
and the dreams of tomorrow to honor you for what you have done in far 
too short a lifetime
  There is much more to the life of Mickey Leland that I want to share 
with my colleagues who will be voting on this bill to name a Post 
Office in his name. His life's work to end famine, hunger, and provide 
access to health care to the poor are tremendous in and of themselves, 
but he contributed much more to the lives of people he touched.
  Mickey Leland was a person who loved people and found great joy in 
gatherings where he could meet new people or share moments with family 
and friends. He had a great sense of humor and would soon have others 
laughing at one of his stories or an account of a personal experience.
  He accomplished a great deal and still had time to encourage young 
people to pursue careers in public service. In 1980, Mickey Leland and 
his close friends J. Kent Friedman and Vic Samuels founded the Mickey 
Leland Kibbutzim Internship. Mickey Leland was so deeply moved by his 
visit to Israel in 1979 that he wanted other young people to share that 
experience. His admiration for the Kibbutzim Movement, and his own 
childhood experiences of growing up in poverty inspired him to create a 
program to fund urban youths' travel to the Holy Land.
  The Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship has benefited outstanding high 
school students from the fifth Congressional District who demonstrated 
leadership skills allowing them to have travel to Israel.
  To honor his legacy and commitment to youth, the Leland Fellowship 
Program at the University of Houston was initiated and launched.
  The Leland Fellowship Program supports historically, economically 
disadvantaged students who may want to pursue employment opportunities 
as congressional staff members.
  Leland Fellows are provided with a monthly stipend and round-trip 
airfare, as well as paid housing. Upon successful completion of the 
program, interns earn 3-12 upper level hours in political science.
  Mickey Leland as Chair of the House Post Office and Civil Service 
Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services championed the United 
States Postal Service--which remains one of the world's most efficient 
low cost national postal systems.
  In 1987, when the Postal service considered closing a 52-year-old 
post office in Philadelphia he raised questions about the buildings 
future after the announcement to abolish 87 jobs.
  Mickey Leland championed the cause of our men and women of the Postal 
Service by acknowledging that they were then and remain the most 
productive and efficient in the entire world. He chaired the committee 
at a time when the Postal Service was undergoing change and renovations 
that spoke to its age and the demand for its services by the American 
public.
  It is the one agency that touches every home and business in the 
United States 6 days a week. The Post Office for roughly a hundred 
million Americans is the face of the Federal government.
  Mickey Leland reminded us that life is made by those who take the 
hard road and tough challenges. Your mission to change how America 
viewed famine and hunger was monumental because it saved the lives of 
millions through domestic and international food programs that you 
created or inspired.
  First Corinthians Chapter 12 verse 11 through 13 reads ``When I was a 
child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a 
child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we 
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; 
but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, 
hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.''
  George Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland once was a child, but he grew into a 
man and knew in part the wages of hunger and famine and it was enough 
to set his course in life to relieve the suffering of people no matter 
where they were or who they were. He demonstrated charity in the truest 
sense of the word.
  I was proud to call you a friend and mentor--and I am honored to 
stand before our colleagues in the United States House of 
Representatives to affirm your impact on the city of Houston, this 
nation and the world.
  I thank my colleagues who join me in honoring former Congressman 
Mickey Leland by naming the Post Office located at 4110 Almeda Road in 
Houston, Texas, as the ``George Thomas `Mickey' Leland Post Office 
Building.''
  This post office will be a living memorial to a dedicated public 
servant. It has been over 25 years since we lost the Honorable George 
Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland.
  I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives honor the 
life and legacy of Honorable George Thomas ``Mickey'' Leland by passing 
H.R. 78.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by

[[Page 14127]]

the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 78.
  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.

                          ____________________