September 14, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 158 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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CLARA LUPER POST OFFICE BUILDING; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 158
(House of Representatives - September 14, 2020)
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[Pages H4358-H4359] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CLARA LUPER POST OFFICE BUILDING Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5597) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 305 Northwest 5th Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the ``Clara Luper Post Office Building''. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5597 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. CLARA LUPER POST OFFICE BUILDING. (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 305 Northwest 5th Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, shall be known and designated as the ``Clara Luper 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 ``Clara Luper 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. 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 the 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. 5597 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 305 Northwest 5th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the Clara Luper Post Office Building. Clara Luper made her mark in a time when people of color could not even walk through the front door of Oklahoma City businesses. She had a vision for equality, a heart for service, and a commitment to justice. She knew that Oklahoma and this country could be a place where everyone is treated with respect, dignity, and humanity. In August of 1958, Ms. Luper and 14 of her NAACP youth council students organized one of America's first sit-ins when they entered Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City to order a hamburger and a Coke. They were denied service but refused to leave. Though they were verbally and physically assaulted, they persisted. Within days of the sit-in, Katz Drug Stores integrated their lunch counters not just in Oklahoma City, but in three other States as well. Her initiative helped inspire the 1961 Greensboro, North Carolina, sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter, which fueled momentum within the civil rights movement. Ms. Luper continued her fight for freedom. She was arrested 26 times, integrated the history department at the University of Oklahoma by becoming its first African-American graduate of the master's program and worked tirelessly across the State in pursuit of her vision for justice. We should commemorate this heroine of the civil rights movement by naming a post office in her honor. Mr. Speaker, I thank the honorable gentlewoman and my very good friend from Oklahoma, Representative Horn, for this legislation to honor a heroine of the civil rights movement. 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. 5597, which would name a post office in Oklahoma after Clara Luper. Luper believed that Oklahoma and the United States should be a place where everyone is treated equally with respect. In 1958, she and 14 of her NAACP youth council students organized one of the first U.S. sit-ins at a Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma. They tried to order a hamburger and soda knowing that they would be refused solely because of the color of their skin. Though they were assaulted, they stayed with their cause. And within days, Katz Drug Stores integrated their lunch counters in Oklahoma and three other States. This sit-in helped inspire the 1961 sit-ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, which was a critical moment during the civil rights movement. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from the great State of Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn). Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Maloney for taking up this important bill to honor Clara Luper and her sacrifice. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to urge passage of H.R. 5597, a bill to rename the downtown Oklahoma City Post Office in honor of Clara Luper. Clara Luper, known as the mother of Oklahoma's civil rights movement was a teacher, a publisher, and so much more. On August 19, 1958, Luper and 13 NAACP youth council students led the Nation's first lunch counter sit-in at Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City. These sit-ins inspired similar action across the south during the civil rights movement, including the Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina. [[Page H4359]] When Luper and the NAACP students sat down at that lunch counter, they knew they would be refused. They also knew what was on the line. In Ms. Luper's words, ``Within that hamburger, was the whole essence of democracy.'' Each day they returned to the drugstore with more people asking to be served. Though verbally and physically assaulted, they persisted. Sitting in peaceful protest, their fearlessness and determination resulted in Katz Drug Stores integrating lunch counters, not just in Oklahoma City, but also in Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. And they went on to integrate lunch counters and businesses throughout Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City was ground zero for America's civil rights movement, and we have a responsibility to share that proud history and make sure that the story of the Oklahoma sit-in movement is never lost. Renaming the downtown post office in honor of Clara Luper is just one small step we can take to honor those who struggled and fought for civil rights in Oklahoma and across the country. We have come a long way because of the sacrifices of Clara Luper and those who stood with her in the civil rights movement, but there is much more work left to be done. This bill will take a step forward but, to me, the best way we can honor Ms. Luper is to uphold her legacy through a commitment to justice and equity in our laws and policies. Today, 62 years after Clara Luper and the NAACP youth council students first sat down at Katz Drug Store to stand up for justice, she and the sit-inners are inspiring a new generation of Oklahomans to take action through peaceful protest, to challenge injustice and systemic racism. Mr. Speaker, I hope the Clara Luper Post Office can stand as a testament to her enduring legacy, her courage, and her historic fight for justice, and I urge passage. Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time. Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 5597, and I yield back the balance of my time. 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. 5597. 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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