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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 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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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 36
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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