Odell Horton Federal Building

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAPPAS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 390) to redesignate the Federal building located at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee as the ``Odell Horton Federal Building''.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 390

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. REDESIGNATION.

The Federal building located at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee, commonly known as the ``Clifford Davis and Odell Horton Federal Building'', shall be known and designated as the ``Odell Horton Federal Building''. SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Federal building referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Odell Horton Federal Building''.

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Mr. PAPPAS. 390.

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Mr. PAPPAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 390 designates the Federal building at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Odell Horton Federal Building.

The bill is sponsored by our colleague from Tennessee, Representative

Steve Cohen, and it is cosponsored by the entire Tennessee congressional delegation.

Currently, the Federal building in downtown Memphis is named for Clifford Davis, a former Congressman who was a member of the KKK, and this legislation would rename the building in honor of Judge Odell Horton, the first Black Federal judge and assistant U.S. attorney in Tennessee since Reconstruction, who was nominated by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1980.

The history of America is replete with acts of bigotry, oppression, and hatred. We can't erase it, but we can make sure we don't honor it. I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. PAPPAS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

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Mr. PAPPAS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Cohen for his sponsorship of this legislation, for the bipartisan support that it enjoys.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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