Dalip Singh Saund Post Office Building

DALIP SINGH SAUND POST OFFICE BUILDING -- (House of Representatives - February 01, 2005)

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague in the consideration of H.R. 120 which names the post office in Temecula, California, after Dalip Singh Saund.

H.R. 120 was introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) on January 4, 2005. Former Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to Congress, was born in India. He came to the United States to enroll in the University of California at Berkley and study agriculture. Instead, he ended up with a PhD in mathematics. Unfortunately, degrees in mathematics were not sufficient to overcome the rampant discrimination facing Indians and other minorities.

In the 1920s, Indian Americans were not eligible for U.S. citizenship and could not own land. So Saund worked as a lettuce foreman, eventually rising to be a distributor of chemical fertilizer in the Imperial Valley in California.

Saund married a Czech immigrant and became very active in the Indian-American community, championing the rights of Asian Indians both in the United States and abroad. He became a popular speaker and authored a book entitled ``My Mother India'' as a way to present Indian people in a positive light.

Saund went on to fight against discrimination, eventually securing the passage of legislation which made Asian Indians eligible for citizenship.

As a result of his success, Saund became active in the Democratic Party. He ran to represent California's 29th Congressional District. He won and served in the Congress from 1957 until 1962 when he lost his re-election bid after suffering a stroke. Dalip Singh Saund died in 1973.

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues for seeking to honor the legacy of former Congressman Saund, and I urge the swift adoption of this bill.

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