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JOSEPH HAYNE RAINEY MEMORIAL POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 264) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1101 Charlotte Street in Georgetown, South Carolina, as the ``Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 264
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. JOSEPH HAYNE RAINEY MEMORIAL POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1101 Charlotte Street in Georgetown, South Carolina, shall be known and designated as the ``Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial 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 ``Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Mfume) and the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues here in the House in consideration of H.R. 264 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1101 Charlotte Street in Georgetown, South Carolina, as the Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building.
Joseph Rainey was the first African-American Member of the United States House of Representatives and one of 14 Black Representatives elected before the end of Reconstruction in 1877.
Joseph Rainey was born into slavery in Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1832. His father was a barber and used his earnings to buy freedom for himself and his family and, yes, including Joseph. Later, during the Civil War, Joseph was drafted by the Confederacy, but he escaped to Bermuda and his wife and he there started a business.
In 1866, he returned to Georgetown where he became the county's Republican Party chairman. Just a few years later, in 1870, he was elected to the United States Congress where he served until 1879, making him the longest serving African-American Member of Congress in the 19th century.
Following his time in Congress, Rainey was appointed as a Federal agent of the U.S. Treasury Department. He returned to South Carolina in 1886 and, unfortunately, passed away the following year in Georgetown.
Representative Joe Rainey fought tirelessly for civil rights, education, and economic opportunity for all people. He left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. So, at the very least, naming a post office in his honor will continually help all of us to remember the contributions of this remarkable trailblazer.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. MACE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice) for his remarks.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the First District of South Carolina for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 264.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend. Will the gentleman put on his mask, please.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Oh, I thought you could take it off when you are speaking. I am sorry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may proceed.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 264, to rename the Post Office in Georgetown, South Carolina, the Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office.
A man, a trailblazer of many firsts, a civil rights pioneer, an American hero that I had never heard of before I got to Congress; I first learned of him because his portrait hangs on the wall in the halls of the House of Representatives.
Joseph Rainey was the first African-American Member of the United States House of Representatives. Rainey was born into slavery in Georgetown in 1832. His father was a slave, but also a barber, and used his earnings to buy freedom for himself and his family, including Joseph.
During the Civil War, Joseph Rainey was conscripted into the Confederate Army, but he escaped to Bermuda with his family and built a prosperous business as a barber.
In 1866, he returned to Georgetown, where he became the county's Republican Party Chairman. In 1870, he was elected to the United States Congress, where he served until 1879. Think about that for a moment. The first African American to serve in the United States Congress was a former slave and a Republican from Georgetown, South Carolina.
His tenure in Congress was distinguished by its advancement of civil rights, equality, and opportunity for all. He fought against violence and intimidation toward African Americans. In 1878, as Reconstruction was ending, he was defeated in his last race for Congress. He was one of 14 Black Representatives elected before the end of Reconstruction in 1877. He was the longest-serving African-American Member of Congress, a record which stood until the 1950s.
Following his time in Congress, Rainey was appointed as a Federal agent of the United States Treasury Department for the Internal Revenue Service in South Carolina.
In 1866, he returned to South Carolina for good and passed away the following year in Georgetown. Rainey fought tirelessly for equal rights, education, and economic opportunity for all. He left behind a legacy that has improved the lives of generations, not just in South Carolina, but across the country.
Representative Rainey's house still stands in historic Georgetown. It is located at 921 Prince Street. It was designated a national historic landmark in 1984, and I had the opportunity to visit just last year. The next time you are close by, stroll by the modest home in downtown Georgetown and pause for a moment to marvel at the life of an American hero; a man born a slave, a successful entrepreneur, escaped conscription in the Civil War, and served as a Representative in the United States Congress. What a remarkable life.
It was a privilege to introduce this bill that honors a true American patriot like Mr. Rainey. All South Carolinians, all Americans, can look up to Joseph Rainey as a trailblazer of civil rights.
I would like to thank Lorna Rainey, the great-granddaughter of Joseph Rainey, for her support in this effort.
I also want to thank Representative Clyburn and Representative Mace, who helped move this through committee and bring it to the floor, along with the entire South Carolina House delegation for their cosponsorship of this bill.
This is a much-deserved honor for an accomplished American patriot from South Carolina, Joseph Rainey. I urge my colleagues to vote
``yea''.
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Mfume for yielding time, and I thank Mr. Rice for introducing this legislation.
Madam Speaker, when I was first elected to Congress, I visited Congressman Clyburn's office seeking his assistance with committee assignments. While there, I noticed the pictures of eight former South Carolina Congressmen, all African American, hanging prominently in his outer office.
Among those was Joseph Rainey, the first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. I was unaware of Mr. Rainey, and so I became curious about this man.
Joseph Rainey was born to enslaved parents on June 21, 1832, in Georgetown, South Carolina, a community heavily dominated with slaves.
As the years went on, Joseph Rainey's father was permitted by his master to work independently and save a little money. Using his accumulated funds, Edward Rainey purchased freedom for little Joseph and his family.
When President Lincoln was elected in 1860, 11 States seceded from the Union; South Carolina was the first. A civil war erupts.
Joseph Rainey, now 28 years of age, was conscripted, or drafted, to work on fortifications in Charleston. This was unacceptable to Joseph, and so, with his family, he escaped to St. George, Bermuda.
Madam Speaker, St. George is a small parish on the island of Bermuda. While there, Rainey undoubtedly became acquainted with my grandfather, James Peter Butterfield, born 1853, who lived his entire life in St. George.
On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment was added to the Constitution, ending slavery in America. 400,000 slaves in South Carolina are free: 37,000 in Charleston, 32,000 in Beaufort, 18,000 in Georgetown.
The same year, the Civil War ends. South Carolina desires to be readmitted to the Union. As a condition, South Carolina was required to adopt a constitution that repudiated secession, acknowledged the end of slavery and repudiated debts that the State and its White citizens had incurred.
The South Carolina Constitutional Convention convened on January 14, 1868. A very prominent delegate to the convention was Joseph H. Rainey. The convention's minutes, Madam Speaker, reflect that Rainey advocated for free public education for all South Carolina citizens. He advocated for relieving White landowners of their insurmountable debt that had accumulated during the war.
The convention was successful; a new constitution was adopted, and on July 9, 1868, South Carolina was readmitted to the Union. Joseph Rainey was recognized for his brilliance during the convention.
The following year, 1869, Congress passed the 15th Amendment granting the former slaves the right to vote and hold office. On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment was finally ratified by the States.
Joseph Rainey seized the opportunity; ran for Congress in the First District. Elected on December 12, 1870, Congressman Rainey remained a Member of this body until after President Rutherford B. Hayes ended Reconstruction, which gave rise to violence against African Americans.
Though Rainey was reelected in 1876, he did not seek office again, making him the longest-serving African-American Congressman during Reconstruction.
Madam Speaker, this is a remarkable story. I appreciate Mr. Rice, and Mr. Clyburn, and the entire South Carolina delegation for offering this legislation to name the Post Office located at 1101 Charlotte Street in Georgetown as the Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building.
Ms. MACE. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
General Leave
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 264.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the distinguished whip of the House of Representatives.
{time} 1615
Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 264, which will designate the post office located on Charlotte Street in Georgetown, South Carolina, as the Joseph Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building.
I am proud to join with the bill's lead sponsor, Congressman Tom Rice, and the other members of the South Carolina congressional delegation in cosponsoring this important legislation.
This action builds on our efforts in the last Congress to honor the life and legacy of Joseph Rainey by naming H-150, the former House Committee on Indian Affairs room in the Capitol, in his honor.
These are just two of the long-overdue actions needed to amplify the historical significance of the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
Congressman Rainey was a trailblazer whose story and place in history have been overlooked. As a former history teacher who believes knowing our history is instructive so that we don't repeat the mistakes of our past, I would like to share with you my fellow South Carolinian's legacy.
Joseph Rainey, as you heard, was born enslaved in 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina. His father was able to buy his family's freedom with earnings he made as a barber. As a freedman living in Charleston, Rainey was conscripted by the Confederacy in 1862. Rather than fighting to preserve slavery, he and his family fled to Bermuda, where he worked as a barber until the end of the war.
Rainey returned to South Carolina after the Civil War and served, as you heard, as a delegate to the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention. He was elected to the State senate in 1870. Later that year, he was elected to Congress in a special election and was sworn into Congress on December 12, 150 years ago, becoming the first Black to serve in the House of Representatives.
He was the first of several African-American Members of this body during Reconstruction, when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were enforced, however imperfectly, by the power of the Federal Government.
But Reconstruction was short-lived. Jim Crow laws and white supremacists dismantled multiracial democracy with voter suppression, nullifications, and violent insurrection. Federal troops were withdrawn from the South following widespread white supremacist violence during the 1876 election and the subsequent election of Rutherford B. Hayes as President.
Joseph Rainey spoke out against the removal of Federal protection of voting rights, but in 1878, he lost reelection to former Confederate officer John Smythe Richardson in a district that was, like South Carolina, majority Black.
Severe gerrymandering reduced the number of Black South Carolinians in Congress to one in the 1890s. When George Washington Murray lost his bid for reelection in 1897, South Carolina's representation in Congress was again all White and remained all White for the next 95 years.
Segregation and Black disenfranchisement were the law of the land until the 1960s. But thanks to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its 1982 amendments, I was elected to this august body in 1992.
Today, Congress is still grappling with racial issues, voter suppression, and, as we witnessed last month, domestic terrorism.
It is fitting and proper that we are taking this step as we are celebrating Black History Month. I believe we would do well to learn some of the lessons of American history through Joseph Rainey's experiences, and I hope today's action will help illuminate his story and cause us all to reflect on his legacy. We must not allow the progress we have made toward racial equity since the 1960s to retrogress, as it did after the 1860s.
To truly honor the contributions of Joseph Rainey and all African Americans, we must build on this progress by working together to address our country's longstanding racial inequities and fulfill the promise of liberty and justice for all.
Ms. MACE. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers and am prepared to close.
It is a real honor to be here today, and the distinguished whip is correct that this is long overdue, to recognize Joseph Rainey and his accomplishments.
He fought tirelessly for civil rights and education and opportunity. He fought for freedom for every working American in this country. To be here today in Black History Month to recognize his legacy and his legend, he will not be forgotten, and we ensure that today.
I hope that future generations of South Carolinians and Americans across the country can be inspired by his courageous leadership here in this House. I urge my colleagues to support this bill today.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I want to make sure that I mention my appreciation to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) for the way they succinctly captured a great swath of American history over the period of time that followed Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 all the way up to the beginning of the Black Codes and the failing of Reconstruction, an era that held great hope for this country but did not come to pass and really was not evidenced until many, many decades later, as Mr. Clyburn pointed out.
I am happy and honored to bring this measure forward. I want to thank the gentlewoman from South Carolina for all of her efforts and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice) for their work advancing this.
Madam Speaker, I strongly urge the passage of H.R. 264. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Mfume) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 264.
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. 167, No. 34
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