Darrell Issa: “Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Committee on Government Reform, I rise in support of H.R. 120. This bill is to designate a…”

“Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Committee on Government Reform, I rise in support of H.R. 120. This bill is to designate a post office in Temecula, California, within my congressional district as the Dalip Singh Saund Post Office Building. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American Member of Congress, and I am pleased the House is taking time out to remember his service. Saund was born in India in 1899. He was educated in India before moving to the United States in 1920 to attend graduate school at the University of California. Saund proudly became a U.S. citizen in 1949. Within a year, he was elected judge of the Justice Court in Westmoreland Judicial District. Unfortunately, after his election, Saund was denied his seat on the grounds that he had not been a citizen for one year when he was elected. You might say he was reelected 2 years later and served on that court for 5 years. Judge Saund retired from the bench because he chose to enter politics. In November of 1956, Judge Saund was elected Congressman Saund, and he was reelected to the House for three consecutive terms, leaving in 1963. How remarkable it must have been to be the first Asian American ever elected to Congress, the first Indian American ever elected to Congress. Just imagine the powerful impact of his service throughout those years. Mr. Speaker, Congressman Dalip Singh Saund passed away in Hollywood, California, in 1973.”