Michael Waltz: “I am excited to rise today in support of this bill, H.R. 8012, the bipartisan, bicameral Jackie Robinson Ballpark…”

“I am excited to rise today in support of this bill, H.R. 8012, the bipartisan, bicameral Jackie Robinson Ballpark National Commemorative Site Act to honor the location where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and played his first game. This bill would designate Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach as a National Commemorative Site and add the ballpark to the African American Civil Rights Network. Additionally, this bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to give the site the designation of a national historic landmark. H.R. 8012 honors the location where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier when he played his first professional game with the Montreal Royals on March 17, 1946, in Daytona Beach, at the then-named Daytona City Island Ballpark. This is the first time in modern baseball that a Black player and a White player played on the same team. Incidentally, it is just down the street from the HBCU Bethune-Cookman. Its founder, Mary McLeod Bethune represents Florida just down the hallway here in Statuary Hall. Jackie Robinson then led the Montreal Royals to a minor league championship the same season, and the next year, he was promoted to the Dodgers making modern Major League Baseball history. In his book, Mr.…”