On the recordNovember 3, 2021
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. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
