Yvette Clarke: “I thank the gentlewoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands and quasi-Brooklynite for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands and quasi-Brooklynite for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues' support for H.R. 5238, the Major Robert Odell Owens Post Office designation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of a former colleague, a groundbreaking legislator, who is credited and lauded for being a forerunner of the progressive political movement in Brooklyn, New York, my predecessor, the Honorable Major Robert Odell Owens. Congressman Owens served in this body from 1983 to 2007, and he served in both Brooklyn's 12th and 11th Congressional Districts of New York. Congressman Owens still brings to memory for many the fond recollections of his groundbreaking legislative accomplishments as a senior, longstanding member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Owens spent 8 years in the New York State Senate before he was elected to serve in Brooklyn, New York's 12th Congressional District, a seat previously held by the Honorable Shirley Chisholm, his predecessor. Mr. Owens then went on to serve his community for over two decades. Through his committee work and work with the Congressional Black Caucus' Education Brain Trust, Major Owens became known as the Education Congressman, but he was also deemed with another moniker, the Rapping Rep, due to his ability to intertwine his political perspective into rhythmic poetry. Mr.…”