U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) announced that the United States Senate has passed legislation (H.R. 2030) by unanimous consent designating the U.S. Postal Service facility at 120 Baldwin Avenue in Paia, Maui, Hawaii, as the "Patsy Takemoto Mink Post Office Building." The Senate action clears the bill for the White House.

Senator Akaka sponsored the Senate bill with U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI). Representatives Ed Case (D-HI-2) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI-1) introduced the House bill, which was cosponsored by 115 members.

The legislation was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs last week. Senator Akaka asked that H.R. 2030, which passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on June 10, 2003, be referred to the full Senate for immediate consideration to expedite passage of the legislation.

"Welfare and other programs to help low income families, increasing educational access, and efforts to maintain individual civil liberties - these are just a few of the issues Patsy kept close at heart and vigorously defended," Akaka noted. "Her legacy is a forceful reminder of the energy, dynamism, and integrity one person can bring into public service.

"Who could have imagined all that Patsy would accomplish if they saw her as a young girl walking the sugarcane fields of Hamakuapoko on Maui, on the plantation where her father worked as an engineer. Now, I am pleased to have the post office near her Upcountry hometown named in her honor."