WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would name Little Rock’s main U.S. post office after former Arkansas Gov. Sid McMath.
The bill, which has already passed the House, passed by unanimous consent, and now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.
The bill would designate the post office building at 600 East Capitol Ave. in Little Rock the “Sidney ‘Sid’ Sanders McMath Post Office Building.”
McMath died in 2003 at the age of 91. A U.S. Marine and decorated combat veteran of World War II, Mc-Math, a Democrat, served as governor from 1949 until 1953.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock, a Republican and sponsor in the House of the post office bill, said McMath’s “legacy is as profound as it is exemplary.”
Griffin, a distant relative of McMath, said he remembers reading family correspondence to McMath when the former governor’s eyesight had worsened. The former governor was researching his biography, Promises Kept.
McMath was born in Columbia County in 1912 and graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1931.
He was awarded the Silver Star and Legion of Merit for valor in World War II.
After his military service in the Pacific theater, Mc-Math returned home and, in an effort to break the “machine politics” of Hot Springs, he entered politics and won election as county prosecutor, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
After two terms as governor, McMath practiced law and returned to active duty in the Marines for a twoweek tour in Vietnam.
Griffin and other members of the Arkansas congressional delegation praised the passage of the bill in the Senate. They called McMath a champion of race relations and praised his work to extend electrical service and highways throughout the state as governor.
“Gov. McMath was a hero in every sense of the word,” said Sen. John Boozman, a Republican.
Added Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat: “This post office designation will help honor Sid’s legacy and remind Arkansans of his many contributions to our state.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/29/2012