House votes to move Rosa Parks name to federal building in Detroit

Washington ― The U.S. House voted Wednesday to approve legislation renaming a federal building in Detroit for the civil rights icon Rosa Parks, sending it to President Joe Biden's desk for signature.

The bill led by Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing would name the the federal building at 985 Michigan Ave. for Parks. The measure passed by voice vote under a fast-track process meant for non-controversial measures after passing the Senate unanimously in December.

Wednesday's vote is a rejection of competing legislation by first-term Rep. Shri Thanedar, who wanted to name the same Michigan Avenue building for the late U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the longest-serving Black member of Congress in U.S. history until he resigned in 2017 amid allegations of sexual harassment. Conyers died in 2019 at age 90.

It's highly unusual for colleagues from the same party and state to have dueling bills over naming a local landmark, and the move by Thanedar raised eyebrows within the delegation last spring.

Stabenow, the delegation's most senior member, moved to name the Michigan Avenue building after Parks after the federal government announced in 2021 that it would be selling the now former Rosa Parks Federal Building at 333 Mount Elliott St. because it's underutilized.

That building at Mount Elliott and Jefferson in Detroit's Rivertown neighborhood was set to be auctioned off by the end of 2023, but a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration said Wednesday the auction is now scheduled for this spring.

The agency housed there — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations — is expected to move to 985 Michigan Ave.

Stabenow said she wanted to transfer the Parks name to the federal building on Michigan Avenue, so that her namesake lives on. Stabenow had led the original 2005 bill to name the Mount Elliott Street building after Parks, who died that year. 

"Rosa Parks’ courage and act of resistance against racism changed our nation's history," Stabenow said in a statement.

"Keeping her name on one of Detroit’s buildings is one special way that Michiganders can honor her. I’m so thrilled my bill has now passed the House and Senate — on to the President’s desk!” 

The House version of Stabenow's bill, introduced last fall by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, is sponsored by the entire Michigan delegation, including Thanedar, plus Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.

Aides to several Democrats in Michigan's delegation last year had said privately that members were taken by surprise by Thanedar's measure as he didn't consult his colleagues before circulating a letter to seek co-sponsors.

More:Rosa Parks or John Conyers? Democrats have competing bills to name Detroit federal building

Thanedar at the time said he'd only learned about Stabenow's Rosa Parks bill from her office shortly before he introduced his Conyers legislation in April of last year. He proceeded to seek co-sponsors for his legislation from colleagues and in a speech on the House floor.

Notably, as of this week, Thanedar's bill to name the Michigan Avenue building for Conyers had 16 total sponsors, but none from Michigan.

Thanedar said Monday he's a "proud" co-sponsor of the Parks bill and said he stands "in reverence of Rosa Parks as a Civil Rights hero and icon."

“Early in my term in Congress, I introduced legislation to name that same building after former Representative John Conyers.  While I am thrilled to see Rosa Parks, Detroit’s own adopted daughter, honored in this way, I want to acknowledge that Congressman Conyers is often not given the credit he is due," Thanedar said in a statement.

"As the longest serving African American in Congress, co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, and civil rights champion who helped establish Martin Luther King Day as a federal holiday, Congressman Conyers is a hero to many of my constituents," he added.

“I will continue to look for ways to honor this important American as I support the bill moving forward today.”

Parks is considered a mother of the civil rights movement, sparked by her refusal to give up her seat to a White man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Her act of defiance led to the famous bus boycott in Montgomery.

In 1957, Parks moved to Detroit, where she lived until her death in 2005. Conyers and Parks knew one another well; Parks helped with the election of Conyers and later worked as a secretary and aide to the congressman from 1964 until she retired in 1988.

Conyers is remembered as a champion for civil and human rights, African American reparations, single-payer health care, voting rights and criminal justice reform. He chaired the Judiciary Committee and was the first African American to hold the title of dean of the House.

In 2017, three House Democrats from Michigan were among the lawmakers calling for Conyers to resign as he faced sexual misconduct allegations that he denied.

Tlaib previously got a bill passed to rename a U.S. Post Office in Detroit after Rosa Parks that was dedicated last year.

mburke@detroitnews.com