Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed Congressman Jimmy Gomez’s (CA-34) legislation to redesignate a local post office in his district after Korean independence activist Dosan Ahn Chang Ho yesterday.

The bill passed the House in February of this year and now heads to the Senate floor for a final vote.

“As the representative for LA’s Koreatown and the largest Korean community of any congressional district, I’m thrilled we are making strides to honor the contributions of Korean American leaders and activists like Dosan Ahn Chang Ho by naming this community landmark after him,” said Gomez. “The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has passed my legislation to honor Dosan and I look forward to final passage of this bill on the Senate floor soon. Dosan’s story embodies the stories of millions of immigrants in America, and as this legislation heads to the full Senate for a vote, I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle will grant the Korean American community the recognition they deserve and send this legislation to the president’s desk.”

Background:

Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, also known by his pen name Dosan, was a pivotal early leader of the Korean American community, emigrating to the United States with his wife as the first married couple from Korea, founding early Korean American community groups and laying the groundwork for the last 120 years of Korean American contributions.

Dosan was also a celebrated Korean independence activist who helped author the South Korean national anthem, advocated for social reform, served as a leader of the provisional government and played a key role in the opposition of the Japanese occupation of Korea. He was the father of trailblazing Korean American actors Phillip Ahn, Philson Ahn and Ralph Ahn, and his daughter, Susan Ahn Cuddy, was the first Asian American woman to join the U.S. Navy and an important leader in the post-WWII national security community.

In the 2003-2004 congressional session, Congress unanimously voted to designate the previous post office in Koreatown as the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office, which was a landmark in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, in early 2022, the lease on the building expired with no option for USPS to renew, thus ending the building designation. The local Korean American community has been united in making the redesignation of the new postal facility a priority. Now that a USPS facility has been opened in the heart of Koreatown, Gomez is again seeking to designate the facility as the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office.

Gomez’s bill to designate the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office in Los Angeles’ Koreatown passed the U.S. House by a unanimous vote on February 1, 2024. Now that it has passed out of its Senate committee, the bill will head to the full U.S. Senate for a vote and then, hopefully, to the president’s desk to be officially signed into law.