With the flick of his wrist, President Donald Trump enacted a piece of legislation that would forever cement the importance of country music into the government’s most public-facing entity: the Postal Service.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy first sponsored H.B. 1988 in regards to the Bakersfield, California Post Office which he represents as part of the 23rd District. The bill looked to rename the building in honor of one of the area’s greatest music legends, Merle Haggard.
Trump’s uniquely-spiky signature graced three similar bills on Tuesday, March 20th, but one stood out in particular – H.B. 1988.
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Haggard, who passed away on his 79th birthday in April 2016, was born just north of Bakersfield in the small town of Oildale. He was a prominent figure in the Bakersfield Sound movement and a pioneer of Outlaw-style country music.
The Spanish-styled building on 18th Street in Bakersfield will now be known as the Merle Haggard Post Office Building and is yet another memorialization the city will hold in honor of Haggard’s incredible contribution to country music and the American people. The city previously named a street after him, called Merle Haggard Drive.
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In addition to the Merle Haggard Post Office Building, President Trump also designated the Converse Veterans Post Office Building in Converse, Texas along with the Staff Sergeant Ryan Scott Ostrom Post Office in Liberty, Pennsylvania which honored Ostrom who was killed in Iraq in 2005.
What do you think of the new post office designation by President Trump?