CONGRESSWOMAN JULIA LETLOW (LA-05) ANNOUNCES HOUSE PASSAGE OF “LUKE LETLOW POST OFFICE” DESIGNATION IN RAYVILLE, LA IN HONOR OF LATE HUSBAND AND CONGRESSMAN-ELECT

Congresswoman Julia Letlow announced the passage of H.R. 7423 which designates the Post Office located at 103 Benedette Street in Rayville, Louisiana as the “Luke Letlow Post Office” in honor of her late husband and Congressman-elect Luke Letlow. This legislation received unanimous bipartisan votes in the House.

H.R. 7423 was sponsored by Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA-01), along with original cosponsors Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05), Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04), Congressman Clay Higgins (LA-03), Congressman Garret Graves (LA-06), and Congressman Troy Carter (LA-02). Majority Leader Scalise, Speaker Johnson, Congressman Higgins, and Congressman Graves also offered supporting remarks for the Luke Letlow Post Office designation on the House floor.

Congresswoman Letlow lost her husband Luke due to COVID-19 in December of 2020.

He had recently been elected to represent the Fifth District of Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives and was due to be sworn-in in January of 2021. Congresswoman Letlow ran in a special election to fill his seat and overwhelmingly won in March of 2021.

Luke devoted his life to public service and to the Fifth District of Louisiana. He loved his native Richland Parish and made it his mission to make the lives of its residents better.

To finalize the renaming of the Rayville Post Office, the U.S. Senate must also pass the bill.

Congresswoman Letlow offered the following comment:

“I’m so deeply touched that my colleagues in the House, particularly Majority Leader Steve Scalise, put forth this incredible tribute to Luke," said Rep. Letlow. "My late husband dedicated his life to making Louisiana’s 5th District a better place. Luke’s purpose was always driven by people and his passion was public service. As someone who deeply loved Richland Parish and spent countless hours learning about its history, I know he would consider it the recognition of a lifetime to have the Post Office named in his honor, and our family is so proud to see this fitting memorial to his legacy in the place we call home.”

Congresswoman Letlow also voiced her support for the Post Office designation on the House floor. Her full remarks are below and linked HERE:

“Mister Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for this bill and also to express – to the House – the heartfelt gratitude of Luke’s family, his friends, and all who loved him. My husband was someone I knew to be a truly exceptional and gifted individual. Luke’s purpose was always driven by people and his passion was public service. Luke was the kind of person who would meet a stranger and just a few minutes later, could walk away having established an enduring friendship with them. Mister Speaker, I can’t even begin to count the number of people who called, texted, emailed, or wrote me letters in the days after we lost Luke, telling me how he had touched their lives. Throughout his career, I saw so many times when he would spend hours on the phone talking to local mayors and police jurors about the problems in their communities, showing them the same care and attention that he would give if it had been the Governor of Louisiana or the Speaker of the House on the other end of the line. As I travel the Fifth District to this day, I still meet many of those same people who fondly remember those times he helped them. But what was different about Luke and one of the incredible things that set him apart, was the fact that his mind was like an atlas, encyclopedia, and historical narrative of our little corner of Northeastern Louisiana. He not only knew the people, he not only knew their concerns – he knew their stories. He could drive through those little small towns all over our region and show you… Where Ulysses Grant and his troops had prepared for the attack on Vicksburg, where Theodore Roosevelt had gone hunting for the famous black bear, and where Huey and Earl Long played as young brothers and later campaigned for votes as governors. But there is no place that Luke loved more than his own Richland Parish – the home for the Letlow family for eight generations. His story was deeply rooted in the fertile soil of the Delta, which gave name to his pet project – Richland Roots – a website he created to tell the stories of Richland Parish and its history. He would spend countless hours researching the past of the towns and villages of the parish, the landmarks, the churches – and yes, even the Post Offices. You see, Luke understood that all over Richland Parish, there were these little pieces of the past that were left with us, containing both the stories and the lessons from those who came before us. Now, he’ll receive his very own landmark, a little piece of Richland Parish to tell his story. It is my hope, Mister Speaker, that one day, another history-loving kid from Richland Parish will see that Post Office and learn about Luke’s story. I hope they’ll learn about how his journey took him from the backroads and small towns of Northeast Louisiana to the corridors of the United States Capitol in Washington. I hope they’ll learn about how he dedicated himself to the people of our region, working every single day, to make their lives better. I hope they’ll learn about the fact that even though he was never able to serve as a member of this House, the men, and women who served here thought so highly of him that they bestowed this high honor. Mister Speaker, When Luke’s light would shine on you, it was impossible to feel anything other than his warmth and love. He had a way of making you feel exceptional, and I know that to be true for every person in his life. It is what I miss the most. Luke may be gone, but his light will never leave us. I see it every day in the faces of our children – our son Jeremiah, and our daughter Jacqueline. I see it every time I go home and I drive those backroads in Richland Parish and see the places that he loved so much. But by bestowing this honor on him, you’re ensuring that his name and his legacy will live on long after all of us are gone. So I ask my colleagues to join our Majority Leader in supporting this bill and on behalf of Luke’s family, his friends, and all who loved him – Thank You. I yield back."