Bonamici, Wyden Celebrate Naming Hillsboro Post Office in Honor of Former Rep. Elizabeth Furse
WASHINGTON, DC [12/20/24] – This week legislation led by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) to redesignate a Hillsboro post office in honor of the late Representative Elizabeth Furse passed the Senate and was sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the companion legislation in the Senate.
Furse represented Oregon’s First Congressional District for three terms from 1993-1999 and established her legacy as a champion for human and tribal rights and social justice. The post office at 125 South 1st Avenue in Hillsboro, located in the district Furse served, will be designated as the Elizabeth Furse Post Office Building.
“Elizabeth Furse devoted her life to serving others and she made a lasting difference for Hillsboro and NW Oregon,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “I will forever be grateful for her mentorship and friendship, and I am delighted that this post office near the home where she spent her final years will bear her name and inspire all those who visit it. Let us honor her memory by renewing our efforts to better the lives of those around us.”
“My friend Elizabeth Furse devoted her life as a public servant to helping Tribal communities, strengthening women’s health care and improving the lives of vulnerable people in Oregon and throughout our country,” Wyden said. “I’m glad she will be honored in the district she served so faithfully with a permanent recognition in this Hillsboro post office. This well-deserved tribute both celebrates her ongoing legacy in our state, and inspires future Oregonians with the example she set in public life.”
Furse was the first woman elected to represent Oregon’s First District and helped secure funding to expand TriMet’s MAX Blue Line into Hillsboro. She was a key figure in working to restore federal recognition for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. Furse also served as Director of the Oregon Peace Institute and founded both the Institute for Tribal Government at Portland State University and nonprofit Clean Water Columbia. She died in 2021 at age 84 at her Hillsboro farm.
Video of Bonamici speaking in support of the legislation can be viewed here. It passed unanimously in both the House and Senate.
The text of the legislation can be viewed here. A statement Bonamici submitted for the Congressional Record after Furse’s death can be found here.