[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 70 (Wednesday, June 3, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3995-H3996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STEVEN SCHIFF POST OFFICE
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3630) to redesignate the facility of the United States
Postal Service located at 9719 Candelaria Road NE. in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, as the ``Steven Schiff Post Office,'' as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3630
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REDESIGNATION.
The facility of the United States Postal Service located at
9719 Candelaria Road NE. in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and
known as the Eldorado Station Post Office, shall be known and
designated as the ``Steven Schiff Post Office''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper,
or other record of the United States to the facility referred
to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the
``Steven Schiff Post Office''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. McHugh) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh).
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3630, honoring our late colleague, Steven Schiff of
New Mexico, was introduced by the chairman of the full committee, the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) on April 1, 1998. Pursuant to the
policy of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, the
legislation is indeed cosponsored by all the Members of the New Mexico
delegation, although the sponsor himself is from Indiana.
It is a fitting tribute to Steve, as all of us knew him better, that
the chairman of the committee on which he served with dedication and
concern for issues, would sponsor this legislation as an outgoing
tribute to his memory.
The legislation in fact redesignates the facility of the United
States Postal Service located at 9719 Candelaria Road NE., in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the ``Steven Schiff Post Office.'' The
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight amended the bill to read
``Steve Schiff,'' as I mentioned, the name by which many more of us
knew him, known as Steve, of course, by his friends, his family and his
constituents, and the name change was suggested indeed by Mrs. Schiff,
and was unanimously accepted by his colleagues on the committee on
which Steve served with distinction.
Steven Harvey Schiff was born in the great City of Chicago. He earned
his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, but moved to
earn his law degree from the University of New Mexico Law School. He
was admitted to the bar and stayed in New Mexico to become the
assistant district attorney of Bernalillo County for two years. He then
became a trial attorney, but returned to public service as an assistant
city attorney, counsel for the Albuquerque Police Department, and
district attorney for his county for eight years.
Steve earned the reputation of being tough on crime and going by the
book. He served in the New Mexico Air National Guard and was an Air
Force Reserve Colonel. During the Persian Gulf crisis in 1991, Steve
performed legal duties, such as drafting wills for military reservists.
In 1996 he served for several days in the Bosnia theater as a judge
advocate general involved in international legal matters.
Steve Schiff was elected by the First District of New Mexico to the
101st Congress, and to three succeeding Congresses. He succeeded a
gentleman who left the house after 20 years and became Secretary of
Interior under President Bush.
Steve was a member of several committees during his service in the
House: The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; the Committee on
the Judiciary, on which he served as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on
Crime; the Committee on Science, on which he served as Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Basic Research; and, as I have mentioned, the Committee
on Government Reform and Oversight.
{time} 1500
Steve will be remembered as a Member who voted his conscience. He
sponsored legislation and asked questions that were not always popular,
though his tough stands and his caring spirit made him very popular
himself on both sides of the aisle by Members and staff.
We have the honor of having before us today, Mr. Speaker, two bills,
this and the prior one considered, who are bestowing honors on
gentlemen that are still fresh in the memories of many of the Members
of this House.
Having served with Steve, I can say he was always what was good about
this House, always what was good about this Congress, a man who cared
only about his constituents and what was best for his country. It is
with a great deal of honor that I ask my colleagues to join with me
today in supporting this bill in honor of Steve Schiff.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, utilizing whatever time I may consume, let
me, first of all, join in support of H.R. 3630, which would name an
appropriate facility in New Mexico after our former colleague. As
someone who serves on the House Ethics Committee and also had an
opportunity to serve with Congressman Schiff on the Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight, I would like to offer my personal
condolences to his wife of some 29 years and also for the rest of his
immediate and extended family.
His service, not only in this Congress as one of some 12,000 or so
Americans who have served in this body but in the Armed Forces and as
someone who is deeply committed to a whole host of principles, it was
the 1998 American Almanac of American Politics in which it said that he
was a person who followed what was right, irrespective of the politics
of the moment. I think that that best exemplifies the colleague that we
all knew and understood to be someone who we could respect for his
independence here in the House.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to join in the favorable consideration and
hopefully unanimous consideration of this naming bill after someone who
has not only served but served this institution with dignity. We have
the finest postal service in the world, and we want to also take a
minute to utilize the opportunity to name some of these facilities
after some of the finest people that we know.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Horn).
Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, it is perfectly responsible for the House to
name a building after one of our most respected Members. Steve Schiff
would be on anyone's bipartisan list of the five most respected Members
in the House of Representatives. He was a workhorse. He was diligent.
He was thoughtful. Above all, he was wise.
I served with him when we were in the minority in the 103rd Congress,
and he was the ranking member on a subcommittee of the Committee on
Government Operations and in the 104th and 105th Congress, where he was
active on the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.
Steve was an inspiring person, even though he was a very quiet
person. He did his work. He came prepared. He asked the intelligent
question that went to the very core of the issue. That skill probably
came from background as a prosecutor. He could get to the core matter
and get the evidence that
[[Page H3996]]
was needed by an investigating committee.
When he passed away after the serious illness that he had for the
last year or so, every person I knew in this House used the very words
I have used to describe Steve. I know all of us will unanimously
approve this legislation so that his name will be on that building as
long as the United States Postal Service exists, which is hopefully
going to be a very long time.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield whatever time he may want to utilize
to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott).
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this piece of
legislation. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) has just
suggested, I think anybody who worked with Steve Schiff would use the
same kind of words.
I sat with him on the Ethics Committee and watched him deal with
matters affecting Members on both sides of the aisle. Steve always kept
his eye on the view that he wanted to know what was right, what was the
situation and how should it be remedied. It did not make any difference
to him who it was. He was fair beyond what I think we see very often in
this House.
I think that one of the things that is missing, Steve had a great
sense of humor. When we were into some kind of tight spot in the Ethics
Committee, he could always come up with a joke or some sort of wry
phrase that would take the tension out of the situation.
In many ways, he was the finest example of what people should expect
from Members of Congress. I think it is a real honor that we can give
this honor to him today and to his family.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time either.
And with final urging to honor as a unanimous body the deeds and the
life of a great American and a fine human being, I urge my colleagues
to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill H.R. 3630, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, on that, I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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