[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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