[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H12516-H12517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PAT KING POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight be discharged from further 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 3488) to designate the United States 
Post Office located at 60 Third Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, as 
the Pat King Post Office Building, and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, and I will 
not object, I would like to make some remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3488 to name the Long Branch, 
New Jersey Post Office after a hero, Detective Sergeant Pat King. Long 
Branch is my hometown and November 20, 1997, was a very sad day for us 
in the City of Long Branch. On that day, Officer Pat King was killed by 
a career criminal from out of state who made his living promoting 
prostitution and selling drugs. On this particular day, the assailant 
went gunning for a police officer, any police officer, and he found Pat 
King.
  Sergeant King was killed because he was simply wearing an officer's 
uniform. Following the shooting, the assailant went on an hour long 
crime spree, including a chase and exchange of gunfire that injured 
other officers. He finally shot himself with a second gun, Officer 
King's gun.
  Mr. Speaker, my bill, H.R. 3488, names the Long Branch Post Office 
after Pat King. Officer King, 45 years old at the time, was the most 
decorated police officer in the history of the City of Long Branch. By 
passing this bill, this body not only pays tribute to Pat King it 
honors all 305 police officers across the country who died last year at 
the hands of vicious criminals.
  Mr. Speaker, for a police officer, the mere act of donning a uniform 
makes him an immediate target for sick and criminal minds. Each call 
presents dangers and threats that we cannot begin to imagine. It is my 
hope that in naming the post office after Pat King we will be paying 
tribute to individuals so dedicated to their fellow human beings that 
they are willing to die to protect our safety. It is a way to honor 
bravery and unselfishness at a time when we question whether it still 
exists and it is a way to remind young people that dedicating a career 
to helping others is still a path deeply admired by their community.
  To Pat's widow, Maureen, and her sons Patrick and Todd, I say that I 
hope this tribute provides them with

[[Page H12517]]

some small comfort that their husband and father will not be forgotten, 
not by the people of Long Branch and not by the Congress of the United 
States.
  Mr. Speaker, if I could, I wanted to thank the majority leader, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), for helping me bring this bill to the 
floor this evening on unanimous consent.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there further objection to the request of 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the bill, as follows:

                               H.R. 3488

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The United States Post Office located at 60 Third Avenue in 
     Long Branch, New Jersey, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Pat King Post Office Building''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the United States 
     Post Office referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the ``Pat King Post Office Building''.

  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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