[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 116 (Monday, September 10, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H5468-H5470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            STAN PARRIS POST OFFICE BUILDING DESIGNATION ACT

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 1766) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 4270 John Marr Drive in Annandale, 
Virginia, as the ``Stan Parris Post Office Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1766

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

     SECTION 1. STAN PARRIS POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 4270 John Marr Drive in Annandale, 
     Virginia, shall be known and designated as the ``Stan Parris 
     Post Office Building''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be 
     a reference to the Stan Parris Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Viginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks on H.R. 1766.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1766 sponsored by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Wolf) would rename the Post Office at 4270 John Marr Drive in 
Annandale, Viginia, to honor Stan Parris, a distinguished and dedicated 
Republican representative from Northern Virginia.
  Stan's career in public service began as a member of the Fairfax 
County Board of Supervisors representing the Mason district. He later 
served the people of Virginia as Secretary of the Commonwealth and 
Director of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Washington Liaison Office.
  Stan went on to represent the Eighth Congressional District of 
Virginia from 1973 to 1975, and more recently from 1981 to 1991. While 
in Congress he was a member of the Committee on Banking, the Committee 
on the Interior and Insular Affairs, and the Select Committee on 
Narcotics Abuse and Control.
  As the ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on the District of 
Columbia, Stan was a vocal critic of D.C. Government policies in the 
1980s and recognized the early signs of the City's financial and 
organizational mismanagement, which eventually escalated to crisis 
level by the mid-1990s. Additionally, he was among the first 
congressional Members calling for the closure of Lorton Prison, a 
process that finally began as part of the National Capital 
Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1977. Stan was 
ahead of his time.
  While serving in Congress, Stan successfully pursued measures to 
alleviate traffic congestion in Northern Virginia. A strong advocate 
for the residents of Virginia's Eighth Congressional District, he 
worked tirelessly on behalf of Federal employees and military retirees 
to help them obtain better salaries and benefits.

                              {time}  1500

  After leaving Congress, Stan was appointed by the President to serve 
as the administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development 
Corporation, and since 1996 he has worked with the law firm of 
Dickstein, Shapiro, Moore and Oshinsky, LLP. He now resides in Hudgins, 
Virginia.
  I urge all my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation 
honoring Stan Parris.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on Government Reform, I am 
pleased to join with my friend and colleague (Chairman Davis) in 
supporting H.R. 1766, legislation sponsored by our friend and 
colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  This legislation honors a distinguished former member of this House, 
Stan Parris, by naming the post office in Annandale, Virginia, after 
him.

[[Page H5469]]

  Mr. Parris is a gentleman that I did not have the pleasure of 
knowing. He left the Congress in 1991, long before I arrived; but I 
understand from reading his background that he was an outstanding 
Member of this body, a distinguished American; and certainly I commend 
my friend, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), for seeking to honor 
such a distinguished man and former Member of this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the bill's sponsor, 
the inspiration for this legislation and a gentleman who served with 
Mr. Parris in the House for many years.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, let me just thank the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Tom Davis), too, for his efforts to bring this up and the other 
side of the aisle for their help and the gentleman from Virginia's (Mr. 
Tom Davis) help on passing the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleagues on the Committee on 
Government Reform in bringing this legislation to the floor to 
designate a U.S. postal building in Annandale, Virginia, to honor 
Congressman Stan Parris, who served Virginia's 8th Congressional 
District for six terms.
  It is the privilege as the Representative of the 10th Congressional 
District to be a sponsor of this bill.
  Born in Champaign, Illinois, September 4, 1929, Stan Parris was first 
elected to the House of Representatives in 1972. After serving one term 
and losing in that very tough 1974, what they called the ``Watergate 
Year,'' he returned to capture a seat in 1980.
  Congressman Parris went on to win five consecutive elections, serving 
from 1981 to 1991.
  As an aside, during that period of time we would sit back over here 
many times and chat and talk when issues would come up; and I would 
say, Stan, and we would say just back and forth, and I can almost see 
Stan kind of standing back there and thinking of all the conversations 
that we would have about issues coming up before the Congress.
  Stan had a very distinguished career in serving this country, both as 
an elected official and as a veteran. Assisting the people he 
represented was the cornerstone of his service in Congress.
  Congressman Parris consistently helped Federal employees and military 
retirees, both largely represented in Virginia's 8th district. He 
involved himself early and often in transportation issues, an area of 
considerable importance to the citizens of northern Virginia.
  Congressman Parris was a vigilant defender of the taxpayer and spoke 
out against instances of fraud and abuse, and according to the Almanac 
of American Politics 1990, it said Parris was one of the earlier voices 
in Congress to warn of an impending crisis in the savings and loan 
industry, speaking out in the fall of 1985. If only the Congress had 
listened to Stan Parris.
  He graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1958, 
and if my memory serves me he worked on a copy machine down in the 
basement of this capitol when he was working his way through law 
school. Winning an award for outstanding law student of the year, 
Congressman Parris went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force as a jet 
pilot during the Korean war.
  He distinguished himself in combat in Korea, winning the 
Distinguished Flying Cross, the air medal with cluster, the Purple 
Heart and the U.S. and Korean Presidential Citation.
  It was once told to me, if you want to understand Stan Parris, read 
the book ``Right Stuff'' because Parris was being considered to be an 
astronaut, was a jet fighter and in many respects a war hero; and if 
you listen to what actually happened to him, which I will not go into, 
I think the body would be very impressed.
  After starting out in the private sector, Congressman Parris won his 
first elected office in 1963 as the only Republican member of the 
Fairfax Board of Supervisors. He then, as the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Tom Davis) said, was Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia.
  In 1969, Congressman Parris went on to serve as a delegate in the 
Virginia General Assembly for 4 years, serving as chairman for the 
joint House-Senate Republican caucus.
  Congressman Parris went on to win the seat for northern Virginia's 
8th Congressional District in 1972 in a very close election.
  In 1980 Congressman Parris won a spirited and close election, 
regaining his seat by under 1,100 votes.
  I see the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran) across the aisle, who 
is ready to follow and introduce a bill to name, appropriately so, a 
post office down in Mount Vernon for Herb Harris.
  To have the Herb Harris Post Office along with Stan Parris is very 
fitting because they both ably were fighters for what they believed in. 
They were advocates for their cause and I think really served this 
region very, very well.
  After winning five consecutive terms, Stan Parris lost his bid for 
reelection in 1992, but his work and public service continued. 
President Bush asked him to be president of the Saint Lawrence Seaway 
Development Corporation, where he used to come before my appropriation 
committee, and may have been the best head of the Saint Lawrence Seaway 
that we have had in the history of the country.
  He was responsible for overseeing the Federal agency charged with 
operating, managing and promoting maritime activity for the entire 
Great Lakes region of the Nation.
  Stan Parris has dedicated most of his life to serving his country in 
both a public and military capacity. His commitment and his devotion to 
public service is deserving of recognition and it is appropriate that 
the postal building of 4270 John Marr Drive in Annandale, Virginia, be 
renamed in his honor.
  I urge our colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation to 
honor this former Member for his dedicated service and just want to 
wish Stan the very, very best and his wife, Marty, and his entire 
family and on behalf of the people of the Commonwealth and the entire 
Congress, thank Stan and thank his family, because you know how part of 
the whole process the family can be, for his service to the country as 
a war hero and as a Member of this Congress.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), who succeeded Mr. 
Parris here in the House.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend 
and colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), in whose 
district the Stan Parris Post Office will be located.
  This is a very nice post office, and it is appropriate that it be 
named after Stan Parris; and I want to commend my other good friend and 
colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf). It was really his 
idea that we name both these offices in tandem after Stan Parris and 
Herb Harris in true bipartisan tradition.
  This one that we are speaking specifically about is that for Stan 
Parris, and the reason why Stan certainly deserves a post office being 
named after him is that he devoted his life to public service.
  He was a fighter pilot during the Korean war. I am sure that that has 
been mentioned. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with 
cluster, the Air Medal with clusters, Purple Heart and the U.S. and 
Korean Presidential Citations. So he really was a war hero.
  After the war, he continued his commitment to public service. He was 
on the Fairfax Board of County Supervisors. The gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Tom Davis) chaired that board and he knows what difficult, 
thankless work that can be.
  He was supervisor in a particularly important transitional time in 
local government in Fairfax County, and he also served as a delegate in 
the General Assembly in Richmond for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  The reason why this Congress should recognize him is his service for 
12 years in the United States House of Representatives. He was on the 
Committee on District of Columbia; Committee on Government Operations; 
the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committees. He was 
chair of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Affairs and Health, Government 
Operations and Metropolitan Affairs where he promoted fiscal 
responsibility.
  I am very pleased that the three of us can recognize him, the 
gentleman from

[[Page H5470]]

Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), and 
I, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner); and we speak for the 
entire Congress.
  You have done a great job, Stan, and this is a very appropriate, 
fitting tribute to you to name this post office after you.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests 
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1766.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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