[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3618-H3620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RONALD C. PACKARD POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4794) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1895 Avenida Del Oro in Oceanside, California, as 
the ``Ronald C. Packard Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4794

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

     SECTION 1. RONALD C. PACKARD POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1895 Avenida Del Oro in Oceanside, 
     California, shall be known and designated as the ``Ronald C. 
     Packard 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 Ronald C. Packard Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Ose) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) will 
each control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose).


                             General Leave

  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on the bill, H.R. 4794.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4794, introduced by our distinguished colleague, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), designates the post office 
located in Oceanside, California, as the Ronald C. Packard Post Office 
Building. Members of the entire House delegation from the State of 
California are cosponsors of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, Ron Packard was first elected to Congress on November 2, 
1982, after a successful write-in campaign, becoming only the fourth 
write-in candidate in U.S. history to win a House seat. He served the 
people of San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties for 18 years in the 
House of Representatives before his retirement at the close of the 
106th Congress.
  During his time in Congress, Mr. Packard served on the prestigious 
Committee on Appropriations and chaired the powerful Subcommittee on 
Energy and Water Development, Subcommittee on Military Construction, 
and Subcommittee on Legislative of the Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. Packard began his public service in the United States Navy, which 
he entered upon graduation from dental school in 1957. He was stationed 
at Camp Pendleton, California, and served as a dentist in the U.S. Navy 
Corps. Following his military service, he relocated his family and 
practice to the Carlsbad area and founded the Packard Dental Clinic.
  He quickly became active in local civic and business affairs, and 
received his first public post in 1962 as a trustee of the Carlsbad 
Unified School District, which included 3 years as chairman.
  He served as a director of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce for 4 
years, and served 2 years on the Carlsbad City Council, and 4 years as 
mayor of Carlsbad. As mayor, he focused on critical regional issues. He 
served 3 years on the Transportation Policy Committee of the League of 
California Cities, and 4 years as a director of the North County 
Transit District.
  Representative Packard retired from Congress in 2000 so he could 
spend more time with his family. Ron and Jean Packard married in 1952 
and have 7 children, 34 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 4794.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the Committee on Government Reform, I 
rise in support of H.R. 4794, legislation naming a post office after 
Ronald C. Packard.
  H.R. 4794, which was introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Issa) on May 22, 2002, has met the committee policy and enjoys the 
support and cosponsorship of the entire California delegation.
  Ron Packard was elected to Congress on November 2, 1982, by a write-
in vote, only the fourth successful write-in candidate in the history 
of the United States Congress. Representative Packard represented the 
48th District in California for 18 years, until his retirement from 
Congress on January 3, 2001.
  A member of the United States Navy Dental Corps, Ronald Packard 
founded the Packard Dental Clinic before becoming active in community 
and business affairs. He began public service as a trustee and chairman 
of the Carlsbad Unified School District, going on to serve as a city 
councilman and later as mayor of Carlsbad.
  While in Congress, Representative Packard served on the Committee on 
Appropriations, chairing the Subcommittee on Energy and Water 
Development, the Subcommittee on Military Construction, and the 
Subcommittee on Legislative. He also worked as a senior member of the 
Subcommittee on Transportation and the Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs.
  Previously, he served on the Committee on Public Works, and the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Committee on 
Science, the Subcommittee on Space and Technology.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa).
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, authoring this bill was a unique pleasure for 
me, for I have known Ron Packard for all but 2 years of the time that 
he was a Member of Congress. But what I did not know until I arrived 
here was what kind of a special Representative Ron Packard was while he 
was here in Congress.
  Time after time Members on both sides of the aisle would come up to 
me and talk about something special they had with Ron, perhaps a 
difficult situation long into the night on a piece of legislation 
either here on the floor or in committee, or some piece of 
appropriations that both sides were wrangling with how to make it work. 
And Ron would quietly smile, give a kind word, listen, and try to make 
things happen. That attitude, that way of doing business, was what 
everyone remembered about Ron.
  What we also remember about Ron Packard is that he was able to have 
that unique talent so seldom found in this body, but so admired when it 
is found. Ron was able to be fiercely partisan in his beliefs and 
totally open and bipartisan in the way he approached problems, in the 
way he dealt with Members on both sides of the aisle.
  Ron was known as a man who was already not only an adult, but a 
father and on his way to being a grandfather before he discovered the 
game of golf. He did not use golf as a tool against anyone, he used it 
as an opportunity to come to the other side of the aisle to say, let us 
go talk about something and maybe catch a round of golf.
  Ron did that in everything that he did here in the House. He will be 
remembered for his effectiveness, but most important, back in our 
district, he today is contributing as only a former Member of Congress 
can.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4794, a bill designating 
the United States Post Office building in Oceanside, California, as the 
``Ronald C. Packard Post Office Building.'' I would like to thank 
Chairman Dan Burton and the Government Reform Committee for discharging 
this bill, and House Leadership for placing it on the suspension 
calendar in such an expeditious manner.
  Many of you remember Ron Packard as the distinguished Congressman who 
represented the 48th Congressional District for 18 years, but you may 
not know his storied past. Congressman Ron Packard has served the 
people of California and his country for nearly half century, 
accentuating integrity and above all, respect for his fellow man.
  After relocating his family to Northern San Diego County, Ron Packard 
began his public service career as a trustee of the Carlsbad

[[Page H3619]]

Unified School District, serving from 1962 to 1974. Ron Packard went on 
to serve two years on the Carlsbad City Council, and was elected the 
city's mayor in 1978. During his four years as mayor, Packard was very 
involved with the community and regional affairs. He served three years 
on the transportation policy committee of the League of California 
Cities, and spent four years as a Director of North County Transit 
District. He also served two years as the President of the Council of 
Mayors for San Diego County.
  Ron Packard was first elected to Congress on November 2, 1982, 
through a grassroots write-in campaign. He was only the fourth 
successful write-in candidate in the history of the United States 
Congress. During his time in Congress, he served on the House 
Appropriations Committee and chaired the Energy and Water Development, 
Military Construction, and Legislative Branch Subcommittees.
  Congressman Ron Packard retired from public service on January 3, 
2001 to spend more time with his wife Jean, his seven children, thirty-
four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His legacy in 
Congress is best characterized by hard work and honesty. Ron Packard 
has left an extremely positive and long-lasting impression on me, his 
colleagues in Congress and most importantly, his constituents. I am 
honored to sit in the seat that Ron Packard occupied before me.
  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Hunter).
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
arrived late. I just wanted to pay my respects to Ron Packard and the 
action that we are taking today on his behalf.
  I just wanted to say that Ron really had two great trademarks in the 
House: his great civility, his ability to get along with other Members, 
and to argue on the substance but never on a personal level and I think 
bring us together in many difficult times and also had great 
conservative values which very much reflected the values of his 
district and of San Diego County. I think that this naming of the post 
office is a fitting tribute to Ron and a fitting tribute to those 
values which have served us so well.
  So my best to Ron Packard, and I want to thank the chairman for 
allowing me to come down and talk about him a little bit.
  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Cox).
  (Mr. COX asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for 
yielding me the time.
  I, too, rise in support of the legislation, H.R. 4794, just 
considered by the House of Representatives, to designate the Ron 
Packard post office in Oceanside. I am proud to join with the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Hunter), the gentleman from California (Mr. Ose), 
and others in the California delegation for this purpose, because it 
was my privilege to serve alongside Ron Packard, physically alongside 
him, here in the Congress, geographically in southern California for 12 
years; and it was my privilege in that process to come to know this 
extraordinary man.
  When I first came to Congress, I served with Ron on the Committee on 
Public Works and Transportation where he was, as he now is, an expert 
on aviation, serving on that as well as other subcommittees in the 
Congress. He continued to have even greater influence in that area 
during his service on the Committee on Appropriations where he was a 
cardinal, a term of reverence, well-deserved in his case, for someone 
who wields the extraordinary power of the purse in our constitutional 
system.
  It is interesting to think, as we completed debate during this 
Congress on campaign finance reform and all of our expressions of 
concern about the influences in the political system, about what this 
means in Ron's case. Ron Packard did not get here because of the help 
of special interests. He was not even a nominee of a major party. He 
had to run against the Democratic nominee. He had to run against the 
Republican nominee. He ran as an individual, as Ron Packard; and in an 
extraordinary fashion, his constituents wrote in his name in the 
general election, and he defeated the Republican and Democrat nominee, 
and that is how he came to Congress here. He was Ron Packard first and 
became his party's standard bearer only thereafter because the people 
voted him in.
  He was the embodiment of a citizen politician. He was everything a 
Member of Congress should be and everything a national leader should 
be.
  I am submitting a much more lengthy tribute for the Record, because I 
think it is quite possible to go on about Ron Packard without stopping; 
and I know we have other business to do here.
  I very much appreciate the time that the gentleman from California 
yielded to me.
  Now, it should be said about a Republican who serves on the Committee 
on Appropriations that there are temptations. The whole term limits 
movement has a reason in America because of those temptations, because 
people who serve too long in Washington find it too easy to spend other 
people's money on pork barrel projects, on wasteful Washington ways. 
Sometimes they forget about the people back home. It is sad to say that 
temptation is strongest when one is closest to the money on the 
committee charged with spending it, the Committee on Appropriations in 
the House and in the Senate.
  So how honored are we as American citizens to have been served by a 
chairman on the Committee on Appropriations who took his trust so 
seriously that, in discharging it, he actually reduced spending.
  When Ron Packard first became a chairman on the Committee on 
Appropriations in 1995, he quickly sent a bill to the floor of the 
House of Representatives that did not just cut spending for the benefit 
of taxpayers, it cut spending at home where, presumably, it would hurt 
Members of Congress themselves most, in our own legislative budget. He 
cut spending by Congress on itself by fully one-third, an extraordinary 
achievement when we had a new majority, a new Congress.
  In fact, throughout his career in the majority as a cardinal, as a 
chairman on the Committee on Appropriations, Ron garnered awards, not 
for bringing home the bacon, but from such groups as Americans for Tax 
Reform, which rated him a taxpayer's hero, and the National Taxpayers 
Union, which rated him--even as an appropriator and a cardinal--in the 
top 5 percent of people in this entire Congress interested in cutting 
spending.
  This was an extraordinary accomplishment and something that all of 
his colleagues here are proud of. He made us all proud during his 18 
years of service in this body. Everything that he has done in his 
career, even before he came to Congress, as a local leader, as a mayor, 
as a member of the city council, as a dentist with his own practice, 
has distinguished him.
  It is well said that ours is a government of, by and for the people. 
The for and by parts are very important. But remember that it is also a 
government of the people, and that this Congress, which manufactures 
nothing, is simply the sum of the people who populate it the people who 
were chosen by the voters to come back here.
  Therefore, by being who he has been, the fine gentleman that he has 
been and is, the leader that he has been, the exemplar that he has been 
for all of us, he has improved this institution, the people's House. 
The Congress of the United States and thus our country is the better 
for it.
  It has been a privilege to know the gentleman, Mr. Packard, and the 
designation of this post office in Oceanside, CA, is a fitting tribute 
to his contributions to our democracy.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 4794, 
designating the Ronald C. Packard Post Office Building.
  Ron has a long legacy of service to San Diego and has served the 
community in one capacity or another since 1962. From his election to 
Congress in 1982 until his retirement in 2000, Ron worked tirelessly on 
behalf of the people of San Diego. His leadership as the chairman of 
the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee provided for many of 
the improvements to San Diego's infrastructure. Ron was also a senior 
member of the Transportation Subcommittee and was crucial in securing 
funding for many of the highway improvements and transit projects in 
the county.
  Aside from Ron's service and achievements, he is also a trusted 
friend. In my time in this body, I have turned to Ron many times as the 
senior member of the San Diego delegation for advice. Ron is one of the 
most sincere and genuine individuals I have ever met. His character is 
unquestionable and I think that we would all do well to conduct our 
lives with the same sense of purpose and moral wisdom as Ron.
  I believe that this post office is a fitting tribute to Ron Packard's 
career in Congress and I am pleased to lend my support to this 
legislation.
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, thank you, Mr. Issa, for 
introducing this bill, and for allowing me to speak in support of 
naming a post office after Congressman Ron Packard.
  Ron Packard has been a fixture in California politics for as long as 
I can remember. When

[[Page H3620]]

most people think of the responsibilities of a Member of Congress, they 
think of our work here in Washington, shaping policy and passing 
legislation. But much of the job we do is focused on our own 
communities back home, serving as advocates for our hometowns and 
neighborhoods.
  Over the two decades that he served in Congress, Ron Packard excelled 
in both these roles. In the House he rose to become an Appropriations 
subcommittee chairman, one of the so-called ``Cardinals'' who have a 
special responsibility for shaping our government's spending policy.
  But he was always focused on finding ways to help out his 
constituents and neighbors back home. Congressman Packard started out 
in local politics, as director of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. 
Strengthening the economy of his community and his state was his 
overriding passion. Like many Californians, Ron Packard was a pioneer, 
moving to California to serve in the United States Navy. After his 
service he settled here, and helped to build our state, as a dentist 
and local businessman.
  This blend of military and private sector experience made Congressman 
Packard uniquely qualified to deal with one of the great economic 
challenges that California has had to confront over the last decade--
the decline in huge defense budgets that came with the end of the Cold 
War. The California economy has had to adjust to this new reality, and 
Congressman Packard was a leader in this effort, whether it was 
cleaning up or converting old military sites or supporting efforts to 
diversify the local economy.
  Congressman Packard retired so that he could spend more time with his 
family. I understand that he now has thirty-four grandchildren and 
three great-grandchildren, so I expect that spoiling all those 
youngsters will keep him quite busy.
  This bill is a fitting tribute to Congressman Packard for the years 
of service he has provided to this House, his community and his 
country. Thank you again Mr. Issa.
  Mr. OSE. 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 California (Mr. Ose) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4794.
  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. DAVIS of Illinois. 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.

                          ____________________