[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 95 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4591-H4592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CLARENCE MILLER POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4755) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 204 South Broad Street in Lancaster, Ohio, as the 
Clarence Miller Post Office Building.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4755

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

     SECTION 1. CLARENCE MILLER POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 204 South Broad Street in Lancaster, Ohio, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Clarence Miller 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 Clarence Miller Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Tierney) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHAYS. 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. 4755, the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Connecticut?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4755, introduced by our distinguished colleague 
from the State of Ohio (Mr. Hobson), designates a post office in 
Lancaster, Ohio as the Clarence Miller Post Office Building.
  Members of the entire House delegation from the State of Ohio are 
cosponsors of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, this post office will recognize former Congressman 
Clarence Miller and his 5 decades of public service to the citizens of 
Lancaster, Ohio whom Congressman Miller served as a city councilman, 
mayor and U.S. representative. Born in Lancaster on November 1, 1917, 
Clarence Miller served 13 terms as a United States Congressman, from 
1967 until 1993. Prior to his term in Congress, he was mayor of 
Lancaster from 1964 to 1966 and a member of the Lancaster City Council, 
1957 to 1963.
  Congressman Miller originally made his living as a utility company 
engineer before entering into public service.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 4755.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of Committee on Government Reform, I am 
pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 4755, a bill in 
fact to designate a facility of the United States Postal Service after 
Clarence Miller. Obviously the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) has 
introduced this bill. It enjoys great support, from my understanding, 
from the entire Ohio delegation. Not having been a Member of Congress 
when Mr. Miller was in fact serving, I do know that by reputation he 
served from 1966 until January of 1993. I am also informed that the 
former Representative Miller served on the Committee on Agriculture, 
Committee on Public Works and Transportation, and the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, on the 3 subcommittees of that 
group. He was well known as a budget watchdog because of his fierce 
dedication to fiscal responsibility.
  Former Representative Miller is now retired but he is also active in 
his Lancaster community. He is a member of the First United Methodist 
Church, the recipient of numerous awards and honors in recognition of 
his untiring efforts to serve his fellow Ohioans.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the swift passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson).
  Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask for the House to approve 
the bill to deem the Lancaster, Ohio, post office for former 
congressman Clarence J. Miller, to recognize his years of public 
service to the citizens of Lancaster, Ohio.
  Clarence Miller served the people of Lancaster and central Ohio for 
over five decades and for thousands of Ohioans he exemplified the 
proper role of a public servant.
  Clarence was a true community leader who was committed to improving 
the lives of those he represented, whether it was in the Lancaster City 
Hall or the United States Congress. His vision and civic spirit have 
made lasting contributions to our area, and he truly deserves this 
honor.
  Mr. Miller was born in Lancaster on November 1, 1917. After attending 
Lancaster public schools and receiving technical training in Scranton, 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Miller was employed as a utility company engineer.
  He served as a member of the Lancaster City Council from 1957 to 1963 
and as mayor of Lancaster from 1964 to 1966. In 1967, he was elected to 
the U.S. House of Representatives where he served until his retirement 
in 1993.
  In Congress, Mr. Miller first served on the Committee on Agriculture 
and Committee on Public Works and Transportation. In 1973, he became a 
member of the House Committee on Appropriations and served on the 
Subcommittee on Foreign Operations; Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
State; Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government; 
and Subcommittee on Defense.
  Clarence also holds U.S. and Canadian patents for technical 
innovations he developed in his professional ability as an electrical 
engineer.
  There are many in Congress and in Washington today with fond memories

[[Page H4592]]

of Clarence Miller. This legislation would provide a lasting tribute to 
this fine individual that would be most visible to those he served for 
so many years in Lancaster, Ohio.
  I might say that Mr. Miller today lives in Lancaster, Ohio. He visits 
the office often and still takes part in trying to help make our 
community better.
  So it is with deep appreciation that I thank the House for passing 
this piece of legislation today.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this measure.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H.R. 4755, I 
rise in strong support of this bill to designate the post office in 
Lancaster, Ohio as the Clarence Miller Post Office Building. This 
building served as Clarence's district office while he served the 
people of Southern Ohio for 26 years as a member of the House of 
Representatives.
  Clarence Miller is a native and lifelong resident of Lancaster, Ohio. 
He was born in 1917. He was the third of six children born to Clarence 
Miller, Sr., and Delores Lloyd Miller. He married his high school 
sweetheart, Helen Brown, on December 25, 1936, and they spent 50 happy 
years together until her passing in 1986.
  Clarence has two children, Jacqueline and Ronald. He has five 
grandchildren, Tyler Williams, Todd Williams, Amy Jackson, Jennifer 
Smith, and Drew Miller and four great-grandchildren--Morgan, Connor, 
Drew and Grant. He has a surviving brother, Paul, a retired broadcaster 
and marketing executive in Cincinnati.
  Clarence grew up during the Great Depression. He was the son of an 
electrician. Clarence and his brothers and sisters worked to help the 
family financially during those troubled times, and as a young boy he 
delivered papers for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette.
  During high school he unloaded trucks after school at the Omar 
Bakery, often not returning home until after midnight, and then rising 
early the next morning to attend classes.
  Clarence always prided himself on being a self-made man. Following 
high school he went to work digging ditches for the Ohio Fuel and Gas 
Co., now called Columbia Gas, and rose through the ranks to become a 
practicing electrical engineer. While continuing to work full time at 
Ohio Fuel, Clarence and his brother, Paul, along with their mother, 
started Miller Electric, a small retail and electric wiring business in 
Lancaster.
  Clarence first become interested in politics in the 1950s when the 
Ohio Fuel and Gas Co. offered courses in civics to its employees to 
help provide them with a better appreciation of how government 
operates. Clarence found the subject so captivating that he himself 
started teaching those courses, and afterwards began thinking about 
entering politics.
  His political career began in 1957, when he was appointed to fill an 
unexpired term as a member of the Lancaster City Council. He was 
elected to a full term, and then was elected mayor of Lancaster, 
receiving the largest plurality in the history of the city.

  Clarence was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1966 
and was elected each succeeding Congress by wider margins. Clarence and 
President George Herbert Walker Bush were members of the same freshman 
class. For six years Clarence served on the House Agriculture Committee 
and the Public Works and Transportation Committee, and then he was 
selected to serve on the powerful Appropriations Committee where he 
served for the next 20 years. Clarence was noted for his efforts to 
reduce federal spending during times of skyrocketing deficits. He 
originated the idea of offering 2-percent across-the-board reduction 
amendments to appropriations bills, which became known as the Miller 
Amendments.
  Clarence always had a keen interest in technology, and was one of a 
handful of Members of the House to hold both United States and Canadian 
patents for technical innovations developed while he worked as an 
electrical engineer. Clarence successfully merged his technical 
background with his work in Congress. In 1977 he was appointed by the 
Speaker to be a member of the Technology Assessment Board of the 
Congress.
  Clarence received many honors and awards including: honorary 
doctorate degrees from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, and Rio 
Grande College in Rio Grande, Ohio; the Phillips Medal of Public 
Service from Ohio University in Athens, OH; the National Associated 
Businessmen's ``Watchdog of the Treasury Award''; the Americans for 
Constitutional Action's ``Distinguished Service Award''; and the 
National Rifle Association's ``Legislator of the Year Award.''
  He always took great pride in his work. He was not one to seek the 
public limelight. Clarence worked quietly and diligently over the years 
for our nation and for his constituents. He always said it is not 
important to get your name in the Washington Post or on the network 
news. Instead, you have to look after the people who sent you here to 
represent them, and to do what they think is best for the country as a 
whole.
  Apparently Clarence's philosophy served him well, because he 
consistently defeated his opponents over the years by a better than 2-
to-1 margin.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all members to vote for H.R. 4755 to honor 
Clarence Miller, a gentleman who served the people of Southern Ohio and 
our Nation very well in this chamber for 26 years.
  Mr. SHAYS. 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 Connecticut (Mr. Shays) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4755.
  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. SHAYS. 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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