[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 112 (Monday, September 9, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6095-H6097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
                PETER J. GANCI, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5336) to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 380 Main Street in Farmingdale, 
New York, as the ``Peter J. Ganci, Jr. Post Office Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5336

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

     SECTION 1. PETER J. GANCI POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 380 Main Street in Farmingdale, New York, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Peter J. Ganci, Jr. 
     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 Peter J. Ganci, Jr. Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dan Miller of Florida). Pursuant to the 
rule, the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis) and the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann 
Davis).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. JO ANN 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 the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5336, introduced by our distinguished colleague 
from New York (Mr. King), designates a post office in Farmingdale, New 
York, as the Peter J. Ganci, Jr., Post Office Building. Members of the 
entire House delegation from the State of New York are cosponsors of 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, on September 11, immediately after a jet struck the 
first tower at the World Trade Center, Peter Ganci, chief of department 
for the New York City Fire Department, rushed to the scene from his 
command post in downtown Brooklyn and started the rescue effort.
  He was in the basement of Tower One when it collapsed. Miraculously, 
he survived, dug himself out of the rubble and went back to work.
  It then became apparent that the second tower would fall. Ganci, as 
the highest ranking uniformed officer on the scene, directed everyone 
to clear out of the area, but Ganci did not himself leave while his men 
were inside the

[[Page H6096]]

tower. Ganci said, ``I'm not leaving my men,'' and advanced toward the 
towers to continue his life's work of saving and protecting others.
  Chief Ganci was in the basement of the second tower when it 
collapsed.
  Prior to joining the New York City Fire Department, Ganci served in 
the Farmingdale Fire Department as a volunteer and in the 82nd Airborne 
Division. Ganci served in the New York Fire Department for 33 years and 
was decorated repeatedly for bravery.
  Ganci is survived by his wife, Kathleen; his sons, Christopher and 
Peter; and his daughter, Danielle. His son, Peter Ganci, III, now 
serves with Ladder Company 111 of the New York City Fire Department.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 5336.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume.
  As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased 
to join my colleague today in the consideration of two postal naming 
bills: H.R. 5336, introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), 
which names a post office in Farmingdale, New York, after Peter Ganci; 
and H.R. 4797, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Becerra), which names a post office in Los Angeles, California, after 
Nat King Cole. These measures have the support of their respective 
State congressional delegations to name United States postal facilities 
after very deserving individuals, and I urge their swift passage.
  H.R. 5336, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 380 Main Street in Farmingdale, New York, as the 
Peter J. Ganci, Jr., Post Office Building, was introduced by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. King) on September 5, 2002.
  An American hero, Peter J. Ganci was the New York City Fire 
Department's highest ranking chief who died when the World Trade Center 
came down. Chief Ganci had been on the radio in front of the trade 
center directing the rescue efforts when the building collapsed.
  Who was Chief Ganci? He was 54-years-old and a resident of 
Massapequa, New York; the chief of the department, one of the highest 
ranking uniformed officers in the fire department; husband to Kathleen; 
father to Peter, III, Christopher and Danielle. He was also a 33-year-
old veteran of the New York Fire Department, whose son Peter is a 
firefighter assigned to Ladder Company 111 in Brooklyn, New York, and 
Brooklyn, New York, is the place where Peter Ganci got his start in 
1960.
  After serving in engine and ladder companies, Mr. Ganci rose to 
lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, deputy chief and then acting 
chief. He also ran the Bureau of Fire Investigation, was appointed the 
chief of operations prior to becoming chief of the department.
  A hands-on man, Chief Ganci was doing his job, commanding the rescue 
operations at the New York World Trade Center.
  Accordingly, I urge swift passage of this bill and commend my 
colleague for seeking to honor Chief Peter J. Ganci, Jr., in this 
matter.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that we have any other requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield as 
much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), 
the author of this legislation.
  Mr. KING. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to rise today in support of this 
legislation. Pete Ganci was a constituent of mine. He was an individual 
who personified the leadership and the bravery which resulted last 
September 11 in the greatest rescue operation in the history of this 
country.
  Twenty-five thousand people were rescued that day, and it was done 
primarily through the efforts of the New York City Fire Department, and 
Chief Pete Ganci was the chief of the department, who was also the 
highest ranking uniformed officer ever to die in the line of duty, and 
as the gentlewoman pointed out, Chief Ganci was there that day with his 
men. Chief Ganci was there in the line of duty.
  Chief Ganci was there directing the operation against this horrific 
attack that was carried out against our country, and when the first 
tower fell, Chief Ganci barely escaped with his life, and when he saw 
the terrible carnage that resulted and saw the terrible danger which 
was still being faced by the north tower, which had not yet fallen, 
Chief Ganci ordered the entire operation to be moved north.
  As the entire operation, including the mayor and other officials, 
went north, Pete Ganci went south to be with his men, and that 
personified the type of leadership which Pete Ganci gave in the New 
York City Fire Department. As the gentlewoman pointed out, he had been 
a member of the department more than 33 years, rising to the highest 
office in that department, chief of the department. Prior to that, he 
had been a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, and until his death, he 
was an active member of the Farmingdale Volunteer Fire Department in 
New York.
  Mr. Speaker, at this point also, before I digress, though, I want to 
pay a special debt of thanks to Sal Pontillo, the Nassau County 
legislator who represents the district in which Mr. Ganci lived in 
Nassau County, and he has come to me with this request. We have worked 
closely on it, and he has also served as liaison with the Ganci family 
and helped to bring this about.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us look back on the date of September 11 and we 
realize what a turning point it was in the history of our country. It 
was a turning point for many reasons. The point I would like to focus 
on today is that after that attack, actually as the attack was going 
on, as the buildings were burning, as the buildings were coming down, 
as people were being killed, as people were being rescued, what the 
eyes of the world and the eyes of the country saw was the valor of the 
New York City firefighters and police officers, those who were carrying 
out this rescue operation under the most trying circumstances, and the 
person who was leading that operation was Chief Ganci. Just think what 
would have happened if he had not done what he did, if the firefighters 
had not responded the way they did, instead of running into the 
building, Chief Ganci had run out of the building and kept going, but 
instead he went back right in the line of fire, the battlefield 
commander who died with his men, and it was that type of courage that 
was shown that day, that type of heroism that was shown that day, that 
type of spirit that was shown that day which I think has inspired our 
country to fight back, to come back and to win this war against 
international terrorism, and even just as importantly, to show that 
America cannot be vanquished, that we can take the best shot of the 
enemy and come back stronger than ever.
  That is what Chief Ganci personified that day. In fact, it is the 
type of story, that if somebody had produced a movie about it, it would 
not have been believed, for a person to be there when the first tower 
came down and somehow survive it and go back in and to be killed in the 
second tower, which to me is the type of courage that I cannot even 
begin to fathom.
  This was the first battle, Mr. Speaker, and the first great war of 
the 21st century, and Chief Ganci died as a battlefield commander in 
that war, and for that, this country owes him its untiring thanks and 
gratitude for all that he has done.
  I want to say a special debt of thanks to his wife, Kathy, who has 
shown tremendous courage throughout this entire almost now 363 days, 
and his son, Pete, who is a member of the New York City Fire 
Department, his son, Chris, and his daughter, Danielle.
  I also want to thank the other 30 members of the New York delegation 
for unanimously supporting this resolution. To me, it is just another 
indication of the tremendous regard that all the men and women of the 
New York City Fire Department had for Chief Ganci and, indeed, all of 
the members of the New York delegation, everyone who had the 
opportunity to know Chief Ganci.
  I can say I was at his funeral last September 15. It was one of the 
most moving moments I have ever been involved in, to see the tremendous 
outpouring of support from his community in North Massapequa and 
Farmingdale, all of the surrounding community, by the thousands, coming 
out to join in this salute to Chief Pete Ganci.
  So, Mr. Speaker, with that I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
the

[[Page H6097]]

time. I thank the House for considering this resolution today, and I 
extend my very best thoughts, prayers and gratitude to the Ganci family 
for all they have gone through.
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  I thank my colleague for introducing this legislation to honor the 
chief of the New York City Fire Department. As the wife of a 
professional firefighter for almost 30 years, I know the bravery that 
these firefighters have, and I have had people tell me why they let 
chiefs send men in there to their deaths, and I have told them quite 
clearly, if he would not have sent them in, I know the firefighters 
would have gone in, anyway. That is just the type of bravery they do 
have, and again, I thank my colleagues, and I urge adoption of this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5336.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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