[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 130 (Monday, October 7, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H7036-H7038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FRANCIS DAYLE ``CHICK'' HEARN POST OFFICE

  Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 5340) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 5805 White Oak Avenue in Encino, 
California, as the ``Francis Dayle `Chick' Hearn Post Office.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5340

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

     SECTION 1. FRANCIS DAYLE ``CHICK'' HEARN POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 5805 White Oak Avenue in Encino, 
     California, shall be known and designated as the ``Francis 
     Dayle `Chick' Hearn Post Office''.
       (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 Francis Dayle ``Chick'' Hearn Post Office.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida. 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. 5340.

[[Page H7037]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the House consider H.R. 5340, 
introduced by our esteemed colleague, the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Sherman), that designates the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located in Encino, California, as the Francis Dayle ``Chick'' 
Hearn Post Office Building.
  Mr. Speaker, all Americans were saddened to hear that Chick Hearn, 
the renowned play-by-play announcer of the National Basketball 
Association's Los Angeles Lakers passed away on August 5 of this year. 
He was unquestionably one of the most adored and distinctive sports 
broadcasters in American history.
  ``Chick'' Hearn's record of broadcasting longevity is astonishing. 
Since the 1960s, he called over 3,300 Lakers games, plus numerous 
University of Nevado at Las Vegas basketball games, many college and 
professional football games, and even the first Muhammad Ali-Joe 
Frazier boxing match. His continued excellence earned him the nickname 
the ``Golden Throat.''
  It was remarkable that, despite leaving the Laker's announcing booth 
last December because he had to undergo heart surgery, he valiantly 
returned to call the Lakers playoff games all the way through to their 
third consecutive NBA championship this past summer.
  While his longevity in the broadcasting booth is well known, many 
outside of California may not realize that scores of basketball phrases 
were in fact invented by the colorful Chick Hearn. He made famous terms 
that are now pervasive in basketball vernacular such as ``air ball,'' 
``finger roll,'' ``give and go,'' and even ``slam-dunk.''
  Mr. Speaker, naming a Post Office after Francis Dayle ``Chick'' Hearn 
is a fitting tribute to a man who was as beloved and appreciated as 
Chick Hearn was. Therefore, I urge all Members to adopt H.R. 5340.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), the sponsor of 
this legislation.

                              {time}  1345

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for 
yielding me this time, and I thank the House of Representatives and 
particularly the Committee on Government Reform for moving this bill to 
the House floor in record time.
  We are here to honor a man who epitomized the spirit, the unity, and 
the joy of life, of living in southern California, a man who was the 
best reason to buy a transistor radio, perhaps the best reason to live 
in southern California, and perhaps the best reason to be an NBA fan. 
We knew how much he meant to us, but we did not fully know until he 
died last August 5. He had broadcast 3,338 consecutive games between 
November 1965 and December 2001. Not only did he broadcast those 
consecutive games, but his total number of games called reached 3,362.
  In addition to broadcasting those Lakers games, he also broadcast 
NCAA basketball and football games, NFL football games, UNLV 
basketball, and the first Ali-Frazier fight. He won two Emmy awards, 
three Golden Mike awards, two National Sportscaster of the Year awards, 
seven California Sportscaster of the Year awards, and a star on 
Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame. He was also inducted into the 
basketball Hall of Fame and the American sportscasters Hall of Fame.
  No one in this country I think influenced the poetry of basketball to 
the extent of Chick Hearn. He invented or popularized the terms we all 
are familiar with: slam dunk, air ball, finger roll, give and go, and 
one other phrase that I will use at the conclusion of my remarks.
  Francis Dayle Hearn was born in Buda, Illinois, on November 27, 1916. 
He was a talented athlete, but a car accident ended his semi-pro 
basketball career in the 1930s. While playing in Aurora, Illinois, his 
affable response to a practical joker's placing of a dead chicken in 
his locker won him the nickname Chick, the name that we all in Los 
Angeles came to know him by.
  He served in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II and 
after the war became a sportscaster in Aurora and Peoria, Illinois. In 
1956 he moved to Los Angeles to cover college football and basketball 
for CBS radio and NBC television. He joined the Lakers in their first 
season in Los Angeles and became the voice of basketball for southern 
California.
  Chick is survived by his wife, Marge, a granddaughter and a great 
granddaughter. Chick and Marge were residents for many decades in the 
San Fernando Valley and have lived in Encino for well over 20 years. 
This bill will rename their local post office the ``Francis Dayle 
`Chick' Hearn Post Office.''
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, of course, enjoys the support of not 
only the Lakers organization, but the entire California delegation. I 
talked to Marge earlier today and she asked me, What are the chances 
that this bill will pass this House today? And I said, Marge, ``it's in 
the refrigerator. The door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are 
cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jello's jiggling.''
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she might 
consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I come to support two 
champions who will have post offices named after them.
  First I would like to support H.R. 5340 and sportscaster legend Chick 
Hearn. I represented the Lakers for many a year in Inglewood while 
Chick Hearn was at his finest, and I feel very close to that voice even 
in death, because his was the voice representing a real sportsman's 
spirit; and he was able to educate, train, and mentor almost everyone 
who heard him in sportsmanship.
  As the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) expressed, he coined 
many phrases that are used today. Our younger people will grow up 
parroting those phrases and appreciating good sportsmanship and good 
women in sports as well. Our women's basketball team played in that 
same sports arena while I represented that area; and I am so very, very 
proud of what he was able to put forth to them in the line of 
sportsmanship and in the line of broadcasting what good sports was all 
about.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased 
to join with my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 5340, which names a 
Post Office in Encino, California after the late Francis Dayle 
``Chick'' Hearn. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5340, which enjoys the support and 
cosponsorship of the entire California delegation, was indeed 
introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) on September 
5, 2002.
  Francis Hearn was born in the great State of Illinois in the city of 
Aurora. He attended Bradley University and was given the nickname 
``Chick'' when, as an AAU basketball player, he found a chicken inside 
a box of sneakers.
  Chick Hearn began his career in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting 
the University of Southern California football and basketball games. He 
went on to do night and radio sports, winning Emmy awards along the 
way. In 1961, Chick began play-by-play announcing for the Los Angeles 
Lakers, a job he held for over 30 years. During his Lakers career, 
Chick Hearn became one of the most recognizable voices in the industry 
and the greatest basketball announcer of all time. His great announcing 
gave birth to ``Chickisms,'' as it was called. These were comments 
Chick made while broadcasting the games. Some of his greatest comments 
were: ``The mustard's off the hot dog,'' ``He's in the popcorn 
machine,'' ``slam dunk,'' ``air ball,'' ``This game's in the refrig.''
  A man of much commentary, Chick Hearn earned a Cable ACE Award, Best 
Sports Play-by-Play in 1988, and a star on Hollywood Boulevard's ``Walk 
of Fame.'' He was the recipient of a Golden Mike award, six California 
Sportscaster of the Year awards, and three Southern California Sports 
Broadcasters Association awards. His greatest honor came when he was 
inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. Sadly, he passed 
away on August 5, 2002, from injuries suffered in a fall.

[[Page H7038]]

  Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) 
for seeking to honor Chick Hearn by naming a post office after him in 
Encino, California; and I urge the swift passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this 
measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Aderholt). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dan Miller) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5340.
  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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