[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 108 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7184-H7186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ROBERT A. BORSKI POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2328) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 2001 East Willard Street in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, as the ``Robert A. Borski Post Office Building.''
   The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2328

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

     SECTION 1. ROBERT A. BORSKI POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 2001 East Willard Street in Philadelphia, 
     Pennsylvania, shall be known and designated as the ``Robert 
     A. Borski 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 Robert A. Borski Post Office Building.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) 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 in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
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. 2328, introduced by the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel), designates the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 2001 East Willard Street in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Robert A. Borski Post Office 
Building.
   Mr. Speaker, this legislation honors a devoted former Member of this 
body. Former Congressman Robert Borski preceded the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania as the U.S. Representative of Pennsylvania's Third 
District. The citizens of the Third District in Philadelphia elected 
Mr. Borski to the House 10 times before he retired after the 107th 
Congress.
   He continues to be a good friend to all who worked in this House 
with him. It is a deserved tribute to Mr. Borski's public service that 
this post office be named after him, and I am pleased the House is 
considering this bill today.
   Congressman Borski was most active on the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, where he was the ranking Democratic 
member on the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines. He was 
also a member of the Democratic Whip operations, serving as the 
regional whip for Pennsylvania and Ohio.
   Congressman Borski was known especially for his accessibility to his 
constituents. He frequently utilized the town hall meeting in his 
district to meet with his constituents firsthand. In addition, he 
always had at least two offices in Philadelphia to save constituents 
from traveling all the way to Washington.
   Mr. Speaker, for all these reasons, I want to congratulate the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania for his work on this measure that honors 
Congressman Robert A. Borski. And just to say on a personal level, that 
I have had the honor to have worked with him for most of his 10 terms, 
and found him to be extraordinarily hard-working, very dedicated, very 
personable, not partisan, but clearly proud to be a Democratic 
Representative to this body.
   It was a pleasure to serve with him. He is clearly deserving of this 
recognition.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
   Mr. Speaker, I will defer to the gentleman from Philadelphia to 
offer the remarks on this former member, but I do want to note that I 
served with Mr. Borski, and he was a Member who was particularly 
admired in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure where he 
was a leader and enjoyed the admiration of Members on both sides of the 
aisle in this body.

[[Page H7185]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my the gentleman 
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia for yielding me this time. And let me thank my good friend, 
someone who has ably led this Congress in a number of different 
fashions, but with whom I have worked closely on the Committee on 
Government Reform for many years, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. 
Shays).
   Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. Speaker, I have had the honor of knowing Bob Borski for many 
years. When I was just some 23, 24 years of age, being elected to the 
State House in 1982, he was exiting the same chair that I was going to 
sit in, because he was on his way to Washington, leaving the State 
House and coming to represent the great city of Philadelphia and our 
Commonwealth, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania here in Washington. And 
so I rise in support of H.R. 2328.
   Congressman Borski served here for many, many terms representing, in 
particular, northeast Philadelphia; but his reach went far beyond that, 
for he rose to be one of the leading Members of this Congress on 
transportation issues. He worked to secure for Pennsylvania and for 
many other areas of our Nation the rightful resources that were 
necessary to improve and enhance our airports, particularly the 
Philadelphia International Airport, our ports, our waterways. Bob 
Borski worked tirelessly. He was, in my mind, the most effective Member 
of Congress on transportation issues that we have ever had from 
Philadelphia. He worked to expand I-95.
   We could go through a lot, but one of the things I appreciated about 
Bob Borski was the human qualities. He stepped aside, for instance, so 
that I could go after a seat on the Committee on Appropriations when he 
was the more senior Member from our city, but he felt that he was going 
to have a fairly short career at that point and he thought it better 
that I go forward.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FATTAH. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.
  Mr. SHAYS. I think you should get down on bended knees in gratitude 
to the gentleman for doing that.
   Mr. FATTAH. And I have been on bended knees many, many times, for 
Congressman Borski was just extraordinarily helpful in my own career 
and in the careers of other younger Members. Every day he would ask me 
about how my family was doing, particularly my young daughter, Cameron. 
He was concerned about where she was going to school, what she was 
doing, what activities she was involved in, because he had daughters 
and he was totally involved in their upbringing. He would make sure 
that he made it to their soccer meets. I remember even one time there 
was a debate here on the floor and Bob said, look, my daughter's in a 
soccer meet, she's on a soccer scholarship over in Virginia, this is 
one of her first games and I'm going to go do it.
   That is the kind of person he was. He represented our city in the 
finest of ways and traditions. I just wish him well as he goes forward. 
It is the least that we can do to name a post office in his honor. 
There are some Members who get elected to Congress, and it is an honor 
for them to be able to serve. I am convinced that Bob Borski is one of 
the few Members which this institution was honored by his service. I 
just rise today to support this bill. I thank my friend, the gentleman 
from the great State of Connecticut, and I thank the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia for yielding me this time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter).
   (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
   Mr. Speaker, we have just heard a number of glowing remarks about 
Congressman Robert Borski. They are not exaggerations. He was an 
excellent Member of this House. My experience with him came in two 
areas: the first, serving on the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure where he was a very senior member. He did perform on 
that Committee in an outstanding way. He was very much bipartisan in 
his approach even though, of course, he was a confirmed member of the 
Democratic Party. I would say also in this respect that he went out of 
his way to find a consensus whenever possible. It is often said that 
there are show horses and workhorses in this Congress. Definitely Mr. 
Borski was a workhorse and a very, very effective one.
   The second place I knew him was in my role as the chairman of the 
House delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly where Mr. Borski 
was one among many Members that do not come from the Committee on 
International Relations or from the Committee on Armed Services or the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; he came from one of the 
authorizing committees that does not have that much involvement in 
international affairs under most circumstances. But he played a very 
valuable role in this respect. We missed him this past Congress in his 
role in that respect. I want to commend him and thank his wife for all 
of her patience and his family for all of their patience in giving 
Robert's time for working on these international issues as well. I 
strongly support the resolution.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 additional minute to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say that on not just the 
congressional delegation, Jack Murtha, his colleagues from 
Philadelphia, Bob Brady and the sponsor of this bill, Congressman Joe 
Hoeffel, that there are many others in our State. With the loss, that 
is, with the leaving from Congress of Congressmen Shuster and Borski 
now, our State has lost a great deal of seniority and knowledge and 
expertise in the transportation areas, but we nonetheless appreciate 
their service. And particularly in terms of Bob Borski, the Governor; 
the mayor of our city, John F. Street; for many local officials, Bob 
Borski was an experienced and practical and commonsense political 
leader. We really appreciated his service. We wish him well as he moves 
on into other aspects of his life.
   I am reminded when he had his going-away get-together here on the 
Hill, he had his family around him at the podium. It was symbolic, but 
it was really substantive. That is to say that Bob Borski did so much 
here in the Congress, did so much to help this country and help his 
home State, but at the end of the day and most importantly for him as 
he tried to make sure that I understood when he talked about my 
daughter, Cameron, that family has to be the most important issue for 
all of us. He was a good example of that.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel).
  Mr. HOEFFEL. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time and 
for her leadership in the committee and on this issue.
   Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2328, the legislation 
designating the United States postal facility located at 2001 East 
Willard Street in Philadelphia as the Robert A. Borski Post Office 
Building.
   Congressman Robert Borski was one of the longest-serving members of 
the Pennsylvania delegation, having served here for 20 years in 
Congress representing the Third Congressional District of Pennsylvania. 
Congressman Borski was a leader on the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure where he served as Ranking Member on 
the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines. He fought for a 
strong Federal commitment to our Nation's highways and transit systems. 
His efforts on the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
resulted in major infrastructure investment for the Philadelphia 
region.
   Congressman Borski also worked hard to revitalize urban areas, 
supporting both transportation and water infrastructure projects. From 
his seat on the Subcommittee on Water Resources, Congressman Borski 
pushed for legislation to promote the cleanup of brownfields and to 
redevelop urban industrial sites. Congressman Borski also initiated the 
effort to reclaim and revitalize the neglected areas along the North 
Delaware River in Philadelphia.

[[Page H7186]]

   With the support of the entire Pennsylvania congressional 
delegation, I introduced H.R. 2328. I selected this specific location 
because Bob Borski's late father was a postman who delivered mail from 
this facility on Willard Street and his mother still lives in the 
delivery area of this post office. The naming of the Borski post 
office, accordingly, has a very rich symbolic value and makes this 
action very meaningful and very emotional for the Borski family.
   I first met Bob Borski in 1977 when we were both freshman 
legislators in the Pennsylvania State House. We came from very 
different backgrounds and very different political worlds, one from the 
Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, one from suburban Abington, but 
we became good friends. We served together for 6 years in the State 
House. Bob got here to Congress well before I did; and when I finally 
made it, he took me under his wing and served as my mentor. He would 
only occasionally give me advice. Sometimes I followed it; sometimes I 
did not. I learned after time I should have always followed it. He is a 
good man and a good friend.
   Mr. Speaker, it is not often that you find an individual with such 
dedication and commitment to his community. I am pleased to honor 
Congressman Bob Borski in this manner. He is truly deserving of this 
honor. I urge swift passage of this legislation.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would just note for the gentleman, we were trying to filibuster a 
little bit to give him a chance to get to the Chamber to speak on this 
important resolution.
  Mr. HOEFFEL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SHAYS. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. HOEFFEL. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I cannot think of a 
more eloquent filibusterer than the gentleman from Connecticut. I thank 
him for doing this honor to Bob Borski.
   Mr. SHAYS. He deserves it. He is an outstanding man.
  Mr. GERLACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 2328, designating the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 2001 East Willard Street in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, as the ``Robert A. Borski Post Office Building''.
  Congressman Robert Borski represented Pennsylvania's Third 
Congressional District, which encompasses Northeast Philadelphia, the 
River Wards, Society Hill and portions of Queen Village for 20 years.
  When he retired from Congress last year, he was the third ranking 
Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was the 
ranking member on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. Congressman 
Borski was also a member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, the 
Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, the Congressional 
Delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly and the Ad-Hoc Committee on 
Irish Affairs.
  As a senior member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 
and subcommittee ranking member, Congressman Borski was a vocal 
advocate of an improved national transportation system and a strong 
federal commitment to public infrastructure and mass transit programs. 
In Philadelphia, his legislative efforts have resulted in millions of 
dollars for SEPTA, I-95, neighborhood roads, and transportation 
improvements, which have benefited the Port of Philadelphia and the 
surrounding area.
  In addition to his committee assignments, Congressman Borski 
represented the concerns of his constituency serving on the Older 
Americans Caucus, the Diabetes Caucus and the Prescription Drug Task 
Force.
  Mr. Borski build a reputation as an accessible representative, 
holding public meetings, open office hours and manning two district 
offices to serve his constituents. Before being elected to Congress in 
1982, Mr. Borski served three terms in the Pennsylvania State House 
where he was equally successful.
  Mr. Speaker, I think there is no better way to honor Congressman 
Borski's 20 plus years of public service than to designate the United 
States Postal Service facility located at 2001 East Willard Street in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the ``Robert A. Borski Post Office 
Building''. I urge all of my colleagues to join me today in supporting 
H.R. 2328.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2328, a 
bill to name the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 2001 East 
Willard Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the ``Robert A. Borski 
Post Office Building.''
  I had the privilege of serving with Bob Borski on the Transportation 
and Infrastructure Committee for twenty years. I know him to be a true 
public servant, dedicated to the welfare of his constituents in 
Pennsylvania's 3rd District, and a steadfast friend. This designation 
could not be more well-deserved, and I am proud to be an original 
cosponsor of this legislation.
  First elected to the 98th Congress, Bob Borski served on the 
Transportation Committee for two decades until his retirement at the 
end of the 107th Congress. Throughout his distinguished career, 
Congressman Borski exemplified the great bipartisan tradition of the 
Transportation Committee. From 1995 to 2001, he served as Ranking 
Member of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment where he 
and Subcommittee Chairman Boehlert spearheaded the Committee's efforts 
for bipartisan solutions to some of the Committee's most difficult 
issues, such as clean water, brownfields, and superfund issues. The 
Committee's good work on these issues and its ability to pass 
bipartisan legislation was due in large part to Congressman Borski's 
perseverance, patience, and willingness to find common ground.
  In the 107th Congress, Congressman Borski served as Ranking Member of 
the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. In that position, he and 
Subcommittee Chairman Petri did much of the groundwork for the upcoming 
reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(TEA 21), holding more than a dozen hearings on issues related to the 
TEA 21 reauthorization. Last year, Congressman Borski received the 
``Distinguished Person of the Year Award'' from the American Public 
Transportation Association (APTA) at its annual conference. It is not 
often that an association, with a major reauthorization bill just 
around the corner, honors a retiring Member of Congress. The fact that 
APTA honored Bob Borski is a tribute to him and the work that he has 
done to ensure that our communities have safe, affordable 
transportation choices.
  H.R. 2328 is a fitting tribute to the distinguished career of 
Congressman Borski. I urge my colleagues to support it and to honor the 
contributions of Bob Borski with this well-deserved designation.

                              {time}  1515

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
   The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Whitfield). 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. 2328.
  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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