[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 141 (Wednesday, October 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9315-H9316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  BRIAN C. HICKEY POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2452) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 339 Hicksville Road in Bethpage, New York, as the 
``Brian C. Hickey Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2452

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

     SECTION 1. BRIAN C. HICKEY POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 339 Hicksville Road in Bethpage, New York, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Brian C. Hickey 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 Brian C. Hickey Post Office Building.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. PLATTS. 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. 2452.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2452, introduced by my distinguished colleague from 
the State of New York (Mr. King), designates the postal facility in 
Bethpage, New York, as the Brian C. Hickey Post Office Building.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation honors an extraordinary American. For 
more than 2 years now, people all over the world have heard stories of 
the uncommon courage of the New York City emergency service personnel 
who responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade 
Center in New York. When the first plane hit the north tower, numerous 
firefighters, law enforcement personnel, medical personnel and others 
traveled to the World Trade Center, entered the building, headed up the 
stairs towards the fire, and never appeared again.
  Captain Brian Hickey was one of these intensely brave patriots whom 
we lost on that fateful day. Captain Hickey was with the Fire 
Department of New York for 20 years. He was the leader of Rescue 
Company No. 4. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Captain Hickey 
never hesitated as he put the lives of others ahead of his own and 
marched up the stairs of the south tower to fight the overpowering 
blaze. Just before 10 a.m. that morning, the south tower unthinkably 
collapsed, the first of the two towers to fall.
  It is very fitting and appropriate for this House to revisit the 
courage, the patriotism, and the amazing compassion for fellow 
Americans exhibited by people like Brian Hickey on September 11, 2001. 
That unbelievably tragic day united all Americans in a way that no 
event has done in more than a generation. We will be wise to never 
forget what this Nation went through on that fateful day and to always 
remember the sacrifices of Brian Hickey. Captain Hickey made the 
ultimate sacrifice for our Nation and for his fellow citizens. With the 
passage of H.R. 2452, this Congress can immortalize Brian Hickey's 
courageous legacy by naming this post office after him in his hometown 
of Bethpage, New York.
  For all of these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support 
H.R. 2452, which honors the life and service of Captain Brian C. 
Hickey. I commend the gentleman from New York for his work on such a 
meaningful piece of legislation, and I look forward to his words 
regarding Captain Hickey.
  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, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 2452, the bill 
to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located 
at 339 Hicksville Road in Bethpage, New York, as the Brian C. Hickey 
Post Office Building.
  As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am honored 
to join my colleague in consideration of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, 
H.R. 2452 was sponsored by the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) on 
June 12, 2003. This measure has met the committee cosponsorship policy 
and has the support of the entire New York delegation.
  Mr. Speaker, Brian Hickey, a 20-year veteran of the New York City 
Fire Department, was fire captain of Rescue 4, an elite group based in 
Woodside, Queens, New York. On September 11, 2001, Brian was filling in 
for a Rescue 3 captain when an emergency signal was sent to the men of 
Rescue 3 from the Bronx to the World Trade Center minutes after a plane 
hit the north tower. None of the eight men in the company survived. Mr. 
Hickey was not formally identified until June of this year when a bone 
fragment was identified as belonging to him. Prior to that, the only 
item found 2 years ago at Ground Zero was Brian's battered New York 
City Fire Department helmet.
  Who was Brian Hickey? Well, according to Fire Commissioner Bill Ura, 
a close friend and colleague, Brian was a 27-year member of the 
Bethpage Fire District. A lifelong resident of Bethpage, Brian served 
as chief officer of the Nassau County Fireman's Training Center and as 
an elected official of the Bethpage Volunteer Fire District.
  He was noted as being a loving father, husband, and son. Brian was 
doing what he was trained to do on September 11, 2001, and that is 
respond to major fires, rescuing his firefighting colleagues and the 
public from harm.
  Captain Hickey's death on 9-11 was especially tragic because he had 
just returned to duty after barely escaping death a month earlier when 
an explosion occurred and he was blown out of a building in Queens, New 
York. He survived, but three of his men died. As I understand it, Brian 
Hickey, after recuperating from his injuries, returned to work on 
Wednesday, September 5, 2001, and perished at the World Trade Center on 
Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, I extend my profound sympathies to the family and 
friends of Captain Brian Hickey and commend my colleague for seeking to 
honor the life and work of a firefighter who died in the line of duty.
  Brian Hickey really represented the best of what America has been and 
what America continues to be, that is, made up of ordinary people who 
are willing to do extraordinary things when situations and 
circumstances call for them. So I would urge swift passage of this 
legislation as we honor the life and the legacy now of Brian Hickey.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from New York (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania for yielding me this time. I

[[Page H9316]]

thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his very generous 
remarks today. I am really proud to stand in support of this 
legislation.
  At the outset, let me commend Councilwoman Mary McCaffrey from the 
Oyster Bay Town Board in Nassau County, Long Island. She is the one who 
initiated this proposal with me and has worked tirelessly with me and 
also the Hickey family to bring about this day.
  Mr. Speaker, on September 11, 2001, we saw the greatest rescue 
operation in the history of the world; 25,000 people were rescued from 
the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan that day. This was brought about 
because of the heroic efforts of the New York City Fire Department, the 
police department, the rescue services, the emergency workers, all of 
whom answered the call, put their lives at risk, many of whom lost 
their lives that day to save so many of their fellow citizens, fellow 
Americans, and people who just happened to be in the World Trade Center 
that day. Because of the 343 men of the New York City Fire Department, 
because they were willing to put their lives on the line and die that 
day, 25,000 others were rescued. That is something we can never 
fittingly thank and show our appreciation to those who laid down their 
lives and thank them for what they did that day.
  More than 100 people in my district were killed, many police 
officers, firefighters; but no one symbolized the heroism more that day 
than Brian Hickey. He was a member of the New York City Fire Department 
for more than 20 years. He was a captain. He commanded Rescue Company 4 
in Queens. As was pointed out, he lost several of his colleagues 
several months before that in a terrible accident on Father's Day, and 
he was back on the job only several days before he went into the south 
tower, led his men into the south tower, unquestioningly, 
unflinchingly, went in and did what had to be done. That was really 
typical of Brian Hickey. He was a man who was wounded many times during 
his career with the fire department, but never, ever once did he back 
away from the challenge. Never once did he not show bravery and 
courage, which really does symbolize the FDNY.
  It is very fitting that the post office facility in Bethpage be named 
in his honor, because Brian Hickey was raised in Bethpage. He met his 
wife, Donna, while attending high school in Bethpage. He raised his 
four children in Bethpage. He was a member of the Bethpage Volunteer 
Fire Department and was elected a member of the Board of Fire 
Commissioners. So he really is a man of Bethpage. And to me it is so 
appropriate and so fitting that when people walk past the postal 
facility on Hicksville Road, they see the name Brian Hickey, that it 
reminds them of what Brian Hickey did and also what all of the members 
of the FDNY did on that terrible day back on September 11.
  Mr. Speaker, the attack on the World Trade Center and the attack on 
the Pentagon on September 11, that was really the first great battle 
and the first great war of the 21st century. Now we almost take it for 
granted that the right thing was done in responding to that. We take 
for granted so many of the men and women charging into the Twin Towers 
to rescue their fellow human beings. But the fact is, suppose they had 
not? Suppose there had been a sense of panic or caution, or just a 
moment's hesitation. Think of the signal that would have sent to the 
world. But instead, the signal that went out from the Twin Towers was 
one of indomitable courage on behalf of the American people.
  So really, what Captain Brian Hickey and the other firefighters and 
rescue workers did that day was send a message to the world that 
America was going to fight back, that America was in no way going to be 
cowed or intimidated by what was done by this terrible attack. So as 
horrific as the attack was, the bravery of the men and women that went 
into the Twin Towers was unsurpassingly greater than that. They showed 
the true essence of Americanism.
  Brian Hickey, those who knew him knew what a gutsy guy he was, what a 
courageous guy he was. He often told his wife that he would rather die 
in a fire tragedy than have some long illness. This is what he wanted 
to do, was to be there with the other firefighters entering whatever 
call they were given, responding whenever they had to, doing what had 
to be done. That is the FDNY. That was Brian Hickey. Twenty years of 
his life he gave to the FDNY, and then he gave his entire life to the 
world by surrendering that life in such a valiant cause on September 
11.

                              {time}  1300

  So on behalf of Donna Hickey and her four children and all of the 
constituents of the 3rd Congressional District, I want to thank all my 
colleagues who bring this to a vote today. I urge a speedy adoption. I 
can assure you if anyone deserves to be honored, it is Brian Hickey.
  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I would again 
like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) for his work on 
this bill. This honors a true American hero, Captain Brian Hickey. I 
strongly urge all Members to support H.R. 2452.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Platts) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2452.
  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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