[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 166 (Monday, November 17, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11172-H11174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HUGH GREGG POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3185) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 38 Spring Street in Nashua, New Hampshire, as the 
``Hugh Gregg Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3185

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

     SECTION 1. HUGH GREGG POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 38 Spring Street in Nashua, New Hampshire, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Hugh Gregg 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

[[Page H11173]]

     be a reference to the Hugh Gregg Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Ballance) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).


                             General Leave

  Mr. DUNCAN. 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. 3185.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, I am 
pleased to call up H.R. 3185 for consideration. This legislation 
introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) 
designates the postal facility at 38 Spring Street in Nashua, New 
Hampshire, as the Hugh Gregg Post Office Building.
  Hugh Gregg, a giant in New Hampshire politics for several decades, 
was elected Governor of the Granite State in 1953 at the age of 34. As 
a result, he was forevermore nicknamed the ``Boy Governor.'' One of his 
most notable achievements was his work in organizing the first-in-the-
Nation Presidential primary in New Hampshire. What began as little more 
than a beauty contest for candidates in 1952, his tireless work is a 
big reason the New Hampshire primary has evolved into such a critical 
date for modern Presidential candidates.
  It is also important to note that Governor Gregg's son, Judd, went on 
to be elected Governor of New Hampshire in 1989, and he now serves as 
the State's senior United States Senator.
  Mr. Speaker, America mourned on September 24th of this year, when 
Hugh Gregg passed away at age 85. He is survived by his wife, Catherine 
Warner Gregg, two sons, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) 
for his work on H.R. 3185, and I strongly support its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BALLANCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am honored and pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of 
H.R. 3185, legislation naming a postal facility after Hugh Gregg. H.R. 
3185 which was introduced by the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Bass) on September 25, 2003, was unanimously approved by the Committee 
on Government Reform on October 8, 2003.
  H.R. 3185 has the support and cosponsorship of the entire New 
Hampshire Congressional delegation. Hugh Gregg, a former Republican 
Governor of New Hampshire from 1953 until 1955, was born in New 
Hampshire and became its youngest Governor at the age of 34. A graduate 
of Yale and Harvard Law School, he served as a Special Agent of the 
Counterintelligence Corps during World War II and the Korean Crisis.
  A well-known businessman and community leader, Mr. Gregg passed away 
on September 24, 2003 at the age of 85. Hugh Gregg was remembered as a 
statesman and gentleman. His love for his State and country and 
dedication to public service was well known.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues for seeking to honor the late 
Hugh Gregg and urge swift adoption on H.R. 3185.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass), the author of the bill.
  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for recognizing me and for making it possible 
along with my friend, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballance) 
to have the opportunity to bring this bill to the floor.
  As the gentleman said at the end of his speech just previously, 
Governor Hugh Gregg died on September 24th of this year after a brief 
illness, and brief it was, because just prior to that illness, the city 
of Nashua, which is the largest city in my district, celebrated its 
150th anniversary. And guess who walked at the front of the line in a 
top hat and tuxedo with a cane but Hugh Gregg, the grand marshall of 
the parade. Governor Hugh Gregg celebrating the city that he loved and 
lived in his entire life.
  Indeed, he served our country during World War II, not once, but 
twice. He served in the Korean War. He served on the Nashua City 
Council. He became its mayor, and he was elected Governor of the State 
of New Hampshire in his early thirties, the year I was born.
  Hugh Gregg also took on big projects. He was not one to think about 
things pragmatically or think about things in any small way.
  During my political career, he achieved two major accomplishments. 
First, he sought out to establish a museum of political history in New 
Hampshire. It is no secret that New Hampshire is the first part of the 
Nation's primary and always will be. Hugh Gregg wanted to make sure 
that the political history of the State, going back as far as anybody 
cared to, was properly recorded. And as time went on, candidates 
running for office would have a place to repose their memorabilia and 
great events and so forth. He published no less than three books on the 
subject of New Hampshire political history, the latest with our 
Secretary of State, Bill Gardner. Hugh Gregg is responsible for the 
establishment of this institution, which will live on in perpetuity.
  The second big project he took on was an effort to try to prove that 
New Hampshire was the birthplace of the Republican party and not Ripon, 
Wisconsin, as it has been previously thought. No offense to our 
distinguished presiding officer here today, but he turned out to be 
right about that. He made extensive research and determined that the 
records of the party originated in Exeter, New Hampshire, and he 
established a society called the Amos Tuck Society.
  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, Hugh Gregg was not only Governor, mayor of 
Nashua, father of U.S. Senator Judd Gregg and Cy Gregg, long-time 
husband of Catherine Gregg, a great political crusader for many 
different causes, not all of which were necessarily associated with 
Republicans, but were really focussed on the good of the State of New 
Hampshire and the good of the lives of the people around him. The 
efforts he made on behalf of others, not only in the area of politics, 
but in charity through the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center 
which is one of the Nation's leading centers for the treatment of those 
brain-injured and developmentally-disabled individuals established by 
his father but nurtured and expanded significantly by him.
  He served on a number of different boards, serving on the board of 
the Fleet Bank, at that time Indian Head Bank. He was involved in 
businesses all over the place.
  Hugh Gregg was a man of courage. He was a man that some might say was 
tactless on occasion. I know, as Governor of the State of New 
Hampshire, on a couple of occasions he was known to become frustrated 
with people he came in contact with, and he had a habit of taking 
scissors and snipping their ties off just to get their attention and, 
indeed, it did.
  Hugh Gregg campaigned with me during one of my many campaigns in the 
Nashua Recycling Center. We were trying to meet people there, of 
course. He was in his early eighties or late seventies. He said, You go 
over there and work over there in recycling, where they bring in 
bottles and cans. That is a nice clean thing for you to do. I will go 
over and carry the garbage because nobody is going to tell a 75-year-
old man that they do not like him for carrying their garbage over to 
the garbage area.
  Hugh Gregg was the kind of man that was full of energy, full of 
enthusiasm and full of compassion and a commitment to the folks around 
him in the city of Nashua and the State of New Hampshire. He will be 
sorely missed by all of us. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to 
name the Nashua Post Office after this great American citizen.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, since the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) has 
brought up the founding of the Republican party and Mr. Gregg's 
interest in that, I would mention that I have the privilege of 
representing the only district in the United States that has had

[[Page H11174]]

continuous Republican representation in the United States House of 
Representatives since the founding of the Republican party.
  This legislation seems to be very fitting and proper to name this 
post office facility after Hugh Gregg who was a very great American, 
who saw the American dream come true in his life in several different 
ways. I urge passage of this bill.
  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 Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3185.
  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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