[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 18, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11478-H11479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SENATOR JAMES B. PEARSON POST OFFICE

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the Senate bill (S. 1718) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 3710 West 73rd Terrace in Prairie 
Village, Kansas, as the ``Senator James B. Pearson Post Office''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 1718

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

     SECTION 1. SENATOR JAMES B. PEARSON POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 3710 West 73rd Terrace in Prairie Village, 
     Kansas, shall be known and designated as the ``Senator James 
     B. Pearson 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 Senator James B. Pearson Post Office.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. 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 Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today offered by the distinguished 
Senator from Kansas, Senator Pat Roberts, names this Prairie Village, 
Kansas, postal facility as the Senator James B. Pearson Post Office.
  Senator James Pearson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 7, 
1920. At a young age, he moved with his family to Virginia and went on 
to attend Duke University. He bravely served as a pilot in the Naval 
Air Transport in 1943 during World War II. He was honorably discharged 
as a Lieutenant and returned home to graduate from the University of 
Virginia Law School in 1950.
  Pearson moved back to Kansas and became a practicing lawyer in the 
town of Mission in 1950. Two years later, he became the assistant 
county attorney of Johnson County, and in two more years, in 1954, the 
county probate judge.
  Pearson threw his hat into the political ring for the first time in 
1956 when he earned a seat in the Kansas State Senate. On January 31, 
1962, he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of Senator Andrew Schoeppel. He was elected for the 
first time in a special election in November of that year and earned 
reelection in both 1966 and 1972, retiring in 1978. Senator James 
Pearson served his home State of Kansas and indeed the entire Nation 
with distinction, and he highly deserves the commemoration provided by 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, Senator James B. Pearson continues to live here in 
Washington, D.C., and outside Baldwin City, Kansas, and we wish him 
well.
  In addition to the Senator from Kansas, I want to recognize the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) who introduced the companion 
legislation here in the House, H.R. 3255, and I know both gentlemen 
worked together to ensure that James B. Pearson would be honored with 
this post office.
  I am pleased that Senate bill 1718 will soon be on the President's 
desk for his signature.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume.

[[Page H11479]]

  As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased 
to join my colleague in consideration of S. 1718, legislation naming a 
postal facility after Senator James B. Pearson.
  S. 1718, which was introduced by Senator Pat Roberts on October 14, 
2003, was unanimously approved by the Committee on Government Reform on 
November 6, 2003. The gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) is the sponsor 
of H.R. 3255, an identical version of S. 1718. H.R. 3255 has been 
cosponsored by the entire Kansas congressional delegation.
  James Pearson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended public 
schools in Virginia. He served as a pilot in the Navy during World War 
II, and after being discharged, he became an attorney and began 
practicing law in Mission, Kansas. He served in various legal positions 
before being appointed in 1962 as a Republican to the United States 
Senate to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Andrew Schoeppel.
  Senator Pearson served in the Senate until 1978, working diligently 
as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee and ranking 
member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. Speaker, this is indeed an honorable act that we take in naming 
this postal facility. I would urge swift passage.
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today in support of 
S. 1718, legislation introduced by Senator Pat Roberts and cosponsored 
by Senator Sam Brownback, that will designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 3710 West 73rd Terrace in 
Prairie Village, KS, as the Senator James B. Pearson Post Office 
Building.
  Senator Roberts introduced this legislation following my introduction 
of an identical bill, H.R. 3255, with the cosponsorship of the entire 
Kansas House delegation Representatives Jim Ryun, Todd Tiahrt and Jerry 
Moran. I commend them for joining in this bipartisan, all-Kansas 
effort.
  Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Senator Pearson was the son of a 
Presbyterian minister. Raised in Virginia and educated in North 
Carolina, where he received a B.A. from Duke University in 1940, he 
fulfilled his military service requirement in Kansas, where he was a 
naval transport pilot during World War II, discharged with the rank of 
lieutenant. At the conclusion of this military service, he married a 
Kansan from Johnson County, to where they returned after he earned a 
law degree from the University of Virginia in 1950.
  Following 2 years of private law practice in Mission, KS, Pearson 
served successively as assistant Johnson County attorney, Johnson 
County probate judge, and State senator. In 1960, he did not seek re-
election to the State senate, serving instead as campaign manager for 
State Attorney General John Anderson's successful campaign for 
governor.
  Appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1962 by Governor Anderson, upon the 
death of Andrew Schoeppel, James B. Pearson served our State with 
distinction from 1962 through 1978. Elected in 1962, and re-elected in 
1966 and 1972, Senator Pearson was a workhorse, not a showhorse. A 
senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he also rose to 
become ranking Republican member of the Commerce, Science and 
Transportation Committee. Senator Pearson represented our State during 
an important and turbulent era, addressing issues that included the 
Vietnam War, the civil rights revolution, enactment of the Medicare and 
Medicaid programs, America's space exploration program and deregulation 
of the trucking and airline industries. Senator Pearson was a leader in 
these and other areas, offering legislation on farm credit, aviation 
development, and campaign finance reform.
  Most importantly, though, Senator Pearson was a quiet voice of 
thoughtful analysis--something we could use more of in both the House 
and the Senate today. As he said of the Vietnam War in 1966: ``On large 
issues and small, we cannot hold to irrevocable and unchanging 
positions. There is a constant need to look at every side of every 
issue.''
  Senator Pearson was a voice of reason and common sense during these 
difficult times and I am proud that his home during this Senate career 
was Prairie Village, which is located in the Third Congressional 
District of Kansas. Naming the Prairie Village Post Office after 
Senator James B. Pearson recognizes, in a small way, the important 
service he provided to Kansans for 16 years in the U.S. Senate.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pearce). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 1718.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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