[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 11, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2746-H2749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MARY ANN COLLURA POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3939) to redesignate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 14-24 Abbott Road in Fair Lawn, New 
Jersey, as the ``Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3939

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

     SECTION 1. REDESIGNATION.

       The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 
     14-24 Abbott Road in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and known as the 
     Fair Lawn Main Post Office, shall be known and designated as 
     the ``Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the facility referred 
     to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
     ``Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building''.


[[Page H2747]]


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


                             General Leave

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3939.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3939. This legislation is 
naming a post office in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, after Officer Mary Ann 
Collura. She was the first woman to serve as an officer in the Fair 
Lawn Police Department. H.R. 3939 fittingly honors the tremendous 
service of an individual fallen peace officer.
  Officer Collura was an outstanding 18-year veteran of the Fair Lawn 
Police Department and a respected community role model. On April 17, 
2003, Officer Collura was called in to back up fellow officers involved 
in a chase with three young men in a car. The chase fatally ended 
outside a Fair Lawn church as one of the men shot Officer Collura in 
the chest after she pursued the men on foot. The assailant then stole 
Officer Collura's patrol car and drove over her body as he made his 
escape.
  Mr. Speaker, everyone in the Fair Lawn area who knew Officer Collura 
knew she served her community with the highest esteem. Earlier this 
spring, as steps were being taken to ensure a proper memorial for 
Officer Collura, the local journal, the Fair Lawn News, quoted a local 
resident who emotionally said, ``I knew her. She was superior as an 
officer and as a person.''
  Mr. Speaker, Officer Collura's heartbreaking story even attracted 
President Bush's attention. At the Peace Officers' Memorial Day Service 
outside this Capitol last year on May 15, the President mentioned 
Officer Collura as a law enforcement officer who tragically lost her 
life in the past year.
  The President cited a quote from one of Officer Collura's fellow 
officers, who later said about her, ``There are probably 100 cops like 
this who did everything right and still have their names on the wall,'' 
of the National Law Enforcement Memorial. The Officer went on to say, 
``You put your faith in the hands of God every day when you go out 
there.''
  Mr. Speaker, the wicked events of April 17, 2003, remind all of us of 
the dangers of police work. Officers of the peace, like Mary Ann 
Collura, earn our perpetual respect each and every day for their brave 
efforts to protect all of us.
  This post office naming will posthumously commemorate Officer Mary 
Ann Collura's service to our Nation. Unquestionably, this is a highly 
warranted honor, and I strongly urge all Members to support the bill's 
passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Rothman) for his meaningful work on H.R. 3939.
  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, as a member of the Committee on Government Reform, I am 
pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 3939, legislation 
naming the postal facility in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, after Mary Ann 
Collura. This measure was introduced by the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Rothman) on March 11, 2004, and unanimously reported by our 
committee on April 1, 2004. It enjoys the support and cosponsorship of 
the entire New Jersey delegation.
  Officer Mary Ann Collura was a dedicated police officer, a woman who 
made a difference in her hometown of Fair Lawn, New Jersey. According 
to news accounts, Mary Ann had wanted to become a police officer since 
junior high school. She was 25 when she joined the force, and served 
for 18 years until her tragic death.
  On April 17, 2003, Officer Collura was fatally shot while helping a 
fellow officer arrest three suspects after a car chase.
  Officer Collura was an active and devoted member of the Fair Lawn 
Police Department. She loved her work and looked forward to helping 
those in need. Designating the post office in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, is 
an excellent way to honor the memory of Officer Mary Ann Collura.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for sponsoring this measure and 
urge swift passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, May 15, nearly 20,000 peace 
officers are expected to gather in Washington D.C. to honor their 
fallen comrades for National Peace Officers Memorial Day. In keeping 
with this sentiment today, this body will pay tribute to one of the 166 
police officers killed annually in the line of duty.
  By redesignating the Fair Lawn post office as the Mary Ann Collura 
Post Office Building, we honor the life of Officer Mary Ann Collura and 
the extraordinary sacrifice she made to protect her community.
  I would like to thank my esteemed colleague, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Rothman), for introducing this legislation. This 
legislation has special significance for me because Officer Collura was 
the aunt of my campaign manager, Scott Snyder. After having had the 
opportunity to hear Scott speak about his aunt, I have greater 
appreciation for this extraordinary woman and how tragic it is she has 
been taken from this world far too soon.
  Though I have never had the opportunity to meet her, I am humbled by 
the remarkable life she led. One family member remarked to me, ``Mary 
Ann was a 6-foot tall female cop who loved motorcycles and taught me 
how to throw a baseball. But when I look in the mirror and see our 
resemblance, I can't help but judge myself against her standards, 
knowing that if I come close, that means I have achieved something 
great with my own life.''
  Through the thousands of stories that have been told about her deeds 
and personality, the one ringing truth is that she represented a person 
we all long to be. She was the kind of warm person that could light up 
faces with a smile, the virtuous type that viewed everyone around her 
as a potential friend, and the forgiving type of person that can truly 
see the best in the worst of us. She accomplished this without even 
knowing, without the official commitment or the sacred vows. She lived 
from her heart.
  Over the course of her career, Officer Collura had received numerous 
rewards, including a departmental Meritorious Service Award and the 
Hackensack University Medical Center EMS Excellence Award for her life-
saving skills. Furthermore, she had received numerous commendation 
letters from the community for her prompt, courteous, and thoughtful 
service.
  After dutifully serving for 18 years on the Fair Lawn Police 
Department, Officer Collura was fatally shot on April 17, 2003, in the 
line of duty. She was only 43 years old.
  Mary Ann did not begin a life of aiding others when she became a 
police officer. She became a police officer so she could make a living 
doing what she really had already done, being our protector. For those 
who knew her, Mary Ann lived by her own rules; and though her death 
tore deep in the hearts of so many people who continue to grieve, it 
was her way: on the job, protecting her fellow officers and protecting 
all of us.
  Thanks to the courageous acts of people like Officer Mary Ann 
Collura, countless Americans can go about their daily lives in a freer 
and safer society. Police Officer Collura's tragic death should serve 
as a reminder to all of us how fortunate we are to have such heroic 
individuals looking over us.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such 
time as he may consume to the gentleman from the Ninth District of New 
Jersey (Mr. Rothman), the author of this legislation.
  (Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for 
yielding me time. I thank our chairman, the

[[Page H2748]]

gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), and I thank our ranking 
member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), for moving this 
bill so expeditiously through the House. And I thank our fellow 
Senators from the other body for their cosponsoring of my legislation 
in that body as well.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3939, a bill to rename the main post office 
in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, the town I live in, within my district, as 
the Mary Ann Collura Post Office.
  It has been a year since we lost Mary Ann, who served on the Fair 
Lawn Police Force for 18 years. She was the first female police officer 
in Fair Lawn history. She was killed in the line of duty on April 17, 
2003.
  Mary Ann was backing up another police officer from the district of 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), Steven Farrell, who was 
in the course of arresting three men charged with robbery following a 
car chase that ended outside a church in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

                              {time}  1500

  It was at that point that Officer Farrell was wounded and Officer 
Collura was fatally wounded.
  Throughout her life, as the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
so eloquently said, Mary Ann embodied what is best about the people in 
our communities in New Jersey, and perhaps in all of America. She was 
kind, she was generous, she was courageous, she was a pioneer, and she 
was a person who truly cared about her community. She was the kind of a 
police officer who all the kids in the school system knew they could go 
to if they had a problem, especially a problem that they felt 
uncomfortable talking to their teachers or their parents about. She was 
a pioneer. She grew up always wanting to be a police officer, and when 
she got sworn in, it was the happiest, most proud day of her life. 
There was no obstacle that would stand in her way. She was going to 
protect the people of Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
  She had this special desire, among many other things, innovations of 
hers, to protect kids during Halloween. So she spearheaded the effort 
to give each child in Fair Lawn, New Jersey a glow stick so that while 
they were walking through the streets trick-or-treating, they could be 
seen by people driving their cars and perhaps their parents following 
somewhat behind since, of course, it is very embarrassing, as my 
children say, to be walking with your own children, or have your own 
parents walking with you. That led, as a matter of fact, to my 
reintroducing a bill to move daylight savings time one week later after 
Halloween so that kids could trick-or-treat in an extra hour of 
daylight.
  But it was Mary Ann's love for her community and love for those 
children that put forth that particular effort and made her a mentor, a 
mentor to young police officers, men and women, who saw her as a true 
leader.
  She loved motorcycles, and the day after her memorial service, 2,500 
police officers, and others, 2,500 motorcyclists rode through Fair 
Lawn, New Jersey in honor of Mary Ann Collura. It was a sight to 
behold.
  To commemorate the life of Mary Ann Collura and her outstanding 
service to the people of the community of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, I 
introduced legislation to rename the Fair Lawn Post Office the Mary Ann 
Collura Post Office at Fair Lawn, New Jersey, so that when future 
generations who never had the privilege of knowing her or never read 
the stories about her, when a child walks into the post office in the 
future with their mom or their dad, they would say, Mommy or Daddy, why 
is this plaque here? Who was Mary Ann Collura? And then the story of 
Mary Ann Collura, her bravery, her great service to the people of Fair 
Lawn would be retold from generation to generation and onward ever 
forward, because she truly was a great role model, not just for young 
women, but for everyone.
  As we come together to celebrate National Police Week and National 
Peace Officers Memorial Day this Thursday, we remember that in life and 
death, Mary Ann Collura and so many other fallen officers remind us of 
a difference that one person can make in making this world a safer and 
better place. We know that Mary Ann is looking down upon us from 
heaven, and that while Fair Lawn and the people of Fair Lawn may have 
lost one of their bravest protectors, they have gained and the world 
has gained another angel.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this piece of 
legislation, and I know that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pascrell) joins with me and will have some remarks as well.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers at 
this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such 
time as he might consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pascrell) from the Eighth District.
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in very strong support of H.R. 3939. 
This bill is to redesignate a postal facility in Fair Lawn, New Jersey 
in honor of Mary Ann Collura, a wonderful, wonderful woman who I knew 
personally, a brave officer who was shot down in the line of duty while 
protecting her hometown and coming to the assistance of another police 
officer from another town. She was in every sense of the word a first 
responder all the time, every day.
  I want to congratulate my neighboring Congressman, the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Rothman), on moving this forward.
  Mary Ann Collura defied the odds. She lived her dream by becoming 
Fair Lawn's first female law enforcement officer. She set her mind to 
doing it, and she did it.
  Officer Collura was a credit to her community, partly because she 
broke the mold by becoming that first female police officer, and partly 
because she served an impressive 18 years. But her greatest quality was 
her attachment and proven dedication to the community of Fair Lawn. She 
grew up there. She knew that community, and she loved it, and they 
loved her. No citizen can ask for more from their community police 
officers.
  This was a woman whose service was not restricted by the hours that 
she worked. When Mary Ann Collura was in Fair Lawn, on duty or not on 
duty, the public could depend on her vigilance. Many in my town of 
Patterson knew all about how she cared. We even called her ``Ma.''
  Some of my favorite stories about Mary Ann's heroism revolve around 
her willingness to face fires. Though she was not a firefighter, Mary 
Ann had that firefighter instinct, was never hesitant to enter a 
burning building in order to protect her community. She once saved an 
elderly woman that was trapped in a burning house following a cooking 
accident.
  On April 17, 2003, the day Mary Ann was killed, she was assisting an 
officer from Clifton, New Jersey, police officer Steven Farrell. Once 
the apprehended suspect left the district and reached Fair Lawn, the 
suspect abandoned his car and started to run by foot. Officer Farrell 
and Officer Collura attempted to pursue and arrest the suspect. Four 
shots were fired, both officers were shot, but it was Officer Collura 
who suffered fatal wounds.
  Mary Ann Collura's story is humbling. I will never forget the help 
that she lent to Officer Farrell and the Clifton Police Department. 
Officer Collura made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the safety of her 
loving community, and it is for this that we honor her.
  Naming a post office after Officer Collura is only a small token of 
our deep appreciation. It is my hope that the redesignation will 
provide that her name and inspiring story will always be remembered.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to pass this fitting tribute to Officer 
Collura. As the story that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) 
shared with me earlier this afternoon, someday in the future, that 
little child will be walking past this Post Office with his parents and 
will ask, what is that name all about, and the parents will know and 
will tell the story of Mary Ann Collura.
  God bless her and her family, and God bless this Congress.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is clear from the comments of 
my colleagues from New Jersey that Mary Ann Collura is indeed a legend 
in her community and surrounding areas.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

[[Page H2749]]

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I have been touched as well by 
all of the comments about Mary Ann Collura. Sometimes an incident 
happens like that in a State and in the Nation that touches everybody 
and, certainly, naming this Post Office after this fantastic American 
is an appropriate thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of the Members to support the passage of H.R. 
3939.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Putnam). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3939.
  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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