[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 91 (Tuesday, July 6, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H5161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H5161]]
                VITILAS `VETO' REID POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 4327) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 7450 Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis, 
Missouri, as the ``Vitilas `Veto' Reid Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4327

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

     SECTION 1. VITILAS ``VETO'' REID POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 7450 Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis, 
     Missouri, shall be known and designated as the ``Vitilas 
     `Veto' Reid 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 Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid Post Office 
     Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Miller) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.


                             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 the bill under 
consideration.
  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, H.R. 4327 is a great tribute to the service of one of 
St. Louis, Missouri's favorite sons. This legislation designates the 
St. Louis postal facility as the Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid Post Office 
Building.
  Mr. Speaker, longtime Postmaster Veto Reid of St. Charles, Missouri, 
enjoyed a postal career that spanned over 5 decades. He started his 
career in 1951 as a substitute clerk and ultimately rose to be the 
postmaster in Godfrey, Illinois, from 1980 until 1983. He then moved to 
St. Charles, Missouri, where he served as postmaster for 18 years until 
his retirement in 2001.
  Beyond his postal career, Reid is active in his community and sits on 
the boards of St. Charles County YMCA, the St. Louis branch of the 
NAACP, the Habitat for Humanity, and Lindenwood University. Veto and 
his wife, Bessie, reside in St. Charles; and on behalf of my 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), I want 
to congratulate him for this deserved post office designation. After 
all, it is highly appropriate to name this postal facility in St. Louis 
after a great individual and a postal institution in St. Louis like 
Veto Reid. I commend the gentleman from Missouri for advancing H.R. 
4327 to the floor today. I support this meaningful honor of Veto Reid.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I 
want to thank the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) for her kind 
words. Hopefully, she will come to St. Louis one day and meet Mr. Reid.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise as a sponsor of H.R. 4327, a bill to honor Mr. 
Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid by permanently designating the Normandy Post 
Office located at 7450 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri, the 
Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid Post Office.
  As we have heard, Veto Reid has had a U.S. Postal Service career that 
spanned over 50 years. He started his career on August 20, 1951; and it 
culminated with his retirement as postmaster on September 1, 2001.
  His first assignment was ``indefinite substitute clerk,'' which 
included working in the mail processing and special-delivery sections. 
After 18 years as a clerk, he received his first management promotion 
to mail supervisor in December of 1969. That promotion was indeed a 
significant accomplishment and was a first for an African American. 
Affectionately known to his family and friends as Veto, he has been 
throughout his life a man of many firsts. Some of his many 
accomplishments are as follows:
  Superintendent of station and branches in Berkeley, Missouri; 
delivery program branch supervisor in Chicago, Illinois; officer-in-
charge, in Hazelwood, Missouri Post Office; officer-in-charge in St. 
Charles, Missouri; postmaster of Godfrey, Illinois; postmaster of St. 
Charles, Missouri.
  Veto Reid's outstanding record of accomplishments as a postal service 
employee was recognized in the Congressional Record on October 21, 
2001. He is an honor graduate of the historic Vashon High School 
located in St. Louis, and attended Stowe Teachers College and the 
University of Missouri at St. Louis. He is also a trustee and chairman 
of the board of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, where he has 
been a member for more than 65 years.

                              {time}  1445

  He also has long-lasting memberships with the Albert Holman Masonic 
Lodge, Eureka Consistory, and Medinah Temple representing the Shriners 
of Eastern, Missouri.
  Veto Reid served on the boards of many advisory committees throughout 
the St. Louis community. In January of 1995 he was appointed President 
of the Advisory Board of St. Joseph's Hospital SSM, St. Charles, 
Missouri. In July of 1999, he was elected President of the Rotary Club 
of St. Charles, Missouri. In both cases he became the first African 
American to hold such positions.
  Mr. Reid was also the first African American station manager at the 
South St. Louis City, Chouteau Branch, and he was also the first 
African American to be appointed station manager at the Godfrey, 
Illinois, and St. Charles, Missouri post offices.
  Vitilas Reid has received many awards, including the First 
Postmaster's Leadership Award, which was presented at the 1992 National 
Association of Postmasters of the United States convention in 
Nashville, Tennessee. In January 2002, he received the State of 
Missouri Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. He was 
inducted into the historic Vashon High School Hall of Fame in 1990, and 
was inducted into the St. Louis Gateway Classic Walk of Fame in August 
of 2003.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure in tribute 
to a man whose life has meant so much to his co-workers and his 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support 
the passage of H.R. 4327.
  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 gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4327.
  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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