[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 104 (Tuesday, September 7, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H6721-H6722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             GENERAL WILLIAM CAREY LEE POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 4556) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 1115 South Clinton Avenue in Dunn, 
North Carolina, as the ``General William Carey Lee Post Office 
Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4556

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

     SECTION 1. GENERAL WILLIAM CAREY LEE POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1115 South Clinton Avenue in Dunn, North 
     Carolina, shall be known and designated as the ``General 
     William Carey Lee 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 General William Carey Lee Post Office 
     Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Miller) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) 
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. 4556, 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 as much time as 
I might consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 4556. This bill 
designates the U.S. Postal Service facility at 1115 South Clinton 
Avenue, in Dunn, North Carolina, as the General William Carey Lee Post 
Office Building.
  General William Lee, also known as the Father of the Airborne, was 
the founder and original Commander of the 101st Airborne Division. This 
elite paratrooper company was hailed for its incredibly heroic efforts 
during the D-Day invasion of the Second World War. The 101st Airborne 
Division is famously portrayed in the television series Band of 
Brothers.
  General Lee enlisted in the Army in 1917 and served during both World 
War I and World War II. His combat honors include the Distinguished 
Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, and the World War I 
and World War II Victory Medals. He remains one of America's most 
decorated military leaders, and since he passed away in 1948, this 
honor for such an authentic American hero is long overdue. Therefore, I 
would urge all Members to support the swift passage of this post office 
designation.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Etheridge) for his work on H.R. 4556.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, 
I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 4556, 
legislation naming a postal facility in Dunn, North Carolina, after 
General William Carey Lee. This measure, which was introduced by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) on June 14, 2004, and 
unanimously reported out by our committee on July 21, 2004, enjoys the 
support and cosponsorship of the North Carolina delegation.
  William Carey Lee was a native of Dunn, North Carolina. He left 
college to join the United States Army and fought in World War I. He 
returned home from the war and graduated from North Carolina State 
University.
  After a distinguished Army career, William Carey Lee became Commander 
of the Provisional Parachute Group and the 502nd and 503rd Parachute 
Battalions at Fort Benning. His enormous enthusiasm for parachute and 
glider troops led him to develop and command the 101st Airborne 
Division, an elite paratrooper company hailed for its heroic 
participation in the D-Day invasion.
  Although his health would not allow him to be there for the invasion, 
his men respected and admired him so much that as they jumped from 
their planes into battle, they yelled his name.
  General Lee died in 1948, but he remains a legend. Mr. Speaker, I 
commend my colleague for seeking to honor the legacy of General Lee by 
sponsoring this bill, and I urge its quick passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), the sponsor of H.R. 4556.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California 
for yielding me the time, and let me thank the committee for reporting 
out favorably and unanimously this important piece of legislation that, 
as has been noted, was introduced and has been agreed to by our 
delegation unanimously. And I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation as we name the main post office in Dunn, North Carolina, in 
honor of General William Carey Lee, as has been noted today, who has 
been, and it has been said is, the father of the United States 
Airborne, and that is absolutely correct.
  William Carey Lee, as has been noted, was born in Dunn, North 
Carolina, on March 12, 1895. So he is a native of a previous century. 
He attended Wake Forest and NC State Universities, but left the latter, 
NC State, to enroll as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.
  After serving 18 months in Europe during the First World War and 
earning the rank of captain, he returned stateside where he graduated 
from NC State University and was so enthralled and felt so much for the 
military services that he went on to United States Officers Candidate 
School 2 years later, and his enthusiasm led him to make a career out 
of the military.
  His enthusiasm for parachutists and glider troops that he had seen in 
Germany during World War I led him to develop the Parachute Test 
Platoon, and he had been doing a lot of work on it. Finally, in 1942, 
the President, President Roosevelt, assigned as the Provisional 
Paratroop Group, only a year old, that was then to be led by Lieutenant 
Colonel Lee, and it was reconstituted as the Airborne Command. Within 
the year, three parachute regiments were added to the Army's Airborne 
forces, and the Airborne Command headquarters were relocated to what 
was then called Camp Fort Bragg, as we know today Fort Bragg, with 
Brigadier General Lee in command, who had moved up very quickly in the 
ranks of the military.
  In August of 1942, the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions were 
formed. Major General Lee was put in command of the new 101st Airborne, 
and

[[Page H6722]]

they, of course, at that point were stationed at Fort Bragg. After a 
year of rigorous training, General Lee and his men departed for 
England.
  In 1944, General Lee suffered a heart attack that forced him to step 
down as the commanding officer of the 101st Airborne Division, just as 
that division was making its final preparations for the invasion in 
Normandy, of which the General had been a major planner with General 
Eisenhower and others. As a tribute to their former commander, each of 
the men, as my colleagues heard this evening, of the 101st Airborne 
Division yelled ``Bill Lee'' as they jumped from the plane into the 
dark into combat.
  The men of the 101st who had been under General Lee's command have 
since been immortalized in a best-selling book by the historian Stephen 
Ambrose and in the miniseries Band of Brothers. They were an elite 
rifle company that parachuted into France on D-Day, that fought in the 
Battle of the Bulge. They captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and they were 
also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties and whose lives have 
become legendary. One could say how could a company, how could a 
division suffer 150 percent casualties? Easy. As one was lost, others 
joined the group.
  Mr. Speaker, as the Nation pauses this year to honor the World War II 
veterans and to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it is appropriate 
that we honor General Lee, a Dunn, North Carolina, native and the 
father of the United States Airborne. This General from a small town 
was a big-time leader. He represented the can-do attitudes and the 
patriotism embodied by the people of Dunn and Harnett County in North 
Carolina and America.
  Today, in Dunn, there is a museum of his homeplace. The effort to 
turn that home into a museum was led by a member of his staff, Hoover 
Adams, who was a captain who served under General Lee. That museum is 
now open to the public and had a lot of memorabilia from World War II 
and other Airborne divisions around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and 
today to honor a true American hero, General William Carey Lee.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I would urge all Members to 
support H.R. 4556, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. 4556.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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