[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 102 (Monday, July 25, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H6394-H6395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ABRAHAM LINCOLN BIRTHPLACE POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2894) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 102 South Walters Avenue in Hodgenville, Kentucky, 
as the ``Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2894

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

     SECTION 1. ABRAHAM LINCOLN BIRTHPLACE POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 102 South Walters Avenue in Hodgenville, 
     Kentucky, shall be known and designated as the ``Abraham 
     Lincoln Birthplace 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 ``Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it would be nearly impossible to pay sufficient homage 
to President Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United 
States. President Lincoln was a man whose convictions enabled the 
emancipation of thousands from slavery and led to the preservation of 
the Union, which allowed our United States to develop into a strong and 
free Nation that it is today.
  In our efforts to commend these and other contributions, it should be 
recognized that Lincoln's greatness extended far beyond the reaches of 
his Presidency. Today, however, through the consideration of this 
legislation, H.R. 2894, we focus on the humble origins that produced 
for us this great President. Considered by many to be our greatest 
President, we are designating Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace Post Office 
Building, for it was in Kentucky that he was born on February 12, 1809, 
in a log cabin near Hardin County, Kentucky. During his childhood, 
Lincoln's determined spirited led him to covet education and to develop 
an insatiable appetite for reading and learning.
  Undoubtedly as a result, Lincoln's incredible oratorical capacity 
strengthened his political influence throughout his life. He 
effectively appealed to the Nation in such unforgettable speeches as 
the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Address, and the famous 
``House Divided'' speech. He truly used his verbal skills to his 
fullest advantage.
  As I am sure the distinguished sponsor of H.R. 2894 would assert, 
Lincoln's characteristic determination embodied the hard-nosed and 
ambitious attitude with which Kentuckians as he are often associated. 
His labors to free the slaves and preserve the Union positively 
impacted our Nation to an extent that cannot be overstated.
  Again, we have often looked at President Lincoln as our greatest 
President. We have often honored him. But I think it is particularly 
important to recognize that H.R. 2894 speaks not to the State from 
which he heralded at the time of his election, not about the end of his 
life, but Kentucky, the place of the origin and the roots of his life.
  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, I am pleased to join with my colleague in consideration 
of H.R. 2894, and I want to commend the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Lewis) for introducing this legislation.
  Although Abraham Lincoln was indeed born in Kentucky, he did, in 
fact, ultimately move to Illinois. And those of us who live in 
Illinois, we often regard him as perhaps our greatest citizen, one who 
emerged from very humble beginnings, was somewhat of a 
nontraditionalist, but ultimately became President of the United 
States.

                              {time}  1500

  And then after becoming President of the United States had the 
courage to take some very decisive action when there was opposition 
swirling all around him. So I commend the gentleman from Kentucky for 
naming a postal facility in Hodgenville.
  I was always a great Abraham Lincoln fan. As a matter of fact, when I 
was a small boy, my mother used to tell me stories about Abraham 
Lincoln, and she would read to us from books about Abraham Lincoln as a 
way of expressing to us that it was not always a matter of where you 
came from but oftentimes it could be a matter of where you were going.
  So, again, I commend the gentleman for recognizing and honoring the 
birthplace of Abraham Lincoln with the naming of a postal facility in 
his honor.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis), the author of the bill, and just 
note that I feel I am on the path between Kentucky and Illinois here, 
with my own birthplace being Ohio.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
2894, a resolution to designate the United States Postal Service 
facility located at 102 South Walters Avenue in Hodgenville, Kentucky, 
as the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Post Office Building.
  Hodgenville, Kentucky, is the birthplace and childhood home of our 
16th President, one of the most influential figures in American 
history. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a one-room 
log cabin at the Sinking Spring Farm in what is now LaRue County, 
Kentucky. His family lived at Sinking Spring Farm for 2\1/2\ years 
before moving 10 miles away to Knob Creek Farm.
  Of his birth and childhood, Lincoln wrote: ``I was born on February 
12, 1809, in then Hardin County, Kentucky, at a point within the now 
county of LaRue, a mile or mile and a half from where Hodgen's Mill now 
is. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still 
in the woods. There I grew up.''

[[Page H6395]]

  Thousands of historians, students, and tourists visit the Lincoln 
birthplace and museum at Sinking Spring and nearby boyhood home each 
year. Both sites are managed by the National Park Service and maintain 
historic recreations of the original log cabins. The Hodgenville 
community is currently hard at work planning for the bicentennial 
celebration of Lincoln's birth in 2009.
  Lincoln's roots on the Kentucky frontier molded character traits, 
modesty, hard work, spiritual, and an intellectual fortitude and a 
sense of justice that made him a portrait of human greatness as a 
legislator, lawyer, father, and steward of his country through the most 
devastating experience in its national history.
  Lincoln's achievements as President saved the Union and freed the 
slaves, and his martyrdom in death as the war was drawing to a close 
made him one of the most revered and historically significant figures 
in American history.
  Carved in stone above the portals of the birthplace memorial are the 
eloquent and poignant words from his second inaugural address in which 
he urged ``malice toward none'' and ``charity for all'' in the peace to 
come.
  Abraham Lincoln's early life in central Kentucky is a source of great 
pride to me personally and many of my constituents. The birthplace and 
childhood home provide a great historic treasure in our community. In 
honor of President Lincoln's connection to Hodgenville and the upcoming 
bicentennial celebration of his birth, I urge my colleagues to join me 
honoring Hodgenville and Lincoln's memory by designating the current 
postal facility as the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Post Office Building.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kolbe). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2894.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. ISSA. 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.

                          ____________________