[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 50 (Tuesday, May 2, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1927-H1928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EARL D. HUTTO POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 5107) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1400 West Jordan Street in Pensacola, Florida, as 
the ``Earl D. Hutto Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5107

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

     SECTION 1. EARL D. HUTTO POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1400 West Jordan Street in Pensacola, 
     Florida, shall be known and designated as the ``Earl D. Hutto 
     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 ``Earl D. Hutto Post Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Ms. FOXX. 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 North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5107, offered by the distinguished gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller), would designate the post office building in 
Pensacola, Florida, as the ``Earl D. Hutto Post Office Building.'' All 
Members of the Florida delegation have cosponsored this delegation.
  Earl Hutto was born near Midland City, Alabama, and was educated in 
the public schools, graduating from Dale County High School in Ozark, 
Alabama. He served in the U.S. Navy as a seaman first class aboard 
heavy cruiser USS Bremerton. After graduating with degrees in business, 
English, and education in 1949, he went on to teach business at 
Cottonwood High School in Alabama for 2 years.
  Later in his professional life, Hutto became the program director, 
sports director and announcer for WDIG in Dothan, Alabama, for 3 years. 
As his television career developed, he relocated to the State of 
Florida and became the sports director and State news editor of WJHG-TV 
in Panama City, Florida.
  In 1972, he was elected to the Florida house of representatives where 
he served three terms. In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. Congress and 
served eight terms until his retirement in 1995. His dedication to 
Florida politics earned him such awards as Legislator of the Year by 
the Florida Association of Retarded Citizens, Legislator of the Year by 
the Florida Community College Association, and was named Watchdog of 
the Treasury for six straight Congresses.
  I urge all Members to pay homage to a legislator who was truly 
dedicated to working for his constituents in every way by passing H.R. 
5107.
  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. 5107, legislation 
naming the postal facility in Pensacola, Florida, after Earl D. Hutto.
  This measure, sponsored by Mr. Jeff Miller of Florida, has been 
cosponsored by the entire Florida delegation.
  Earl Hutto was born in Alabama on May 12, 1926. He attended Dale 
County public schools and graduated from Troy State University. He did 
graduate work in broadcasting and served in World War II in the United 
States Navy. Prior to serving in the Florida legislature, Earl Hutto 
worked as a sports director and president of radio stations. He was 
elected to the Florida legislature in 1972 and reelected in 1974 and 
1976.
  In 1979, Earl Hutto was elected to represent the First Congressional 
District of Florida in the U.S. Congress where he served until 1995 
when he did not seek reelection. Since then, former Representative 
Hutto has retired and remains active in his Pensacola community. It is 
my understanding that Representative Hutto will be celebrating his 80th 
birthday on May 12. I am sure my colleagues join me in wishing him a 
great day and many years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for seeking to honor the 
political legacy of Earl Hutto and urge the swift passage of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller).
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
renaming the Jordan Street Post Office in Pensacola to the Earl D. 
Hutto Post Office Building.
  Congressman Hutto represented the First Congressional District from 
1978 to 1994. An interesting piece of trivia is that Mr. Hutto's 
initial congressional office was, in fact, temporarily located in what 
is now called the Jordan Street Post Office Building.
  Congressman Hutto's life is a tale of a man who has achieved the 
American Dream. Born into a poor, hardworking family in Midland City, 
Alabama, Earl was the first in his family to graduate from high school 
and to graduate from college. After several years in the broadcasting 
business and earning the nickname Captain Supreme from participating in 
an ice cream commercial, Congressman Hutto entered the life of public 
service. In 1972, he began his distinguished career in the Florida 
house of representatives, serving three terms there before running for 
the U.S. House of Representatives.
  In 1978, like all new Members of Congress in search of office space, 
Mr. Hutto was lucky enough to draw number 43 in the House lottery to 
choose his new office space. Drawing the slip of paper with a room on 
the fifth floor of Cannon on it, the next day the Pensacola News 
Journal, our home town newspaper, ran the headline, ``Hutto in Old 
Attic.'' Like many of us, his desk was here in Washington; however, his 
home and his heart were planted in Florida's gulf coast.
  Congressman Hutto quickly earned the respect of his peers and his 
colleagues in Washington with his commonsense and straightforward 
dealings on legislative matters. With a conservative home district, he 
was known by his constituents as a ``Boll Weevil,'' a group of fiscally 
and socially conservative Southern Democrats.
  As a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the 
Readiness Subcommittee, he worked tirelessly for the benefit of our 
military men and women at home and overseas. Under his leadership, he 
helped create the U.S. Special Operations Command in which the Joint 
Special Operations University resides on Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton 
Beach, Florida.
  Congressman Hutto learned early on with God and family as your moral 
compass, you cannot be steered wrong. As a family man, he is quick to 
credit his wife, Nancy, and his two daughters, Lori Hutto and Amy 
Stubblefield, for his accomplishments and strength of character.

[[Page H1928]]

  Congressman Hutto spent eight terms in the U.S. House before retiring 
in Pensacola. Today, he stays busy with his church, his Rotary Club, 
and participation on a number of charitable boards. He also sponsors 
golf tournaments to fund scholarship endowments at five area 
institutions through his foundation. As you can see, Mr. Hutto was and 
continues to be a trusted face and voice throughout northwest Florida. 
We are very fortunate to have such a distinguished gentleman with a 
genuine concern for local issues representing them in Washington, D.C.
  So on behalf of the United States Congress, I would like to thank 
Earl Hutto for his 22 years of public service in the U.S. House of 
Representatives and wish him an early happy 80th birthday.
  Mr. EVERETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to declare my support for H.R. 
5107, a House measure offered by U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, to 
designate the United States Post Office at 1400 West Jordan Street in 
Pensacola, Florida the ``Earl D. Hutto Post Office.''
  Congressman Earl Hutto proudly served Florida's first district from 
1979 to 1995. He was a strong voice for his district on the House Armed 
Services Committee where he rose to the position of chairman of the 
Readiness Subcommittee. During Democrat and Republican administrations, 
he was an effective and reliable advocate for our military men and 
women and a credit to the U.S. House.
  Earl and I go way back and it turns out we have a lot in common. In 
addition to having served in the House together, we both hail from a 
media background. He chose broadcasting and I worked for 30 years in 
print journalism. But even more unique is the fact that he and I both 
come from the tiny Dale County, Alabama town of Midland City. As 
remarkable as it may sound, and we did not realize it until we both 
came to Congress, but Earl and I even lived in the same Midland City 
house at different times.
  I have missed Earl's presence here in the House since his well 
deserved retirement and I was pleased to speak at a ceremony honoring 
him last year at his alma mater, Troy University, in my district.
  I wish Earl and his wife Nancy all the best as they continue to enjoy 
life back in Pensacola. This House and the people have not forgotten 
their contributions to our country.
  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, in this chamber, even on the most partisan 
and bitter debates, it is both customary and a proud tradition to refer 
to our colleagues as the ``distinguished gentleman'' or the 
``distinguished gentle lady.''
  From time-to-time the American people actually see Members of this 
body who truly fit the description of their honorary titles. Today, we 
honor one such person--a distinguished gentleman if there ever was 
one--Congressman Earl Hutto of Florida's 1st Congressional District.
  I wish to thank the gentleman from Chumuckla, my very good friend, 
Congressman Jeff Miller, for bringing this resolution to the floor 
today and for finding this way--and a very appropriate opportunity that 
it is--to honor and pay tribute to Earl Hutto, a man of the House, a 
man of integrity and a man for whom many of us hold in the highest 
regards.
  As Congressman Miller and I have discussed numerous rimes, it is both 
a tremendous honor--and at times it can be a little intimidating--to 
follow a real legend in this hallowed chamber.
  Like my predecessor, Congressman Sonny Callahan, the name Earl Hutto 
is synonymous with all the good qualities of a truly outstanding public 
servant--honesty, trustworthiness, love of country, love of family, 
humility, faith, and integrity. I cannot Imagine a more principled man 
has ever been elected to serve in this city, and I know--first-hand--
that no one has ever worked harder or more tirelessly on behalf of his 
constituents than Earl Hutto.
  A native of Midland City, a small town near Dothan in Alabama's 
Wiregrass, Earl knew that three qualities--honesty, hard work, and 
being a man of your word--were essential if you were to be successful 
in the game of life.
  Early on, young Earl Hutto recognized that he had a duty to his 
country and he served in the U.S. Navy as a Seaman First Class. Later, 
he attended Troy State University on the G.I. Bill and graduated with a 
B.S. degree in Business-English-Education in 1949.
  Although he had a brief stint teaching high school, Earl had a God-
given talent for broadcasting, and in no time, Earl Hutto became a 
household name in places like Dothan, Montgomery, Pensacola, and Panama 
City. As sports director, of WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Earl was the host 
of Coach Shug Jordan's statewide telecast which--with all due respect 
to our work up here--may still rank higher in the eyes of the Auburn 
football nation than any elected office on the face of the earth.
  After a highly successful career in broadcasting, Earl opened his own 
advertising agency and soon embarked on a path that led him into public 
service. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 
1972, where he served three terms, and was elected to the U.S. Congress 
in 1978 where he served eight terms until his retirement in 1995.
  Earl Hutto was a ``blue dog'' before there was such a thing. He 
fought for a stronger national defense and was always a true friend to 
the men and women who wear the uniform of their nation's military.
  On fiscal matters, Earl was a longtime proponent of getting our 
budget balanced and not spending more than we take in, and he was one 
of the early advocates of a biennial budgeting process--something many 
of us still believe would help restore some fiscal sanity to the 
process.
  Whether there was a Democrat in the White House or a Republican, Earl 
Hutto always attempted to vote the right way and do the right thing. He 
always put his country first--well above any loyalty to a political 
party.
  Mr. Speaker, knowing Earl Hutto as I do, I am sure the last thing he 
would want is some building with his name on it--that was never what 
motivated Earl in the least bit. However, in this day and age where 
there is so much partisan divide in our country, I can't think of a 
better time or more appropriate opportunity for those of us in this 
body to come together--Democrats and Republicans alike--and pay a 
lasting tribute to who made this House a better place--Congressman Earl 
Hutto.
  Earl, may you and Nancy, Lori and Amy, and your beautiful 
granddaughters Ellie and Abbie know that your legacy is living on and 
your service to others continues to inspire a whole new generation of 
leaders.
  Again, I thank my friend, Jeff Miller, for bringing this matter 
before the House, and I urge unanimous adoption of the resolution.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of 
H.R. 5107, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5107.
  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.

                          ____________________