[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 3 (Monday, January 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD (for himself and Mr. Salazar):
  S. 194. A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1300 North Frontage Road West in Vail, Colorado, as 
the ``Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Post Office Building''; to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, as my good friend and colleague from 
Colorado just mentioned, we are introducing S. 194 naming the post 
office in Vail, CO, after former President Gerald R. Ford. As this vote 
just showed, we are all aware that when Gerald Ford passed away last 
month, our country lost a great man. Much has been said recently about 
President Ford: How he selflessly came to the aid of this country in 
one of its most trying times, how he governed through his beliefs about 
what was the best decision for the Nation regardless of the personal 
consequences, and his lifelong pursuit of bipartisanship and debate.
  The defining characteristic of President Ford was his ability to 
remain humble and a man of the people. As testimonies poured in across 
the Nation, we were reminded about how he played selflessly as center 
at the University of Michigan, worked as a busboy while attending law 
school, and often hosted barbecues for his neighbors at his home in 
Alexandria, VA, while serving as House minority leader.
  President Ford's charm and likability were shown all over the 
country, but away from his home State and the microscope of Washington, 
DC, Gerald Ford and his family also touched Colorado. As a Congressman 
from Michigan, the Ford family visited Colorado to ski in 1968 and 
since then have remained a constant presence in that community. He 
skied there, he built a house in nearby Beaver Creek, and he hosted a 
golf tournament for 20 years.
  Following President Ford's passing, more than 2,500 people gathered 
at the base of Vail Mountain to witness a touching tribute to the 
President that included 500 ski instructors and a torchlight parade on 
Vail's Golden Peak. In Vail, like many other communities, President 
Ford was regarded as a tremendous asset and a man who treated everyone 
as an equal. Several residents remarked that one would never know he 
was a former President.
  As a lasting tribute to this tremendous man, I cannot think of a more 
appropriate honor than to have Vail's post office bear the name of 
Gerald R. Ford, Jr. A post office is the point in every community that 
brings all people together, and there is no better way to symbolize the 
virtues President Ford demonstrated through his public and private 
life. I encourage the Senate to pass legislation entitled ``Senate Bill 
194'' in recognition of President Ford and his contributions to Vail, 
CO.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in favor of a bill 
that will be introduced by Senator Allard and myself to name the post 
office in Vail, CO, after President Gerald R. Ford.
  I call myself fortunate because I worked with President Ford. In our 
brief time together, it was obvious to me he was a man of honor, 
integrity, and courage.
  Gerald Ford was a man who loved the State of Colorado, who loved its 
people and its culture. So it is a fitting tribute that the post office 
in his adopted town of Vail should bear his name.
  President Ford led a remarkable life--remarkable not only for his 
great success but for the humility, dignity, and candor which were the 
hallmarks of his career. And what a career it was: from the University 
of Michigan to Yale Law School to service in the Navy to a leadership 
position in the U.S. Congress, and eventually, of course, to the 
Presidency of these United States, to say nothing of a long and 
productive post-Presidential career.
  Of course, it is his time in the White House which people will 
remember most, and for good reason. It was President Ford who, through 
his leadership, brought the country together during a time of crisis. 
He was not only the right man at the right time for a very difficult 
job, he was a perfect man to deal with circumstances, the likes of 
which this country had never seen.
  But I will remember President Ford not only for his good deeds in 
public office but for his unending commitment to justice and equality 
well after he left the White House behind. In 1999, when our shared 
alma mater, the University of Michigan, had its diversity policies 
challenged in court, President Ford wrote an op-ed piece in the New 
York Times about diversity, and he talked about an inclusive America 
which was essential to the future and the strength of the United 
States. In his op-ed piece, which was widely circulated, about which he 
and I spent time talking one day, he wrote the following:

       Of all the triumphs that have marked this as America's 
     century--breathtaking advances in science and technology, the 
     democratization of wealth and dispersal of political powers 
     in ways hardly imaginable in 1899--none is more inspiring, if 
     incomplete, than our pursuit of racial justice.

  President Ford bravely defended the University of Michigan's 
diversity program with the same elegance and bravery with which he 
confronted the tribulations of the Watergate era and, in the process, 
left behind a legacy of tolerance and justice which will not soon be 
forgotten.
  Of course, no tribute to President Ford would be complete without 
mention of his extraordinary family, particularly his wife, Betty, and 
as President Ford famously said:

       I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman--to my dear 
     wife.

  Betty Ford's bravery and her candor has inspired millions upon 
millions of Americans, and we are grateful for her service, and we wish 
her and the Ford family the very best.
  The people of Colorado thank Gerald Ford for his service, and we are 
proud to move forward in helping the post office in Vail, CO, bear his 
name.
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