[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H954-H955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GERALD R. FORD, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 49) 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''.
The Clerk read as follows
H.R. 49
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. GERALD R. FORD, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 1300 North Frontage Road West in Vail,
Colorado, shall be known and designated as the ``Gerald R.
Ford, Jr. 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 ``Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Post Office
Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from California
(Mr. Issa) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.
General Leave
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
There was no objection
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in
consideration of H.R. 49, legislation naming a postal facility in Vail,
Colorado, after the late Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
President Ford helped ease a Nation during tense times. But even
before he was President, he was widely known in this Chamber as a man
of great integrity and openness. Although never elected to the office
of President or Vice President, President Ford was appointed to mend a
bruised American psyche and maneuver our country through the only
Presidential resignation ever, to help end the Vietnam War, and to help
ease rising inflation.
He succeeded, and for that extraordinary service to his country his
legacy should be remembered by all in our country and throughout the
world.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the swift passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of another down
payment on thanking President Gerald Ford for his legacy, a legacy that
really began, flourished and was all about this body. We are
recognizing Gerald Ford as the 38th President of the United States
because he did spend 2\1/2\ years as our President. But, uniquely, the
man born in 1913 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was, in fact, a man of the
House.
During his entire tenure in the House, he did not enjoy time in the
majority. Yet his goal was to be Speaker of the House. He had no higher
calling, never sought one, but accepted the one that was cast upon him.
At the time that he was selected to be Vice President of the United
States, we were already mired in the Vietnam War and disgrace had been
brought upon the Vice Presidency. It was Gerald Ford who came in
impeccably honest, undeniably a man of the people and a man who was
only for the people.
That is how he was selected, that is why he was selected, it is why
the Senate and the House thought he was the only man for the job. Who
would have known that just a short time, 10 months later in fact, he
would find himself cast into an even larger role, another role that he
did not ask for.
Yet that was who Gerald Ford was, a man who came out of athletics and
out of university to serve in the United States Navy in 1942 because it
was the right thing to do. He had represented a district that would
have returned him to the House to this very day if, in fact, he were
still alive.
Instead, he answered a call, a call that each of us in the House has
answered by coming to this body. That was the call of service to the
United States.
[[Page H955]]
As I support this naming of this post office in the place he loved,
in the place he skied, in the place that he called home for his
immediate period after leaving the White House, I do so as the second
man of the House that we are recognizing here today, first Congressman
Lane Evans and then Congressman/President Gerald Ford.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R.
49, legislation to name the postal facility in Vail, CO, after our
Nation's 39th President, Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
I believe this bill is fitting as another means of honoring the
legacy of President Ford, in large part because of his special
connection to Colorado and the Vail Valley. I am pleased by the support
it has received; all members of the Colorado delegation have co-
sponsored the legislation.
In 1968 then-Congressman Ford and wife, Betty, first came to Colorado
with their children to celebrate Christmas and to ski in the mountains
at Vail. Like many other visitors, President Ford was inspired by the
beauty of the area and found a connection to the land and to the
surrounding community.
The Fords later owned a home and continued to vacation in Vail. When
he became President, his vacations in Colorado helped introduce the
world to the Town of Vail, and in fact, the family home was dubbed
``the Western White House.''
Vail residents knew President Ford and his family as neighbors and
friends and are proud of their long association with them. President
Ford served on the board of directors of the Vail Valley Foundation.
Vail also serves as the home of the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and the
Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. President Ford was beloved in Vail, where
he was known to be a good neighbor, an avid golfer and a lover of the
outdoors.
President Ford will rightly be remembered for his personal warmth,
his decency, his interest in bridging the many divisions in America
during the 1970s. My father, Mo Udall, served in the Congress with
Gerald Ford, and while they were often on different sides in political
matters--so much so that my father hoped to run against President Ford
in the famous election of 1976--they were united by a common view that
politics should unite people. They both were firm believers that in
public life one could disagree without being disagreeable.
This is a credo I continue to believe in, and I commend the memory of
both good men to this House, an institution they loved.
Coloradans, especially those in the Vail Valley, have come to think
of him as the first President from Colorado because he was a great
ambassador for the State, who established long ties to the people of
Colorado.
As a dedicated public servant, President Ford served honorably in his
years in Congress and in the White House. Most important, when America
needed someone to reassure their trust in government after Watergate,
he filled that leadership role with authenticity.
I believe President Ford's special relationship and legacy in
Colorado should be appropriately recognized by naming the postal
facilities in Vail, CO, in his honor.
I urge all members support the legislation today.
Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 49.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those voting have responded 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 question will
be postponed.
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