[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H5437-H5438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page H5437]]
JOHN P. GALLAGHER POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 6150) to designate the facility of the United
States Postal Service located at 14500 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland,
Ohio, as the ``John P. Gallagher Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6150
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. JOHN P. GALLAGHER POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 14500 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio,
shall be known and designated as the ``John P. Gallagher 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 ``John P. Gallagher Post Office
Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
General Leave
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such
time as he might consume to the author of this resolution, the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).
Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from
Illinois and Mr. Issa. I rise in strong support of H.R. 6150, the bill
that renames the post office at 14500 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio,
as the ``John P. Gallagher Post Office Building.'' I would like to
again thank the chairman of the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and
District of Columbia Subcommittee and his helpful staff for working
with me on this bill.
I am proud to have sponsored this bill to honor Mr. Gallagher's
lifetime of devotion to public service. Let me share with you the story
of this man who was a member of what Tom Brokaw called ``The Greatest
Generation.''
This is a quote from an article that was published on June 6, 2004.
The subheading was, ``Like dwindling World War II comrades, vet shuns
hoopla.''
``John P. Gallagher is one of the men we honor today. He is a proud
veteran, but is also impatient with the embroidery and rhetoric that
lingers after the smoke clears and the dead are buried.
``So the man who dodged bombs, bullets and a bad heart was asked
whether he's a hero. `No,' he said in his modest room amid medals,
patches and other mementos. `You did your job. That's all.'
``He was a combat engineer. He helped clear obstacles at Utah Beach
before the infantry came ashore. His service is a virtual core sample
of the big moments in the European theater.
``He was in North Africa after General Eisenhower led the Operation
Torch Landings, in Sicily briefly, and then in Italy for the Rome-Arno
campaign. He was at the little-known place in England called Slapton
Sands, where GIs practicing for the invasion of France were surprised
and slaughtered by German torpedo boats. Then there was Normandy, the
Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium, and a Rhine
River crossing.''
For his service in the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, along with the
other members of the brigade, he received an exceptional honor during
World War II. Charles de Gaulle, then the General Army and Chief of
State, Major General of National Defense for France, sent this
commendation for John Gallagher's unit: ``For exceptional services of
war rendered during the course of the operations for the liberation of
France, the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, including all units assigned
or attached, which were part of the Assault Force U and which were
engaged in the assault on Normandy beaches, this citation is of the
order of and confers the Croix de Guerre with Palm, May 25, 1945,''
signed Charles de Gaulle.
This was a much-decorated unit, but this was a man who after he
finished his service to our country he then went to serve our country
in another way, at the city of Cleveland.
He was employed by the city of Cleveland for 30 years. He worked his
way up to become Superintendent of Sidewalks. Those of you who are
familiar with big cities can understand that when a city has thousands
of miles of sidewalks, it is very important for those who deliver the
mail, as well as people in the neighborhood, to have someone who pays
attention to make sure that this infrastructure is kept in shape. That
was John Gallagher's job. He served for six mayors of Cleveland, and he
did such a good job that when he retired in 1987 he was honored by the
city of Cleveland in a special commendation from then-Mayor John
Voinovich.
Mr. Gallagher is someone whose service to the community went far
beyond his work for the city of Cleveland. He was one of the primary
advocates for the inclusion of programs for seniors in the city of
Cleveland's Gun and Recreation Center. He actually led the charge to
create new programs for senior citizens.
His home is across the street from a city park where he actually for
the neighborhood for years has kept an eye on the park. He has been a
lifelong parishioner of St. Vincent DePaul Parish, and he is a fixture
each and every week, he has been a fixture until he came into ill
health, volunteering as an usher at the 5:30 mass. He is someone who
comes from a very strong Irish heritage. His father, who was a
Cleveland policeman, was actually born in County Mayo, Ireland, and
John lived with his father and took care of him for many years before
he passed. John is very involved in the Irish community and is someone
who has great respect across the city of Cleveland and throughout
Cuyahoga County.
When we name post offices, we often name post offices after very
famous people, after people who are politicians and are in public
service, but we don't often get the opportunity to recognize the work
of someone who, a World War II vet who served his country with honor,
who continued in public service for many years and who today, like so
many members of that greatest generation, just kind of wait their turn
to be called to an even higher service.
This is a great opportunity for the House of Representatives to show
that the kind of people who make up this country, that the kind of
people who have served this country and made it the great Nation that
it is, deserve recognition. And so for that reason I put forth this
bill honoring the life and service of John P. Gallagher through naming
this post office after him.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I join with my friend and colleague from Ohio in
urging support for H.R. 6150 to name the post office in Cleveland,
Ohio, in honor of John P. Gallagher. Like the gentleman, I am also a
Clevelander born and raised. Like many of us in the room, I know what
Mr. Gallagher came home to after World War II. He came home to a
Cleveland that had helped win the war. He came home to a Cleveland in
which women had come out of their homes to work in all of the major
plants. They worked in auto plants that were now making tanks. They
worked in the steel mills. In fact, Cleveland won the war both by the
men it sent off to war, and by the men and women who stayed home and
worked those heavy industries.
So I very much believe it is appropriate and vital that we recognize
the Cleveland workforce that made America great and won World War II.
And, in fact, the common man, who did the uncommon thing, that was all
too common in World War II, and that is going off and fighting for your
country while others stayed home and made sure that the tanks, the
steel, the tires all came to the battle.
And as a Clevelander, I recognized that Cleveland ran on resources.
Cleveland ran on coal and iron ore. And yes, Cleveland ran and used to
run very well on oil and natural gas, in addition to coal, that made
our steel mills work and that made our auto companies produce.
Cleveland no longer runs that way. Cleveland is, in fact, a city that
is now
[[Page H5438]]
needing to turnaround yet again. Why, among other reasons, because of
$5 gasoline, the cost of home heating oil, the cost of living that is
spiraling up much faster than the men and women of Cleveland have the
ability to pay.
So as we honor Mr. Gallagher, I would hope that we also turn our
focus to the need to deal with these natural resources that we now
import, the copper we import, the coal that if we don't change we will
soon be importing, certainly the steel mills that have gone to Korea;
and yes, the half a trillion dollars a year of oil that we are
importing from countries often hostile to us simply because we are not
willing to open up exploration on our 2 billion-plus acres of Federal
land.
So I join with my colleague in strong support of remembering what
made America and Cleveland great, and I ask that we join together and
do that again by passing comprehensive land opportunities for oil so
that we too can be self-sufficient, as we were when Mr. Gallagher came
home from World War II.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Madam Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleagues in the
consideration of H.R. 6150 which asks that we designate a postal
facility in Cleveland after Mr. John Gallagher who served that city
faithfully for over 30 years. H.R. 6150, which was introduced by
Representative Dennis Kucinich on May 22, 2008, was reported favorably
from the Oversight Committee on June 12 by voice vote.
The measure, which will name a post office after a truly humble and
dedicated civil servant, has the support and sponsorship of the entire
Ohio congressional delegation.
John Gallagher has been described as a man who served his country and
the city of Cleveland with dignity for his entire life. At the age of
19, he joined the U.S. Army where he fought bravely in Europe during
World War II. After his years of service, he returned to his hometown
of Cleveland, Ohio, where he would work for the city government for
over 30 years, rising through the ranks to become Cleveland's
Superintendent of Sidewalks.
Mr. Gallagher did not regard his commitment to the city of Cleveland
as anything extraordinary, but that he was simply doing his job, that's
all. Like many public sector workers in our country, Mr. Gallagher
devoted his life to serving and working on behalf of his fellow
citizens.
Therefore, Madam Speaker, let us extend a small token of our
appreciation for the work of this outstanding gentleman by passing H.R.
6150 which will rename the postal facility on Lorain Avenue in
Cleveland, Ohio, as the John P. Gallagher Post Office Building.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and
I would inquire of the majority if they have any additional speakers.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I have one additional comment.
Mr. ISSA. Then I continue to reserve.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) for such time as he may consume.
Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, in furtherance of describing the kind of
man that we are honoring here today, when the war was over and people
went back about their business, John Gallagher had this idea that he
should bring together all of his brothers who served together under
these conditions of World War II and to find a way so they could
reconnect. And so he was in charge of organizing this group. And for a
period of 1963 all of the way through the year 2000, a period of 37
unbroken years, this band of brothers came together year after year
after year under John Gallagher's leadership and organization and
renewed not just their friendship but their dedication to the cause of
service to their Nation.
John Gallagher also participated in a very important endeavor where
he helped to organize his friends from across the country from the 1st
Engineer Special Brigade to raise the funds to erect a monument which
was on a German pill box on Normandy Beach in France with contributions
from members of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade and under supervision
of the brigade commander.
{time} 1645
And inside the walls were plaques bearing the names of the men of the
unit who died in battle.
The time comes when this generation will fade into memory. But those
individuals who are still alive need to be forever reminded of the
great gratitude that this country has for them, not just putting their
lives on the line, but the youth of their lives on the line, for
showing a continual love of country, for showing love for each other
and their fellow soldiers.
I am so proud to be here to ask for your support because, in
recognizing John Gallagher, we recognize all those who served who still
remain with us for serving through their love of country.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself just 1 minute to thank the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich). I think often the famous get post
offices named after themselves; but I would like to comment that the
gentleman has done a wonderful job, Madam Speaker, of making someone
less famous, but equally deserving, the subject of today and the
subject of this post office.
And so once again I'd like to congratulate my colleague, not only on
selecting somebody, but on doing a good job of making sure that we
understood just who he was and what he contributed.
Madam Speaker, I yield back all of my remaining time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, we urge passage of this
resolution, and yield back the balance of our time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 6150.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
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.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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