[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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