[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8329-H8331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MICKEY MANTLE POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate bill (S. 171) to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 301 Commerce Street in 
Commerce, Oklahoma, as the ``Mickey Mantle Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of the Senate bill is as follows:

                                 S. 171

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

     SECTION 1. MICKEY MANTLE POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 301 Commerce Street in Commerce, Oklahoma, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Mickey Mantle 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 ``Mickey Mantle Post Office Building''.

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


                             General Leave

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. 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 
gentlewoman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  S. 171 renames a postal facility in Commerce, Oklahoma, in honor of 
Mickey Mantle, the great American baseball player.
  The House Oversight Committee received S. 171 after it had been 
considered and passed by our colleagues in the Senate. The measure was 
originally introduced by Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma back on 
January 4, 2007, and the Oversight Committee passed the bill by voice 
vote on June 12, 2008.
  S. 171 calls for honoring Mickey Mantle by designating the post 
office in his hometown of Commerce, Oklahoma, as the Mickey Mantle Post 
Office Building. Mickey Mantle was born on October 20, 1931. Named 
Mickey by his father after the Philadelphia Athletics Hall of Fame 
catcher, Mantle is one of the greatest American baseball players of all 
time. In 1974, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, 
and his uniform number 7 was retired, celebrating his 18 years of 
playing for the New York Yankees.
  Mr. Speaker, in honor of Mickey Mantle, let us pass, without 
reservation, S. 171 and rename the post office facility on Commerce 
Street in Commerce, Oklahoma, after this legendary American athlete.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of S. 171, to rename the post office in 
Commerce, Oklahoma, for the town's most famous citizen, Mickey Charles 
Mantle.
  Mickey Mantle was a true American hero. He was an outfielder for the 
New York Yankees, a first-ballot Hall of Famer with 536 career home 
runs. When he hit them, they flew.
  He hit the longest home run ever at the old Yankee Stadium--it hit 
the top facade in right field--and the longest ever at Washington's old 
Griffith Stadium and at Detroit's old Tiger Stadium. The term ``tape-
measure home run'' was invented when the Yankees' traveling secretary 
used a tape to measure the Griffith Stadium blast at 565 feet.
  Named for Mickey Cochrane, another baseball Hall of Famer--Mantle 
often joked that he was glad his father didn't know Cochrane's real 
first name was Gordon--the Mick was a three-sport star at Commerce 
High. A New York Yankees' scout who came to see a teammate play in a 
semipro game saw Mantle hit titanic home runs from both sides of the 
plate and tried to sign him on the spot, only to find that he was still 
16, still in high school, and ineligible for pro ball. The scout told 
Mickey he would return the day he graduated from high school, and he 
did.
  Four years later the Mick was in right field in Yankee Stadium, and 
Joe DiMaggio was patrolling center field. Both took off to run down a 
scorched liner to right field. As they arrived at the ball, DiMaggio 
called off Mantle. Mantle tried to stop, but caught his cleats in a 
sprinkler head. He went down ``like he was shot,'' said one observer.
  In many ways, this blazing fast, preternaturally powerful athlete was 
never the same. He went on to win a Triple Crown in 1956, claim three 
American League Most Valuable Player awards, make 16 All-Star teams and 
win seven world championships. He still holds the records for most home 
runs, RBIs, runs, walks, extra-base hits and total bases in the World 
Series.
  As great as he was, the question that dogs his legacy is, what if? 
What if he had stayed healthy? What if he had never contracted 
osteomyelitis, a crippling bone disease in high school? What if he had 
never been plagued by other diseases and injuries, including 
alcoholism?
  He is number 17 on the list of the greatest 100 players of all time. 
Where might he have ended up otherwise? Who in baseball history might 
today be considered above him?
  The Mick was not a great businessman, and many of the ventures he 
funded with his top salaries for the Yankees proved unsuccessful. But 
he made another fortune in the memorabilia market. His signature and 
artifacts fetched sums second only to those of Babe Ruth.
  Why? He moved with a breathtaking grace. He was that rarest of 
commodities, the fastest and most powerful guy on the team. Moreover, 
he smiled. He connected with fans. He looked like

[[Page H8330]]

he was having fun. Even though he was as far culturally from a New 
Yorker as he could be, the Yankee faithful embraced him. He later 
teamed with fellow Oklahoman and Yankee Bobby Murcer to raise money for 
victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.
  He led an imperfect life, but he did what he could to redeem himself. 
He went into treatment and later turned to faith to deal with his 
increasing infirmities. When he died on August 13, 1995, in Dallas, Bob 
Costas, the famous sportscaster, gave his eulogy. Costas described him 
as ``a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong 
and lasting that it defied logic. In his last year of his life, Mickey 
Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and 
appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero. The first, 
he often was not. The second, he always will be.''
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from California, Representative Baca.
  Mr. BACA. I appreciate Congresswoman Virginia Foxx talking about 
Mickey Mantle. He was an idol to many of us that played a lot of 
sports. I know as a young gentleman who was playing during that period 
of time, I admired Mickey Mantle.
  Not only was he a positive role model for myself, in terms of trying 
to aspire to become a professional baseball player during the time I 
was in high school, but he was a coal miner, an individual that came 
from that area in Oklahoma that showed us that with hard work and 
dedication that you can make it.
  Not only hearing the history of his personal life but what he did for 
a lot of us, because not only did he hit from both sides of the plate, 
which is very important for many individuals, we saw a switch hitter 
that could hit a lot from both the left and the right. We saw the 
competition that he led with Roger Maris during that period of time 
when they were competing for the home run championship.
  I think having a post office named after Mickey Mantle is a great 
honor for many individuals, especially as we look at many of the Little 
Leaguers that play in Little League right now that look towards major 
league ball players who have played in the past who were a positive 
inspiration to many of us who say that if you can lead, you can be an 
inspiration to a lot of us. Therefore, I say that we should support 
this kind of legislation in naming the Mickey Mantle Post Office 
Building.
  I support the legislation, which is S. 171, and I compliment 
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx for carrying on and going through a whole 
history of his history and background, where he came from.

                              {time}  1445

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, all of my family were Yankee fans. My father 
and uncles and all of the family were strong Yankee fans. They were 
born and raised in New York City. They were Yankee fans and certainly 
Mickey Mantle fans. I know they would be pleased to see me presenting 
this bill on the floor today.
  But I know they also would be upset with me if I did not talk about 
the problems we are facing in this country related to gas prices 
because most of my family, as they got older, moved out of New York 
City and moved out into rural areas, where they didn't have access any 
longer to mass transit as they had had when they lived in New York 
City, and depended on having automobiles and having to drive and pay 
for gasoline.
  What we are seeing now in this country is a very big burden on people 
who live in rural areas such as my district where most of the people 
are without access to mass transit.
  I want to talk a little bit about the failure of the Democrats in 
charge of this Congress for not doing anything to bring down the price 
of gasoline. Speaker Pelosi in 2006 promised that the Democrats had a 
commonsense plan to bring down the price of gasoline. We haven't seen 
that commonsense plan. The bill that passed yesterday was a sham and an 
illusion. It was a way to simply give cover to Democrats who are in 
tough reelection situations. I think it is a real shame. Not only are 
we hurting people who live in rural areas, but we are hurting the 
baseball fans who would like to be able to go to baseball games and be 
able to celebrate this wonderful game we are talking about when we 
honor Mickey Mantle.
  One of the things that was wrong with the bill that passed, there was 
nothing there to be able to stop all of the legal challenges by radical 
environmental groups that are blocking or significantly delaying oil 
leases and production. We now know from having done some investigation 
that radical environmentalists are challenging every single lease that 
is being awarded to be able to bring more gas and oil online.
  In February 2008, the administration issued 487 leases in the Chukchi 
Sea sale 193, and every single one of those has been challenged under 
the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.
  In addition, for 2007-2012, there was a 5-year OCS leasing program, 
and every single one of those leases has been challenged.
  There are 748 leases in the Chukchi-Beaufort Seas which have been 
challenged.
  What Republicans wanted to do, and we had absolutely no opportunity 
to be able to do so, was to bring amendments to these bills, another 
promise broken by the Democrats in charge of the Congress.
  We were told when the Democrats took over that we would be in the 
most open, most bipartisan Congress in the history of the Congress. All 
bills would be brought through committee, all bills would be allowed to 
be amended on the floor. So far that has been a hollow promise. The so-
called energy bill that was passed yesterday was never brought to 
committee. It should have been assigned to about eight different 
committees. It didn't go to a single one. It was brought straight to 
the floor under a closed rule and no amendments were allowed.
  Had we been allowed to offer amendments, one of the things we would 
have done would have been to offer an amendment that would have allowed 
for lawsuits to be filed. We don't want to stop the judicial process. 
However, we think that it should be done in a way that will expedite 
these leases.
  We keep hearing from the Democrats that the oil companies have 
millions of acres under lease that they are not doing. The reason is 
their good friends, the trial lawyers and the radical 
environmentalists, are stopping the leases from being exercised by 
bringing lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit.
  We must stop this if we are going to help the American people and 
bring down the price of gasoline. The Democrats cannot run away from 
their responsibility of being in charge of the Congress and denying the 
opportunities that should be presented to the American people to see 
the price of gasoline come down.
  So while we are here today honoring Mickey Mantle, honoring the 
American pastime of baseball, Democrats have to take responsibility for 
denying people the opportunity to go to their baseball games and do 
other things they would like to do because they are responsible for the 
price of gasoline having doubled in the 20 months they have been in 
charge of the Congress.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Yesterday Members of Congress had a clear 
choice, voting for a plan that sided with American taxpayers and 
consumers struggling with energy costs or to continue to argue for a 
plan that sides with the Big Oil companies reaping the largest profits 
in American history.
  Yesterday, the House, under Democratic leadership, passed the 
Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act. Let 
me tell you what that plan does. It lowers prices for consumers and 
protects taxpayers. It expands domestic drilling offshore and on land. 
It expands renewable sources of energy. It increases our security by 
freeing America from the grip of foreign oil, and it requires Big Oil 
to pay back what it owes taxpayers. It ends the subsidies to the oil 
companies, and it creates good-paying jobs right here in America.
  The plan that we passed yesterday truly gives the American people an 
opportunity to have security and to have a brighter future with 
renewables as part of our energy mix.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H8331]]

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I wish that what the 
gentlewoman had said was true. I wish that the bill that passed 
yesterday would do something to bring down the price of gasoline. If 
that were true, it would have had a unanimous vote. Instead, 
Republicans voted against it and many Democrats voted against it 
because we know that the bill is going absolutely nowhere. It was 
simply cover for Democrats who are in tight election races.
  It is a cynical, cynical ploy on behalf of the Democrats, and I am so 
sorry to see that because I think ultimately people will be held 
responsible for the cynical ploys that they perpetuate against the 
American people.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of 
S. 171.
  I yield back the balance of my time.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their 
remarks to the Chair.
  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I am new to managing bills on 
the floor, and I was going to ask if that was the proper procedure, and 
so thank you for explaining that to us again on the floor. And I know 
that the gentlewoman in no way, shape, or form meant to imply that I 
was a liar on the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, as a young girl there weren't too many baseball cards I 
was actually very interested in collecting. But let me tell you, there 
were a few. Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and I knew if I could get a 
Mickey Mantle card, I could collect the other two.
  I am very honored to be here today to have the opportunity to support 
S. 171. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members of the House to support 
this post office renaming of a fabulous athlete, Mickey Mantle of the 
New York Yankees.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 171.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. 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.

                          ____________________