[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 68 (Tuesday, May 5, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5107-H5109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GERALDINE FERRARO POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 774) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 46-02 21st Street in Long Island City, New York, as 
the ``Geraldine Ferraro Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 774

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

     SECTION 1. GERALDINE FERRARO POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 46-02 21st Street in Long Island City, New 
     York, shall be known and designated as the ``Geraldine 
     Ferraro 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 ``Geraldine Ferraro Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LYNCH. 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 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction 
over the United States Postal Service, and as we commend the dedicated 
service of our Nation's public servants during Public Service 
Recognition Week, I am pleased to present H.R. 774 for consideration.
  This legislation would designate the United States postal facility 
located at 46-02 21st Street in Long Island City, New York, as the 
Geraldine Ferraro Post Office Building in honor of an exceptional 
public servant who has dedicated over 30 years of life to serving our 
country.

                              {time}  1230

  Introduced by my colleague, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New 
York, on January 28, 2009, and reported out of the Oversight Committee 
on March 18, 2009, by unanimous consent, H.R. 774 enjoys the strong 
support of the New York House delegation.
  Born in the city of Newburgh, New York, to her father Dominick, an 
Italian immigrant restaurant owner, and her mother Antonetta, a first 
generation Italian American seamstress, Geraldine Ferraro stands as a 
living testament to an often-cited passage from her historic address to 
the 1984 Democratic convention: ``America's history is about doors 
being opened, doors of opportunity for everyone, no matter who you are, 
as long as you are willing to earn it.'' Ms. Ferraro spoke these words 
upon her introduction as the first female and Italian American major 
party candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States.
  Ms. Ferraro graduated from the Marymount High School in Manhattan in 
1952. She was awarded a scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College, and 
in 1956 earned her bachelor of arts degree, becoming the first woman in 
her family to receive a college education.
  In her subsequent service as a public elementary school teacher in 
Astoria, Queens, Ms. Ferraro attended Fordham University School of Law 
at night. She courageously ignored an admission officer's admonition 
that she would be taking ``a man's place'' in the class. In 1960, she 
received her juris doctorate as one of only two women in her graduating 
class of 179 students.
  Following her admission to the New York State bar in 1961, Ms. 
Ferraro practiced law part time in the private sector while raising her 
family. In 1974, she was appointed to serve as an assistant district 
attorney for Queens County. In 1977, she was chosen to head the 
recently established Queens County Special Victims Bureau, where she 
specialized in cases involving abused women and children.
  Ms. Ferraro was elected to the United States Congress in 1978, and 
honorably represented New York State's Ninth Congressional District in 
the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985. Throughout her 
tenure in Congress, Ms. Ferraro devoted much of her legislative 
attention to women's rights and human rights advocacy. To this end, she 
admirably sought passage of measures such as the Equal Rights Amendment 
and the Women's Economic Equity Act.
  In 1984, Ms. Ferraro became the first woman and the first Italian 
American to be nominated to the Vice Presidency of the United States by 
a major American political party when she was chosen by Democratic 
Presidential candidate Walter Mondale to join the 1984 national ticket. 
Her historic nomination continues to stand as evidence that, as Ms. 
Ferraro proclaimed in her acceptance address, ``America is the land 
where dreams can come true for all of us.''
  Following her remarkable Vice Presidential run, Ms. Ferraro remained 
active in public and community service. In 1993, she was appointed by 
President Bill Clinton as Ambassador to the United Nations Commission 
on Human Rights. As noted by President Clinton, Ms. Ferraro's 
appointment came in recognition of her longstanding dedication to 
international women's rights issues. Ms. Ferraro continues to serve the 
Nation through a variety of public and private sector efforts, 
specifically as a widely regarded author and political commentator. She 
keeps the American public well informed regarding issues of public 
policy.
  Through her nonprofit organizational work, she continues her 
commitment to creating educational and professional opportunities for 
women, as well as addressing wage and training disparities in the 
workplace. Furthermore, as a cancer survivor, Ms. Ferraro admirably and 
successfully advocates in support of increasing much needed funding for 
cancer research.
  Mr. Speaker, let us honor a dedicated public servant through the 
passage of H.R. 774, and by designating the 21st Street postal facility 
in Long Island City in honor of Geraldine Ferraro. I urge my colleagues 
to support H.R. 774.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 774, to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 4602 21st Street in Long Island 
City, New York, as the Geraldine Ferraro Post Office Building.
  Geraldine Ferraro has spent her life advocating and achieving on 
behalf of women across the globe. She was born on August 26, 1935, in 
Newburgh, New York, the daughter of a first-generation Italian American 
mother and an Italian immigrant father. After high school, she worked 
her way through Marymount Manhattan College, at times holding three 
jobs simultaneously. She was the first woman in her family to attain a 
college degree, and she subsequently became a licensed New York City 
school teacher.
  While still teaching the second grade, Congresswoman Ferraro earned 
her law degree, attending Fordham law school at night. She was one of 
only two women in her graduating class of 179, and was admitted to the 
New York State bar in 1961. She managed to raise three children while 
working part time as an attorney in her husband's real estate firm. In 
1970, she was elected president of the Queens County Women's Bar 
Association, and in 1974 she was appointed Assistant District Attorney 
for Queens County, New York, at a time when female prosecutors were 
rare in

[[Page H5108]]

New York City. During her time in the district attorney's office, she 
became a strong advocate for abused children, and rose through the 
ranks to head the Special Victims Bureau, which prosecuted rape, and 
child and domestic abuse cases.
  In 1978, she won election to the United States House of 
Representatives from New York's Ninth Congressional District in Queens. 
She labeled herself a ``tough Democrat'' and ran on law and order 
issues.
  Upon entering Congress, Congresswoman Ferraro made an immediate 
impression on her party's leadership and quickly rose through the 
leadership ranks. She established a reputation in Congress as an 
advocate for women's rights and gender equality. Then, in the 1984 
Presidential election, Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate, 
making her the first ever female to run on a major party national 
ticket. Her historical nomination was the culmination of a lifetime of 
firsts for this lawyer from Queens.
  Her accomplishments also include her appointment by President Clinton 
to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. President Clinton eventually 
chose her to be the United States Ambassador to the Commission, stating 
that she was ``a highly effective voice for the human rights of women 
around the world.'' She has spent a lifetime breaking barriers and 
shattering glass ceilings. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to 
honor the many achievements and tireless advocacy of Geraldine Ferraro.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the lead sponsor of this 
resolution, the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Maloney).
  Mrs. MALONEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his 
leadership on this and so many other things.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 774, legislation to 
name the Long Island City Main Post Office after former Congresswoman 
Geraldine Ferraro. The main post office is located at 4602 21st Street 
in Long Island City, Queens, in the district Ferraro represented with 
distinction in the U.S. House of Representatives for 6 years. It is 
also located in the district that I am honored to represent. It is a 
grand building and a fitting building for an extraordinary woman.
  A trailblazer, role model, leader, Ferraro has been a pivotal figure 
in American history. When Walter Mondale selected her in 1984 to be the 
first female Vice Presidential candidate on a national party ticket, 
she became an icon. The night she was nominated--and I was there with 
great excitement to see the first woman on a national party ticket--she 
took to the microphone and told the crowd, ``American history is about 
doors being opened, doors of opportunity for everyone, no matter who 
you are, as long as you are willing to earn it.''
  And although doors have continued to open for women, the marble 
ceiling remains intact. It took more than two decades for another woman 
to be given a similar opportunity, and none have won. Geraldine Ferraro 
continues to symbolize the hope and expectation that one day a woman 
will be elected to the White House. Ferraro has spent her entire career 
opening doors, breaking down barriers, and helping others to follow 
her. She was one of only two women in her law school class. She was 
appointed assistant district attorney for Queens County, New York, at a 
time when women prosecutors were extremely rare.
  When she entered Congress in 1979, she was one of only 13 women in 
the House. Nonetheless, she quickly earned the respect of her 
colleagues and was elected to the secretary of the House Democratic 
Caucus for the 97th and 98th Congresses. Granting her a seat on the 
influential Steering and Policy Committee, Ferraro served on the Post 
Office and Civil Services Committee, the Public Works and 
Transportation Committee, the Select Committee on Aging, and in 1983 
was appointed to the Budget Committee.
  In her work on the Post Office and Civil Services Committee, the 
newly elected Ferraro helped enact a widely demanded local ZIP Code 
that gave the Queens neighborhoods of Ridgewood and Glendale a Queens-
based code, 11385. Previously, Glendale and parts of Ridgewood were 
serviced under 11227, Bushwick's ZIP Code in Brooklyn. But when the 
1977 blackout plunged Bushwick into riots, her constituents noticed 
that insurance companies and banks were raising premiums and rates in 
the entire ZIP Code even though Queens remained largely balanced and 
unscathed by the violence and looting. Although the Postmaster General 
told Ferraro that a ZIP Code change like this had never been done 
before, he would go forward if the Congresswoman could collect some 
50,000 signatures. And that is what she did.
  In January of 1993, President Clinton appointed Ferraro as a member 
of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human 
Rights. She attended the June 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in 
Vienna as the alternate U.S. delegate. In October of 1993, Clinton 
promoted her to be head of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights 
Delegation, with the rank of United States Ambassador. She was vice-
Chair of the U.S. delegation to the landmark September 1995 Fourth 
World Conference on Women in Beijing, and I accompanied her as a 
representative for this body at that historic conference.
  Ferraro has written three books, cohosted a political talk show, 
cofounded a consulting management company to help corporations train 
women leaders, and worked on the boards of dozens of organizations. 
Today, she is of counsel at the law firm of Blank Rome, where she 
advises clients on a wide range of public policy issues. And whatever 
her many accomplishments have been in the area of Queens that Ferraro 
once represented, people remember her as their good friend, their 
neighbor, and their Congresswoman, a tenacious fighter who represented 
them and their interests. She never forgot them and they have never 
forgotten her. Thousands of her former constituents use the Main Post 
Office every week, and they will be delighted to have this important 
neighborhood institution named in her honor.
  So I am thrilled to be the sponsor of this important legislation.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution to name the U.S. 
Post Office located on 21st Street in Long Island, New York, as the 
Geraldine Ferraro Post Office Building.
  I served in this body with Geraldine Ferraro, a former Queens County 
district attorney, and I join my colleagues in congratulating her and 
her family in a well-deserved honor and wish her well.
  As we deal with this issue, though, Mr. Speaker, I feel there is a 
pressing matter of national security which directly affects the welfare 
of the American people which is not being addressed, and the American 
people deserve to know what is happening.

                              {time}  1245

  Geraldine Ferraro represented the people of New York City, a city 
which was forever changed on a sunny September morning when two planes 
slammed into the World Trade Center killing thousands and awakening our 
country to the murderous aims of the terrorist network globally. Thirty 
people from my congressional district lost their lives that day.
  Countless books have been written since, which highlight 
miscalculations and missed opportunities on the part of the 
policymakers in the intelligence community who failed to recognize the 
severity of the threat our country is facing leading up to 9/11. We can 
no longer say we do not know the threat, and yet this administration is 
on the precipice of making a decision which, given what we know, is 
unthinkable.
  Press reports and other information I receive indicates that 
President Obama's decision regarding the release into the United States 
of a number of Uyghur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 is 
imminent. The detainees are trained terrorists. They were held at a 
facility which was home to Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/
11 who took pleasure in beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel 
Pearl.
  There have been published reports that these detainees were members 
of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, a designated terrorist 
organization affiliated with al Qaeda.

[[Page H5109]]

  Now, just this April, the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of Abdul 
Haq, the leader of this group, the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, 
known as ETIM. This is the same group that the detainees are reportedly 
affiliated with. The Treasury Department targeted Haq as part of their 
efforts to shut down the al Qaeda support network. Upon making the 
designation, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial 
Intelligence said, and I quote what our Treasury Department said: 
``Adbul Haq commands a terror group that sought to sow violence and 
fracture international unity at the 2008 Olympic Games in China.''
  Few have been more critical of the Chinese Government than I have. 
But terrorism is terrorism. American citizens were present at the 
Olympic Games. Terrorism knows no boundaries. It must not be tolerated 
anywhere. American career government officials risked their lives to 
capture these people. What if they had not been captured? Would they 
have then left this terrorist training camp and gone off to wreak 
terrorism somewhere in China killing innocent men, women and children 
of China?
  Yet the U.S. Congress and the American people are left utterly, and 
I'm increasingly concerned, in the dark. The administration will not 
allow any career person from the FBI, from the CIA, or from the 
Department of Homeland Security to come up and tell the Congress about 
these detainees. The American people, Mr. Speaker, the American people 
deserve more. After learning that this decision was imminent, I 
requested briefings from a number of relevant agencies. But all have 
told me that Eric Holder, our Attorney General of the Department of 
Justice, is preventing them from speaking out, speaking to me or other 
Members, if you will, on this issue.
  Why, Mr. Speaker, is the Department of Justice withholding this 
information from the American people? Why is proper congressional 
oversight, which American people expect of their elected 
representatives, now being thwarted? This is not the time to play 
games. The stakes are too high, not just with regard to this specific 
group of detainees; but speaking more broadly, our enemy is empowered 
by perceived weakness. What message are we sending when one branch of 
government stonewalls another on a matter with undeniable national 
security implications?
  Again, I call on the Justice Department to declassify and release all 
information regarding the capture, detention and threats posed by these 
detainees or others that they may consider releasing into the U.S. Any 
intelligence assessment of these Uyghurs must take into account not 
only their previous training at terrorist training camps, but their 
potential subsequent exposure and radicalization while they were at 
Guantanamo Bay.
  Andrew McCarthy, a former Federal prosecutor who led the 1995 
prosecution against Sheik Omar Adbel Rahman who was found guilty of 
planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, wrote just today that the 
administration is playing ``fast and loose with the declassification of 
information.''
  Mr. Speaker, this information ought to be released to the American 
people before any decision is made. And with that I thank the Chair.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's support for the 
naming of this Post Office Building on behalf of Geraldine Ferraro.
  At this point, I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Lowey) who is also in her own right a champion of 
women's rights. So it is appropriate that she speak on this bill as 
well.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and associate myself 
with the remarks of my friend, Carolyn Maloney, in support of naming a 
post office after former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro.
  Geraldine Ferraro was a great role model to thousands of women across 
this country. Not only is she a mother, not only is she a grandmother, 
not only is she a wife, but she is telling all of those little girls 
who are going to school that you can be a great Congresswoman. You can 
run for Vice President of the United States of America. One day, we 
will have a woman as President of the United States of America, and 
Geraldine Ferraro played an important role in preparing the people for 
that event.
  Geraldine Ferraro is a fighter. She stands up for what is right. 
There are some people who see a problem and just walk on. And I know 
that my friend, Geraldine Ferraro, whether it was an issue that she had 
to address in her congressional district or whether she saw a wrong in 
this great country of ours, she is the kind of person that says, I have 
got to do something about it. So I'm very proud to have Geraldine 
Ferraro as a friend.
  I know that after the naming of this post office, there are many 
people who will look at that post office and say, This is a good woman. 
I am going to lead my life consistent with the principles that 
Geraldine Ferraro has shared with all of us.
  So I thank you all for taking this step to name the post office. And 
I look forward to working together to ensure that all the principles, 
all the values, all the commitments that Geraldine Ferraro has made 
will be enshrined, and certainly she will continue to be a role model 
for all those young people who come after her.
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of 
naming the United States Postal Service building located at 46-02 21st 
Street in Long Island City, New York, the ``Geraldine Ferraro Post 
Office Building,'' after former United States Representative Geraldine 
Ferraro.
  It is with great pleasure that I support this designation, which 
commemorates the life of one of New York's most remarkable women. 
Geraldine Ferraro has had a distinguished career marked with many 
achievements. She began her career as a New York public school teacher, 
while simultaneously earning her law degree from Fordham University at 
night. She worked as an attorney the Queens New York District 
Attorney's office, where she helped establish the Special Victims 
Bureau. In 1978 she ran a successful campaign to represent New York's 
Ninth District in the United States House of Representatives. 
Throughout her six years in Congress, she rose quickly through the 
ranks to become a notable leader in her party. As a result of her 
success, it is no surprise that in 1984 Walter Mondale selected her as 
his running mate on the Democratic ticket, making her the first female 
vice presidential candidate.
  Although she did not win the election, she undoubtedly reshaped 
politics as we know it and paved the way for future women leaders. She 
has since authored several books and has overcome a battle with 
multiple myeloma, a dangerous form of blood cancer. She now remains 
active in politics, weighing in on the issues and candidates that 
influence and shape our country.
  A daughter of Italian immigrants, Geraldine Ferraro has been a 
trailblazer and role model, not just for women, but for all Americans 
in search of living the American dream. From congresswoman to vice 
presidential candidate to author to cancer survivor, Geraldine Ferraro 
is a true inspiration and deserves to be honored for her achievements 
through this designation.
  Mr. DUNCAN. At this time, I will urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members to support both Member 
Carolyn Maloney, the lead sponsor of this measure, and Mrs. Lowey, who 
also spoke on behalf of this measure, in naming this post office after 
Geraldine Ferraro.
  I yield back the balance of our time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 774.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________