[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 114 (Monday, July 27, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8843-H8844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COACH JODIE BAILEY POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3072) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 9810 Halls Ferry Road in St. Louis, Missouri, as the 
``Coach Jodie Bailey Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3072

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

     SECTION 1. COACH JODIE BAILEY POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 9810 Halls Ferry Road in St. Louis, 
     Missouri, shall be known and designated as the ``Coach Jodie 
     Bailey 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 ``Coach Jodie Bailey Post Office 
     Building''.

                              {time}  1700

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CLAY. 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 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CLAY. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present for consideration H.R. 3072, a 
bill to name the post office located at 9810 Halls Ferry Road in St. 
Louis, Missouri, after a true Missouri legend, Coach Jodie Bailey.
  H.R. 3072, which I introduced on June 26, 2009, was reported from the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on July 10, 2009.
  The St. Louis community lost one of its true giants with the passing 
of Coach Bailey at the age of 94. He was an icon in the public high 
school league for five decades. During his career, he coached at 
Vashon, O'Fallon Tech, and Northwest High Schools in St. Louis.
  Coach Bailey accumulated an outstanding total of 828 victories and 
only

[[Page H8844]]

198 losses in a great career that spanned 42 years. He coached many 
great sports stars, including the late Elston Howard of the New York 
Yankees and the great Boston Celtic player Jo Jo White.
  His accomplishments led him to be inducted into the Missouri Sports 
Hall of Fame in 1989. Coach Bailey put an emphasis on teaching 
fundamentals in the game of basketball. Coach Bailey was also treasured 
for making personal investments in each of his students' lives, which 
they remember until this day.
  Mr. Speaker, on a personal note, Jodie Bailey happened to be my YMCA 
camp counselor and taught me how to swim. The camp was called Camp 
Rivercliff, located in Bourbon, Missouri, and, at a very young age, 
required me to swim across the Meramec River. And you can bet I learned 
how to swim at a young age in order to survive that river. And I will 
always remember Coach Bailey for that and what he gave to that 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Coach 
Jodie Bailey by agreeing to pass H.R. 3072.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I happily rise today in support of H.R. 3072, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9810 Halls 
Ferry Road in St. Louis, Missouri, as the Coach Jodie Bailey Post 
Office Building. This honor is much deserved, Mr. Speaker, as Jodie 
Bailey was a coaching legend in St. Louis.
  He began his basketball career as a talented player, and later Jodie 
Bailey found his true passion in coaching basketball. It was in the 
1940s when Jodie Bailey began coaching the Vashon Wolverines within the 
all-black Illinois-Missouri League and helped them win league titles in 
1943, 1945, 1947, and 1948. He also guided them to the Missouri Negro 
Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championship not one, not 
two, not three, but four times.
  And during this tenure, segregation still existed within the school 
system and many people were not aware of his greatness during the 
beginning of his career. That is true no longer. However, after school 
integration, the Vashon Wolverines were able to go on to participate in 
a regional championship and the State quarterfinals in 1963.
  Coach Bailey's success with coaching did not end with the Wolverines. 
He coached O'Fallon Tech, guiding the Hornets to their only State 
championship in 1968, where they became the first all black Public High 
League basketball team to win a Missouri State championship.
  Soon thereafter, O'Fallon dropped its sports program, which caused 
Coach Bailey to find a new job coaching Northwest High School, where he 
immediately helped them win a regional title in 1969. Wherever Coach 
Bailey went, success followed. Overall, Coach Bailey coached three 
different Public High League basketball teams and led those teams to a 
total of 824 wins and 198 losses, a phenomenal record.
  Coach Bailey's formula for his coaching success was simple. Coach 
Bailey said this: ``To be a successful basketball coach, you need three 
things. You have to have a well-conditioned team; you have to be 
fundamentally sound in every phase of the game; and you also have to be 
team oriented, because there's no `I' in the word team.''
  Though recognized for his exceptional coaching abilities, Coach 
Bailey was also respected as a mentor. On and off the field, Coach 
Bailey was a man of his own. He urged his players to concentrate on the 
fundamentals of basketball. He emphasized the need to use their natural 
abilities to become even better. By employing his talent for support 
and inspiration, Coach Bailey positively impacted the lives of so many 
young men that he coached during his 42-season career.
  Sadly, the St. Louis basketball community lost Jodie Bailey in March 
when he died at the age of 88. For his dedication to the St. Louis 
basketball community, I happily join with my fellow Members, and 
especially my colleague Congressman Clay, to join us in supporting H.R. 
3072.
  I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Minnesota 
for her support of this and wanted to also add that Coach Jodie Bailey 
was a true scholar, a graduate of Coe College in Iowa who studied at 
Springfield College in Massachusetts, which was also the school of Dr. 
Naismith, who created basketball. And there's one thing he always 
stressed to his players, that academics will take you much further than 
basketball, so he always pushed them to excel in the classroom as well 
as on the basketball court.
  I reserve my time.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I again join with my colleague Mr. Clay 
and urge all of our colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 3072.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
celebrating the life and legacy of Coach Jodie Bailey by supporting 
H.R. 3072.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3072.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. 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.

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