[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H202-H204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONGRESSWOMAN JAN MEYERS POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4095) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, Kansas, as the 
``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4095

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

     SECTION 1. CONGRESSWOMAN JAN MEYERS POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, 
     Kansas, shall be known and designated as the ``Congresswoman 
     Jan Meyers 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 ``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schock) 
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 
and add any extraneous materials.
  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.
  As chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over the 
United States Postal Service, I am pleased to present H.R. 4095 for 
consideration. This legislation will designate the United States Postal 
Service facility located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, Kansas, 
as the ``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building.'' Introduced by 
my friend and colleague Representative Dennis Moore of Kansas on 
November 17, 2009, H.R. 4095 was reported out of the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee on December 10, 2009, by voice vote. 
Notably, H.R. 4095 has the support of the entire Kansas House 
delegation.
  Since the lead sponsor, Mr. Moore, is here, I would like to yield him 
such time as he may consume in bringing this resolution to the floor.
  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to rise in 
support of bipartisan legislation which I introduced with my colleagues 
in the Kansas congressional delegation, H.R. 4095, designating the post 
office located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, Kansas, as the 
``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building.''
  Jan Meyers was elected to represent the Third Congressional District 
of Kansas in 1984 and reelected in five subsequent elections. In 1995, 
she became the first Republican woman to chair a standing House 
committee, the Small Business Committee, in more than 40 years. That 
milestone capped Jan's long tenure as a public servant that began with 
5 years of service on the Overland Park City Council and included 12 
years in the State senate. As Congressional Quarterly described her, 
Jan was ``a mild mannered social moderate known for her willingness to 
compromise . . . Meyers' middle ground instincts make her a case swing 
vote.''
  Janice Lenore Crilly, Jan, was born on July 20, 1928, in Lincoln, 
Nebraska, the daughter of Howard M. Crilly, a newspaper publisher, and 
Lenore N. Crilly. Jan and her brother Donn were raised in Superior, 
Nebraska. In 1948, she graduated with an associate fine arts degree 
from William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri, and with a B.A. in 
communications from the University of Nebraska in 1951. Following 
graduation, she worked in advertising and public relations.
  Jan Crilly married Louis ``Dutch'' Meyers who eventually became a 
Kansas City television station executive, and they raised a daughter 
and son, Valerie and Philip. Jan's career in Kansas GOP politics began 
in 1966 when she served as Overland Park chairwoman for Larry Winn, 
Jr.'s campaign for the Third Congressional District U.S. House seat. 
Two years later, she was the district co-Chair for the first of Senator 
Robert Dole's string of five successful Senate races. In 1974, Jan 
chaired Republican Bob Bennett's gubernatorial campaign in Johnson 
County.
  From 1967 to 1972, she served as a member of the Overland Park City 
Council, presiding for 2 years. In 1972, Jan won election of the Kansas 
State Senate and served there for the next 12 years, rising to chair 
the Public Health and Welfare Committee as well as the Local Government 
Committee. When Representative Winn retired in 1984, Jan entered the 
GOP primary to succeed him. By that point, the district was a narrow 
north/south sliver, nestled in the northeast corner of Kansas across 
the river from the metropolis of Kansas City, Missouri. In a five-way 
race, she won the party nomination; and in the general election, she 
faced a formidable opponent in the Democratic candidate, Kansas City 
Mayor Jack Reardon.
  Jan emphasized her long experience in State politics and campaigned 
around the district. When Congresswoman Meyers arrived in the House 
after winning that race, she was appointed to the Committee on Science 
and Technology, the Committee on Small Business, and the Select 
Committee on Aging. In the 100th Congress, she transferred from Science 
and Technology to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Jan was most active on the Small Business Committee where she 
introduced a number of legislative measures to protect small business 
interests and to ensure they had fair representation in government. She 
worked to bring permanent tax cuts for small business. When Republicans 
took control of the House in the 1994 elections, Jan Meyers was 
promoted to chair the Small Business Committee. It marked the first 
time that a Republican woman had chaired the House committee since 
Edith Nourse Rogers headed Veterans' Affairs in the 83rd Congress from 
1953 to 1955.
  ``Leadership positions come as a result of seniority,'' Jan said. And 
later she said, ``I sincerely hope that women

[[Page H203]]

continue to run and continue to get elected, and I think that will 
ultimately result in more women being elected to leadership 
positions.'' Jan declined to run for reelection in 1996, noting that 
she wanted to spend more time with her family. ``There are other things 
in life I want to do, and being a Member of Congress, if you take the 
job seriously, simply does not leave time,'' Jan told the press. She 
also said she believed that Members of Congress should serve no more 
than 10 to 14 years.
  Jan returned to Overland Park, Kansas, where she joined foundation 
boards for a local library and a community college.
  Mr. Speaker, Jan Meyers was a valued and important Member of Congress 
during her tenure in this body, and it is fitting that we vote today to 
name on her behalf a post office in the city she served as a 
commissioner. This is bipartisan. I ask for the support of my 
colleagues.
  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4095, which would 
designate the facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 
9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, Kansas, as the Congresswoman Jan 
Meyers Post Office Building. Congresswoman Meyers dedicated her career 
to serving the people of Kansas.
  After working on Larry Winn's successful campaign for a Kansas City-
based House seat in 1966, Meyers began her own career in public service 
as a member of the Overland Park City Council from 1967 until 1972. In 
1972, Meyers won a seat in the Kansas State Senate. She would serve in 
the State senate for 12 years, eventually becoming the Chair of the 
Public Health and Welfare Committee. In 1984, Congressman Larry Winn 
decided to retire. Meyers won the election for the district's open 
seat. She served her constituents for five terms, during which time she 
became the Chair of the Small Business Committee. She was the first 
woman in almost 20 years to chair a Permanent House committee.
  Small businesses were very important to her throughout her career. 
She once commented, ``There may be more dramatic issues, but none that 
are more important . . . because the small business sector employs at 
least 50 percent, maybe a little more, of the individuals in this 
country. Virtually all of the entry-level employees are with small 
business.'' A quote that is relevant to today.
  While some wanted to eliminate the Small Business Committee at the 
time, Congresswoman Meyers was committed to seeing the committee was 
active and served an important purpose. In 1995, Congresswoman Meyers 
decided that she would retire and not run for reelection in order to 
spend more time with her family. She considered bills that she 
introduced that lowered taxes and reduced regulation on small business 
owners as some of the greatest accomplishments in her career.
  Throughout her five terms of service, Congresswoman Meyers believed 
that it was very important to ``listen to your conscience and your 
constituents, both. Most of the time, they'll agree.''
  Mr. Speaker, to honor Congresswoman Meyers' career of service and the 
work that she did both for her constituents in Kansas and for small 
business owners throughout America, I encourage my colleagues to 
support this bipartisan bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time; however, 
I will continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to my distinguished 
colleague from the great State of Kansas (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. I appreciate the gentleman from Illinois for 
recognizing me today.
  I am here today to honor former Kansas Congresswoman Jan Meyers, a 
fiscal conservative and a true public servant. Jan served in the House 
of Representatives from 1985 to 1997, representing the communities 
around Kansas City. In 1995, she became the first woman chairman of a 
House committee since 1976.
  Before her election to Congress, she served on the Overland Park City 
Council and as a senator in the Kansas State Legislature. While serving 
Kansans in the House of Representatives, Jan was a consistent advocate 
for fiscal responsibility, an example that many in Washington today 
could follow. Whether she was promoting legislation in the Small 
Business Committee to protect small business owners or offering 
conservative solutions during the debate over welfare reform, she 
always remembered that when Congress spent money, it was the taxpayers' 
money, not the government's.
  She regularly voted to cut taxes so that Americans could keep more of 
what they earned and worked to reduce the budget deficit and eliminate 
wasteful government spending. Kansas son and American hero Bob Dole 
summed it up well when he said of Jan Meyers on the Senate floor that 
she ``never stopped fighting to reduce the regulatory and tax burdens 
on America's small businessmen and women.'' She was a true steward of 
the people's resources and worked hard on their behalf.
  Yet it was her caring and attentive nature that Kansans really 
remember. Although a conservative Republican, Jan reached out to 
Kansans of every philosophy. She was sensitive to the needs of Kansans 
and always quick to respond to their problems. Jan never forgot who she 
worked for and always had time for the folks back home.
  To me, Jan was more than an ideal public servant. She is also a 
friend. The manner in which she met difficult circumstances with a 
smile gave me comfort on several occasions, and I value her kindness 
and gentle spirit. While we recognize Jan today, it's also important to 
note the recent loss of Jan's husband of 56 years, Dutch. Together, Jan 
and Dutch made a good team and raised two wonderful children.
  Our Nation needs more public servants like Jan Meyers, people that 
are good stewards of taxpayer money and put service above self. 
Designating a post office in her hometown of Overland Park in her name 
will remind Kansans of these characteristics and honor her legacy for 
years to come. I thank Jan Meyers for a job well done and for a life 
well lived.
  I appreciate the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) for bringing this 
legislation to the floor.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, I urge support and passage of H.R. 4095, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to rise in 
support of bipartisan legislation I introduced with my colleagues in 
the Kansas congressional delegation, H.R. 4095, designating the post 
office located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland Park, Kansas, as the 
``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building''.
  Jan Meyers was elected to represent the Third Congressional District 
of Kansas in 1984, and re-elected in five subsequent elections. In 
1995, she became the first Republican woman to chair a standing House 
committee, the Small Business Committee, in more than 40 years. That 
milestone capped Jan's long tenure as a public servant that began with 
5 years of service on the Overland Park City Council and included 
twelve years in the state senate. As Congressional Quarterly described 
her, Jan was ``a mild mannered social moderate known for her 
willingness to compromise. . . . Meyers' middle ground instincts make 
her a key swing vote.''
  Janice Lenore Crilly (Jan) was born on July 20, 1928, in Lincoln, 
Nebraska, the daughter of Howard M. Crilly, a newspaper publisher, and 
Lenore N. (Hazel) Crilly. Janice Crilly and her brother, Donn, were 
raised in Superior, Nebraska. In 1948, she graduated with an Associate 
Fine Arts degree from William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri, and 
with a B.A. in communications from the University of Nebraska in 1951. 
Following graduation, she worked in advertising and public relations. 
Jan Crilly married Louis ``Dutch'' Meyers, who eventually became a 
Kansas City television station executive, and they raised a daughter 
and son, Valerie and Philip.
  Jan Meyers's career in Kansas GOP politics began in 1966, when she 
served as Overland Park chairwoman for Larry Winn, Jr.'s campaign for 
the Third District U.S. House seat. Two years later, she was district 
co-chair for the first of Senator Robert Dole's string of five 
successful Senate races. In 1974, Jan chaired Republican Bob Bennett's 
gubernatorial campaign in Johnson County. From 1967 to 1972, she served 
as a member of the Overland Park City Council, presiding for two years. 
In 1972, Meyers won election to the Kansas state senate and served 
there for the next 12 years, rising to chair the public health and 
welfare committee as well as the local government committee.

[[Page H204]]

  When Representative Winn retired in 1984, Jan entered the GOP primary 
to succeed him. By that point, the district was a narrow north-south 
sliver nestled in the northeast corner of Kansas across the river from 
the metropolis of Kansas City, Missouri. In a five-way race she won the 
party nomination. In the general election she faced a formidable 
opponent in the Democratic candidate, Kansas City Mayor Jack Reardon. 
Jan emphasized her long experience in state politics and plastered the 
district with ``Jan Can'' posters. Benefiting from being on a ticket 
that featured President Reagan and the popular Senator Nancy Kassebaum 
(who received more votes than Reagan in the November elections), Jan 
won.
  When Congresswoman Meyers arrived in the House, she was appointed to 
the Committee on Science and Technology, the Committee on Small 
Business, and the Select Committee on Aging. In the 100th Congress 
(1987-1989), she transferred from Science and Technology to the Foreign 
Affairs Committee.
  Jan was most active on the Small Business Committee. She introduced a 
number of legislative measures to protect small business interests and 
to ensure that they had fair representation in government. She worked 
to bring permanent tax cuts for small businesses.
  When Republicans took control of the House in the 1994 elections, Jan 
Meyers was promoted to chair of the Small Business Committee. It marked 
the first time that a Republican woman had chaired a House committee 
since Edith Nourse Rogers headed Veterans' Affairs in the 83rd Congress 
(1953-1955). ``Leadership positions come as a result of seniority,'' 
Jan said later. ``I sincerely hope that women continue to run and 
continue to get elected, and I think that will ultimately result in 
more women being elected to leadership positions.''
  Jan declined to run for re-election in 1996, noting that she wanted 
to spend more time with her family. ``There are other things in life I 
want to do, and being a Member of Congress, if you take the job 
seriously, simply does not leave time,'' Jan told the press. She also 
said she believed that Members of Congress should serve no more than 10 
to 14 years. Meyers returned to Overland Park, Kansas, where she joined 
foundation boards for a local library and a community college.
  Mr. Speaker, Jan Meyers was a valued and important member of Congress 
during her tenure in this body and it is fitting that we vote today to 
name on her behalf a post office in the city she served as a 
commissioner.
  Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
voice my support for H.R. 4095, a bill to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 9727 Antioch Road in Overland 
Park, Kansas, as the ``Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building''.
  I would like to also congratulate my colleague and fellow Kansan, Mr. 
Moore, the sponsor of this bill, for his service to our state. And 
thank Mr. Moran and Mr. Tiahrt, the other members of the Kansas 
delegation who joined me as the original co-sponsors of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, We Kansans are proud of our pioneering spirit and 
Congresswoman Jan Meyers is a great example of that spirit. Born in 
Lincoln, Nebraska, Jan attended public schools in Superior, Nebraska 
before receiving a bachelor of arts from the University of Nebraska in 
1951.
  After moving to Kansas, Jan served on the City Council of Overland 
Park, from 1967 to 1972. She then served in the Kansas Senate from 1972 
to 1984 and in 1984 she was elected to the House of Representatives 
where she served until January 3, 1997. During her time in this body, 
Jan chaired the Committee on Small Business in the 104th Congress, the 
first woman to serve in that capacity in more than 20 years.
  Jan's commitment to fiscal responsibility made her a regular 
recipient of the Golden Bulldog Award from Watchdog of the Treasury for 
her work to eliminate wasteful in government spending she was regularly 
named Taxpayer Hero by the Citizens Against Government Waste.
  Jan is also an advocate for children and was a leader for health care 
reform. A committed conservationist, Jan was essential in the creation 
of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, 10,894 acres of protected 
Kansas tall grass prairie, which forms the only unit of the National 
Park System dedicated to the rich natural and cultural history of this 
cherished ecosystem that is in our state.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, Jan Meyers is a great Kansan who served our 
State and this Nation with distinction and I consider myself lucky to 
call her my friend.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, again I encourage my friends on both sides of 
the isle to join Mr. Moore of Kansas in honoring the life and legacy of 
Congresswoman Jan Meyers through the passage of H.R. 4095, and I yield 
back the balance of my 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. 4095.
  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.

                          ____________________