[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 22 (Monday, February 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H614-H615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
W.D. FARR POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4238) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 930 39th Avenue in Greeley, Colorado, as the ``W.D.
Farr Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4238
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. W.D. FARR POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 930 39th Avenue in Greeley, Colorado,
shall be known and designated as the ``W.D. Farr 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 ``W.D. Farr Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms.
Foxx) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
General Leave
Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and to 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. Madam Speaker, I now yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, as chairman of the House subcommittee with
jurisdiction over the United States Postal Service, I am pleased to
present H.R. 4238 for consideration. This legislation will designate
the United States Postal Service facility located at 930 39th Avenue in
Greeley, Colorado, as the W.D. Farr Post Office Building. This
resolution has been introduced by my colleague Representative Betsy
Markey of Colorado on December 8, 2009.
H.R. 4238 was favorably reported out of the Oversight and Government
Reform Committee on January 27, 2010, by unanimous consent. In addition
to Representative Markey, H.R. 4238 enjoys the support of the entire
Colorado House delegation.
Because Ms. Markey is the chief sponsor of this resolution, I will
yield to her for such time as she may need to lay forth the details of
this resolution.
Ms. MARKEY of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of
H.R. 4238, a bill to designate a facility in Greeley as the W.D. Farr
Post Office Building.
During his lifetime, W.D. Farr was a pioneer rancher, water expert,
and banker who made immense contributions to Greeley, helping make the
city what it is today. William Davin Farr was a third-generation
Coloradan, born in Greeley in 1910. Farr came from an established
farming family. He grew up working with sheep and cattle on the family
farm. In 1931, Farr and his father bought 125 cattle and built a feed
lot in Greeley, Farr Feeders. By the late 1960s, the Farr feed yard had
grown to about 25,000 head of cattle.
While working on the farm and at the feed lot, he became involved
with several irrigation ditch companies. Through his work in
irrigation, he came to understand the importance of water to the
continued growth of the Greeley community. Farr then became active with
the Colorado Big Thompson Water Project, which brings water from the
western slopes of the Rocky Mountains to help irrigate approximately
693,000 acres of northeastern Colorado farmland. Farr later came to
serve on the board of directors of the Northern Colorado Water
Conservancy District and the Greeley Water Board for over 40 years.
In addition to his many achievements in agriculture and water, Farr
was also active in government, both local and national. He served as an
adviser to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under three U.S.
Presidents: Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon.
{time} 1430
He served on a number of national boards and committees, including
the Department of the Interior Water Pollution Control Advisory Board
and the Agricultural Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The land on which this post office was built was owned by another
Greeley agricultural pioneer, C.O. Plumb. Upon his death, Plumb donated
his home and land just south of the W.D. Farr Post Office to the
Greeley Museums for use as an agricultural learning center. Both men
made significant contributions to the agricultural and social vitality
of Weld County.
In 2007, W.D. Farr passed away at his home in Greeley at the age of
97. Farr and his family have made innumerable contributions to the
Greeley community as well as to Colorado and to the United States.
I am proud to stand in support of this bill that would name one of
the post offices in Greeley after this pillar of the community.
Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4238, which designates
the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 930 39th
Avenue in Greeley, Colorado as the W.D. Farr Post Office Building.
William Davin ``W.D.'' Farr was once described by the president of
Colorado State University as ``one of the true giants in Colorado
history and in the history of the modern American West.''
Mr. Farr was born in Greeley, Colorado, in 1910 and was proudly a
third-generation Coloradan, pioneer rancher, statesman, and banker.
When he was 15 years old, he began working on a cattle ranch in western
Colorado. This job was the first of many during his lifetime of work in
agriculture. As he became more involved in ranching, he looked at many
ways to improve and develop the business of cattle feeding. He was
famous for his Greeley T-Bone Club, where he and several other ranchers
in Greeley would have a steak dinner and discuss ways they could
improve cattle ranching. One of his first inventions helped aid cattle
ranchers by making the cattle feeding process significantly more
efficient and less wasteful.
During his work in the cattle industry, he became very involved in
bringing water to dry regions of Colorado. He did extensive work on
behalf of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, which delivered water from
the Colorado River to various regions of Colorado that needed water.
His work on water development projects greatly helped the economy of
Colorado and the entire region.
Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Farr received many honors. He was
inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 1991. The National
Western Stock Show in Denver honored him as Citizen of the West in
1999, and he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in 2007.
W.D. Farr was a leader and an innovator in agriculture, and his work
was essential to the development of Colorado and the Western United
States in the 20th century.
I ask my colleagues to support this resolution so that his life may
be remembered for generations in the future in his hometown of Greeley.
Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R.
4238.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I just wish to associate myself with the
remarks of the gentlelady of North Carolina and with the remarks of the
chief sponsor of this legislation, the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms.
Markey). Truly, Mr. Farr was an extraordinary individual.
We have no further speakers on our side on this matter. Madam
Speaker, I simply ask all Members to support Ms. Markey in support of
this resolution.
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. 4238.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
[[Page H615]]
Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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.
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