[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.

                          ____________________