[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 140 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8004-H8005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CAMP PENDLETON MEDAL OF HONOR POST OFFICE

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 5468) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1103 USPS Building 1103 in Camp Pendleton, 
California, as the

[[Page H8005]]

``Camp Pendleton Medal of Honor Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5468

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

     SECTION 1. CAMP PENDLETON MEDAL OF HONOR POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1103 USPS Building 1103 in Camp Pendleton, 
     California, shall be known and designated as the ``Camp 
     Pendleton Medal of Honor Post Office''.
       (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 ``Camp Pendleton Medal of Honor Post 
     Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, of the several postal namings that we are 
voting on today, almost all of them are honoring members of the 
military and, disproportionately, members who have given their lives in 
service to their country, and it is fitting that we should do that. 
However, H.R. 5468 seeks something very different.
  Currently called the ``Mainside'' Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton 
Post Office, it is not named for anyone. Camp Pendleton has produced 
more Medal of Honor recipients--most of them posthumously--through 
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the various gulf wars. Even as we 
speak today, marines are engaged now in Iraq again, having completed 
their missions in Afghanistan, and, undoubtedly, the valor they show 
will someday result in additional Medal of Honor recipients.
  It is impossible to name the post office at Camp Pendleton after one 
marine, no matter how great, or after a few marines, even if they died 
together in battle--therefore, the unusual naming here at Camp 
Pendleton, a base that opened in 1942 and that, today, is the largest 
base of marines anywhere in the world. Over 42,000 marines and corpsmen 
call Camp Pendleton their home when they are not away from home.
  I am humbled and honored to be able to represent Camp Pendleton for 
my entire nearly 14 years of service in the Congress. As a former Army 
officer, I have learned a great deal about marines. I have learned even 
more about their valor. Only in a place like Camp Pendleton would you 
find that the base band is named after a band leader who earned a Medal 
of Honor during the Korean conflict as he, in fact, laid covering fire 
for his fellow marines from a burning tank.
  Therefore, today, we are considering--and I am confident we will 
name--this post office after all of those who earned America's highest 
honor. I envision that the post office will bear the names and, in a 
book, the recitation of how they each earned America's highest honor. 
It has been inspiring to represent them. Those Medal of Honor 
recipients, I must mention, will include Navy corpsmen, and they will 
include officers and enlisted men. They will include all of those 
battles from World War II to tomorrow and the days beyond.
  As I ask for this post office to be named, one that I have had the 
honor of authoring, I might note, for all of those who wonder why we 
name post offices, I believe, if they come to Camp Pendleton, they will 
find out why this post office bears the name of a medal and not any one 
soldier, sailor, marine, or airman.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First of all, I want to thank the gentleman from California. There is 
nothing I can add, really, to the eloquence of his remarks, and it is 
fitting that he made them as the person in this body who is 
representing the men and women of Camp Pendleton.
  I have been there, but I don't serve it. My brother served in the 
Navy, and I visited him many years ago when he was at Camp Pendleton, 
and I remember then, as a very young person, being awed by just the 
incredible display of patriotism that was embodied in that.
  The other thing, as I listened to you, Mr. Chairman, what I thought 
was so good about this is that the whole ethic of the military is that 
you are in it for everybody else. As for the story about the Medal of 
Honor winner who was in the band but, before he was in the band, was on 
a burning tank and provided covering fire at great peril to himself, 
that is the ethic of the military that, I think, all of us here so 
admire.
  So having a postal naming which doesn't specifically identify one 
person but identifies all of the recipients at the highest award that 
we can give to a military leader is a tremendous idea. In fact, I look 
forward to my next visit to Camp Pendleton, where, I think, like many 
Americans who will go visit, I will read this roster and will just 
stand in awe of the bravery that has been demonstrated by these people 
throughout our history.

                              {time}  1430

  So I really am glad that our remarks are recorded because this 
statement that the chairman gave, I think, is going to be very good 
reading for all of us. I do join, of course, in supporting this naming. 
I think it is particularly suitable.
  Mr. Speaker, 230 years of Camp Pendleton's existence, think about it. 
It is just an amazing facility, but more importantly, it has had 
hundreds of thousands of wonderful Americans who have learned about how 
to be a patriot, who have gone from there to face very difficult 
challenges when we needed their bravery to defend our country.
  So I join the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) in urging our 
colleagues to support this naming--it is an especially glorious one--
honoring all men and women of the military.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I have but two things to say. 
First of all, I want to thank the California delegation for their 
unique, bipartisan, unanimous support for this bill.
  Lastly, whether it is that bandleader who was a bandleader first, but 
would have said, ``I am an infantryman first,'' who served in World War 
II and died there in Korea, or it is the marines and corpsmen who have 
given their lives, their blood, their tears, their sweat, whether they 
were awarded the Medal of Honor, lesser medals, or were not fully 
recognized for their dedication, all of them, I now know, will have 
their daily activities, passing the post office or dropping a letter, 
they will have an opportunity to in fact realize that Congress is 
grateful for their contributions with the naming of this post office.
  I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5468.
  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.

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