[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 81 (Monday, May 23, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2932-H2933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EUGENE J. McCARTHY POST OFFICE
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4425) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 110 East Powerhouse Road in Collegeville, Minnesota,
as the ``Eugene J. McCarthy Post Office''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4425
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EUGENE J. MCCARTHY POST OFFICE.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 110 East Powerhouse Road in Collegeville,
Minnesota, shall be known and designated as the ``Eugene J.
McCarthy 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 ``Eugene J. McCarthy Post Office''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs.
Lawrence) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 4425, which was introduced by Congressman
Tom Emmer of Minnesota. H.R. 4425 designates the post office located at
110 East Powerhouse Road in Collegeville, Minnesota, as the Eugene J.
McCarthy Post Office.
Former Senator Eugene McCarthy dedicated much of his life to service.
Senator McCarthy served his faith through his work at St. Thomas
College, and he served his country as a code breaker for the Army in
the War Department.
After leaving the Army, he continued to serve in the public sector as
a Representative in the House and then in the Senate for the
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Near the end of his life, Senator
McCarthy had a post office named after him in Twin Cities, Minnesota.
That post office has since been closed.
We will soon hear more about Senator McCarthy from my colleague,
Congressman Tom Emmer, the bill's sponsor. For now, I urge Members to
support this bill to rename a post office in remembrance of Eugene J.
McCarthy.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 4425,
a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service in
Collegeville, Minnesota, as the Eugene J. McCarthy Post Office.
Mr. McCarthy had many successes. He served as a politician. He served
in the military. He taught and was an educator. He was one of our
colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and later in the
Senate.
Ultimately, he entered the Presidential race to become President of
the United States. Although he did not win that nomination, I feel
strongly in urging the passage of H.R. 4425.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).
Mr. EMMER of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I thank Eugene McCarthy's
daughter, Ellen, and St. John's University president Dr. Michael
Hemesath and Dr. Matthew Lindstrom from the Eugene J. McCarthy Center
for Public Policy & Civic Engagement at the College of Saint Benedict
and St. John's University for their help in making this dedication
possible. The staff and students of this center provide valuable
events, lectures, and discussions that engage the entire community
surrounding Collegeville, Minnesota.
I rise today to honor Senator Eugene McCarthy, a man who is
remembered for shaking up the D.C. establishment and for being a
driving force behind the level of civic engagement Minnesota has today.
In the year which would have been his 100th birthday, I am proud to
have the full Minnesota delegation's support for dedicating the post
office at St. John's University--the college where McCarthy grew up,
studied, and taught--after this great public servant.
If recent years in politics have taught us anything, it is that the
American people are tired of the status quo. They value independent
thinking and honest, plain-spoken leaders. Eugene McCarthy was a
patriotic American who valued his faith and his country, but who was
not afraid to speak out when he believed our Nation was headed down the
wrong path.
He left his Benedictine studies to serve his country in World War II
as a code breaker in the Military Intelligence Division of the War
Department. Serving in the Army gave McCarthy a firsthand perspective
on the level of dedication and sacrifice our Nation's servicemembers
give in furtherance of a just cause.
McCarthy is best known for effectively ending the political career of
his party's presumptive Presidential nominee. As the country tired of
watching
[[Page H2933]]
their sons die in Vietnam without there being a winning strategy,
McCarthy challenged Lyndon Johnson for the Presidential nomination in
1968.
In a party that struggled to justify its failed foreign policies,
McCarthy garnered a substantial percentage of the New Hampshire
primary, causing a severe blow to then-President Johnson's prospects as
well as opening a door for Robert Kennedy, a young Senator from New
York, to challenge the sitting President. Johnson ended his campaign
within the same month.
Although Nixon won the election, McCarthy had done the groundwork to
inject public opinion into the national election process. Eugene
McCarthy revived the idea that those who were truly committed to self-
government could participate and impact the process to correct
injustice and improve citizens' lives in Minnesota and around the
country.
McCarthy served as a Representative and Senator from our great State
from 1949 to 1971. When McCarthy left the Senate, he returned to his
life as a reluctant Minnesota leader, prolific poet, and educator. He
authored over 20 books on public policy, political theory, and
economics, including memories from growing up in Minnesota.
McCarthy continued to strongly influence Minnesota's politics; yet,
he never clung to a party line. McCarthy was publicly critical of Jimmy
Carter, and he supported Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.
Eugene McCarthy's father, a postmaster himself and a proud
Republican, once said: Gene is a good boy, but he's in the wrong party.
In Minnesota, we pride ourselves on being able to disagree without
necessarily being disagreeable. We pride ourselves on working together
from different perspectives, politically and otherwise, toward common
goals. Personally, I don't like the term ``bipartisan,'' but not for
the reason you may think.
You see, I think the instant we refer to something as ``bipartisan''
we immediately make an issue about our different points of view instead
of about the fact that we all want, essentially, the same things.
For instance, we all want clean air, clean water, good schools, good
jobs, safe communities, and a better life for our children than we have
enjoyed. The list goes on and on.
Again, for the most part, we all want the same things. Sometimes we
just have different perspectives on how to best achieve the things we
all want.
Senator McCarthy was not afraid to do the right thing for the right
reason even if that meant working with someone who did not have the
same political affiliation or religious views.
In my book, that is not just called independence. That is called
leadership. Naming a post office after Eugene McCarthy is a worthy
dedication for a man who shook the foundation of the political
establishment at a national level.
I thank Chairman Chaffetz and the committee for their work to
officially honor this great Minnesotan, Eugene McCarthy.
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Today we have named post offices after some great individuals--public
servants, members of our military, politicians, community leaders--and
we have done it in the name of respecting their legacies and in
honoring them so that their families are honored as well.
I just want to go through the names again: Ross McGinnis, Adam Brown,
Roger Fussell, Gregory Barney, Garrett Gamble, Caleb Nelson, William
Lacey, Louis Van Iersel, Louis Langlais, and Eugene McCarthy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 4425 and say, as it has been
said earlier, that post offices are gathering places in our
communities. I gave 30 years of service to the United States Postal
Service at various levels of service.
I know that the Postal Service is a place at which people trust their
mail will be handled, for the commerce of our country rests in those
post offices, and in small rural communities, it is the community
center.
Today we have done a great thing, and we have done it bipartisanly. I
hear that word, and I sigh a breath of relief in knowing that this
body--the Members of Congress--can come together. We have come together
to recognize people not because of their parties, but because they are
Americans and they have served this great country.
I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1930
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished Congresswoman
Lawrence for her service, for her time, and for her work this evening.
I urge adoption of the bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4425.
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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