[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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