[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 119 (Monday, July 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6212-H6213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HARMON KILLEBREW POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3230) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 915 Center Avenue in Payette, Idaho, as the ``Harmon
Killebrew Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3230
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. HARMON KILLEBREW POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 915 Center Avenue in Payette, Idaho, shall
be known and designated as the ``Harmon Killebrew 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 ``Harmon Killebrew Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Sarbanes) 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
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
[[Page H6213]]
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.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3230, a bill introduced by the
gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Labrador), to name the post office at 915
Center Avenue in Payette, Idaho, in honor of Harmon Killebrew.
Harmon Clayton Killebrew was born in Payette, Idaho, in 1936. He
began his career playing major league baseball in 1954. He played over
22 seasons with multiple teams, and when he retired in 1975, he had the
fifth most home runs in major league history.
Killebrew was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1976,
Killebrew cofounded the Danny Thompson Memorial, an annual golf
tournament that raises money for cancer research.
Sadly, on March 17, 2011, at the age of 74, Killebrew passed away. He
left an incredible legacy, one we continue to honor with this bill.
I thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Labrador) for introducing this
bill and look forward to hearing more from him about Killebrew in a few
minutes.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of
H.R. 3230, to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 915 Center Avenue in Payette, Idaho, as the Harmon
Killebrew Post Office Building.
A member of the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, and Kansas City
Royals, Harmon Killebrew excelled in major league baseball for 22
years. During that time, he notched an impressive 2,086 hits, played in
13 All-Star games, and tallied nine seasons with over 100 RBIs.
In fact, I can remember as a kid rooting for the Orioles that we
didn't want Harmon Killebrew coming up to the plate.
Harmon retired in 1975 in fifth place for career home runs. He was
inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
Mr. Speaker, we should pass this bill to honor Harmon Killebrew's
accomplishments to the great American pastime.
I urge the passage of H.R. 3230, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Idaho (Mr. Labrador), the sponsor of this bill.
Mr. LABRADOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3230, a
bill that honors Idaho's greatest athlete and one of our great
humanitarians.
H.R. 3230 names the post office in Payette, Idaho, after Harmon
Killebrew, a Hall of Fame baseball player who later built an incredible
legacy of charitable work.
Idahoans take great pride in Harmon Killebrew's success, and
rightfully so. Killebrew's career began in 1954 when Herman Welker, the
U.S. Senator from Idaho, tipped off the owner of the Washington
Senators, Clark Griffith, about the 17-year-old slugger.
Griffith sent a scout, who almost didn't get to see Killebrew play.
After a night of rain, groundkeepers burned gasoline to make the field
playable. Killebrew did his part by hitting a ball 435 feet into a
Payette beet field.
Immediately signed as a $12,000 bonus baby, Killebrew debuted a few
weeks later. During his 22-year career with the Washington Senators,
Minnesota Twins, and Kansas City Royals, he hit 573 home runs, more
than all but four major league players at the time of his retirement.
He was the American league's most valuable player in 1969, hitting 49
home runs and driving in 140 runs. He played in 13 All-Star games and
was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.
Killebrew built his strength lifting 10-gallon milk cans on Idaho
dairies and leveraged his work ethic into legendary status. For fans
across America, Killebrew was beloved for remaining the down-to-Earth
farm kid who signed a major league contract before turning 18.
Twins teammate, Rich Reese, called him ``one of the classiest people
I've ever met in my life. . . . he treated people with respect, even
with the stature that he had.''
Asked what he liked to do for fun, Killebrew once said, ``Well, I
like to wash dishes, I guess.'' In the off season, he worked feeding
cows, selling men's clothing, and reading gas meters.
After retirement from baseball, he sold insurance, ran a car
dealership, and worked as a broadcaster.
In 1976, Killebrew helped found the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf
Tournament in Sun Valley, Idaho, now called the Killebrew-Thompson
Memorial. The event benefits cancer research.
The Harmon Killebrew Foundation, founded in 1998, with his wife,
Nita, has built more than a dozen Miracle League fields designed for
kids with disabilities, including one named for him in Payette. The
baseball and football fields at Payette High School are also named for
Killebrew.
Killebrew died of cancer in 2011 at age 74 after entering into
hospice care, a treatment he had advocated for for years. At his
memorial service, his wife read a tribute from a fan: ``Harmon is an
extraordinary, beautiful, loving, compassionate human being, who also
happens to be a legendary baseball player.''
In the days after his death, his high school team, the Payette
Pirates, made an improbable run for a State championship. Entering the
district tournament with a losing record, the Pirates won four straight
to reach the State title game. The team wore HK patches on their
sleeves. ``Harmon's been with us the entire time,'' said one player.
The Pirates finally lost to a 25-1 Fruitland team, taking home the
second-place trophy.
``He is still touching people,'' said Nita Killebrew, who worked with
my office on the bill and lives in Meridian. Killebrew's legacy of
generosity lives on, and it is appropriate to honor his legacy with the
legislation we are considering today.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 3230. Through this
bill, we will recognize one of Idaho's greatest stars, and we will
advance the legacy of one of America's most charitable athletes.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge the
passage of H.R. 3230 to name the post office in Payette, Idaho, for
Harmon Killebrew, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of 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 North Carolina (Mr. Walker) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3230.
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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