[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2970-H2971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ARMY SPECIALIST THOMAS J. WILWERTH POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 829) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1450 Montauk Highway in Mastic, New York, as the 
``Army Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 829

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

     SECTION 1. ARMY SPECIALIST THOMAS J. WILWERTH POST OFFICE 
                   BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1450 Montauk Highway in Mastic, New York, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Army Specialist Thomas 
     J. Wilwerth 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 ``Army Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth Post 
     Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. 
Miller) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. 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. 829 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 1450 Montauk Highway in Mastic, New York, as the Army 
Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth Post Office Building.
  Army Specialist Wilwerth's life was defined by a call to service. 
While still a junior in high school, Thomas felt the call to serve his 
country in the years after 9/11, and he made the decision to join the 
Army to defend his country.
  After finishing his senior year, during which he also served in the 
Army Reserves, Thomas was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division based 
out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
  In December 2005, Thomas was deployed to Iraq, and he served 
selflessly with his division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While 
on deployment, he was tragically taken from us on February 22, 2006, 
when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting 
Vehicle.
  At just 21 years of age, Thomas' tragic death serves to remind us all 
of the human cost of war. He demonstrated in his short life, Mr. 
Speaker, the kind of commitment and service to this great country that 
is an example to all of us.
  Naming a post office in his honor in his hometown of Mastic, New 
York, is the least we can do as a country to honor and remember a young 
man who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 829 introduced by 
Representative Lee Zeldin. The bill names a post office located in 
Mastic, New York, in honor of Army Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth.
  Specialist Wilwerth joined the United States Army while he was still 
in high school. He felt called to defend our Nation after the terrorist 
attacks on September 11. After graduating high school, he was assigned 
to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team 
based out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
  In December 2005, Specialist Wilwerth was deployed to fight in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom. On February 22, 2006, Specialist Wilwerth and 
two others in his unit were killed by an improvised explosive device.
  Specialist Thomas Wilwerth was 21 years old when he gave his life in 
service to his Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

[[Page H2971]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Zeldin)
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 829, 
my legislation to honor the life and legacy of Army Specialist Thomas 
J. Wilwerth by renaming, in his name, the post office in his hometown 
of Mastic, New York.
  Specialist Thomas Wilwerth always possessed a strong sense of duty to 
his country, having participated in the Junior ROTC program at William 
Floyd High School, where I once graduated as well. But it was in our 
Nation's darkest hour that 17-year-old Specialist Wilwerth was driven 
to enlist.
  During his junior year of high school, Specialist Wilwerth bore 
witness to the unimaginable horror of September 11, with Ground Zero 
just under 100 miles from his high school. Instead of cowering in the 
face of terror, he shipped off to basic training that summer and 
actually finished high school while serving in the Army Reserve.
  As a member of 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade 
Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division based out of Fort Carson, Colorado, 
Wilwerth was deployed to Iraq in 2005 as part of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom.
  It was only 3 months into his deployment on February 22, 2006, that 
21-year-old Specialist Wilwerth and two of his fellow soldiers were 
killed in action when an explosive device detonated near has Bradley 
Fighting Vehicle while on a routine morning patrol near Balad, Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish there were more people who possessed such a 
strong sense of patriotism. Even fewer answer the call at just the age 
of 17 and sacrifice their entire lives and their entire future to serve 
in the U.S. military.
  Specialist Wilwerth was the best of who we are. He is the embodiment 
of what makes this country the greatest in the world: the willingness 
to make the ultimate sacrifice serving this most exceptional Nation, 
and the willingness to lay down one's life for his neighbors, for his 
community, but most courageously, for those Americans he never knew.
  Before serving in Congress, I was in the New York Senate, and I 
introduced a bill that also became law, the Specialist Thomas J. 
Wilwerth Military Dignity Act, to ban protests at military burials in 
my home State.
  It is my greatest honor to stand here on the House floor today to 
speak about this new legislation in honor of Thomas.
  Specialist Wilwerth is survived by his loving parents, Elaine and 
Terry Wilwerth, and his sister, Kerry. There are no words to describe 
the emptiness this loss left in their hearts and in the heart of our 
entire community.

  Before I close, I would like to read a few words from the Wilwerth 
family that really drive home why this straightforward legislation will 
have such a profound impact.
  The Wilwerth family said: ``Tommy died so that his fellow Americans 
could live a better life. His deep-rooted sense of patriotism drove him 
to enlist in the aftermath of September 11, and he would have been so 
proud of his sacrifice on behalf of our entire Nation.
  ``To have his name and legacy displayed in the heart of the community 
he loved--the community he laid his life down for--will never bring him 
home, but it will ensure his memory and sacrifice live on in the hearts 
of those who call Long Island home.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I 
thank both Members who have spoken in its favor today.
  Mrs. MILLER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Zeldin indicated, there is nothing 
we can do, not this action, that can really make up for the loss of a 
loved one, even in the time of war. But we can, as a grateful Nation, 
explain our appreciation and gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice that 
was made, and that is what we are doing today.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this piece of 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 829.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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