[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H554-H555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        JIM RAMSTAD POST OFFICE

  Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 772) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 229 Minnetonka Avenue South

[[Page H555]]

in Wayzata, Minnesota, as the ``Jim Ramstad Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 772

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

     SECTION 1. JIM RAMSTAD POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 229 Minnetonka Avenue South in Wayzata, 
     Minnesota, shall be known and designated as the ``Jim Ramstad 
     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 ``Jim Ramstad Post Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Mfume) and the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MFUME. Madam 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 Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of 
H.R. 772 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 229 Minnetonka Avenue South in Wayzata, Minnesota, and I 
hope I am pronouncing that correctly, as the Jim Ramstad Post Office.
  Jim Ramstad was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, on May 6, 1946. He 
was a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the George Washington 
University Law School, as well as a member of the Army Reserve from 
1968 until 1974.
  Jim became a State senator in 1981. There, he began shaping his 
personal and political life around the principles of recovery, honesty, 
resilience, transparency, and accountability.
  Jim Ramstad would then go on to serve in the Minnesota State Senate 
for 10 years before ultimately becoming a Member of this body, the 
United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's Third 
District.
  In the Congress, he was a consensus builder, championing the 
bipartisan policies needed to reduce discrimination against those 
suffering from mental health and addiction problems.
  His signature legislation, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Treatment 
Act, was enacted in 2008 just before Jim retired from Congress. After 
retiring, he served as a fellow at Harvard University and as an adviser 
to Minnesota's Hazelden treatment center.
  Representative Ramstad lived the final 39 years of his life in 
absolute and complete sobriety. His story is the story of recovery, 
impacted in a way that many of us will not understand, but impacting 
the lives of Minnesotans and Americans. He died November 5, 2020, after 
battling Parkinson's disease for some time.
  Naming a post office for Jim Ramstad is an entirely appropriate 
measure, given his distinguished political career and contributions to 
his State and to his country.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MACE. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 772, a bill that would name 
a Minnesota post office after Jim Ramstad.
  From 1968 to 1974, Jim Ramstad served as a member of the Army 
Reserve. In 1981, he was elected to the Minnesota State Senate, where 
he would go on to serve for 10 years. He was then elected to the U.S. 
House of Representatives, where he represented Minnesota's Third 
Congressional District.
  During his time in Congress, he strove to reduce discrimination 
against those suffering from mental health and addiction problems. He 
retired from Congress in 2009 and went on to serve as a fellow at 
Harvard University and as an adviser to Minnesota's Hazelden treatment 
center.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill honoring an inspiring 
American leader that proves that everyone deserves a second chance.
  Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).
  Mr. PHILLIPS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
772, to designate the post office in Wayzata, Minnesota, on the shores 
of Lake Minnetonka as the Jim Ramstad Post Office.
  Congressman Ramstad spent 10 years representing the 45th District in 
the Minnesota Legislature and 18 years representing Minnesota's Third 
District in this Chamber. As the current Representative for Minnesota's 
Third, I am humbled to have followed in the footsteps of such a 
gentleman, public servant, and statesman.
  Throughout his life in public service and throughout his entire life, 
Jim led with principle, with compassion, and with grace. His battle 
with and recovery from alcoholism gave voice to millions of Americans 
facing the very same challenge and illuminated every aspect of his life 
and his service.
  From the statehouse to this House, Jim embodied the spirit of 
honesty, resilience, transparency, and accountability. He was a noted 
consensus seeker and a champion of bipartisan policies to reduce 
discrimination against those suffering from mental health challenges 
and addiction. His signature legislation, the Paul Wellstone Mental 
Health Treatment Act, was enacted in 2008 just before his retirement 
from Congress.

                              {time}  1630

  Congressman Ramstad will go on to continue his service as a fellow at 
Harvard University, and as adviser to Minnesota's Hazelden treatment 
center. He lived the final 39 years of his life in sobriety.
  Congressman Ramstad passed away on November 5, 2020, after a battle 
with Parkinson's disease.
  Naming a post office in Wayzata is a small gesture to commemorate the 
passing of a giant of Minnesota politics. But as former Minnesota State 
Senator and Jim's former district director, Paul Anderson, told me: 
``Jim loved Wayzata, and Wayzata always loved Jim back.''
  So I send my love to Jim's wife, Kathryn, and to all of his family 
and friends and colleagues who continue to mourn his loss.
  May his memory be for a blessing. May his spirit and legacy of 
bipartisanship--and I note that Jim was a Republican and I am a 
Democrat--inspire this Congress. May his name grace the post office in 
the town he loved and the town that loved him back for generations to 
come.
  Mr. MFUME. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Phillips) for his leadership on this effort, for his leadership in the 
House, and for reminding me, especially, that the post office will 
reside in Wayzata, appropriately.
  Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I urge 
passage of this 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 Maryland (Mr. Mfume) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 772.
  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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