[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5694-H5695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PATSY CLINE POST OFFICE

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1444) to designate the facility of 
the United States Postal Service located at 132 North Loudoun Street, 
Suite 1 in Winchester, Virginia, as the ``Patsy Cline Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1444

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

     SECTION 1. PATSY CLINE POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 132 North Loudoun Street, Suite 1 in 
     Winchester, Virginia, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Patsy Cline 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 ``Patsy Cline Post Office''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
LaTurner) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members 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 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1444, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 132 North 
Loudoun Street, Suite 1, in Winchester, Virginia, as the Patsy Cline 
Post Office.
  Patsy Cline was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1932 during the 
Great Depression. She began singing and performing at events and local 
venues in the Winchester area at a young age and landed her first 
recording contract in 1954. Her first hit, ``Walkin' After Midnight,'' 
debuted in 1957 and rose to number two on the country music charts.
  In 1958, Cline moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and was the first solo 
female singer to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Over the next 
few years, Cline recorded several more hit songs, including ``I Fall to 
Pieces'' and ``Crazy,'' and appeared on American Bandstand and The 
Johnny Cash Show.
  She was acclaimed for her bold, emotional, and haunting singing 
voice, which drove many of her songs to the top of the country and pop 
charts and influenced generations of future artists, from Reba McEntire 
to Cyndi Lauper.

[[Page H5695]]

  Tragically, Cline was killed in a plane crash in Tennessee in 1963 at 
the age of 30. She was buried in Shenandoah Memorial Park outside of 
Winchester, where a bell tower was built in her memory.
  In 1973, she became the first female solo artist to be inducted into 
the Country Music Hall of Fame. Cline's childhood home in Winchester 
was designated as a historic place in 2011 and has drawn visitors from 
around the world.
  Naming a post office for Patsy Cline is a way we can honor her 
substantial artistic and cultural contributions to our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to name a post office in 
Winchester, Virginia, after Patsy Cline.
  Patsy began singing and performing at events in the Winchester area 
from a young age. Her childhood home in Winchester was designated as a 
historic place in 2011 and draws visitors from around the world.
  This post office would further honor the memory of her. Mr. Speaker, 
I ask my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of 
my time.

                              {time}  1300

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time 
as she may consume to the distinguished gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. 
Wexton), who is the cochair of the Congressional Agritourism Caucus.
  Ms. WEXTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, 
H.R. 1444, to rename the Winchester, Virginia, post office in honor of 
country music legend and proud daughter of Virginia, Patsy Cline.
  In January 1957, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts introduced their live 
television audience to Patsy Cline, from Winchester, Virginia, and 
launched her to stardom after her winning performance of ``Walkin' 
After Midnight.''
  Virginia Patterson Hensley was born in Winchester in my home district 
in 1932. She spent her childhood years there growing up in the 
beautiful northern Shenandoah Valley. It was also where she discovered 
her dream of becoming a singer.
  The only thing that matched Patsy Cline's talent was her 
determination. From the local Winchester radio station to the Grand Ole 
Opry, she sought out opportunities to showcase her abilities in bold 
ways--writing letters, approaching other singers backstage, and even 
showing up at a studio waiting room to request an audition.
  That talent and determination took Patsy Cline to places no woman 
country music singer had gone before. Patsy Cline was the first female 
solo artist to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1960 and the 
first female solo artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of 
Fame in 1973.
  CMT has ranked Patsy Cline as the number one greatest woman in 
country music history. She continues to inspire generations of future 
artists.
  Her tragic and untimely death in 1963 took Patsy Cline away from us 
too soon. But her trailblazing legacy and her music live on.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to me that among the many great and 
well-deserved honors this American icon has received, she should be 
forever remembered in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia.
  I am proud to sponsor this legislation to rename the post office 
along Winchester's pedestrian walking mall after Patsy Cline.
  Her legacy is still very much felt in her hometown. The Patsy Cline 
Historic House, where she lived from 1948 to 1953, is in the National 
Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register and 
remains a popular tourist attraction in the Winchester area. Patsy 
Cline's final resting place is just a few miles south of the house, in 
Shenandoah Memorial Park, where a bell tower was built in her memory in 
the 1980s.
  Renaming this post office will serve as further acknowledgement of 
Patsy Cline's legacy in the Winchester community and of Winchester's 
influence on Patsy Cline.
  The support this bill has received from across our great Commonwealth 
shows the enduring legacy of Patsy Cline and the popularity she still 
holds. Nearly 60 years after her death, people still ``fall to pieces'' 
over her music, and this bill proves that we are still ``crazy'' about 
her.
  Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am 
prepared to close.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. I also heard a rumor that the 
chairwoman of the committee will be singing a Patsy Cline song in her 
closing.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of 
H.R. 1444. I will not be singing, but I love her music, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1444.
  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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