[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5696-H5697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CAPTAIN EMIL J. KAPAUN POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2044) to designate the facility of 
the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main Street in 
Herington, Kansas, as the ``Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office 
Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2044

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

     SECTION 1. CAPTAIN EMIL J. KAPAUN POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 17 East Main Street in Herington, Kansas, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Captain Emil J. Kapaun 
     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 ``Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office 
     Building''.

  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 may have 5 legislative days in which to revise 
and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials 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. 2044 to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main 
Street in Herington, Kansas, as the Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office 
Building.
  Captain Kapaun was born in the rural farming community of Pilsen, 
Kansas, on April 20, 1915.
  He first studied classics and philosophy at Conception College in 
Missouri, and then attended Kenrick Theological Seminary in St. Louis. 
In 1940 he was ordained a Catholic priest and appointed an auxiliary 
chaplain in the U.S. Army in 1943.
  During his time in the Army Chaplain Corps, he served American troops 
in the Burma and India theaters until the end of World War II. In 1948 
he reenlisted in the Army Chaplain Corps and was mobilized in support 
of the Korean conflict in 1950. He was taken captive by Chinese forces 
on November 2, 1950, during the Battle of Unsan, after repeatedly 
coming under fire to rescue wounded soldiers.
  During his captivity, he rejected multiple opportunities for escape, 
instead remaining a POW providing physical and spiritual support to 
other POWs. On May 23, 1951, Chaplain Kapaun died of illness and 
maltreatment.
  In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Chaplain Kapaun to be a Servant 
of God, the first step on the path towards canonization in the Catholic 
Church.
  In 2013, President Obama posthumously awarded Chaplain Kapaun the 
Medal of Honor for his service to our Nation.
  Naming a post office for Chaplain Kapaun is one more way we can 
ensure that his deeds are not forgotten. 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 which would name a Kansas 
post office after Captain Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain during World 
War II.
  Captain Kapaun was an ordained Catholic priest and later served as an 
auxiliary chaplain in the U.S. Army where he ministered to American 
troops in the Burma and India theaters during World War II.
  In 1950 he was mobilized to support the Korean conflict and was 
captured by Chinese forces during the Battle of Unsan. As a POW he 
helped find food, cared for the sick, and led prayers and spiritual 
services for the other POWs. He died of illness and maltreatment on May 
23, 1951.
  In 1993 Pope John Paul II declared Captain Kapaun to be a Servant of 
God, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President 
Obama in 2013.
  I want to thank my colleague and fellow Kansan, Congressman Tracey 
Mann, for all his work on this project. Naming a post office after 
Captain Kapaun is a small way we can honor this patriot and son of 
Kansas for his service to our Nation. I might add that, as a Kansan, I 
am very proud of this, but as a Catholic, as well. We hope that it is 
soon Saint Kapaun.

[[Page H5697]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1315

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Mann).
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman 
from Kansas, for this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Father Emil Kapaun, 
a man of God who served the Lord and his country in both World War II 
and the Korean war.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2044 to designate the facility 
of the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main Street in 
Herington, Kansas, as the Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building.
  In March of this year, Father Kapaun's remains were finally 
identified in Hawaii, and just last month, they were brought back to 
his hometown of Pilsen, Kansas, which lies in my district, the Big 
First District of Kansas.
  Father Kapaun grew up on a farm, became a priest in 1940 at 24 years 
old, and became a U.S. military chaplain 4 years later. Father Kapaun 
received a Bronze Star for valor during the Korean war in 1950 when, in 
the heat of battle, he rushed to the front lines to retrieve a wounded 
soldier under heavy machine-gun fire, saving that soldier's life with 
complete disregard for his own safety.
  He also received the Distinguished Service Cross, which was upgraded 
to the Medal of Honor in 2013 for another heroic effort in battle that 
same year. Father Kapaun rescued nearly 40 wounded comrades from no-
man's-land; disregarded an order to evacuate, choosing to stay with the 
wounded even though it meant his own capture; and pushed aside an enemy 
soldier who was about to execute a member of his own battalion.
  He was put in a POW camp, where he gave away his own food and dug 
latrines before dying a year later. He was a great man, a servant of 
all who followed Jesus who said: ``Greater love hath no man than this, 
that a man lay down his life for his friends.''
  Father Kapaun is on his way to sainthood in the Roman Catholic 
Church. I have introduced a resolution in his honor and today urge my 
colleagues to vote ``yes'' on my bill, which would rename the postal 
facility in Herington, Kansas, after him.
  My prayers are with his family members as they celebrate his life of 
service, and it is an honor to praise his faithfulness and bravery in 
this Chamber today.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman 
from Kansas has no further speakers, then I am prepared to close. I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am 
prepared to close.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill naming a post 
office after Captain Emil Kapaun in Herington, Kansas--although he was 
from Pilsen, a community of less than 100 people which has a beautiful 
Catholic church but no post office--so a post office in Herington after 
Captain Emil Kapaun.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to 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. 2044, 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. 2044.
  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.

                          ____________________