[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4784-H4785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2220
               LAWRENCE M. `LARRY' WALSH SR. POST OFFICE

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 700) to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in 
Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Sr. Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 700

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

     SECTION 1. LAWRENCE M. ``LARRY'' WALSH SR. POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 303

[[Page H4785]]

     East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, shall be known 
     and designated as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Sr. 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 ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Sr. Post 
     Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentlewoman from South 
Carolina (Ms. Mace) 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 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 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), the sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote 
in favor of my legislation, H.R. 700, to name the Elwood, Illinois, 
post office after Larry Walsh, Sr., a public servant and a dedicated 
member of the Will County community.
  Mr. Walsh was raised in Joliet and was a graduate of Joliet Junior 
College and a lifelong resident of Elwood, Illinois. Larry loved the 
State of Illinois and devoted his life to making it a better place.
  He first began his career in public service as a member of the Elwood 
School Board and continued to serve his community as an elected Jackson 
Township supervisor, a member of the Will County Board, and an Illinois 
State Senator representing the 43rd District, a time during which he 
was widely reputed to have spent a certain amount of time playing poker 
with his colleague, then State Senator Barack Obama.
  Larry finished his career in public service as the Will County 
executive, a position he held from 2004 until his passing in 2020.
  Larry was a family man and a devoted farmer, a voice for disability 
issues, senior citizens services, and agricultural workers.
  He championed the largest infrastructure improvement investment in 
Will County's history, alongside modernizing his county's public safety 
resources. Simply put, Will County is a better place today because of 
the decades of work that Larry devoted to it.
  The Lawrence M. ``Larry'' Walsh Sr. Post Office will be a justifiable 
source of pride and a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life 
to local government and his community.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this 
legislation, one of the collegial and noble things that Congress can do 
for a collegial and noble man.
  Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Lawrence Walsh was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, 
where he later served as an Illinois State Senator from 1997 to 2005. 
He also served his local community as the Will County executive, an 
office he held from 2004 until his death in 2020.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this postal-naming bill honoring an Illinois 
community public servant, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, in the interests of 
time, I submit my statement in support of Mr. Foster's very important 
bill. I strongly support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 700, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East 
Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' 
Walsh Sr. Post Office.''
  Mr. Larry Walsh Sr. was an American farmer, public servant, and 
dedicated member of the Will County community. In 1970, he began his 
career in public service as a member of the Elwood School Board. He was 
then elected as Jackson Township Supervisor in 1973, where he served 
until December 2004. Mr. Walsh also served on the Will County Board in 
1974 and 1992.
  From April 1997 until January 2005, Mr. Walsh was an Illinois State 
Senator, representing the 43rd District. As a public servant, his 
mission was always to better the lives of people who lived and worked 
in his community.
  He brought a voice to disability issues, senior citizens' services, 
preservation, and agriculture concerns.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in commemorating Mr. 
Walsh's dedication to public service by naming the Post Office at 303 
East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. 
`Larry' Walsh Post Office.''
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MACE. 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. 700, an important bill. I thank Mr. Foster for authoring it, 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. 700.
  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. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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