[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2364-S2366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Ms. Lummis, and Mr. Carper):
  S. 2274. A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 112 Wyoming Street in Shoshoni, Wyoming, as the 
``Dessie A. Bebout Post Office''; to the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs.
  Ms. LUMMIS. Madam President, it is my real honor today to join 
Senator Barrasso of Wyoming and Senator Carper of Delaware in support 
of legislation to rename the Shoshoni, WY, Post Office the Dessie A. 
Bebout Post Office.
  Wyoming is full of exceptional women, and Dessie was surely one of 
them. In the years following the Pearl Harbor attack, Dessie was one of 
the first women to enlist in the WAVES, the Women Accepted for 
Volunteer Emergency Services.
  Dessie traveled by train across the country to New York City for 
basic training. She was later stationed in Seattle for 2\1/2\ years, 
where she was responsible for recording the arrival and departure of 
sailors to and from the Pacific Fleet.
  Dessie then married Herbert ``Hugh'' Bebout, also a Wyoming native, 
and, in 1945, they moved back to Wyoming to start their life together. 
They raised five children, and today their family has grown to 13 
grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
  In 1962, Dessie became the postmaster of the Shoshoni post office. 
Her exemplary service was recognized when she was awarded the Order of 
the Vest, which is the highest honor given to postmasters.
  Dessie Bebout passed away in May of this year at the age of 102 
years. She lived up to what it means to be part of the Greatest 
Generation. It is very fitting that we rename the Shoshoni Post Office 
after Dessie Bebout. It serves as a small token of our appreciation for 
her service to Wyoming and our country.
  Now I would like to yield the floor to the senior Senator from 
Wyoming, John Barrasso, whose inspired idea to name the post office in 
Shoshoni after Dessie Bebout brings us here today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, it is a privilege to be here today, 
joined by my colleague from Wyoming, Senator Cynthia Lummis, and my 
colleague from Delaware, the chairman of the Committee on Environment 
and Public Works, Senator Tom Carper, to honor this incredible woman, 
Dessie Bebout.
  Senator Lummis is absolutely right. I attended the funeral of this 
102-year-old just a couple of weeks ago. We were in Riverton, WY, for 
the services as she was laid to rest with military honors in Hudson, 
WY, and thought what an opportunity to name a post office after someone 
who has given so much to their country, as well as to the Postal 
Service.
  It is wonderful to be working with Senator Tom Carper again on an 
issue of great interest to both of us because he was a senior partner 
when, a few years ago, we named a post office in Thermopolis, WY, after 
Bob Brown, a World War II hero who then was awarded the Purple Heart 
for his service in Korea and served 41 years at the Thermopolis Post 
Office before he retired as the postmaster. So I come to the floor 
today, along with our colleagues, to introduce a bill to honor the 
legacy of this remarkable woman, Dessie A. Bebout of Shoshoni, WY.
  She was really a trailblazer for women in Wyoming because she was a 
patriot. She honorably served our

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country during World War II. She was one of the first to raise her 
hand, take the oath, and volunteer as she did for this remarkable group 
of individuals who volunteered: the Women Accepted for Volunteer 
Emergency Service in World War II, the WAVES.
  She was born in Hudson, WY--a very small community--in 1920. If you 
haven't ever been to Hudson, there is a small Main Street. And since 
Hudson didn't have a doctor, Dessie was born with the help of a 
midwife. She was the fourth of nine children. They worked very hard 
supporting the family business that was the Svilar family. Her maiden 
name was Svilar. They had the Svilar's bar and restaurant, the Svilars' 
Light and Power company--they provided libations as well as 
electricity--and the Svilars' derby bar. It is a small town, but two 
bars make for a smalltown charm. The Svilars' bar and restaurant is 
still open today. So, if you ever get to Hudson, stop in because they 
have the best steaks you are going to ever find anywhere.
  Her life experience is one, really, that highlighted her legendary 
work ethic. After graduating from Fremont County Vocational High School 
in Lander, she worked for the Fremont County Extension service and at 
the F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 
1941 changed the United States and the world forever, and it certainly 
changed her. Being willing to serve the country, to step forward, is 
part of the Wyoming bloodstream.
  When she joined and went to New York City for basic training and was 
then stationed in Seattle, WA, she reconnected with a young man who she 
had met previously in Hudson, Herbert ``Hugh'' Bebout. After a few 
months of writing letters, they were married in 1943. He was an 
enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force.
  After World War II ended, he was discharged; and, along with Dessie, 
they came home to Wyoming. They started a family and had four children: 
Eli, Ruby, Nick, and David. Eli was speaker of the house in the Wyoming 
Legislature. Ruby runs the Wyoming public television. Nick played 
football for the University of Wyoming and then for the NFL.
  Dessie's life and family and giving just continued to grow. She 
started her career in the Postal Service in 1962. She rose to 
postmaster for Shoshoni, WY, where she served for 13 years. In 1975, 
Dessie retired as the Shoshoni postmaster, where she had earned the 
Order of the Vest. It is the highest award given to postmasters.
  Although she had retired from the Postal Service, her work and 
community service didn't stop. She served as a Fremont County election 
judge, for the Shoshoni Chamber of Commerce, on the Shoshoni PTA, on 
the Wyoming women's commission, on the Veterans of Foreign Wars Women's 
Auxiliary, and on the Riverton hospital board, among many 
organizations.
  As a result of her military and civic service, she was awarded with 
the Wyoming Woman of Distinction award from the Wyoming women's 
commission, and she received the Medal of Honor from the Daughters of 
the American Revolution. Her accolades and awards didn't stop there. 
She even had her own holiday because, in 2022, the mayor of Hudson, 
Mike Anderson, declared May 30 as Dessie Bebout Day.
  Now, she had--I think the Senator from Wyoming said--13 
grandchildren. As they spoke at the funeral--as a number of them did--
there were those who claimed to be the favorite grandchild, but since 
Kara Calvert is here today, the granddaughter of Dessie Bebout, I think 
we will let Kara put upon herself that accolade.
  Dessie Bebout truly exemplifies the Code of the West, which is, in 
Wyoming, you live each day with courage; you take pride in your work; 
and you do what needs to be done. Cowboys never complain. Cowboys never 
quit. If somebody were hungry, she would feed them--a remarkable woman. 
If they were sick, she would care from them.
  I am proud to be joined by both Senator Carper and Senator Lummis 
today in introducing this legislation to rename the post office in 
Shoshoni, WY, as the ``Dessie A. Bebout Post Office.'' Naming it after 
Dessie is going to ensure her legacy carries on for future generations 
of Wyoming's men and women.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, folks that are back in Delaware are 
probably wondering as they are watching on C-SPAN, What is our Senator 
doing there giving a floor speech and talking about a woman from 
Wyoming? There is a Wyoming, DE. It is in Kent County, which is just 
south of Dover. We have great restaurants, plenty of restaurants. In 
fact, the Senator from Wyoming described that Svilar's--is it Svilar's? 
I think it is Svilar's--still exists.
  We have a huge Air Force base in Dover, the Dover Air Force Base. 
They fly huge airplanes and have a mortuary there to receive the 
remains of our fallen heroes. That is part of our State. We just have 
very strong support for military personnel and all things Air Force. I 
am Navy.
  So it is the idea that we have a woman here--you know, it is one 
thing for a guy to have done some of this stuff that Dessie did, but it 
is another to have a woman in World War II volunteer and enlist on the 
heels of the attack on Pearl Harbor and to go on and serve, really, 
with distinction.
  In my family, we believe in the Navy blue. My dad was a chief petty 
officer, and my uncles were chief petty officers. My mother's youngest 
brother died in a kamikaze attack on his aircraft carrier, and my 
grandmother got the Gold Star for the Great Green Fleet Navy blue. So I 
just get inspired by Dessie's heroism that we are hearing about here 
today.
  For the people who might have been listening carefully when Senator 
Barrasso was talking about the restaurant that she opened, he said 
that, when the people were hungry, she fed them. That is a line out of 
the Bible. It is actually a line out of Matthew 25: When I was hungry, 
you did feed me. When I was naked, you did clothe me. When I was sick 
and in prison, you did visit me. When I was thirsty, you did give me 
drink.
  This is a woman who not only served her country in uniform and who 
not only ran a successful business--it sounds like--for over 100 years 
for family but who actually felt a moral responsibility to make sure 
that people did not go hungry.
  I also am the senior Democrat--I am the senior, actually, member of a 
committee called Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. We have 
jurisdiction, among other things on that committee, over the Postal 
Service. We have, literally, tens of thousands of people who serve in 
the Postal Service across the country today. It is a tough job and 
sometimes a thankless job, but we are grateful to them for their 
service. A lot of them, it turns out, served in the military. They may 
have served in the Korean war, and they may have served in Vietnam; 
they may have served in Afghanistan, and they may have served in Iraq. 
But they wore the uniform of our country, and they wore or wear the 
uniform of the Postal Service. In either instance, they are serving 
this country. They are serving their communities and are doing so, in 
some cases, at great risk to themselves.
  There is a little bit of a love story in this as well. It is kind of 
a mixed marriage of a Navy woman and an Air Force man who get married 
and raise a family--have all of these kids--and go on to do amazing 
things as a family in their own community. It is a story that I am 
inspired by, and I am honored that Senator Barrasso would ask me to 
join him and Senator Lummis to tell the story, too.
  I remember a couple of years ago when we were on the floor here--
Senator Barrasso and myself and a fellow named Mike Enzi, the late Mike 
Enzi, who held the seat that Senator Lummis now holds today--hearing 
them talk about the naming of a post office in Wyoming in a place 
called Thermopolis, which I had never heard of but that I will never 
forget. The question was, Should they rename that post office there 
after Bobbi Barrasso's dad? They didn't have a Democratic cosponsor for 
the bill. I talked to Senator Barrasso and to Senator Enzi and said: I 
would be honored. If you are looking for a bipartisan bill, I would be 
happy to be your wingman on this particular flight. And they were good 
enough to let me join the team.
  So, to Dessie Bebout, your family members are out there, watching and 
listening. I want to just say thank you

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for sharing a remarkable person, not just with the folks in the town in 
which she and her family have lived, worked, and served for all of 
those years, but thank you for sharing her with our country in a 
broader way. Thank you for serving as an inspiration. We are in your 
debt, and I am honored to be part of this trio to offer this 
legislation today and to ask for its passage.
                                 ______