[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 94 (Monday, June 3, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H3563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EDWIN L. DRAKE POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 7417) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 135 West Spring Street in Titusville, Pennsylvania,
as the ``Edwin L. Drake Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 7417
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EDWIN L. DRAKE POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 135 West Spring Street in Titusville,
Pennsylvania, shall be known and designated as the ``Edwin L.
Drake 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 ``Edwin L. Drake Post Office Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
General Leave
Mr. GROTHMAN. 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
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, this bill would designate the post office facility
located at 135 West Spring Street in Titusville, Pennsylvania, as the
Edwin Drake Post Office Building.
Born March 29 in 1819, Edwin Drake was the first person to
successfully drill for oil in the United States.
Drake was sent to Titusville on behalf of the Pennsylvania Rock Oil
Company, where oil had been gathering from ground-level seepages. He
said: There must be a way to somehow get to more volume. The answer
was, send Drake.
In an attempt to lure local Titusville businesses into investing, the
executives sent letters to local businessmen and referred to Drake as
Colonel Drake.
In July of 1858, he journeyed to Titusville to begin but struggled
for nearly a year until he invented the drive pipe. He continued his
attempts with many setbacks and refusal from the oil company to provide
any more investment.
Now, despite many of these failed attempts and the shortage of money,
he persisted in his efforts, leading some of the locals and executives
to begin calling him Crazy Drake.
Finally, on August 27 of 1859, he found success in extracting oil,
which was 70 feet beneath the Earth's surface. It had never been done
before. Quickly, his well began to produce between 20 and 40 barrels a
day, and they ended up using all the whiskey barrels in Titusville to
put the oil in.
This immediately launched the Pennsylvania oil rush, sparking a
massive economic boom in western Pennsylvania. Drake's discovery
changed the economies beyond western Pennsylvania and across the world.
Titusville quickly became a boomtown, and oil wells popped up all
over the place. It is reported that these wells produced up to 4,500
barrels in just the first year. By 1866, the population of Titusville
had risen to over 10,000 residents, compared to just 250 people when
Drake first arrived.
By 1873, Pennsylvania was producing 10 million barrels of oil per
year, an incredible amount that nobody could have possibly imagined.
Drake would dig two other wells in the months following his invention,
but he left the industry the next year due to his declining health, and
he became a justice of the peace in 1860.
Unfortunately, Drake never patented his invention, and he lost most
of his savings in the stock market in the following years.
Pennsylvania, though, would never be the same, as people rushed to
the Commonwealth, much like the gold rush of California.
Drake passed away in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1880, at
just 61 years old. He was moved to Titusville, where he remains today.
The original tools are on display in Titusville at the Drake Well
Museum, on the same site as his initial discovery.
{time} 1600
Oil continues to be a massive industry in Pennsylvania and across our
country.
By naming a post office after him in Titusville, this would be a
small step in recognizing the man who made it all possible. I urge my
colleagues to support this bill to recognize Edwin Drake's contribution
to the country by naming the post office facility in Titusville after
him.
Mr. Speaker, Drake died broke. He had nothing, but he created an
industry in America, in Pennsylvania, that has continued to flourish. I
would urge my colleagues to please support the naming of the post
office for Edwin Drake.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am rising in support of H.R. 7417.
Edwin Drake, as we just heard, was born in New York and lived for a
short period in New Haven, Connecticut, until he moved to Pennsylvania
to develop a site and drill for oil. His efforts to strike an oil
deposit in Titusville on August 27, 1859, helped create an oil rush and
economic boom in Pennsylvania.
Drake, remembered as the first person to successfully drill for oil
in the United States, passed away in Bethlehem in 1880. I encourage my
colleagues to join all of us in honoring the life of Mr. Drake by
naming a post office in Titusville after him.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, that was a great story. Glad I am on the
House floor today to hear it.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support the bill
honoring a great American, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Meuser). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7417.
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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