[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 186 (Monday, December 16, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H7215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SERGEANT MAJOR BILLY D. WAUGH POST OFFICE
Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (S. 3946) to designate the facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, as the
``Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 3946
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SERGEANT MAJOR BILLY D. WAUGH POST OFFICE.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, shall
be known and designated as the ``Sergeant Major Billy D.
Waugh 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 ``Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post
Office''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Burlison) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. BURLISON. 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 Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would rename a
post office located in Texas in honor of Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh.
Sergeant Major Waugh served for five decades as an Army paratrooper,
Special Forces soldier, combat veteran, USPS mail handler, and CIA
paramilitary operations officer. He passed away in April 2023.
I support naming a post office in honor of Sergeant Major Waugh, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Just to complete a little bit of the portrait of Sergeant Major
Waugh, which was begun by Mr. Burlison, Sergeant Major Waugh also
served in the Green Berets within the U.S. Army Special Forces in 1954.
When he retired from the Army, he returned to serve as a paramilitary
officer within the CIA Special Activities Division. Waugh was one of
the oldest field operatives at the age of 71, providing critical
intelligence and guidance to Afghan troops.
In his career, he earned a Silver Star, four Bronze Stars, eight
Purple Hearts, and the CIA's Intelligence Star. He passed away in April
2023 at 93 years old.
The legislation would honor his legacy, his extraordinary more-than-
50-year military career, and his dedication to the country by naming a
post office after him in his hometown of Bastrop, Texas.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. McCaul).
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, you and I just returned from Luxembourg to
honor the veterans of World War II who fought in the Battle of the
Bulge. I was there on behalf of the House of Representatives at the
Speaker's request to honor the Greatest Generation and their sacrifices
to defeat evil and ensure that freedom would persevere.
{time} 1815
Those soldiers that braved the Nazi onslaught and the frozen forest
of the Ardennes to liberate Europe are known as the Greatest
Generation.
Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh was part of that great generation. The
service website military.com, using the colloquial name for Special
Forces made famous during the Vietnam war, called Mr. Waugh, ``the
unparalleled godfather of the Green Berets,'' for his long years of
service and numerous missions with them.
He led a lifelong commitment to his country from a young age. He
understood, as Reagan did, that freedom is never more than one
generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in
the bloodstream. It must be fought for and protected.
Sergeant Major Waugh was born in 1929 and raised in Bastrop, Texas,
in my district, and in 1945, after meeting two local United States
Marines who returned from fighting World War II, the then 15-year-old
Mr. Waugh was inspired to enlist in the Marine Corps.
Knowing that it was unlikely that he would be allowed to enlist in
Texas due to his young age, Waugh decided to hitchhike to Los Angeles
where he believed he only had to be 16 years of age.
He got as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico, before being turned around
and sent back to Bastrop by a local police officer. That shows you the
amount of patriotism this young 15-year-old had. Later, in 1948, he did
enlist and serve his country as an Army paratrooper and Special Forces
soldier until 1972.
Sergeant Major Waugh was no stranger to the front and served 7 years
in combat during the Korean and Vietnam wars where he was shot multiple
times. While in combat, he was part of a high-altitude, low-opening, or
HALO, parachute assault, the first of its kind in military history.
For his service, Sergeant Major Waugh received dozens of military
awards and medals, including the Silver Star, four Bronze Stars, a
Presidential Unit Citation, and eight Purple Hearts for his combat
wounds, placing him third on the list of most Purple Hearts ever
received in the history of the United States military.
After retirement, he joined the United States Postal Service before
again serving his country as a paramilitary operations officer in the
Central Intelligence Agency where he pursued terrorists, including
Carlos the Jackal and Osama Bin Laden.
Mr. Waugh never lost his sense of duty, patriotism, and his enduring
love of freedom. At the age of 71 Mr. Waugh participated in Operation
Enduring Freedom from October to December 2001 as a member of the CIA's
Northern Alliance Liaison Team, which went into Afghanistan to work to
topple the Taliban regime and al-Qaida at the Battle of Tora Bora.
Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh passed away last year at the age of 93.
He epitomized the American values of courage, patriotism, and self-
sacrifice. Through his unparalleled life of service, he undoubtedly
saved countless American lives and pushed back terrorism and evil
around the world.
After a life of service to his country, it is only fitting that the
post office located 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, be named after
him.
Naming this post office after him is a testament to a life well lived
and an opportunity for all Texans to pay homage to this great American
hero.
I am inspired by him, as I know are all Americans. We are inspired
that he is from Texas. I support this measure, and may God hold
Sergeant Major Waugh in the palm of his hand.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support
this bill honoring Sergeant Major Waugh, an American hero, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Burlison) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 3946.
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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