[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17] [House] [Pages 24969-24971] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]JOHN K. RAFFERTY HAMILTON POST OFFICE BUILDING Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1374) to designate the United States Post Office building located at 680 State Highway 130 in Hamilton, New Jersey, as the ``John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building,'' as amended. The Clerk read as follows: H.R. 1374 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF JOHN K. RAFFERTY HAMILTON POST OFFICE BUILDING. The United States Post Office building located at 680 U.S. Highway 130 in Hamilton, New Jersey, shall be known and designated as the ``John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building''. SEC. 2. REFERENCES. Any reference in a law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the United States Post Office building referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh). Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this represents the fifth, final but certainly not the least of the proposed naming bills that we will have before us today. Indeed, I think this whole House owes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) a debt of gratitude for bringing to us what in looking over the life of John K. Rafferty is certainly someone who is totally fitting for this kind of honor. The gentleman from New Jersey brought this bill to the committee on April 12 of this year and, as with all of the other naming bills, it does bear the cosponsorship of the entire delegation here in the House from the great State of New Jersey. I do not want to undercut the sponsor's comments here in a moment, I know that he will have a great deal to say about Mr. Rafferty, but suffice it to say that he served his community for more than 30 years. He first worked on the Hamilton Committee for 6 years and then became Hamilton's first full-time mayor, serving continuously since 1976. In fact, Mr. Rafferty intends to retire from the office of mayor early next year at the completion of this term. As we have heard today both in the bills that have been proposed and some of the comments, we would like to think that these post office designations are extended to great Americans. We heard earlier the gentleman from Ohio speaking, I thought, very forcefully about the very appropriate nature of the designation to Mrs. Louise Stokes, as someone who had a profound effect on America and someone who exemplifies what we think constitutes a good and wholesome life as a citizen of this great country. Certainly from the information that I have seen on Mr. Rafferty from the comments and submissions by the gentleman from New Jersey, in fact, Mr. Rafferty is a great American, someone who perhaps is not read about in the national newspapers or heard often about in the national news broadcasts but nevertheless a man who every day wakes up and thinks of one thing first beyond his family and his loved ones and, that is, service to his community, simply working to try to make today a little bit better than yesterday and hopefully tomorrow a little bit better than today. That is a great American. I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership on this issue. As with all of the naming bills, again my deep appreciation to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking member, for not just his cooperation and support but for his leadership as well. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1374. First of all I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) who serves as the majority chair. The Subcommittee on Postal Service has had a great deal of responsibility over the course of this session. First, of course, the oversight of the largest postal service anywhere in the world and the finest, some 800,000 employees on a whole range of issues. Our committee has dealt with postal reform in macro. We have been working here more recently on the whole issue of fraudulent solicitation for sweepstakes in a bill that we hope to have considered on the floor very soon. Some might think for the Congress to take time to honor individuals by naming post offices is some type of work that perhaps we could do in a different fashion, but I think that for this body, the Congress, to take the time to honor a mayor of a town in New Jersey, a widow who raised her children, saw one rise to be a Member of the Congress and another the mayor of a big city, to honor a Republican from Kansas and a Democrat from California and a baseball great is appropriate for [[Page 24970]] this House, to take and pause a minute, because this country is made up of individuals who helped make us what it is that makes the rest of the world want to have some small part of the ideals that are represented here in America represented in their lives. I want to thank the majority chairman for facilitating these bills coming to the floor. I would like to say we will be back, I am sure, with other legislation that will deal with some of these other matters, but today I think it is important that these were brought forward. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me respond to the very, I think, appropriate and certainly gracious comments by the ranking member. I think these designations are worthy of this House floor. Certainly the cooperative effort that he and the members on his side bring to these kinds of initiatives very clearly underscores that. It has been both a pleasure and an honor to work with him. As he noted, we have much work before us that we are looking forward to on other endeavors. We will be back indeed. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the primary sponsor on this bill. Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend the chairman from New York for yielding me this time and thank the ranking member from Pennsylvania for his very kind remarks about all of those great individuals being honored today but also and especially for Mayor Rafferty from Hamilton Township. Mr. Speaker, as a member of Congress for the past 19 years, I believe there is no one in the entire State of New Jersey more deserving of recognition and praise than Jack Rafferty, a dedicated mayor, community leader, humanitarian and family man. Thus, Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to recommend passage of H.R. 1374, cosponsored, as the gentleman pointed out, by the entire New Jersey delegation, a bill to designate the U.S. postal building located at 680 U.S. Highway 130 in Hamilton Township, New Jersey as the ``John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building.'' Mayor Rafferty, who will be retiring from office in the next few months, has served the people of Hamilton with extraordinary distinction and honor as their mayor since 1976, and for 6 years prior to that time, he served on the Township Committee. Additionally, in 1986 and in 1987, Jack Rafferty served in the New Jersey State Assembly from the 14th District. It is worth noting, Mr. Speaker, that in 1996, Jack Rafferty was inducted into the New Jersey Mayors' Hall of Fame. In 1997, the next year, the New Jersey Conference of Mayors selected him as the Mayor of the Year, another well-deserved accolade and honor. During his 30 years of dedicated public service, Mayor Rafferty has always been committed to the residents of Hamilton Township for whom he has worked tirelessly and effectively. His caring and commitment to the people of Hamilton never wavered during that service. Mr. Speaker, Hamilton is a very large community. It is comprised of approximately 90,000 people, covering 39 square miles. Amazingly, Jack knows just about everybody in town and, significantly, he has always treated everyone, friend, acquaintance, stranger, even political opponents, with respect and dignity. He has always had a kind word for everybody and nobody has a better sense of humor than Jack Rafferty. Mr. Speaker, as Hamilton's first full-time mayor, Jack has blazed a trail unsurpassed in accomplishment while he significantly improved the quality of life in the township, making it an example for other communities in New Jersey and around the country. And he always did it with style, good humor and class. Jack Rafferty was a mayor ahead of his time. In fact he was forging ahead with action items like preserving open space years before other politicians discovered the benefit of this enlightened initiative. Almost everywhere you look in Hamilton Township, you will recognize Jack Rafferty's legacy and handiwork. From Hamilton's 310-acre Veterans Park, which Mayor Rafferty made a reality soon after being elected, to the botanical beauty of Sayen Gardens, Hamilton today is an oasis in New Jersey, a place set apart, a wonderful community to live and to raise a family. Mr. Speaker, like other lawmakers at the County, State, and Federal level, I have worked very closely with Mayor Rafferty for years on joint Federal and local project initiatives to improve Hamilton's enviable quality of life. These initiatives include his determined effort to establish a single postal identity for his community to unite its various neighborhoods. In 1992, Mayor Rafferty accomplished this goal when the U.S. Postal Service finally recognized Hamilton as the name to be used when addressing letters to people and businesses. Mr. Speaker, that is why it is so fitting to name this postal facility on Route 130 in Hamilton after the mayor, if it were not for Jack, this postal identity, like scores of other things, would never have become a reality. Most recently, Jack worked to bring a Northeast Corridor line train station to Hamilton. During the dedication ceremony for the station, Mayor Rafferty spoke with pride about meeting the needs of the growing number of commuters who live in our area, not just in Hamilton but in surrounding communities as well, and he also talked about the big landscaped hedge sign along the Northeast Corridor route that lets people know that they are in Hamilton Township. Quite literally, he put Hamilton on the map. Mayor Rafferty worked hard, effectively and with a can-do type of vision to develop Hamilton's infrastructure, including its award- winning water pollution control system which has attracted ecology students and teachers from universities along with officials from other municipalities. He knows that a well-built, forward-thinking and properly maintained infrastructure is the key to balancing development, environmental protection and local prosperity. While Mayor Rafferty realized the importance of roads, highways, and mass transit, he never forgot the life-enhancing advantages that open space and recreation bring to a community. Hamilton now operates several major parks, along with 25 baseball fields, 19 soccer fields, 38 tennis courts, 41 basketball courts and 39 neighborhood playgrounds to serve its residents. Veterans Park itself contains the State's largest municipal playground and the largest public tennis facility and it is the site of the annual SeptemberFest celebration to which over 100,000 people a year visit to enjoy the community of Hamilton. These things do not happen by accident. They are the result of careful planning and careful execution. We have our mayor to thank for it. Keeping Hamilton beautiful, bursting with trees, shrubs and flowers and fostering a high standard of living has been another Jack Rafferty hallmark. Hamilton has planted 4,000 shade trees since Mayor Rafferty took office and the township continues to plant about 300 per year. Overall, Hamilton now has 3,500 acres of parkland. The infrastructure and open space improvements made by Mayor Rafferty have sparked important nonpolluting commercial growth and provide for a diverse and stable economy in Hamilton. {time} 1600 Along with serving as Hamilton's mayor, Jack has always found the time to be active in numerous civic associations as well, the township's VFW post, the Knights of Columbus, the YMCA, and the Grange Society. Mayor Rafferty also served as president of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors from 1984 to 1986, and as I indicated earlier, was the conference Mayor of the Year in 1997. Mayor Rafferty received more awards than time permits me to mention on the floor today during his service to Hamilton, but just to name a few: the Young Mens Christian Association Man of the Year in 1992, the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award [[Page 24971]] in 1996, and Project Freedom's Angel Award in 1998. Mr. Speaker, finally just let me say that I have known Jack Rafferty and his wife Doris and their children, Megan and Daniel, for many years. They have been and are today a great first family. They are caring people. They epitomize what is good and honorable about public service, and they are class personified. As mayor, Jack will be missed, but always appreciated. I believe that designating the post office on Route 130 as the John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office is the least that our citizens can do to say ``thank you'' to someone who has done so much for so many. Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time but yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I cannot imagine any way in which I can add to the eloquence and the depth of the very appropriate comments by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and with that I would simply urge all of our colleagues to join with the ranking member and myself and all of the committee members in sponsoring the gentleman from New Jersey's very worthy initiative. Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be an original co-sponsor of H.R. 2591, legislation designating the United States Post Office located on Elm Street in Wakefield, Kansas, as the ``William H. Avery Post Office''. Let me commend Congressman Moran for sponsoring this legislation which is an appropriate honor well deserved by the recipient. Mr. Speaker, my wife Vicki and I have enjoyed our friendship with Governor Avery over the past several years, and we are both excited that this honor is being bestowed upon a great public servant and good friend who has always placed the people of the great State of Kansas first. When I think about the tremendous reputation Governor Avery still enjoys, I think about the moniker given to a past politician: The Happy Warrior. You cannot talk to Bill without feeling his zest for life and his indomitable spirit. It is not unusual to see Governor Avery at an event in Kansas, shaking hands, kissing babies and talking about the latest Republican strategy. Sometimes a few of us in this esteemed Body get tired and frustrated. At those moments I think of Governor Avery, his quick smile, his knowing wink, his kind words, his all-encompassing heart. Always smiling, always moving, always hopeful of the future, but respectful of the past. Governor Avery is truly Kansas's Happy Warrior. Mr. Speaker I realize that at times the floor of the House can be partisan, and with your indulgence I am going to add to that partisan flame, just a bit. There is one memory I will always cherish, and it occurred in January of 1995. I was a new Member of Congress, full of hope, a little overwhelmed, and flush anticipation of the job ahead. I had some friends and family in my office and in came Governor Avery. He came up to me and shook my hand, and told me why he had traveled back to D.C. You see Governor Avery is also appropriately called Congressman Avery. He served in this House from 1955-1965. He related to me that when he won his election in 1954, he thought he would be entering a Republican Congress, but he soon learned that the Democrats had regained the majority. Congressman Avery was destined to serve all his tenure in the minority. He always felt a little jilted by history, and that is why he wanted to be on the floor of the U.S. House when the gavel passed. At that moment I realized how fortunate I really was to be entrusted with a job representing the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas, and I realized just how historic a shift in Congress can be. Mr. Speaker, I hope Governor Avery is enjoying the beautiful Autumn evening back home in Wakefield, Kansas. I want to thank him for all his words of inspiration, his dedication and his enduring attitude. When the history of Kansas is written, it will be as kind to Governor Avery as he has been to anyone who has had the good fortune to know him. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be able to call Governor Avery my friend and to help recognize him this day for the many accomplishments he has provided the people of Kansas and this great country. Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1374, as amended. The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed. The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to designate the United States Post Office building located at 680 U.S. Highway 130 in Hamilton, New Jersey, as the `John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building.'.'' A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________