[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15156-15157]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               ALAN B. SHEPARD, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4517) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 24 Tsienneto Road in Derry, New Hampshire, as the 
``Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Post Office Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4517

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

     SECTION 1. ALAN B. SHEPARD, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 24 Tsienneto Road in Derry, New Hampshire, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Alan B. Shepard, Jr. 
     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 ``Alan B. Shepard, Jr. 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).


                             General Leave

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 4517.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned on the previous piece of legislation, one 
of the more likable aspects and certainly favorable aspects of serving 
as the chair of this Subcommittee on Postal Service is it provides the 
opportunity to learn new things about very special people.
  Certainly in the previous bill, the one we just dealt with, Mack 
Robinson was a very, very special person who did some incredible and 
some very courageous things, but in many ways did them with a quiet 
determination.
  We have before us now, Mr. Speaker, a bill that seeks to honor a 
gentleman who also is very special and who also showed great courage, 
great determination, but perhaps showed it through a somewhat different 
venue, through a somewhat more public perspective.
  I think certainly in my generation and those before us and those 
shortly after, the name Alan B. Shepard, Jr. is far from unknown. Most 
of us grew up in an era in the late 1950s and 1960s

[[Page 15157]]

when space travel, space exploration was in its infancy, when we knew 
far less than we do now, when each step was a first, each step was 
surrounded by the unknown, by the possible calamities that those kinds 
of factors and unknown circumstances could surely bring.
  There were some very, very courageous people at that time, such as 
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. who stepped forward, who used their training as 
pilots, who used their knowledge and their skills accrued by both 
through the service and through their academic studies to take us into 
outer space.
  As one of the Mercury astronauts in 1959, of course Alan Shepard 
enjoys and has earned the reputation of being America's first to 
journey into space. Everything about this man before that time and 
since speaks grace and elegance, determination, and courage.
  We certainly owe our thanks to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Sununu), the primary sponsor of this bill, for bringing us this 
legislation, for providing us an opportunity to recognize and pay 
tribute to such a great American.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to concur in the comments of the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. McHugh), chairman of the Subcommittee on Postal 
Service, and I rise in support of H.R. 4517.
  This is another example of someone who has had a distinguished career 
and obviously someone who really helped open the door to space travel, 
being the first American in 1959, which is a long time ago, but when he 
started out, and then later on in 1963 and throughout his career with 
NASA, has demonstrated a type of courage and determination for the 
exploration of space. I think this is appropriate, and I want to thank 
the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu), the prime sponsor of 
this legislation, for bringing this forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu) with our 
appreciation. We are privileged to have the gentleman from New 
Hampshire here who brought us this particular piece of legislation and, 
of course, in that context brought us the name of Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
  Mr. SUNUNU. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to rise in support 
of this legislation honoring Alan Shepard, a true American hero and 
America's first man in space. Alan Shepard was born and raised in 
Derry, New Hampshire, and he is certainly best known for his historic 
flight on Freedom 7. But that was only one of a long line of historic 
achievements for this great American.
  He was a Navy veteran. He was a test pilot. He was a pioneer in 
America's early space program. He was chief of NASA's Astronaut Office. 
He was the space craft commander on Apollo 14. He was one of the very 
few select individuals who have walked on the moon. In fact, his time 
set a record for the longest lunar visit, over 33 hours.
  His achievements were recognized by NASA, by organizations across the 
country and across the world. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of 
Honor.
  Today, it a great source of personal pride to rise in support of the 
people of Derry, New Hampshire who seek to recognize this great 
individual whose service and dedication has brought pride, not just to 
New Hampshire, but to our entire Nation.
  I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass), the remaining 
Member of the New Hampshire delegation, a fine gentleman who I am 
certain consulted and worked with the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Sununu) on this piece of legislation and who is a cosponsor of it.
  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for 
yielding me this time. The entire New Hampshire delegation shall be 
heard from today on this issue.
  I want to praise the gentleman from the First Congressional District 
of New Hampshire for introducing this bill which dedicates this Post 
Office in Derry.
  Let me reminisce for a second, if I could, about Alan Shepard who was 
true, truly a hero. I remember back in the early 1960s when my dad was 
in Congress representing the second district and a member of the Space 
Committee, now, what the Committee on Science calls the Subcommittee on 
Space and Aeronautics, whatever its newest name is, probably the issue 
of sending a man to the moon was clearly one of our major national 
goals.
  Alan Shepard who was the first American to go into space, although he 
did not orbit the earth, he went up and came down, about an 18-minute 
flight, was a true American hero. There had not been one in reality 
since Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
  So Alan Shepard, for this young school child, I was in the third 
grade at the time, was an enormous event for us and for everybody in 
New Hampshire. Alan Shepard, everybody who is in my generation will 
remember the movie that every school child saw of Alan Shepard. What he 
did as the first astronaut in space was truly heroic. Nobody knew 
whether a human being could really survive in this tiny little space 
capsule.

                              {time}  1215

  And Alan Shepard did it, and he went on to have a long and 
distinguished career in NASA.
  As a true New Hampshire native, I think it is fitting that this post 
office facility be dedicated to him in his original hometown.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me just echo the comments of the gentleman from Pennsylvania and, 
of course, the gentlemen from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu) and the 
gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) for the tribute that they paid 
to a very, very special individual, as our last speaker suggested, I 
think very correctly, a true American hero, Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
  I would just make a final urging to all our Members to join us in 
supporting this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Quinn). 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. 4517.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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