[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16243]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




JOSEPH CURSEEN, JR. AND THOMAS MORRIS, JR. PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION 
                                 CENTER

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H.R. 
3287, recently received from the House, and now at our desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:
  A bill (H.R. 3287) to redesignate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 900 Brentwood Road, NE, in Washington, DC, as 
the ``Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. Processing and 
Distribution Center.''
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the immediate 
consideration of the bill.
  Mr. REID. These two individuals were killed by anthrax. They worked 
at the post office on Brentwood Road, northeast Washington. Their 
fellow employees felt it was appropriate to name this facility, when it 
reopens, after them. It is very appropriate that it be done.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read the third time and 
passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any 
statements be printed in the Record without intervening action or 
debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 3287) was read the third time and passed.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am pleased the Senate has passed H.R. 
3287/S. 2907, a bill to rename the Brentwood postal facility after 
Joseph P. Curseen, Jr. and Thomas L. Morris, Jr. I can think of nothing 
more appropriate to honor the memory and tireless service of these two 
men. Our action today clears the way for the President to sign the bill 
into law. I especially recognize Celeste Curseen and Mary Morris. While 
nothing can erase the suffering of the Morris and Curseen families, I 
hope that the building will stand as a permanent reminder of the 
ultimate sacrifice made by Thomas Morris and Joseph Curseen.
  It has been said that ``neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of 
night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed 
rounds.'' On October 15, 2001, that list was expanded when an anthrax-
tainted letter was opened in my office. We later learned that its 
spread was far greater than first expected. A second letter addressed 
to the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, was discovered weeks later. The 
Hart Senate Office Building was closed for more than three months. It 
took nearly six months to remediate and renovate my own office in that 
building. In the end, nearly a dozen people nationwide contracted 
inhalation anthrax, and five people, including Thomas Morris and Joseph 
Curseen, died as a result of this senseless act of bioterrorism.
  Today, nearly a year later, the Brentwood facility where the letter 
was processed remains closed, with plans underway for a complete 
remediation and reopening of that building. Never again can anyone take 
the delivery of their mail for granted.
  My staff and I feel a special kinship with the postal workers and 
others affected by these attacks. While the uncertainty and horror of 
October 15--the day the letter addressed to me was opened in my 
office--and the ensuing months were very real for us, the suffering of 
those struck by the disease was even greater. We can only imagine the 
pain experienced by Thomas Morris, Joseph Curseen, and their families, 
pain shared by the families of Robert Stevens, Kathy Thi Nguyen, and 
Ottilie Lundgren, who also lost their lives as a result of this 
terrorist act. Fortunately, LeRoy Richmond, Norma Wallace, ``George 
Fairfax,'' David Hose, and Ernesto Blanco survived their battles with 
inhalation anthrax, but we know how terrifying their experience must 
have been and that they continue to suffer the physical and emotional 
after-effects. Still others--including three postal workers--dealt with 
the fear and pain associated with the cutaneous form of the disease.
  Postal workers are some of America's quiet heroes. They are on the 
front lines of the war on terrorism here at home--keeping Americans 
safe and keeping all of us connected through the U.S. mail. Ask many of 
them, and they will probably say they are just ``doing their job.'' But 
we know it is more than that, and today we recognize their hard work 
and diligence by honoring two of their fallen comrades. The Joseph 
Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. Processing and Distribution Center 
will forever stand as a memorial to their sacrifice in the line of 
duty.

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