[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17164-17166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1345
                 GARNER E. SHRIVER POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 1761) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 9350 East Corporate Hill Drive in 
Wichita, Kansas, as the ``Garner E. Shriver Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1761

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

     SECTION 1. GARNER E. SHRIVER POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 9350 East Corporate Hill Drive in Wichita, 
     Kansas, shall be known and designated as the ``Garner E. 
     Shriver 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 Garner E. Shriver Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. 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. 1761.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1761, introduced by the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Tiahrt), designates the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 9350 East Corporate Hill Drive in Wichita, Kansas, as the 
Garner E. Shriver Post Office Building. All members of the Kansas 
congressional delegation have cosponsored this legislation.
  Garner Shriver represented the Fourth Congressional District of 
Kansas in this House for 8 terms, from 1961 to 1977. He was a lifelong 
resident of the Sunflower State; he spent nearly his entire adult life 
working for other Kansas residents, first as the State legislator and 
later as a U.S. Representative. This legislation is a fitting 
commemoration of his service to his home State and to the entire 
Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, Garner Shriver was born in Towanda, Kansas, July 6, 
1912. He and his family moved to Wichita in 1925, and he graduated from 
the University of Wichita in 1934. Following his college graduation, he 
enrolled in the Washburn School of Law and received a law degree in 
February, 1940.
  After he was admitted to the bar, he entered into public service for 
the first time by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. He spent 3 years as an 
officer in the Navy; and after being honorably discharged, he chose to 
run for public office. He was elected to the Kansas State House where 
he served 2 terms. In 1951, he left the State House to run successfully 
for the Kansas Senate, which he served from 1953 to 1960. Finally, in 
the fall of 1960, the voters of the Fourth Congressional District of 
Kansas sent Garner E. Shriver to Washington for the first of 8 
distinguished terms in the House of Representatives.
  In Congress, he was an influential member of the Committee on 
Appropriations. He accomplished much during his 16 years in the House, 
but he fought extra hard for his fellow veterans, particularly working 
to secure health and education benefits for his peers when they 
completed their duties with the U.S. Armed Forces.
  Moreover, even when he left the House in 1977, he stayed in 
Washington to fight for veterans by moving a few blocks north and 
becoming the staff director for the Committee on Veterans Affairs. He 
worked in the Senate for 5 years before returning home to Kansas in 
1982 to practice law.
  Garner E. Shriver passed away on March 1, 1998, at the age of 85. He 
was a remarkable American who succeeded at everything he tried in life, 
and I know the citizens of Kansas still feel very grateful to him for 
his years of dedication. Congressman Shriver preceded the gentleman 
from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) as the representative of the fourth district, 
and I congratulate my colleague for his work on this measure.
  I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 1761 that honors 
the life and service of Congressman Garner E. Shriver.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with the chairman of the Committee 
on Government Reform in consideration of H.R. 1761, which designates 
the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9350 East 
Corporate Hill Drive in Wichita, Kansas, as the Garner E. Shriver Post 
Office Building, which was introduced by the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Tiahrt) on April 10, 2003. The bill has been cosponsored by the entire 
Kansas delegation.
  Garner E. Shriver served in both the Kansas House of Representatives 
and the State Senate before being elected to represent the Fourth 
Congressional District of Kansas. Reelected seven times, Representative 
Shriver served on the House Committee on Appropriations. He left the 
House in 1977 and went to the United States Senate where he served as 
the minority staff director and general counsel for the Senate 
Committee on Veterans Affairs from 1977 until 1982. He practiced law 
until his death in 1998.
  He was obviously a person who spent all of his life working from one 
career to another career doing outstandingly well in each and every one 
of them. I think the designation, or the naming, of a postal facility 
in his honor is appropriate and serves as an indication of the 
tremendous legacy of service that he left. I urge swift passage of this 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt), the author of this 
legislation.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a former Member of 
this distinguished body, the late Congressman Garner E. Shriver. 
Congressman Shriver was born July 6, 1912, in the small Butler County 
town of Towanda, Kansas. His family later moved to Wichita in 1925 
where he attended public schools and graduated from Wichita East. He 
remained in Wichita to receive his undergraduate degree from the 
University of Wichita, now Wichita State University, in 1934. Today his 
congressional papers are kept in the Ablah Library at Wichita State.
  In 1940, he graduated from Washburn University School of Law in 
Topeka, Kansas. He put himself both through undergraduate and law 
school by working odd jobs, including serving as a doorman.
  In 1941, Garner Shriver married Martha Jane Currier, his wife for the 
next 50 years of his life. However, before he and Martha had a chance 
to begin raising a family, World War II pulled him away from home. Mr. 
Shriver enlisted in the Navy; and after 10 months, he received a 
commission as lieutenant, leaving the Navy after 3 years as an officer. 
At the end of the war, Lieutenant Shriver found himself commanding a 
boat group in the Pacific for the Navy.

[[Page 17165]]

  Not long after the war effort ended, Mr. Shriver made his first 
attempt at elected office. In 1946, he ran for the Kansas House of 
Representatives. He entered the race because, as he said, he felt he 
did not have anything to lose. Representative Shriver etched out a 
victory by a slim margin of only 222 votes. And so began the long and 
distinguished career of a great Kansas statesman.
  After serving 2 terms in the Kansas House, Representative Shriver had 
greater ambitions and was elected to the Kansas State Senate where he 
served for two 4-year terms. During his 12 years of service in the 
Kansas legislature, he championed many worthwhile causes, including 
education for handicapped and mentally challenged children, keeping 
reckless drivers off the highways, creating the Kansas State Park 
Authority, important flood control legislation, and setting up the 4-H 
livestock show.
  In 1960, he left State politics to run for Congress. Winning what was 
characterized as ``a very spirited race,'' Garner Shriver became the 
new Representative of the Fourth Congressional District. At that time, 
the district included Sedwick and 14 other counties which are 
considered to be heavily Democratic. Congressman Shriver went on to win 
eight consecutive races before losing in a narrow defeat of 3,200 votes 
in 1976 to former Congressman and former Secretary of Agriculture Dan 
Glickman.
  During his 16 years in Congress, Mr. Shriver became an influential 
voice on significant issues of the day, including health care and 
education benefits for our Nation's veterans, as well as landmark civil 
rights legislation. Congressman Shriver served on the committee that 
drafted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His family is very proud of the 
fact that they have one of the pens President Lyndon Johnson used to 
sign the historic legislation into law.
  While Congressman Shriver worked on various issues of national 
concern during his time, he was a relentless advocate of his 
constituents back in Kansas. As a senior member of the Committee on 
Appropriations, Representative Shriver was in a unique position to 
protect the vital interests of the fourth district of Kansas and the 
State of Kansas.
  When Representative Shriver left Congress in 1977, he was ranking 
member of the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations and third ranking Republican on the full committee. In that 
important capacity, Congressman Shriver was able to make sure Kansas 
was never overlooked during the Federal budget process.
  Although he left the House in 1977, he did not leave Congress. He 
moved over to the Senate and served as minority staff director and 
general counsel for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee until 1982 
where he made a significant impact on the lives of his fellow veterans.
  Upon completion of a near-lifetime of public service, Congressman 
Shriver returned home to Wichita where he practiced law and spent the 
rest of his life alongside his loving and dedicated wife, Martha Jane, 
until his death on March 1, 1998. Garner Shriver is survived by his 
wife and three children, David, Kay and Linda. He also has seven 
grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
  During the nearly 30 years of elected public office, the name of 
Garner Shriver became synonymous with Wichita and south central Kansas. 
Simply put, Garner Shriver was a political giant. I am honored to 
succeed him as the current fourth district Representative, and I am 
pleased to have an opportunity to commemorate his service to our Nation 
by sponsoring this legislation.
  Mr. Shriver's beloved wife, Martha Jane Shriver, receives her mail 
from the United States post office at 9350 East Corporate Hill Drive in 
Wichita, Kansas; and this is an especially appropriate location to 
designate the Garner E. Shriver Post Office Building.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I commend the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) for introducing this 
legislation. Garner E. Shriver during his years in Congress lived in 
Lake Barcroft, which is the community I live in and represent in 
Congress. He was a good family man and neighbor there as well. This is 
a fitting commemoration for a very distinguished statesman, and I urge 
all of my colleagues to support adoption of this measure.
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with the rest of the 
Kansas congressional delegation in supporting H.R. 1761, which will 
designate a post office in Wichita, KS, as the ``Garner E. Shriver Post 
Office.''
  As a Kansas native, who was raised in Wichita, I well remember 
Congressman Garner Shriver. My father, Warner Moore, served as Sedgwick 
County Attorney in the 1950s and was the Democratic nominee in 1958 for 
the congressional seat later held by Shriver. My father came within 
less than 2,400 votes of defeating Representative Edward Rees, who had 
held the seat since first being elected in 1936. Two years later, 
Representative Rees retired, and my father lost a very close primary 
battle with William Robinson, who was defeated for the open seat by 
Garner Shriver, who won with a margin of over 22,000 votes.
  Garner Shriver served as a U.S. Representative for 16 years. He was 
born in Towanda, KS, in 1912; his family moved to Wichita in 1925. He 
graduated from University of Wichita in 1934; after postgraduate study 
at the University of Southern California, he graduated from Washburn 
University School of Law in 1940. The following year, he married Martha 
Jane Currier, who would be his wife for 56 years--they had three 
children: Kay, David, and Linda. He worked for Fox-Vlient Drug Company 
of Wichita from 1934-36, and taught speech at South Haven High School, 
of South Haven, KS, in 1936-37. Shriver joined the Navy at the outset 
of World War II and served 10 months in the enlisted ranks before being 
commissioned as lieutenant, senior grade. He was a boat group commander 
in the Pacific at the end of the war.
  Shriver agreed to run for the Kansas Legislature in 1946, because, as 
his wife was later quoted as saying, ``he figures he didn't have 
anything to lose. When we went to bed that night, we didn't know 
anything about elections. We woke up in the morning and he'd won by 22 
votes.'' He served two terms in the Kansas House and two terms in the 
Kansas Senate before being elected to the House of Representatives in 
1960. Senator Bob Dole, who was in Shriver's freshman class of House 
Members, recalled at this funeral that he ``was known as a quiet and 
effective legislator and someone who kept his word. He was an exemplary 
husband and father.'' Former Representative Dan Glickman, who defeated 
Shriver in 1976, recalled him as ``one who helped his district and 
state a lot, while being very congenial, civilized; not noisy, not 
polarizing.''
  Garner Shriver rose to be the ranking Republican on the House 
Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee; he also was one of the 
original appointees to the House Budget Committee upon its 
establishment. Low key and moderately conservative, he was an active 
supporter of medical benefits for World War II veterans and for combat 
pay for Vietnam-era servicemembers. Early in his career, he served on a 
House subcommittee that originated the Civil Rights Act of 1964; his 
family still treasures one of the pens used by President Johnson in 
signing the measure into law. As the Whichita Eagle's obituary put it, 
Garner Shriver ``embraced politics, seeing public service as a mandate 
for living a truly Christian life.'' As the Shriver family's minister 
and eulogist at his funeral, the Reverend George Gardner said, ``Garner 
Shriver was always mindful of the people. They were not his people but 
God's people. And he thought they must be served with generosity, 
kindness and compassion.''
  Following his defeat in 1976, Shriver remained in Washington, DC, 
until 1982, working as the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee's 
minority staff director and general counsel. After concluding that 
service, he returned to private law practice in Wichita, where he died 
in 1998.
  Mr. Speaker, it is fitting that we come together today to commemorate 
the life and service of Garner Shriver with the naming of this post 
Office. As Reverend Gardner said at his funeral, ``Garner Shriver came 
to us with energy and compassion and from his life we were called to a 
higher standard of principle. In him, we saw the value of public 
service as he revealed to us the great privilege of living in 
America.''
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests 
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page 17166]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1761.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. 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.

                          ____________________