[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17166-17167]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                FRANCISCO A. MARTINEZ FLORES POST OFFICE

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 2396) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte, 
California, as the ``Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2396

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

     SECTION 1. FRANCISCO A. MARTINEZ FLORES POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte, 
     California, shall be known and designated as the ``Francisco 
     A. Martinez Flores 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 Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. 2396.
  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, this legislation, introduced by the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Solis), designates the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte, California, 
as the Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office. All 53 members of the 
California delegation have signed on to this bill as cosponsors.
  The story of Lance Corporal Flores is one of remarkable courage. Born 
in Guadalajara, Mexico, Francisco came to the United States with his 
family at the age of 3. His family settled in the community of Duarte, 
California, east of Los Angeles. He grew up in Duarte, attended Duarte 
High School where he was a standout in the jazz band and on the 
football team. When Francisco graduated from high school in the spring 
of 2000, he bravely enlisted in the Marine Corps despite not yet being 
an American citizen. He was assigned to the First Marine Division and 
sent north to Twenty-nine Palms, California, the home of the Marine 
Corps Air-Ground Combat Center. After 2\1/2\ years of active duty in 
California, Lance Corporal Flores courageously journeyed with many of 
his fellow Marines across the globe to Iraq in January of this year for 
the military buildup to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  On March 25, 6 days into the war of liberation of Iraq, Lance 
Corporal Flores was killed in action outside of Nasiriyah in 
southeastern Iraq.

                              {time}  1400

  Sadly, he was less than 2 weeks from earning his United States 
citizenship, something that was his lifelong dream.
  Mr. Speaker, Lance Corporal Francisco A. Martinez Flores lived an 
extraordinary life, albeit a tragically short one. He represents the 
best of what American immigrants bring to this country. I commend the 
gentlewoman from California for introducing this bill, that it will 
appropriately honor his sacrifices to our Nation.
  I want to let all Members know that Lance Corporal Flores was 
deservingly granted his U.S. citizenship posthumously on April 6, right 
on schedule. Therefore, I urge all Members to support the passage of 
this bill that will name this post office after Lance Corporal Flores 
in his hometown.
  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, H.R. 2396, which designates the facility of United 
States Postal Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte, 
California, as the ``Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office'' was 
introduced by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) on June 9, 
2003. The bill has been cosponsored by the entire California 
delegation.
  Mr. Speaker, Francisco A. Martinez Flores was 3 years old when his 
family moved from Mexico to California. He joined the Marines so that 
he could go to college. Unfortunately, at the early age of 21, Lance 
Corporal Francisco Martinez Flores, who was assigned to the 1st Tank 
Battalion, 1st Marine Division in Twentynine Palms, California, was 
killed in Iraq on March 25, 2003. He died when his tank went over a 
collapsing bridge and tumbled into the Euphrates River.
  The oldest of four children, Corporal Martinez was to have become a 
citizen of the U.S. in April of this year. Unfortunately, he died 
before he could take the oath of allegiance. He was buried as an 
American after being granted his citizenship posthumously.
  Mr. Speaker, my heart goes out to Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez 
Flores, with commendations, who gave his life before being granted or 
having the opportunity to have been granted his citizenship. I express 
condolences to his mother and to his siblings, and I commend the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) for seeking to honor the memory 
of a fallen hero, a soldier who gave his life so that others may 
experience the freedom, the liberty, and the opportunities that he 
never got an opportunity to fully enjoy. One cannot give much more than 
that, and I would urge swift passage of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the author of this resolution, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Solis).
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank our ranking member and also the 
chairman of the Committee on Government Reform. We just came back from 
celebrating July 4, and on that occasion I had the opportunity of 
attending one of the local parades in one of my cities, Rosemead, 
California. I met four soldiers that had just returned from Iraq, about 
the same age as Francisco Martinez Flores, and their stories were also 
heartening and compelling. They came back to their families, and I had 
a chance to meet them.
  Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez Flores, a young man of 21 years of 
age, did not come back. And people ask me, Congresswoman, why is it 
that you want to name a post office after this young man? He was not an 
elected official. He was very young in life and was just barely 
starting out in his own career and finding his way. One of the things I 
have to tell the Members is that what when I read the tragic story of 
his death, one of the first soldiers to die among those in California, 
I was very moved, very moved to see his family and the community of 
Duarte that I now represent in the 32nd Congressional District come 
together. I attended his funeral where there were 1,200 people from 
outside of that city who came to gather to pay witness to this young 
man who had served and given his life.

[[Page 17167]]

  As was stated earlier by my colleagues, this young man was not 
originally from the United States. At 3 years of age, he came to this 
country with his parents from Guadalajara, Mexico, but he attended our 
local high school in Duarte, participated in many activities, 
extracurricular, football team and the jazz band. He even wanted to be 
a member of our government, serving as a police officer. He will never 
get to realize that dream, and I saw that this was an opportunity for 
us to pay tribute to someone like him, like many other soldiers who are 
now serving and some that have not returned that we should pay tribute 
to, for they made and they make the ultimate sacrifice without a doubt 
and without question. In fact, his mother was quoted, and I recall at 
the church the mass that I attended at that funeral, her name is Martha 
Martinez, and she said of him, ``He loved the United States so much. He 
was from Mexico, but he was fighting for America and its ideals.'' 
Everyone was touched and moved by that statement.
  Lance Corporal Martinez Flores was not just a brave and self-
sacrificing marine, but he was a loving son, a brother and a friend to 
many who live in the 32nd Congressional District. He was the eldest of 
four siblings that emigrated to the country, and as I said, he served a 
short time there at high school in various extracurricular activities.
  And on that day January 23, 2003, he was sent abroad to fight in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, probably not knowing that he would never come 
home. He was just 2 weeks shy from gaining his United States 
citizenship. Lance Corporal Martinez Flores was killed in the line of 
duty near Nasiriyah, Iraq, on March 25, 2003, and after his death, 
Lance Corporal Martinez's family proudly accepted a certificate of 
naturalization granting to Francisco posthumous U.S. citizenship on 
April 6, 2003. He was one of thousands of lawful permanent residents 
who have volunteered their service to protect the United States by 
joining the U.S. military.
  Lance Corporal Martinez Flores was a courageous and dedicated marine 
who grew up in our local community of Duarte, and I am privileged that 
we will be naming a Federal building after him in his hometown.
  Local residents in the city there have also shown their support to 
honor him. They have come together to put together their own funds to 
develop a scholarship in his name. And all 52 Members on a bipartisan 
effort from California support this initiative. The mayor and the city 
council of the city of Duarte are also bipartisan and support this 
piece of legislation. These efforts now will lead to the post office at 
1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte, California, to be named Francisco A. 
Martinez Flores.
  I want to thank all of them for their support for the bill, all those 
that had the ability to be a part of this to help us move this along in 
an expeditious manner, and I want to especially thank the family 
members and those people that represent that community that came 
together to fully unify themselves behind this young man. It is 
devastating for us to know that someone has to lose their life under 
such turbulent time and hardship to have a community come together like 
that. This was one of those moments in our history. The bill is a 
tribute to all those who have died to our country, and it is a tribute 
to all the families who have lost a loved one. The bill symbolizes the 
gratitude and admiration we have for our Nation's soldiers who risk 
their life to uphold their way of life and the American ideals of 
liberty, justice, and equality. And I urge all my colleagues to join me 
in recognizing this American hero, Lance Corporal Francisco A. Martinez 
Flores, who fought and died for our country, by supporting this bill 
today, H.R. 2396.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Let me say I commend my colleague for bringing this legislation to 
the floor. In our usual order of things, it is individuals with power, 
prestige, and notoriety that get postal namings, but it is the 
Francisco Floreses of this world, many of them immigrants, who built 
this country, who make it run every day, and who fight to keep it free. 
He is in a larger sense, as the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) 
says, an American hero, and I urge adoption of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez).
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to 
stand before the Members today in support of H.R. 2396. This 
legislation designates the post office located at 1210 Highland Avenue 
in Duarte, California, after a courageous young marine, Lance Corporal 
Francisco Martinez Flores.
  Lance Corporal Flores was killed in the line of duty near Nasiriyah, 
Iraq, on March 25, 2003, protecting the rights, beliefs, and values of 
a Nation that he could not yet call his own. He was just 2 weeks away 
from gaining his U.S. citizenship, which was granted posthumously on 
April 6, 2003.
  According to the Department of Defense, an estimated 37,000 legal 
permanent residents are currently serving on Active Duty in our Armed 
Forces. These young men and women have willingly volunteered to carry 
out one of the most solemn duties any nation can ask of its people, and 
they have more than earned the right to become citizens of the Nation 
they have sworn to uphold and protect. Their contributions should 
always be remembered.
  Naming the post office after Lance Corporal Flores is not just a way 
to honor his memory, but also a small way to show appreciation and 
respect to the other 200 soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. 
Each day when a person walks through the Highland Avenue Post Office 
located in Duarte, California, they will be able to read about this 
hero and remember that it is the people in their community who 
contribute to the freedoms that we all enjoy as Americans.
  I would like to thank every man and woman currently serving in the 
U.S. military. I hope they stay safe, and I wish them a speedy return, 
and I sleep better at night knowing that they are doing such a 
tremendous job, and I sleep better at night knowing that people like 
Francisco Martinez Flores are there serving our country. I urge all my 
colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2396.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  With the understanding and recognition that I agree with the 
gentlewoman from California that if one has the right to fight and die, 
one certainly has the right to citizenship, I would urge swift passage 
of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). 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. 2396.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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