[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18555-18556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                WILLIAM J. SCHERLE POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration 
of S. 1399 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1399) to redesignate the facility of the United 
     States Postal Service located at 101 South Vine Street in 
     Glenwood, Iowa, as the ``William J. Scherle Post Office 
     Building''.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. 1399, a bill I 
am happy to cosponsor with Senator Harkin, to name the post office in 
Glenwood, IA, the William J. Scherle Post Office Building. Former 
Congressman Bill Scherle served in the U.S. House of Representatives 
for four terms, from 1967-1975. Before that, we served together in the 
Iowa House of Representatives. Bill Scherle is originally from

[[Page 18556]]

New York State, so he was not born an Iowan, but you would never know 
it. He acclimated well to Iowa, living on a farm near the small 
southwestern Iowa town of Henderson. Bill is a farmer through and 
through. He was a plainspoken conservative voice in Congress and he 
represented his largely rural western Iowa district well. He then went 
on to serve his country in the Department of Agriculture. Bill Scherle 
has given a good portion of his life to public service and it is 
fitting that a post office near his home be named in his honor. In 
fact, Bill Scherle's legacy as a public servant is demonstrated by the 
fact that this bill to honor him is a bipartisan initiative. Both 
Senator Harkin and I recognize the contribution made by Bill Scherle to 
Iowa and to the United States. I was very sorry when I recently learned 
that Bill is in poor health. I wish him the best and my prayers are 
with him and his family. I am glad that we have this opportunity now to 
recognize Bill and his service to his State and his Nation. I would 
like to thank Chairman Collins for her help in allowing this bill to be 
moved quickly through the Government Affairs Committee and the Senate. 
I know that Congressman King, who follows in Congressman Scherle's 
footsteps, has sponsored a similar measure in the House with the 
support of others from the Iowa delegation. Those who know Bill Scherle 
or know of his legacy understand why this honor is so appropriate and I 
hope this bill can be enacted very soon.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate is 
moving towards passage today of legislation that would name the 
Glenwood, IA, post office for former Iowa Congressman, William J. 
Scherle. Bill Scherle and his wife Jane live on their family farm just 
outside of Henderson, IA, in Mills County. Glenwood is the county seat 
of Mills County. Bill served four terms in the U.S. House of 
Representatives, beginning with three terms in 1967 in what was then 
Iowa's 7th Congressional District, and a term in the re-districted 5th 
Congressional District. I think it is appropriate that Glenwood's Post 
Office will soon permanently bear Congressman Scherle's name.
  Bill long served his Nation. He started with military service in the 
Navy and Coast Guard during World War II, then afterwards served in the 
Naval Reserve. He chaired the Mills County Republican Party for almost 
a decade starting in 1956. He served in the Iowa legislature from 1960 
through 1966. He then was elected to the U.S. Congress and served 
through 1974, including service on the Education and Labor Committee 
and the Appropriations Committee. His public service continued in 1975 
and 1976, when he was appointed to a senior position at the Department 
of Agriculture.
  In January 1968, North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, imprisoned and 
tortured the crew. Congressman Scherle led the effort in Congress to 
free the crew of the Pueblo. I have always admired Bill's tenacity in 
never letting the Pueblo crew be forgotten. Bill was the only Member of 
Congress invited to attend Pueblo reunions and as their health has 
allowed, Bill and Jane always have attended.
  Bill and I are at different places on the political spectrum, and I 
ran against him for Congress twice. He won the first time, and I won 
the re-match. We disagreed on many issues, but I always understood that 
he acted on the basis of strong-held views about what he considered 
were the best interests of those he represented and of the Nation.
  Long after we ran as opponents, I got to know Bill and visited him on 
his farm. He is a good person who cares deeply about his community and 
rural America. Politics has always had a certain amount of rough and 
tumble. But while Bill was certainly a good Republican who wanted to 
see consistent victories for the GOP, he also could see the good in all 
people.
  One area of our mutual interest was the Iowa School for the Deaf in 
Council Bluffs. Bill always did what he could for the school my brother 
attended years ago, and for deaf people in general.
  Congressman Scherle always cared about children and their welfare. He 
wrote a children's book. ``The Happy Barn.'' He gave away thousands of 
copies to schools, hospitals and individual families in Southwest Iowa 
and the Omaha area, reading to young children time after time. He had 
lots of fun reading to children, and I believe that there are few more 
valuable things we can do as adults than to read to children and get 
them started on that most important activity.
  Bill was a businessman and farmer, proud of both professions. He 
received the Alegent Health Mercy Hospital Heritage Award for his 
contributions to business in Southwest Iowa.
  He remains a good father to his two sons, and a good husband to his 
wife of 55 years, Jane. He is blessed with 6 grandchildren--five girls 
and a boy. Bill has lived a dedicated, patriotic, family and public 
service life.
  I am pleased that my colleague, Senator Grassley, joins me in 
sponsoring this legislation. Congressman King has introduced similar 
legislation in the House of Representatives.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time 
and passed, that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 
any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1399) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 1399

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

     SECTION 1. WILLIAM J. SCHERLE POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Redesignation.--The facility of the United States 
     Postal Service located at 101 South Vine Street in Glenwood, 
     Iowa, and known as the Glenwood Main Office, shall be known 
     and designated as the ``William J. Scherle 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 William J. Scherle Post Office Building.

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