[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 29545-29546]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RONALD REAGAN POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the Senate bill (S. 867) to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 710 Wicks Lane in Billings, Montana, as the 
``Ronald Reagan Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                 S. 867

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF RONALD REAGAN POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) In General.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 710 Wicks Lane in Billings, Montana, shall 
     be known and designated as the ``Ronald Reagan 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 Ronald Reagan Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks on S. 867, the Senate bill now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us was introduced in the other body by 
Senator Conrad Burns of Montana. It names the post office in Billings, 
Montana, after our former President, Ronald Reagan.
  What could be said of our 40th President that has not already been 
said? President Ronald Reagan led America through its longest recorded 
period of peacetime prosperity. Through his tax-cutting initiative, 
President Reagan was able to stimulate the economy and create jobs all 
while curbing inflation. He also secured an unthinkable comprehensive 
reform of the Tax Code, one that relieved millions of low-income 
Americans from paying income taxes and eliminated many exemptions for 
massive corporations.
  Internationally, President Reagan strengthened our national defense 
during a tenuous time in world history. Largely due to his leadership 
and commitment to building up America's Armed Forces and defense 
technology, democracy defeated communism as the Cold War ended shortly 
after he left the White House. President Reagan succeeded because he 
viewed the Soviets not as people to be simply contained but people who 
executed a cruel system of government that needed to be crushed. 
America's success in the Cold War made the world a much safer place.
  And who could forget the sad day when he was shot outside the 
Washington Hilton Hotel just months after being inaugurated in 1981. It 
reminded many of the 1960s, when our Nation tragically lost so many of 
our leaders to assassins' bullets. Gracefully, President Reagan pulled 
through, and the entire Nation rallied around the recovering 
President's wit and charm in the wake of this life-threatening attack.
  Mr. Speaker, President Reagan is the only President ever to reach the 
age of 92 years. He continues to live in California today with his 
wife, the former First Lady, Nancy. On behalf of a grateful House of 
Representatives, I wish President and Mrs. Reagan the very best.
  Ronald Reagan is one of those figures in American history about whom 
it is very difficult to talk for only a short time. I will simply close 
by commending the distinguished Senator from Montana for his bill and 
giving this House the opportunity to remember the national leadership 
of President Ronald Reagan.
  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, as a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, 
I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of S. 867, 
legislation naming a postal facility after Ronald Reagan. S. 867, which 
was introduced by Senator Conrad Burns on April 10, 2003, was approved 
by voice vote in the Committee on Government Reform on July 10, 2003.
  Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. He served 
as President from January 1981 to January 1989. At 73, he was the 
oldest man ever elected President. He was well-known as Dutch, the 
Gipper, and the Great Communicator. An actor by profession, President 
Reagan served as Governor of California from 1966 to 1974. During his 
Presidency, his economic policies came to be known as ``Reaganomics.''
  In 1994, former President Reagan announced that he was afflicted with 
Alzheimer's. And although a number of facilities have been named after 
him, schools, streets, highways, a postal facility in West Melbourne, 
Florida, and even the Washington, D.C. National Airport, a crowning 
achievement was when President William Clinton dedicated the Ronald 
Reagan Building in 1998. That building, located in the District of 
Columbia, houses an international trade center, international cultural 
activities, the Agency for International Development, and many other 
entities.

[[Page 29546]]

  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed appropriate that we remember those who have 
led our country, and naming this postal facility after former President 
Ronald Reagan fits that description. I would urge swift passage of this 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume and state again my strong support of Senate bill 867, which 
names a post office in Billings, Montana, after our illustrious 
President Ronald Reagan.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 867.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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