[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11] [House] [Pages 15766-15768] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]JOHN F. WHITESIDE JOLIET POST OFFICE BUILDING Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2113) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2000 McDonough Street in Joliet, Illinois, as the ``John F. Whiteside Joliet Post Office Building''. The Clerk read as follows: H.R. 2113 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. JOHN F. WHITESIDE JOLIET POST OFFICE BUILDING. (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2000 McDonough Street in Joliet, Illinois, shall be known and designated as the ``John F. Whiteside Joliet 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 ``John F. Whiteside Joliet Post Office Building''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent). General Leave Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2113. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania? There was no objection. Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2113 introduced by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) names this Post Office in Joliet, Illinois, as the John F. Whiteside Joliet Post Office Building. All 18 Illinois colleagues of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) have cosponsored this bill, and I am pleased to participate in this bill's consideration today. John Whiteside was a long time opinion writer for the Joliet Herald News. Upon graduation from Northern Illinois University in 1971, he was hired by the Herald News which was the only newspaper he ever worked for. For the first decade of his career, he worked as a beat and general assignment reporter. But in 1981, he began writing a daily column in the paper each weekday that became beloved by Joliet residents. Mr. Whiteside wrote the vast majority of his columns on local matters. The most frequent and passionate topics on which he opined were matters of importance to community veterans and law enforcement officials. An Air Force veteran himself, Whiteside correctly viewed all of our Nation's military service veterans as American heroes. He, likewise, had tremendous respect for police officers, once championing an attempt to raise funds for a police memorial in Joliet, among other efforts. For his eloquent advocacy over many years, it appears safe to say his subjects admired him, too. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, after battling cancer for 18 months, John Whiteside passed away on January 22, 2005. He was 61 years old. Days after he died, the front page of the Sunday Herald News carried one final John Whiteside column. It was a posthumous article full of life's lessons that he had written in anticipation of his death. It was a touching end to a meaningful career that was cut short by a struggle with cancer. {time} 1130 His struggle was all the more touching because Whiteside had shared tales of his battle with melanoma with his readers from October 2003 through his passing in January 2005. On a personal note, my own father- in-law passed away from that same disease in January of this year, so I have some understanding of what Mr. Whiteside and his family went through. My sympathies go out to his family. Mr. Speaker, John Whiteside was indeed a memorable resident of Joliet. Readers of the Herald News have spent a few moments with John every Monday through Friday for nearly a quarter of a century. For these reasons, it is fitting that the House would pass this bill to name a post office in his honor in his hometown of Joliet. I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 2113. 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 Government Reform Committee, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 2113, legislation naming a postal facility in Joliet, Illinois, after the late John Whiteside. This measure was introduced by my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller), on May 5, 2005, and unanimously reported by the Government Reform Committee on June 16, 2005. H.R. 2113 enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire Illinois State delegation. John Whiteside worked at the Herald News, a suburban Chicago newspaper, for 34 years as a reporter and columnist. He was well respected in his community as someone who fought for the rights of veterans. As a veteran, one of his most notable achievements was to increase the number of honor guard volunteers for the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois. Sadly, John Whiteside passed away in January of cancer. Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend and colleague for renaming the Joliet post office after Mr. Whiteside and urge support for this measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller). Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2113, legislation in tribute to John Whiteside which names the Joliet post office in his honor. John Whiteside was a citizen and a local hero from the congressional district that I have the opportunity to represent, a man who touched so many lives through his daily commentary with the Herald News in Joliet, Illinois. John F. Whiteside inspired countless readers through his 34 years of service with the newspaper. Let me begin by thanking Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis; my friend Mr. Dent of Pennsylvania; my very, very good friend Mr. Davis of Illinois for joining me here on the floor today; and the support of the Government Reform Committee for this legislation, because today the House will be voting on legislation that I along with the entire delegation of Illinois, all 19 Republicans [[Page 15767]] and Democrats, have cosponsored, legislation naming the Joliet post office the John F. Whiteside Joliet Post Office Building. I would note that this post office building is on McDonough Avenue just a few short blocks from the Joliet Herald News offices where he put in so many hours and so many days over the years. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation today. John Whiteside started his career with the Joliet Herald News in 1971 as a beat reporter and became a true storyteller in 1981 when he started his own personal daily column. Many of his columns focused on the good nature of people, and he especially loved writing about police officers and veterans because he looked to police officers and veterans as his heroes. Readers appreciated his dedication and his advocacy for veterans. John himself was a United States Air Force veteran and wrote thousands of stories about the concerns of local veterans. One of the biggest veterans accomplishments for John, something he was so proud of and something he invested so much time and personal effort in, was helping organize the honor guard units for military funerals at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery located outside of Joliet at the former Joliet arsenal. Mr. Whiteside's legacy included helping to raise funds that equipped squad cars in Will County with video cameras to help nail drunk drivers. He is also noted for reviving police interest in the unsolved disappearance of Joliet newspaper editor Molly Zelko in 1957. Mr. Whiteside was a recipient of many awards during his 34-year career with the Herald News in Joliet, Illinois, and some of these awards and recognitions included the Will County Sheriff's Department 2004 lifetime achievement award; Joliet area historical museum war heroes gallery named in John Whiteside's honor; and an Illinois State house resolution in 2004 honoring his long service to the Herald News and the Joliet community, just to name a few. As a columnist, John knew how to connect with every reader through the emotions he brought to his stories. He brought even more emotion to them when he found out he had melanoma cancer in the fall of 2003. Through his trials and tribulations, he chose to share his cancer story with his readers and gave many other cancer victims empathy and hope in their own troubled times. On January 22, 2005, John Whiteside lost his battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife, Mary Jane, and his daughter, Shelley. He so enjoyed spending time with his family and will be remembered for the time he spent creating birdhouses out of wood in the basement of his home. In Mr. Whiteside's very last column, he gave some very valuable advice. He said, ``Live every second of every minute of every hour of every day you are given on this good Earth. Look for the positive. Search for the smile. Seek out the good. It is all around you if you just take the time to recognize it.'' Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes to share John Whiteside's last column with my colleagues. This column, of course, was published after John passed away on the front page of Joliet Herald News. It is entitled, ``Lifelong Dream Ends in Final Column,'' published in the Herald News on January 23, 2005. ``If you're reading this, I have already looked upon the face of God. And I pray that he has nodded his head in a positive way. ``I had a good life. A good wife and daughter. Good friends and good times. A good job. ``But, sure, I have some regrets. I did some wrongs at times, which I hope I have been forgiven for doing. The last months of my life were full of blessings. So many of you prayed for me and wrote of your concern for my health. I had hoped for a miracle, but it wasn't meant to be. I guess I completed my purpose in being in this world. ``In heaven, well, I don't expect pearly gates and streets of gold. But I know I'll find a place full of goodness, compassion, and mercy. There will be no evil. No meanness. No brutal crime and war. No disease and illness. No jealousy and no hatred. No greed. And no politics. ``If I am allowed to enter this place, I believe that I will be united with my lost loved ones, including my dad, Uncle John, Aunt Mary, Grandma and a whole bunch of great uncles and aunts who loved me as a child. I'll see my buddies like Happy Chopp, Dan Stobbe and Ralph Wick. ``As I visualize my role in heaven, maybe God needs a birdhouse builder to construct shelters for his birds which sing lovely songs. I really have enjoyed creating birdhouses. Some of my happiest hours were in my basement workshop cutting and hammering on them. ``But the real love of my life, outside of my wife and daughter, has been this column. From the time I was old enough to dream, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a storyteller. And I even thought that God told me as a child that I would be a writer. ``The column gave me an outlet to hook words together and tell you a story on a daily basis. I wrote thousands and remembered most of them. But I couldn't remember the names. I thought that the Lord directed me at times to tell certain tales, which just seemed to fall into my lap. Someone told someone to call John Whiteside because they recognized that as my kind of story. ``Two of my very best friends have been storytellers, too, Marx Gibson and Lonny Cain. Both were mentors as well as buddies. ``In my last days, cancer changed me. I believe it made me a better man. It brought me closer to my wife and daughter. It made me more compassionate to mankind. It brought me honors from friends, colleagues and people. ``I have no major regrets. I called them, for the most part, like I saw them. But I wasted time when I should have been living every moment to the fullest. ``If I have any advice to pass on to the rest of you, it's all about living. Living every second of every minute of every hour of every day you are given on this good Earth. And don't get caught up in any form of hatred. Hatred, anger, and the negative only feeds upon you and will destroy you. Look for the positive. Search for the smile. Seek out the good. It is all around you if you just take the time to recognize it. And laugh a lot, because laughter is healthy. ``As my storytelling days have ended, now perhaps I have the final chapter of what happened to Molly Zelko. Maybe God will allow me to interview her if she made it upstairs, too. ``But, no, Molly isn't what I consider my best accomplishments. They include helping with the honor guard system at the national cemetery, the Taylor Pirc video camera project, writing veterans' memories and building the police memorial in front of the courthouse. ``But most of all, I like my people stories. Stories about ordinary folks caught up in some form of human drama. My favorite saying was, everyone has a story to tell if you just listen. I believed that all of my journalism life. ``But now it's over. Good-bye, my friends. Thanks for reading my stuff. God bless you all. ``At this time, my only regret is that I can't write a column and share with you what is happening to me right now. ``P.S. I don't have a phone number to accept calls anymore. But maybe I can hear a few prayers coming my way.'' That final column published in the Joliet Herald News on January 23 of this year says so much about John Whiteside, and he wrote it in his own words. Ladies and gentlemen of this House, I ask again that you join me in honoring and remembering this extraordinary man who touched so many lives in so many ways and I ask for an ``aye'' vote on H.R. 2113. Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) for his work on H.R. 2113. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from [[Page 15768]] Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2113. 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. ____________________