[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15768-15769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     VINCENT PALLADINO POST OFFICE

  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2183) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 567 Tompkins Avenue in Staten Island, New York, as 
the ``Vincent Palladino Post Office''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2183

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

     SECTION 1. VINCENT PALLADINO POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 567 Tompkins Avenue in Staten Island, New 
     York, shall be known and designated as the ``Vincent 
     Palladino 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 ``Vincent Palladino Post Office''.

  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 the bill under consideration.
  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. 2183 honors the late president of the National 
Association of Postal Supervisors, Vincent Palladino. Palladino passed 
away unexpectedly at his home in nearby Arlington, Virginia, at the age 
of 69 in December 2004. He was a native of Staten Island, New York, 
which is in the district of the distinguished sponsor of H.R. 2183 and 
my good friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella). I 
congratulate the gentleman for offering this important measure.
  After serving his Nation in the Air Force, Palladino began his 
lifelong career in and around the United States Postal Service. He 
started working as a letter carrier in Staten Island in 1960. He was 
later promoted to foreman of mails and then station manager in 1970. 
Last August, Vincent Palladino was elected to his seventh consecutive 
2-year term as president of the postal supervisors association. NAPS is 
an organization that represents more than 35,000 first-line postal 
supervisors who work in facilities where employees process and deliver 
the mail.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear he was a knowledgeable, empathetic and 
effective leader and advocate in the postal community, and that is why 
this post office naming in his honor is so appropriate. 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 House Government Reform Committee, I 
am pleased to join my colleague in the consideration of H.R. 2183, 
legislation designating the postal facility in Staten Island, New York, 
after the late Vincent Palladino. This measure was introduced by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella) on May 5, 2005, and unanimously 
reported by the Government Reform Committee on June 16, 2005. H.R. 2183 
enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire New York delegation.

                              {time}  1145

  Born in New Brighten, New York, Vince Palladino joined the post 
office after serving in the U.S. Air Force. In 1962, he began his 
career as a letter carrier in the Rosebank Post Office. He held several 
supervisory positions, including station manager. In 1986, he was 
elected secretary of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, 
NAPS, and in 1992, he was elected the organization's President.
  Mr. Speaker, as president of NAPS, Vince Palladino spearheaded a very 
impressive management association of over 35,000 active and retired 
supervisors, managers, and postmasters. Throughout his years as 
president, Vince testified before the Committee on Government Reform on 
many occasions. He fought hard to improve the United States Postal 
Service and pressed for changes in performance and labor management 
relations and reforms in pay.
  Vince Palladino left his friends at NAPS and the postal service with 
a very simple, yet poignant message: ``Be fair and honest.''
  Sadly, after serving as president for 12 years, Mr. Palladino died in 
December, 2004, at the age of 69.
  Mr. Speaker I commend my colleague for naming the post office after 
Vince Palladino. How fitting a tribute. And I urge swift passage of 
this bill.
  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 the State of New York (Mr. Fossella), the 
author of H.R. 2183.
  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
for yielding me this time and the ranking member for their support.
  And today I request the House approve the naming of a post office in 
my district after Vincent Palladino. Vincent, who passed away last 
December, was the president of the National Association of Postal 
Supervisors for 12 years, ending in 2004. He was also a native of 
Staten Island, New York, in my district.
  Vincent was kind-hearted, compassionate, outgoing, and had an 
unquenchable thirst for helping his friends and neighbors. Vincent made 
his community a better place to live and touched the lives of those 
around him. And although his professional obligations carried him far 
and wide, his heart was always in Staten Island.
  He began his career as a letter carrier in the Rosebank Post Office 
in 1962. He held numerous supervisory positions in Staten Island, 
including station manager of the Rosebank Post Office and operations 
manager for all Staten Island post offices. In 1986, he was elected 
secretary of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, which 
represents more than 35,000 active and retired supervisors, managers, 
and postmasters who work for or who retired from the United States 
Postal Service. In 1992, he was elected president of NAPS and held that 
post for 12 years.
  Vincent brought his life lessons learned on the streets of Rosebank 
and Arlington to that position and was a strong advocate for all those 
postal workers he led. I would also like to take this opportunity to 
thank all those postal workers for the job they do every day. I know 
Vincent would stand up and correct me if I failed to mention them and 
how much he appreciated, like we all do, their work. I would also like 
to thank Vincent's family, especially his children, Anthony, Nicholas, 
Regina, Renee, and Mary Lou, for their support of this fine man.
  Born in 1935, Vincent also served his country in the Armed Forces, 
that is, in the United States Air Force, from 1955 to 1959. Today we 
honor Vincent's lifetime hard work and achievement by asking the House 
to approve the measure to rename the Rosebank Post Office in his honor, 
where he got his start. And might I add, he also happened to be my 
family's letter carrier in the early 1960s when he started.
  I would like to thank the fellow members of the New York delegation 
for their unanimous support of this legislation and all those who have 
cosponsored the bill. Like many American success stories, and Vincent 
Palladino was one of them, he never forgot where

[[Page 15769]]

he came from. He may have lived his last years in Arlington, Virginia, 
but his heart and his family will always be in Staten Island.
  I thank the Members for their support.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I urge support from all Members for this 
measure, and 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 Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2183.
  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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