[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17544-17545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 BRIAN P. PARRELLO POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 904) to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 1560 Union Valley Road in West Milford, New 
Jersey, as the ``Brian P. Parrello Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                 S. 904

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

     SECTION 1. BRIAN P. PARRELLO POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1560 Union Valley Road in West Milford, 
     New Jersey, shall be known and designated as the ``Brian P. 
     Parrello 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 ``Brian P. Parrello Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).


                             General Leave

  Ms. FOXX. Madam 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 Senate bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, the global war on terror is being fought at home and 
abroad by the bravest of Americans. Lance Corporal Brian Parrello, a 
19-year-old serving with the Second Marine Division from Passaic 
County, New Jersey, was one of the most heroic of our fellow citizens.
  Lance Corporal Parrello was killed in the city of Hadithah in Iraq on 
New Year's Day of this year.
  I know I speak for all American citizens when I say that we have 
boundless appreciation for Lance Corporal Parrello's service to our 
Nation. There are many ways we can remember his immeasurable efforts to 
rid the world of the scourge of international terrorism. One small, but 
meaningful, way we can memorialize Brian's selfless courage and his 
priceless life is through this legislation.
  To get a sense of Brian's patriotism, I want to impart some words 
that his older brother Matthew Parrello shared with the local newspaper 
following Brian's passing in January. Matthew told The Bergen Record 
newspaper that Brian ``wanted to serve his country, and he loved what 
he was doing. He was proud to be a Marine, and he loved the guys he was 
serving with.''
  Matthew said Brian had considered joining the military during high 
school. During his senior year, in February of 2003, Brian enlisted in 
the Marine Corps. He began active duty September 22, 2003, three months 
after his high school graduation.
  Sean Poppe, Brian's high school football coach, said Lance Corporal 
Parrello ``possessed a strong desire to excel in whatever he did.'' 
Indeed, Lance Corporal Parrello gave his excellent life to this Nation.
  Madam Speaker, America owes the greatest of debts to heroes like 
Brian Parrello. No reward, decoration, or compensation can approach 
what Brian Parrello devoted to his country. However, I appreciate the 
Senator from New Jersey's efforts to remember Brian's life through this 
legislation that would name a post office after him in his hometown of 
West Milford, New Jersey.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly support Senate 904.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Madam Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Government 
Reform, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of S. 904, a 
bill designating the postal facility in West Milford, New Jersey, after 
the late Brian P. Parrello. This measure, which was introduced by 
Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat from New Jersey, on April 26, 
2005, was unanimously passed by the Senate on June 29, 2005.
  Lance Corporal Brian P. Parrello, 19, was killed Saturday, January 1, 
2005, as a result of hostile action in Hadithah, a city along the 
Euphrates River. Brian Parrello is remembered by friends and family as 
being a ``good guy,'' a young person who had dreams of one day becoming 
a teacher.
  Lance Corporal Brian P. Parrello had an avid interest in history. His 
high school principal, Michael McCormick, recalled that Brian ``took 
every elective history course that we have in our school.''
  Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague for seeking to honor the memory 
of the late Brian Parrello in this manner. Brian is to be remembered 
for his sacrifice and that he lost his life in furtherance of our 
freedom. We should not forget that he died in combat, and we would hope 
that we could end this conflict so that it would not be necessary that 
we take to the floor to honor young people whose lives are snuffed out 
far too quickly.
  This is indeed a tribute to Brian, and I would urge passage of this 
bill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my 
distinguished colleague from the State of New Jersey (Mr. Garrett), the 
author of the House version of this honor for Brian Parrello.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I also humbly rise this 
morning as we support a bill to rename the post office in West Milford, 
New Jersey, up in my district, after Lance Corporal Brian P. Parrello 
who was killed in action, as we say, in Iraq earlier this year, in 
January. He was an honorable defender of liberty, and he deserves our 
gratitude and respect.
  Brian joins that long list of our country's heroes who have made the 
ultimate sacrifice so that each and every one of us can live free. 
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, Brian proudly joined the 
United States Marine Corps where he was assigned to the Second Marine 
Expeditionary Force in North Carolina. In Iraq, Brian served in the 
Marine's swift boat unit where he patrolled the Tigris and Euphrates 
rivers.
  As indicated earlier, back in West Milford High School, he served on 
both the football and the hockey teams. His teachers and his coaches 
and his peers called him a real leader, a real role model, someone who 
always gave 150 percent to everything that he did, a guy with a big 
heart who led by example. That is why I am proud to have introduced the 
legislation in this House to rename the post office in West Milford 
after Brian.
  I am sure that Brian would have been proud to see the Iraqi people 
vote in the fair and free elections this past January. Brian gave all 
he could to help secure those freedoms. The war on terror is global in 
nature, and Brian fought in Iraq so that we may end the scourge of 
radical Islam and keep terrorists from attacking our homeland and 
freedom-loving people around the entire world.
  Now, we can never fully express our gratitude for his sacrifice, for 
the freedom and the security to our Nation; but I am proud that we can 
leave a lasting memorial so that his heroic actions can be remembered 
in this country for now and future generations as well.

[[Page 17545]]

  Today, we also remember his family, and we send them our prayers and 
our comfort as well.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support S. 904.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 904.
  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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