[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9724-9726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ROBERT M. La FOLLETTE, SR. POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 1760) to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard 
in Madison, Wisconsin, as the ``Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Post Office 
Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1760

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

     SECTION 1. ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE, SR. POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in 
     Madison, Wisconsin, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. 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 ``Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Miller) and the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

[[Page 9725]]




                             General Leave

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. 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 
gentlewoman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  This important legislation, introduced by the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin), names a Post Office in 
Madison, Wisconsin as the ``Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Post Office 
Building.''
  Robert La Follette, Sr. was a giant in Wisconsin and American 
politics around the turn of the 20th century. He served the people of 
the Badger State as a Congressman, a Senator, a Governor, and even ran 
and finished third in the 1924 presidential election, falling to 
incumbent President Calvin Coolidge. His passion and his rousing 
speaking style earned him the nickname ``Fighting Bob.''
  As a member of this body, he was chairman of the Committee on 
Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture in the 51st Congress, 
after which he lost a reelection bid in 1890. He returned home to a law 
career in Madison that began before his first stint in Congress.
  Sixteen years after his defeat in 1906, he was elected to return to 
Washington, this time as a United States Senator. He was reelected 
three times before he died in office in 1925, shortly after his bid for 
the presidency ended the previous year.
  His legacy was further enhanced when his son actually succeeded him 
as a Senator and went on to a significant political career of his own. 
Another son also held up the family name by becoming Governor of 
Wisconsin in 1931.
  Mr. Speaker, all seven members of the Wisconsin delegation have 
joined Congresswoman Baldwin as cosponsors of H.R. 1760 to prove the 
stature of Robert La Follette in Wisconsin political history. This Post 
Office in Madison will be an appropriate memorial to his legacy.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of this bill, and I would first like to thank my 
colleagues from the Wisconsin delegation, Representatives Obey, 
Sensenbrenner, Petri, Moore, Kind, Green and Ryan, who have joined me 
as original cosponsors of this bipartisan resolution to designate the 
Post Office at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Madison, 
Wisconsin as the ``Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Post Office Building.''
  Mr. Speaker, Robert, otherwise known as ``Fighting Bob'' La Follette, 
is a true Wisconsin hero and a leader of the progressive movement. He 
was born on a farm in Primrose, Wisconsin on June 14, 1855. This would 
have been the 150th year of his birth. La Follette was elected to this 
body at the young age of 29 and served three terms as a Republican from 
1885 to 1891. It is such a privilege to hold his congressional seat 
over 100 years later.
  After losing his seat, La Follette returned to Wisconsin to practice 
law in Madison. It was at that point that La Follette reached a turning 
point in his political career, when he felt that a party stalwart was 
trying to bribe him to fix a court case. La Follette decided that it 
was time to challenge corruption in politics. He did so by taking his 
ideas directly to the people. La Follette went on speaking tours at 
county fairs and as a Chautauqua lecturer. He spoke about his 
commitment to eliminating the corruption in government and in 
corporations, the railroads, and banks.
  He was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1900, as a Republican, and 
during his tenure La Follette was able to pass and implement many 
progressive reforms and anti-corruption measures, including instituting 
the direct primary election in Wisconsin.
  La Follette was elected by the Wisconsin State Legislature to the 
U.S. Senate in 1905, over 100 years ago, and he was elected while he 
was still serving as Governor of the State. He resigned as Governor in 
1906 to once again return to Washington to represent the people of 
Wisconsin.
  In the Senate, he fought against corruption and led the investigation 
into the infamous Teapot Dome scandal that revealed the oil lease 
scandals of the Harding administration. His principled work in the 
Senate was so highly regarded that a mural of La Follette was placed in 
the Senate Reception Room in 1959 as part of a collection of five 
outstanding Senators.
  La Follette ran for President on the Progressive ticket in 1922. The 
Progressive Party championed a populist agenda, which included reforms 
to outlaw child labor, allow workers to organize, increase protection 
of civil liberties, and end discrimination on the basis of race, class, 
and creed. Just outside the House chamber doors, you can visit a statue 
of ``Fighting Bob'' La Follette. Wisconsin chose La Follette as one of 
two State heroes to be included in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary 
Hall collection.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege of addressing 
graduating students as a commencement speaker at the University of 
Wisconsin, Madison. In that speech, I spoke to the graduates about the 
obligation to carry one of Fighting Bob's legacies forward, the 
Wisconsin Idea.
  The Wisconsin Idea is the notion that government should collaborate 
with the State's public universities to address serious social and 
economic problems. In simple terms, the Wisconsin Idea is often 
expressed by saying that the boundaries of the university are the 
boundaries of the State.
  I would also like to share with you one other of my personal heroes, 
La Follette's wife, Belle Case La Follette, who La Follette regarded as 
an equal partner in life. Belle Case La Follette was the first woman to 
graduate from the University of Wisconsin law school. She was a woman 
before her time, supporting women's suffrage and advocating civil 
rights legislation for ethnic and racial minorities.
  La Follette referred to her as my wisest and best counselor. Mr. 
Speaker, I would like to close with how appropriate the location of the 
Madison Capitol Station Post Office is in honoring La Follette. This 
post office is in the shadow of the Wisconsin State capitol, where La 
Follette developed many of his progressive ideas and support for 
farmers and the working person, opposition to monopolies and corruption 
in politics, and his belief that a strong democracy requires fair 
distribution of both wealth and power.
  This summer, on June 14, Fighting Bob's greatest supporters will come 
to Madison for his 150th birthday celebration. And I am particularly 
grateful that this bill has been brought to the floor for a vote in 
time for this celebration.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to speak in support of H.R. 
1760, a bill to designate a post office in Madison, Wisconsin, as the 
Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Post Office Building.
  Fighting Bob La Follette was a strong progressive Republican voice 
for the people in the late 19th and early 20th century. During his 
political career as a district attorney, and especially as a 
Congressman, Governor and Senator, Bob La Follette fought to improve 
the lot of farmers, workers, children and women, and battled against 
corruption in politics.
  As Governor of Wisconsin, he proposed and implemented the Wisconsin 
Idea, a philosophy that public leadership, in combination with academic 
expertise, will improve the performance of government. This philosophy 
was the driving force in the progressive movement, and here in 
Washington led to the creation of, among other things, the 
Congressional Research Service.
  Bob La Follette believed that the government should be more directly 
in

[[Page 9726]]

the hands of the people. Therefore, he pursued policies, such as the 
establishment of direct primary nomination. Under his leadership, 
Wisconsin became one of the first States to adopt child labor laws and 
pass a women's suffrage amendment.
  As a Congressman and Senator, he brought his progressive Republican 
politics to the national stage by playing a major role in bringing 
about the direct election of Senators and spearheading an investigation 
into the Teapot Dome scandal. And you can imagine how popular he was 
when elected to the United States Senate and stood up and asked for a 
roll call vote over and over and over again, for the first time in a 
generation putting his colleagues on the record as to whether they were 
voting for or against railroad legislation and a variety of other 
things.
  And the public record, combined with direct election of Senators, 
revolutionized the United States Senate and American politics from the 
Mississippi west in our country, in particular.
  Bob La Follette was the kind of American that all of us, regardless 
of party, can be proud of. Accordingly, I urge support of H.R. 1760.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my friend, the 
gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, it is with such great pride and 
pleasure that I stand here in support of H.R. 1760, to name a post 
office after Fighting Bob La Follette.
  You have heard from my other colleagues from Wisconsin about the 
institutions that this man has built and the impact that this one man 
has made on not only the institutions in Wisconsin, developing a civil 
service system, that has had an impact throughout our country, 
establishing the Congressional Research Service, which really put us on 
par with the K Street lobbyists in terms of having information and 
knowledge about the initiatives that take place here.
  But Fighting Bob La Follette has put us on the map internationally, 
as Wisconsin has been a leader in the world, training people in 
democratic institutions. Fighting Bob La Follette is a hero to me. He 
was a powerful voice, a Lincoln Republican. He was a powerful voice 
with the underrepresented, outspoken for their issues no matter how 
unpopular or controversial.
  He denounced any discrimination based on race, creed, class, during 
the era, for example, of the Ku Klux Klan resurgence. He called for 
investigations of World War I profiteers and defended antiwar activists 
that were sent to jail.
  One of the favorite quotes of Bob La Follette that I think is apropos 
for where we are today was a quote that he made arguing on the United 
States Senate floor, and I would like to end my remarks with that 
quote: ``We should not seek to inflame the mind of our people by half 
truths into the frenzy of war. The poor, who are always the ones called 
upon to rot in the trenches, at some time will be heard. There will 
come an awakening. They will have their day, and they will be heard.''
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I have no more requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I would urge all of my 
colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1760, 
to designate the post office located at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Boulevard in Madison, Wisconsin, as the ``Robert M. La Follette, Sr. 
Post Office Building.''
  ``Fighting Bob'' La Follette was one of our great American leaders. 
He spearheaded political reform in both Wisconsin and the Nation, 
laying the framework for the progressive movement. As governor of 
Wisconsin, he gained the respect of local farmers, small business 
owners, and intellectuals with his pledge to break the power of the 
private monopoly system over the economic life of the American people.
  La Follette consistently championed the rights of women, minorities, 
the working class, and the poor. He called for reform of a tax system 
that disproportionately burdened middle and lower income Americans, and 
he campaigned for agricultural reform to relieve the distress of 
farmers. La Follette's progressive party also called for government 
control of railroads, the outlawing of child labor, the right of 
workers to organize unions, and increased protection of civil 
liberties.
  ``Fighting Bob'' La Follette was a man fierce in his convictions and 
steeped in the ideals of Lincoln and Jefferson. In 1957, the Senate 
voted him one of the five most outstanding Senators of all time.
  Mr. Speaker, I fully support H.R. 1760 to rename a post office in 
Madison, Wisconsin in honor of this extraordinary American, Robert La 
Follette.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1760 
to designate the postal facility at 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Boulevard in Madison, Wisconsin, as the ``Robert M. La Follette, Sr. 
Post Office Building.''
  A man of the people, Bob La Follette captured the hearts and minds of 
Wisconsin's citizens and rose to a place of distinction in the history 
of my State and this Nation. His storied political career began as a 
Republican when he was elected District Attorney of Dane County in 
1880.
  ``Fighting Bob,'' as he would become known, served right here in the 
House of Representatives from 1885 to 1891. Although he was defeated 
for re-election in 1890, Fighting Bob returned to his law practice and 
demonstrated the resilience for which he developed a sterling 
reputation.
  After two failed attempts for the Governorship, La Follette was 
elected Wisconsin's twentieth Governor in 1990. During his three terms 
as Governor in the early 1900's, La Follette led the State out of debt 
and earned a reputation as a skilled orator and a champion of the 
people.
  Fighting Bob returned to Washington in 1906 following his election to 
the U.S. Senate, where he served until his death in 1925 at 70 years of 
age. It is no accident that one of my State's two statues prominently 
displayed in Statuary Hall is dedicated to ``Fighting Bob'' La 
Follette. He served Wisconsin and the United States honorably. I urge 
my colleagues to join me in honoring Bob La Follette by supporting this 
resolution.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California). The 
question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan 
(Mrs. Miller) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 
1760.
  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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