[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18786-18788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  JACOB FLETCHER POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 5664) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 110 Cooper Street in Babylon, New York, as the 
``Jacob Fletcher Post Office Building,'' as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5664

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

     SECTION 1. JACOB SAMUEL FLETCHER POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 110 Cooper Street in Babylon, New York, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Jacob Samuel Fletcher 
     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 ``Jacob Samuel Fletcher 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.


                             General Leave

  Ms. FOXX. 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 North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5664, offered by the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. King) would designate the post office 
building in Babylon, New York, as the Jacob Samuel Fletcher Post Office 
Building.
  Mr. Speaker, Jacob Fletcher's love for his country was second to 
none, and his patriotism was evident in his service in the United 
States Army. He was a 1994 Babylon High School graduate who enlisted in 
the Army shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
  After completing basic training, he continued on to earn his wings as 
a paratrooper. Based in Camp Ederle, Italy, Jacob Fletcher was one of 
the first Americans to land, along with his fellow paratroopers, just 
north of Baghdad during the first week of the war. Jacob, just 11 days 
shy of his 29th birthday, was killed on November 13, 2003, when a 
roadside bomb exploded next to the bus he was on in the town of 
Samarra.
  With gratitude for his bravery and sacrifice to our country, I ask 
all Members to join me in naming the Babylon, New York, postal facility 
in his honor.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might 
consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel), one of the great 
sons of New York.
  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished friend from 
Illinois for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I also thank my friend from Long Island, Congressman 
Peter King, for sponsoring this resolution and for allowing me to 
cosponsor it with him.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jacob Fletcher and his family, and 
urge my colleagues to support this resolution to name the Babylon post 
office in his honor.
  Mr. Speaker, the Babylon post office no longer resides in my 
congressional district, but I do have the privilege and the honor of 
representing Jacob's mother, Dorrine Kenney. She is a constituent; she 
is also a dear friend. She has become an important advisor to me on so 
many military issues that I confront as a member of the House Armed 
Services Committee.
  Her son, Jacob Samuel Fletcher, was a native of Long Island, and if 
this bill is passed, all of Long Island will know about his life and 
his untimely death. Jacob Fletcher grew up on Long Island, he dreamed 
of serving his country on Long Island. He represented us proudly when 
he went to Iraq.
  On March 23, 2003, he and the 173rd Airborne Brigade jumped into 
northern Iraq and made their way to Kirkuk. On November 12, 2003, Jacob 
was killed by an IED on Highway 1 in Samarra.
  Mr. Speaker, this kind of news does not tell us the fullness of a 
life. We see a name in the newspaper, we see a face, we see statistics 
and numbers, but none of that really describes the fullness of a life, 
and so I want to take this opportunity to share with my colleagues and 
with all America the life of Jacob Fletcher.
  He was an athlete. He was an artist with a talent for drawing. He 
played drums. He wrote poetry. He was described as having a big heart, 
and of being a good listener. And those are the traits that I see in 
his mother.
  In response to her son's death, Dorrine Kenney had every right to 
retreat into her own grief, to wait for the entire world to feel sorry 
for her and to support her. But she refused to do that. Instead she 
created the Jacob's Light Foundation. It sends care packages to our 
servicemembers in dangerous places around the world. It sends 
toiletries and food and snacks and

[[Page 18787]]

reading materials and sunscreen and writing materials, all of the 
necessities that our troops require.
  Rather than retreating into her grief, Dorrine Kenney felt it was her 
responsibility in her son's name to help improve the quality of life 
for her son's comrades.
  A few months ago she came to my office, Mr. Speaker, and she was 
angry. We sat down and she said that she was receiving e-mails from 
troops in the field in the theatre in Iraq complaining that they had 
not received coagulant bandages, which the Department of Defense has 
said could save 50 percent of casualties in Iraq, and she asked me to 
look into it.
  We called the Pentagon, and it took us a few weeks, but, in fact, we 
were able to solve that problem. And we are working with the Army even 
today to make sure that those bandages are arriving in dangerous places 
like Iraq and saving lives.
  Another example, Mr. Speaker. This woman could have felt sorry for 
herself. Instead, she dedicated herself to coming into my office and 
working with the Army to make sure that those who were still in Iraq 
and Afghanistan had the life-saving supplies that they need.
  The Army did not respond because of me, it did not respond because of 
the hearings we had in the Armed Services Committee; it responded 
because this mother of a son who was killed was contacted by men and 
women in Iraq who asked for her help.
  That is exactly what Jacob Fletcher was all about, helping when 
people needed help, listening when people needed to be listened to. It 
is fitting that there is a foundation named for Jacob Fletcher which 
sends parcels to servicemembers who need them. And it would be even 
more fitting, Mr. Speaker, to name a post office in honor of Jacob 
Fletcher where parcels will be sent, and where the American people and 
those who live in Long Island will understand what he stood for, what 
our country stands for, and will remember him always.
  Again, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for giving me this time. I 
thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, like my colleagues, I am very 
proud to stand today in support of H.R. 5664. I was very proud to 
introduce the resolution. And I want to thank Mr. Israel, my colleague 
from New York, for the strong support that he has given me on this 
resolution and also for the strong support that he has given to the 
Kenney and Fletcher families.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been discussed what Jacob Fletcher achieved 
during his life, what he achieved in his death. And he was an 
exceptional, exceptional human being and a young man. As was stated, he 
grew up in Long Island, but he dreamed about joining the military even 
as a young boy.
  In fact, the story, it is a true story, that he actually submitted an 
application to join the Army when he was only 8 years old. And his 
mother had to explain and turn away the enlistment officers when they 
came to the house that Jacob was too young to join the Army. She had a 
tougher job of actually explaining it to Jacob that he was too young to 
join the Army.
  But his patriotic passion cannot be extinguished, and after the 
September 11 attacks against our country which killed so many New 
Yorkers and so many Americans and also claimed a family friend, Jacob 
joined the Army and fulfilled his life-long calling to serve his 
Nation.
  Jacob came from a military family. His father, his stepfather served 
in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War, and Jacob's grandfather was 
a veteran as well.
  As Congressman Israel and Ms. Foxx mentioned, Jacob completed his 
basic training and his airborne school at Fort Benning, and he was 
among the very first Americans to land in Iraq, parachuting under the 
cover of darkness during the first week of the war.
  During his time in Iraq, Jacob and his fellow soldiers spent much of 
their time in Iraq training police officers. And in conversations with 
his family, he spoke of how much he wanted to help these people as this 
was his calling. He very clearly felt that this was the right thing to 
do.
  Unfortunately Jacob's life ended tragically before he could return 
home and before he could fulfill all of his dreams. On November 13, 
2003, a roadside bomb exploded near the convoy he was in near the town 
of Samarra, and he died the next day, November 14. He was just 28 years 
young. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and he was also 
posthumously promoted to specialist.
  Like Congressman Israel, I have had the privilege of working with his 
mother Dorrine, who, again, rather than curse the darkness, has done so 
much to help those who are in combat in Iraq, in Afghanistan, 
throughout the world. She has brought Brownies to my office, Girl 
Scouts. She is active on so many different issues involving the welfare 
of our solders. I admire her for having the strength that she does.
  Congressman Israel and I were at a recent 9/11 commemoration at 
Farmingdale University. She was there at that, Dorrine was there. So 
she again has done so much in memory of her son.
  Similarly, I have the privilege of having his father, Mo Fletcher, 
reside in my district. Mr. Fletcher is a Vietnam veteran. He is also a 
very courageous man who gives so much of his time to veterans, to the 
military. Whenever a soldier is killed in combat who is from Long 
Island and adjoining areas, Mo Fletcher goes to the wake, goes to the 
funeral, stays with the family. So he is a very, very decent human 
being. And you can see why Jacob turned out to be the outstanding man 
that he was.
  In addition, Jacob is survived by his stepfather, his sister Tara, 
and his brothers Scott and Josh.
  I just urge all the Members of this body to really cast their vote 
for a true American hero, Jacob Fletcher, who gave his life so that all 
of us could be free, and may he rest in peace, and, again, may God 
bless him and his entire family.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would yield myself the balance 
of our time.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Government Reform Committee, I am 
pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 5664, which 
names the postal facility in Babylon, New York, after Jacob Samuel 
Fletcher.
  H.R. 5664 was introduced by Representative Peter King and strongly 
supported by Representative Israel. This measure, which has the support 
and cosponsorship of the entire New York congressional delegation, was 
unanimously reported from our committee on July 20, 2006.
  Jacob Fletcher, a native of New York and graduate of Babylon High 
School, was a young man with a life-long goal of joining the military. 
Finally at the age of 27, he was able to join the Army. A member of the 
173rd Airborne Brigade, Private First Class Fletcher made an historic 
jump into Iraq on March 23, 2003, the first week of the war.
  Sadly he was killed when a roadside bomb exploded the bus on which he 
was riding on November 14, 2003, in Samarra, Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, designating the Cooper Street Post Office in Private 
First Class Jacob Fletcher's name honors the tremendous sacrifice of 
this soldier, and demonstrates how much we value his life. I urge swift 
passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of 
H.R. 5664, and 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 bill, H.R. 5664, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.

[[Page 18788]]

  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 
110 Cooper Street in Babylon, New York, as the `Jacob Samuel Fletcher 
Post Office Building'.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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