[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20636-20637]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HAMILTON H. JUDSON POST OFFICE

  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6151) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 216 Oak Street in Farmington, Minnesota, as the 
``Hamilton H. Judson Post Office''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 6151

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

     SECTION 1. HAMILTON H. JUDSON POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 216 Oak Street in Farmington, Minnesota, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Hamilton H. Judson 
     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 ``Hamilton H. Judson Post Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gohmert). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Marchant) and the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MARCHANT. 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 Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Hamilton H. Judson was appointed postmaster of 
Farmington, MN in 1884. He worked diligently to give the town free 
rural delivery, making it the second town in the U.S. to receive this 
service. Just a few months after Judson established the system, local 
newspapers deemed it a success.
  Judson was also known for working tireless hours. He was at work by 7 
every morning, and waited on the mail train to arrive at 9 every night. 
And during the harvest season, he kept the Post Office open late so the 
farmers could collect their mail.
  After almost 30 years of service, he retired, leaving behind a rural 
mail system as well as city post roads upon which the community of 
Farmington depended. I urge all members to join me in supporting H.R. 
6151, honoring Hamilton Judson's ingenuity and his dedication to 
serving his town.
  I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.
  Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say the people from the community of 
Farmington, Minnesota, have spoken and they have been heard. Earlier 
this year, as part of the Farmington post office's 150th anniversary, 
the community of Farmington conducted an election to name their post 
office.
  The overwhelming majority of citizens voted to name their post office 
after Hamilton Harris Judson, a well-liked mercantile businessman who 
the Dakota County Tribune once described as: ``The greatest of all 
citizens.''
  Hamilton H. Judson proved to the Federal Government that the 
possibility of a rural free delivery system of conveying mail to 
farmers who lived far from the post office outside of a town or village 
boundary could be a realty.
  Hamilton Judson was appointed postmaster in 1884 and served his 
community and the Federal Government for the next 29 years. Mr. Judson 
worked seven days a week from seven in the morning until 10 o'clock at 
night to ensure that the citizens received their mail in a timely 
fashion.
  Before rural free delivery, Mr. Judson kept the post office open late 
into the evening to accommodate the areas farmers during the harvest 
season. In 1896, Minnesota Congressman Joel Heatwole convinced Congress 
to have Farmington attempt the rural free delivery experiment.
  A year later, Farmington became the second city in the United States 
to offer rural free service. Hamilton H. Judson's system became a model 
for post offices around the Nation.
  I urge all Members to support H.R. 6151.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6151, designates the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 216 Oak Street in Farmington, Minnesota, as 
the Hamilton H. Judson Post Office.
  Hamilton H. Judson was appointed postmaster of the Farmington post 
office on August 11, 1884, by Postmaster General Walter Q. Gresham. He 
retired in 1914.
  I understand, Mr. Speaker, that this was a unique undertaking in 
terms of how this became the Hamilton H.

[[Page 20637]]

Judson Post Office. It is my understanding that a contest sort of took 
place in town, and that the citizens voted. And after the voting was 
done, and all of the votes had been counted, Hamilton H. Judson was the 
name.
  That is a unique way of people participating in a public decision. I 
commend the gentleman from Minnesota for using this approach and urge 
passage of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage 
of H.R. 6151, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Marchant) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6151.
  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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