[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21095-21096]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              JOHNNY GRANT HOLLYWOOD POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2760) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1615 North Wilcox Avenue in Los Angeles, California, 
as the ``Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2760

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

     SECTION 1. JOHNNY GRANT HOLLYWOOD POST OFFICE BUILDING.

         (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States 
     Postal Service located at 1615 North Wilcox Avenue in Los 
     Angeles, California, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Johnny Grant Hollywood 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 ``Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Watson) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Watson).
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2760, a bill 
which I introduced to designate a post office in my district as the 
``Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office Building''.
  Johnny Grant and Hollywood are synonymous. As Tinseltown's honorary 
mayor, he was one of the community's most enthusiastic supporters for 
more than 50 years. He served as chairman of the Walk of Fame Selection 
Committee and the Hollywood Historic Trust. He not only created what 
was to become part of Hollywood's history but had been a longtime 
supporter for preserving Cinema City's past.
  Johnny Grant was also a big supporter of public diplomacy. Over the 
Memorial Day recess period, I took 30 films donated by Johnny Grant 
before he passed away to South Africa and donated them to the Rosa 
Parks Library and Information Center at the U.S. Embassy. The films 
will be accessible to the public and will be used to promote the United 
States' moral values, principles, and culture.
  Grant was a retired major general in the California State Military 
Reserve. He was sought out to advise the Guard in his areas of 
expertise: morale, public affairs, recruiting, and special events. 
Though retired, he continued to be recalled by California's Adjutant 
General for special duties.
  In 1982, the State of California showed their appreciation for Johnny 
Grant's 30 years of service by awarding him the Order of California, 
the State's highest honor. Governor George Deukmejian, in an 
unprecedented act, awarded Johnny Grant a second Order of California at 
the State Capitol in 1990. General Grant was also the recipient of the 
National Guard's Medal of Merit.
  In June of 1999, retired Major General Johnny Grant was recalled to 
temporary active duty to promote and produce events saluting the 
California National Guard on its 150th birthday.
  Mr. Speaker, thank you for the time, and I urge my colleagues to 
support this bill to honor Johnny Grant for a lifetime of public 
service.
  And I just want you to know, before his sudden death, he had 
completed 60 trips to entertain our troops, more than any other 
celebrity who has gone overseas and around the country, so we honor him 
also for that.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I join with the gentlelady in supporting her legislation. Every 
member of the California delegation, in fact, has supported this. 
Because it's in Representative Watson's district, of course, it's her 
bill, but Johnny Grant was bigger than Hollywood, bigger than 
California.
  During his decades of service outside of Hollywood, Johnny Grant 
represented the finest in American service. After his service in the 
Army Air Corps during World War II, he continued supporting in many 
ways our men and women in uniform for the rest of his life.
  In 1952, when Mr. Grant, along with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Frank 
Sinatra, hosted the first national telethon, a fundraiser to send 
American Olympic athletes to the Summer Olympics in Finland, he, in 
fact, set a path of service in all aspects of public life continuing 
with the Olympics, adding to that the Boy Scouts, the USO, fire and 
police services and, of course, his many trips overseas.
  In addition to the 60 USO trips that Mr. Grant did, I want to note 
two of them, because during the very difficult times in 1982 and 1983, 
he distinguished himself by being willing to go to Beirut to support 
and entertain our marines there long after many people had considered 
that to be out of the way. He also made two trips to Saudi Arabia 
during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He continued to support the USO 
along with Bob Hope and his many other friends throughout his life.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe we've given a lot of awards to a lot of people 
less deserving and who dedicated less their entire lives. Many 
celebrities are for causes when they're in their active career. Mr. 
Grant was for causes that were fully supported by the American people 
but fully funded by the generosity of people like him with his time and 
his energy for so many years.
  So I join with the gentlelady in supporting H.R. 2760, urge its 
passage, remind all of us that, in fact, there are those who give far 
less that have had these honors bestowed on them, and I certainly thank 
the gentlelady for picking this Hollywood post office to be the 
``Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office Building''.

[[Page 21096]]

  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Darrell Issa, my colleague, 
for his words about Johnny Grant. And I want you to know, Johnny knew 
he would live forever, and now that we're going to have a building 
named after him in the new remodeled and revitalized Hollywood, he, 
indeed, his image, will live forever. So I thank my colleague.
  And in closing, I again urge my colleagues to join me in honoring 
Johnny Grant through the passage of H.R. 2760.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, there could be no more appropriate moniker 
for a Hollywood post office than Johnny Grant's. The unofficial mayor 
of Hollywood for more than half a century, Johnny's name is synonymous 
with the community he loved and promoted so well.
  It is especially appropriate that the post office at 1615 North 
Wilcox Avenue, just off of Hollywood Boulevard, would bear his name, as 
he managed to secure a Hollywood postmark, despite the fact that it's 
not its own city. Only Johnny Grant could have pulled that off. While 
celebrating his 84th birthday, Johnny said that the Hollywood postmark 
was one of three accomplishments of which he was most proud, along with 
the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame.
  I had the privilege of knowing Johnny and calling him a friend for 
many years. I always admired his incredible zeal for life. He brought a 
tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to everything he did--which 
was never on greater display than when he tirelessly supported our 
Nation's veterans. While serving in the Army Air Corps during World War 
II, his ``Strictly GI'' radio show was broadcast in New York City and 
North Carolina, featuring stories of interest to servicemen and women. 
He went on to do 60 USO tours and personally sponsored trips in Korea 
and Vietnam to show his deep support and commitment to our men and 
women in uniform, to encourage them and boost morale during very 
difficult times.
  Johnny produced and hosted the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots telethon 
for ten years, and organized countless other events raising millions 
for the USO, the Boy Scouts of America, police and fire services and 
veterans organizations.
  Hollywood, the City of Los Angeles and the entire Nation mourned his 
death in January of last year. H.R. 2760 is a modest but fitting 
tribute to Hollywood's favorite son, and I think he would appreciate 
seeing his name live on in the community he loved and called home for 
over fifty years.
  Ms. WATSON. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2760.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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