[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15815-15816]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   FIRST LIEUTENANT ALVIN CHESTER COCKRELL, JR. POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(S. 1093) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 130 Caldwell Drive in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, as the 
``First Lieutenant Alvin Chester Cockrell, Jr. Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1093

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

     SECTION 1. FIRST LIEUTENANT ALVIN CHESTER COCKRELL, JR. POST 
                   OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 130 Caldwell Drive in Hazlehurst, 
     Mississippi, shall be known and designated as the ``First 
     Lieutenant Alvin Chester Cockrell, Jr. 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 ``First Lieutenant Alvin Chester Cockrell, 
     Jr. Post Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. 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 materials on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1093, introduced by 
Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 130 Caldwell Drive in 
Hazlehurst, Mississippi, as the First Lieutenant Alvin Chester 
Cockrell, Jr. Post Office.
  Mr. Speaker, this is yet another first lieutenant. First Lieutenant 
Cockrell served his country in World War II. He enlisted in the Marine 
Corps back in 1937. He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th 
Marines, Fleet Marine Force. He landed at Guadalcanal. It was his 24th 
birthday. It was September 18, 1942. First Lieutenant Cockrell led his 
platoon in assaulting a strongly held enemy position against heavy 
machine gun fire. During that battle, charging into the face of machine 
gun fire, something we know all too well for United States Marines, he 
was killed in action. He died in that engagement.
  Mr. Speaker, we often recognize marines because they have given a 
great deal in this war, along with the other forces. We often recognize 
Iraq and Afghanistan, and on occasion, we recognize Vietnam veterans as 
we did today. It is unusual for this body to reach back, as Senator 
Cochran has done, and find such a fitting individual from a war so long 
ago, the war that gave us America's Greatest Generation, and realize 
that we have not yet finished thanking those who gave us the freedom to 
pursue our lives, every person on the floor perhaps having been born 
after Lieutenant Cockrell died.
  So it is altogether fitting that, as we remember the freedoms we 
enjoy, the opportunity we enjoy, the economy we enjoy, the lieutenant 
gave his all for that freedom.
  With that, I would urge passage, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  My colleague mentioned that it is unusual we reach back. I think he 
would agree with me that it is wise that we do.
  World War II changed the world; and we were so committed to the cause 
of freedom in World War II, and so many of our predecessors, citizens 
who served and died before we were born, won a war that would have 
changed the whole future of the world had we not succeeded. It was 
individual acts of heroism that made the difference.
  Mr. Speaker, this life was a life well lived. His life was one 
dedicated to service, and First Lieutenant Alvin Cockrell deserves to 
be remembered. It

[[Page 15816]]

is our responsibility to honor all of those who came before us, the 
members, as Mr. Issa said, of the Greatest Generation, who won the most 
brutal but consequential war that has changed the history of the entire 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to join with my colleagues in fully 
supporting the naming of this post office after an American who served 
his country and gave his life, First Lieutenant Alvin Chester Cockrell.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, there is no question at all, this is, again, 
another befitting naming.
  I would like to thank the Senator for reaching back and finding such 
a worthy candidate, and I would like to remind all of us, coming off of 
Veterans Day, that, in fact, this generation of veterans is departing 
but will be remembered in our hearts for the rest of our lives.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California, (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1093.
  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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