[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10226-10227]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               OFFICER TOMMY DECKER MEMORIAL POST OFFICE

  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 43) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 14 Red River Avenue North in Cold Spring, Minnesota, 
as the ``Officer Tommy Decker Memorial Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 43

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

     SECTION 1. OFFICER TOMMY DECKER MEMORIAL POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 14 Red River Avenue North in Cold Spring, 
     Minnesota, shall be known and designated as the ``Officer 
     Tommy Decker Memorial 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 ``Officer Tommy Decker Memorial Post 
     Office''.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. MEADOWS. 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 North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 43, introduced by 
the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann), to designate the postal 
facility located at 14 Red River Avenue North in Cold Spring, 
Minnesota, as the Officer Tommy Decker Memorial Post Office.
  Officer Decker served for 6 years with distinction as a member of the 
Cold Spring, Minnesota, police department.
  On November 29, 2012, at just 31 years of age, he was tragically 
killed while trying to prevent a suicide.

                              {time}  1415

  He is survived by his wife, Alicia, and their children.
  It is clear that Officer Decker touched many lives during his career. 
He received numerous awards and commendations for his hard work on the 
police force. At his memorial service, more than 3,000 police officers, 
friends, and members of the community gathered to honor his legacy.
  Mr. Speaker, Officer Tommy Decker made the ultimate sacrifice by 
trying to help and protect the residents of Cold Spring. He is a true 
American hero. It is my honor to ask my colleagues to support H.R. 43.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page 10227]]


  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, we support this. I am delighted to be here on 
an important afternoon to commemorate the lives of great Americans with 
these postal namings, which I hope we can do on a bipartisan basis.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann), my distinguished 
colleague.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and also a great 
deal of emotion that I stand here today as the representative of the 
citizens of Cold Spring. In particular, we are here to honor the memory 
of the fallen, and that is Officer Tommy Decker.
  On November 29, 2012, Cold Spring, Minnesota, Police Officer Tommy 
Decker was tragically killed in the line of duty. He is survived by his 
wife, Alicia, a wonderful woman who loved him dearly and whom Tommy 
dearly loved; his four young children, beautiful children, Kelly, Jade, 
Justin, and Devon; his parents, John and Rosella, pillars in the 
community of Cold Spring, who did a wonderful job raising their son and 
who Tommy's mother spoke to just briefly before he went on call for his 
final end of watch; and his siblings, his colleagues, and the community 
who dearly loved Tommy Decker.
  Before his final act of service to the community that he loved, Tommy 
served the communities of Isle, Watkins, Kimball, and the Cold Spring/
Richmond Police Department. He received several commendations and 
letters of appreciation for his exemplary work.
  How he died is testament to how much Tommy Decker loved his hometown 
of Cold Spring and the kind of man of character that Tommy Decker was. 
For a decade, he bravely stood watch. He protected the citizens of 
central Minnesota with both diligence and a sense of respect.
  The overwhelming outpouring of love and support, not only from the 
Cold Spring community but all Minnesotans in the wake of this 
unspeakable tragedy, speaks to the impact that Tommy had on countless 
lives.
  While there are no words that could ever properly honor him, renaming 
his hometown post office in his memory so that his children, his 
parents, his wife, his siblings, his colleagues can all point to this 
memorial with pride and say to their friends, my father, our son, my 
husband, our brother, our citizen was a hero in our community--he 
sacrificially gave of his life to our community--therefore, Mr. 
Speaker, is a fitting tribute to a life well lived and to a man greatly 
missed.
  As the Holy Scriptures teach us, Mr. Speaker, greater love hath no 
man than this, but that he laid down his life for his friends. Surely, 
this is what Tommy Decker did for the citizens of Cold Spring.
  I join the entire Minnesota House delegation in urging our colleagues 
to support H.R. 43, to rename the post office in Cold Spring, 
Minnesota, in honor of him the Officer Tommy Decker Memorial Post 
Office.
  Though Tommy is no longer with us, his legacy and example of courage 
and compassion lives on.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, at this point we have no one else to speak 
on this particular bill, so I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WELCH. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MEADOWS. 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 North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 43.
  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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