[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11886-11887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    VINCENT R. SOMBROTTO POST OFFICE

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2291) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the 
``Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2291

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

     SECTION 1. VINCENT R. SOMBROTTO POST OFFICE.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New 
     York, shall be known and designated as the ``Vincent R. 
     Sombrotto 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 ``Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in 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 Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 2291, introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, 
would designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the Vincent 
R. Sombrotto Post Office.
  Vincent Sombrotto was born in Manhattan in 1923. Mr. Sombrotto was a 
longtime advocate for postal workers. He joined the National 
Association of Letter Carriers in 1947 and served as its 16th president 
from 1978 to 2002. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 89.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of 
New York, for introducing H.R. 2291, and I join her in supporting this 
bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the Vincent 
R. Sombrotto Post Office.
  Mr. Vincent Raymond Sombrotto was born in New York on June 15, 1923. 
He joined what was then known as the Post Office Department in 1947 as 
a part-time letter carrier after serving with distinction in the Navy 
during World War II.
  In 1971, Sombrotto was elected president of the New York City branch 
of the National Association of Letter Carriers. In 1978, he was elected 
as NALC's national president, a position he held until 2002.
  He was an active supporter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 
helping to raise millions of dollars to fight neuromuscular diseases.
  Sombrotto passed away in 2013 at the age of 89. He was survived by 
his wife, seven children, and 14 grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, we should pass this legislation. I urge all of my 
colleagues to support it.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney), the distinguished sponsor of the legislation.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the 
gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on the Oversight 
Committee. I thank him and Chairman Issa for moving this legislation 
through the committee. It would rename a United States Postal Service 
facility located in my district at 450 Lexington Avenue after Vincent 
R. Sombrotto, who is one of the most significant labor leaders of his 
generation.
  Like many of his Postal Service colleagues, Vincent Sombrotto traded 
his military uniform for a letter carrier's uniform, and he wore both 
with great distinction.
  As a letter carrier at New York City's Grand Central Station in the 
district I represent, Mr. Sombrotto led the 1970 wildcat postal strike 
that led Congress to reorganize the modern United States Postal 
Service.
  Later elected as president of the National Association of Letter 
Carriers, their 16th president, serving from 1978 to 2002, Mr. 
Sombrotto worked to increase letter carrier wages, moving them from 
poverty level into middle class levels.
  In 1992, he began the National Association of Letter Carrier's food 
drive, which has developed into the country's biggest 1-day food drive 
in the entire country. Since it started, the drive has provided more 
than 1.2 billion pounds of food for food banks in communities 
throughout the United States.
  As a firm believer in civic responsibility, Mr. Sombrotto worked with 
the United States Postal Service and emergency services organizations 
to establish Carrier Alert. Carrier Alert is a nationwide program 
allowing postal carriers to perform humanitarian deeds on their routes, 
including saving lives, finding missing children and pets, and looking 
after the elderly.
  I urge my colleagues to honor Mr. Sombrotto, who worked to improve 
the

[[Page 11887]]

lives of letter carriers, their families, and their communities by 
supporting H.R. 2291.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. With that, I urge all Members to vote in favor of the 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in support of 
this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2291.
  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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