[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9614-9615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               FLORESVILLE VETERANS POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 891) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 141 Paloma Drive in Floresville, Texas, as the 
``Floresville Veterans Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 891

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

     SECTION 1. FLORESVILLE VETERANS POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 141 Paloma Drive in Floresville, Texas, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``Floresville Veterans 
     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 ``Floresville Veterans Post Office 
     Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Ms. Plaskett) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALKER. 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 North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in support of H.R. 891, introduced by Representative Henry 
Cuellar.
  H.R. 891 designates the post office located at 141 Paloma Drive in 
Floresville, Texas, as the Floresville Veterans Post Office Building.
  This excellent bill honors the men and women of Floresville, Texas, 
who served our country. We are grateful for their service and for the 
service of all of our veterans and their sacrifices in the service to 
our great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in supporting H.R. 
891, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 141 Paloma Drive in Floresville, Texas, as

[[Page 9615]]

the Floresville Veterans Post Office Building.
  This legislation commemorates the sacrifices made by the servicemen 
and -women of Floresville, Texas. Whether they served abroad or at 
home, our military men and women have courageously given their time and 
energy to defend the many freedoms we Americans hold so dear. 
Recognizing the loyalty and bravery of our veterans by naming this post 
office in their honor is the least we can do.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill 
that would recognize the honorable service and countless sacrifices 
made by our veterans and their families. I urge the passage of H.R. 
891, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).
  Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Delegate Plaskett for 
yielding the time to me, and thank you so much also to the majority 
manager for speaking in favor of this bill. And certainly I also want 
to thank Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings for their 
leadership and support, along with the committee members, for bringing 
this bill to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 891, which designates the 
facility of the United States Postal Service, located at 141 Paloma 
Drive in Floresville, Texas, as the Floresville Veterans Post Office 
Building.
  Floresville is the county seat of Wilson County, Texas, which has 
4,636 veterans currently residing there. Just across the street from 
this postal facility is the Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home, 
which currently houses about 154 of our American veterans. It is 
fitting that we provide this acknowledgement to our Floresville 
veterans directly across the street from where many of them live now.
  There are many stories from veterans all across Wilson County that 
have served, but I want to highlight a few of those from Floresville. 
Let me start first with Frank Villarreal, who is a veteran who served 
in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy Seawolves helicopter squadron, which 
provided support for the Navy SEALs. Mr. Villarreal has received 15 
awards for his service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the 
National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two 
Bronze Stars, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Gallantry Cross with Palm 
and Frame, the Civil Action Color with Palm and Frame, and the Combat 
Aircrewman Insignia.
  To highlight a couple of other gentlemen also, Pedro Devora and 
Rufino Gonzales both served on the same ship in World War II, on the 
USS Sangamon. They survived a kamikaze attack on their vessel, and they 
went home to live long lives in Floresville.
  Additionally, I want to also say that Mr. Devora and Mr. Gonzales 
obtained the medals they earned during their service that they recently 
just got from the Department of the Navy. For Mr. Devora, these medals 
are the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the 
Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Combat Action Ribbon, the 
Honorable Service Lapel Pin, and the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal 
with the Bronze Star also.
  For Mr. Gonzales, these medals include the World War II Victory 
Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation 
Ribbon, the Combat Action Ribbon, along with the Asiatic Pacific 
Campaign Medal along with the Bronze Star also.
  Again, those are only just a few examples of the men and women from 
Wilson County--in particular, from Floresville--that have served. So I 
want to acknowledge the sacrifice of those veterans along with the 
veterans from my 28th Congressional District, individuals who served 
and put their country ahead of self and for whom I am recognizing with 
the renaming of the Floresville postal facility service.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank also the work of The American Legion 
Post 38 in Floresville and the VFW Post 8555 in Wilson County for the 
work that they have done in supporting our local veterans. The VFW Post 
8555 in Wilson County has done a great job, and I want to thank them.
  So, Mr. Speaker, and to our ranking member and our ranking delegate, 
I just want to say thank you so much.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the 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 North Carolina (Mr. Walker) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 891.
  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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