[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10330-10331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MERLE HAGGARD POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1988) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1730 18th Street in Bakersfield, California, as the 
``Merle Haggard Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1988

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

     SECTION 1. MERLE HAGGARD POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 1730 18th Street in Bakersfield, 
     California, shall be known and designated as the ``Merle 
     Haggard 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 ``Merle Haggard Post Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. DeSantis) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DeSANTIS. 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 Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1988, which designates a 
post office in Bakersfield, California, as the Merle Haggard Post 
Office Building.
  Merle Haggard once sang about being a ``branded man out in the cold'' 
because, having served time in prison, ``no matter where I travel, the 
black mark follows me, I'm branded with a number on my name.'' He 
lamented that: ``If I live to be a hundred, guess I'll never clear my 
name.''
  Well, Merle didn't quite make it to 100, but it is safe to say that 
the people of Bakersfield will appreciate seeing the post office bear 
the name of Merle Haggard. Merle can hold his head up and be proud of 
who he was.
  Now this will be a time for celebration, but remember: ``We don't 
smoke marijuana in Muskogee; we don't take no trips on LSD.'' So in 
honor of the Okie from Muskogee, illicit substances will be prohibited 
at the Haggard Post Office. It will be okay to just stay there and 
drink, but keep in mind that tonight could be the night the bottle 
let's you down.
  We would also appreciate if people refrain from burning draft cards 
on Main Street, and please don't let your ``hair grow long and shaggy'' 
at the Merle Haggard Post Office. Waving Old Glory down at the 
courthouse will, of course, be encouraged.
  Now, Merle didn't always make it easy for people, particularly his 
mother. His mother did everything she could to raise him right, but 
Merle didn't listen. So, like others, he turned 21 in prison, doing 
life without parole, and that left only Merle to blame because ``Mama 
tried, Mama tried.''
  Merle appreciated all our fighting men and women who fought and died 
to keep America free. Merle was right to ask if we can really count on 
being free if we have to depend on ``some squirrely guy who claims he 
just'' doesn't believe in fighting.
  Merle was a patriot who loved this country. If you don't love it, 
then just leave it. But be warned: ``When you are running down my 
country hoss, you are walking on the fighting side of 
me. . . .''
  May God bless Merle Haggard.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, that was a hard act to follow. I was transported to the 
1960s. I was always a fan of Merle Haggard, but not necessarily his 
political philosophy. I don't believe the proposition that if you 
disagree with the policies of your government, you have to leave the 
country. I actually believe the beauty of America is that you get to 
disagree, you get to respectfully dissent, and you still get to live 
here as a full-fledged American.
  I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of this bill to 
designate the facility of the United States Postal Service in 
Bakersfield, California, as the Merle Haggard Post Office Building.
  Merle was born in Bakersfield in 1937, and, as my friend from Florida 
said, took a circuitous route to becoming ``the poet of the common 
man,'' as he was known.
  As a teenager, he often found himself in reform school after 
committing petty crimes. By the age of 20, he was serving time, as Mr. 
DeSantis said, in a California prison. It was that experience, however, 
that helped him turn his life around.
  In prison, Merle Haggard rediscovered his love of music, and later 
put his talent to work on the Bakersfield club circuit. By singing 
about poverty, the struggles of the ordinary man and woman, and how 
music saved him during dark times, he captured the imagination and the 
attention of the entire country, and had 38 number one country hits.
  In 1994, Merle was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 
2010, he received a Kennedy Center Honors from President Barack Obama. 
After a long and fulfilling life, Merle died on his 79th birthday in 
April of last year.
  Mr. Speaker, we should pass this bill to recognize the incredible 
accomplishments to our culture that Merle Haggard represents to 
celebrate his country music and his ability to give a voice to working 
men and women everywhere who keep their ``nose on the grindstone'' and 
``work hard every day.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1988, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished majority 
leader.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am 
from California, but I happen to be from Bakersfield, California. I 
thank the gentleman for his creative use of the lyrics. Merle would be 
proud.
  Mr. Speaker, when you take a look back at American history, you can 
see figures standing tall who spoke for the everyday working man. 
Following the long tradition of Whitman and Twain, Merle Haggard was a 
man who knew America instinctively because he lived an American life. 
It wasn't a life of the movies, but it was all the more compelling 
because it was all the more real. That is the reason they called him 
``The Poet of the Common Man.''
  Merle Haggard didn't have it easy. At the height of the Depression, 
his family searched for opportunity out West. Merle grew up with little 
means and lived with a past of mistakes and regrets.
  So he sang. He sang in ``Branded Man'' of the stigma of prison, 
crooning ``I held my head up high, determined I would rise above the 
shame.''
  He sang in ``Working Man Blues'' of the grind of doing his duty to 
his family, ``working as long as my two hands are fit to use.''
  And he sang of his roots, not of power or wealth or status, but of 
pride in

[[Page 10331]]

being ``an Okie from Muskogee,'' a place of leather boots, football, 
and Old Glory.
  He found success and, more importantly, redemption in the music he 
shared with his country.
  Now, the Bakersfield Sound changed country music, and it is a 
testament to Merle Haggard's talent that when you listen to his hits, 
from ``Branded Man'' to ``Mama Tried,'' to ``Big City,'' to ``Working 
Man Blues,'' or even to ``Okie from Muskogee,'' you not only hear the 
hardship and wisdom of a well-lived life, but you can hear the roots of 
so much of the music we still listen to today.
  From a man who went from Bakersfield High School to San Quentin 
prison, to the Country Music Hall of Fame, a building doesn't seem like 
much. But I hope that when people pass by the Merle Haggard Post Office 
Building in downtown Bakersfield, they will remember an icon of our 
community, an artist who never backed down, a man whose honesty above 
his own failings and willingness to pick himself back up inspired music 
that lifts our spirits and feeds our souls.
  Merle Haggard's name will live on in this building, but his spirit 
will live on in his music that calls us to do the best we can every day 
God gives us.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I 
just want to echo the sentiments of Mr. McCarthy, the majority leader, 
in honoring a great artist who overcame enormous obstacles in his life 
to achieve great success and to make contributions to American culture.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DeSANTIS. 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 Florida (Mr. DeSantis) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1988.
  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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