To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8135 Forest Lane in Dallas, Texas, as the "Vaughn Gross Post Office Building".

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased to join with my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 3723, legislation naming a postal facility in Dallas, Texas, after Vaughn Gross. This measure, which was introduced by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) on January 21, 2004, and unanimously reported by our committee on March 4, 2004, enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire Texas delegation.

A graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in special education, Mrs. Gross has dedicated her life to teaching and working with children with learning disabilities. Her vast teaching experience has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Mrs. Gross has won the distinguished Teacher of the Year from the Richardson Association of Children with Learning Disabilities and has achieved the Parent Teacher Association life membership status.

Currently, Mrs. Gross is serving as the Assistant Superintendent in the Richardson Independent School District. She is involved in a number of community organizations such as the Psychoanalysis Professional Development and Appraisal System, the District Instructional Strategies Committee, the Central Math Textbook Committee, and the Richardson Independent School District Professional Development Strategic Action Team.

And, finally, Mrs. Gross has received her school district's Silver Cup Award for Community on Campus and has been nominated for the YMCA Women of Achievement Award.

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that Mrs. Gross has a distinguished record of

community service, and although it is oftentimes unusual while people are still available to achieve these kinds of recognitions to see that the people of her community and that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), her representative in Congress, thinks enough of her dedication to name this postal facility in her honor, I am pleased to join with him and urge swift adoption of this measure.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an exceptional educator in the 32nd Congressional District of Texas with this legislation H.R. 3723, ``To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8135 Forest Lane in Dallas, Texas, as the `Vaughn Gross Post Office Building.' ''

I am pleased to honor Vaughn Gross with the naming of this post office. It is a fitting tribute to a career educator who has served children with special needs and disabilities with excellence and distinction.

As a father of a child with special needs, I know firsthand that it takes an extraordinary person to educate children with disabilities. It requires both love and passion to be able to accomplish this tough task, and I admire Mrs. Gross for her drive and determination to improve the lives of children with disabilities.

Vaughn Gross began her career in education 36 years ago as an innovative classroom teacher for children with special needs and disabilities at Wooten Elementary School in Austin, Texas. For the past 30 years, she has served with the Richardson Independent School District. From 1993 until 1999, Mrs. Gross held the position of Principal of Brentfield Elementary School. From 1999 until 2003, she was the Principal of Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet School. Mrs. Gross currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

Few in school administrations come from special education backgrounds, so it is notable that Mrs. Gross has been able to continue her commitment to improving special education as she transitioned from the classroom into her current administrative position.

All too often, we as a society do not give the appropriate recognition to dedicated teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty to educate those children with disabilities and special needs. Mrs. Gross has dedicated her life to furthering the education of the countless children who have benefited from her years of experience.

I believe that this legislation not only honors Mrs. Gross, but also pays a fitting tribute to the scores of educators in Texas and throughout the country who specialize in teaching our children with disabilities and special needs.

In addition to teaching her students, Mrs. Gross has made tremendous efforts to share her successful techniques with other educators in Texas to help improve the teaching of students outside of her home school district. I have always been impressed with her abilities, and I sincerely wish her all the best as she continues her career with the Richardson Independent School District.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3723) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8135 Forest Lane in Dallas, Texas, as the ``Vaughn Gross Post Office Building''.

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.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

On behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 3723. This meaningful legislation designates the Dallas Postal Service facility as the ``Vaughn Gross Post Office Building.''

Vaughn Gross has spent 35 years educating children in Texas and more than 30 of those years working in the Richardson Independent School District outside of Dallas. She began her career in the district by teaching special education classes at Skyview and Canyon Creek Elementary Schools in the 1970s. She later taught second grade students for 5 years at Northlake Elementary.

Ultimately, Vaughn Gross worked her way up to become Assistant Principal at Aiken Elementary in 1989. In 1992, she held the same position at Brenfield Elementary School. A year later, she was elevated to Principal, a capacity in which she served for 6 years. In 1999, Vaughn Gross moved over to Hamilton Park Magnet School to act as principal there. Today, Ms. Gross is Assistant Superintendent For Curriculum and Instruction in the Richardson School District.

Mr. Speaker, Vaughn Gross is a respected, appreciated leader in the Dallas area. She earned a Teacher of the Year Award from the Richardson Association of Children with Learning Disabilities in 1977 and PTA life membership status in 1999. She is precisely the type of quality individual after whom the Congress ought to name post offices in our great Nation.

I commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) for introducing H.R. 3723. I know the gentleman from Texas genuinely wanted to be present, and I will be submitting a statement for the Record on behalf of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge every Member of the House to support

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 3723. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, March 29, 2004, I was unable to cast my floor vote on rollcall Nos. 94 and 95. The votes I missed include rollcall vote 94 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2584, to Provide for the Conveyance to the Utrok Atoll Local Government of a Decommissioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ship; and rollcall vote 95 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3723, the Vaughn Gross Post Office Designation.

Had I been present for the votes, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall votes 94 and 95.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday my original flight from my congressional district in North Carolina was canceled, forcing me to take a later flight. Therefore I was unavoidably detained and missed the following three votes: passage of H.R. 2584; passage of H.R. 3723; and passage of H.R. 3917.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yes'' on each of these rollcall votes. I ask unanimous consent that this statement be recorded in the appropriate place in the Congressional Record.

Mr. Speaker, I was in constituent meetings in my congressional district on Monday, March 29, 2004. As such, I was absent from the House floor during the rollcall votes on H.R. 2584, providing for the conveyance of a decommissioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship to the Utrok Atoll local government, and H.R. 3723, the Vaughn Gross Post Office Building Designation Act. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on each of these bills.