To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 223 South Main Street in Roxboro, North Carolina, as the "Oscar Scott Woody Post Office Building".

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) and my friend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for helping participate today.

I rise today urging my colleagues to support H.R. 4176, legislation that would name the main post office in Raeford, North Carolina, in honor of their long-time mayor and my good friend, Bobby Marshall Gentry. Many qualities Bobby Marshall Gentry had. The old saying is ``They also serve who only stand and wait.'' Let me tell my colleagues for sure, Bobby Marshall Gentry never stood and never waited. He moved forward for his town, for his church, for his family, for his children.

Mr. Gentry was elected to the Raeford City Council in February of 1977 and proceeded to serve the city of Raeford, North Carolina, faithfully for 26 years. In March of 1990, Bob was appointed to the post of mayor after the death of then current mayor, J.K. McNeill. Bob was elected in his own right as Raeford's mayor in 1993 and reelected in 1997 and 2001. He served until his untimely death on October 29 of 2003. He served his country also as an Army veteran of the Korean War.

It is interesting to look at all the things that Mayor Gentry did, but one of his most proud accomplishments in those 26 years, only one time was there a tax increase. There were numerous tax decreases for which we all admired him.

Like most folks in Hoke County, I was shocked and saddened when I heard the news that Bob had died. Today I urge my colleagues to join me in remembering a great man who I am proud to have called my friend.

Mr. Speaker, Bob Gentry was a popular mayor. Folks in the community appreciated, admired and really liked him a lot. In fact, I do not think it is too much of a stretch to say that the Raeford community loved Mayor Gentry. Once, when asked why he ran for office, Bob replied as if it were just simple common sense, ``I enjoyed it so much that I could not resist running again and again.''

Bob was known for his ability to not only accomplish good things for Raeford, but he was able to genuinely have a good time serving and accomplishing these many ends.

Raeford, North Carolina, is a small town in my district, but this small-town mayor was a big-time leader who was constantly looking out for the town and the people. He passionately pursued economic development opportunities. Under his leadership, Raeford was put on track for the largest downtown development in Raeford's history. As a long-time and loyal employee of Burlington Mills for 17 years, he also owned his own small business. He was a contributor. He was a giver.

Mayor Gentry was appointed to the Lumber River Council of Governments board of directors in February of 1990. He served as chairman of this group for several terms and was known by his fellow board members as a leader who believed in starting on time, getting your work done and adjourning on time.

Bob greatly admired another great North Carolinian, former United States Senator Jesse Helms. He once said of Senator Helms, ``His integrity is beyond reproach. When he thinks he is right, he will not compromise his position for political acceptance or gain. His morals are of the highest standards.''

We were members of different political parties, but his admiration for Senator Helms and his befriending of me and shepherding me through the process showed clearly his focus was always people and not politics.

Mayor Gentry was a hardworking mayor. He left a legacy with his community. His vision for the future and his determination made Raeford a better place to live and work.

Mr. Speaker, in a small city like Raeford, you often see your friends and neighbors at the post office. It is the kind of place where people say hello and get caught up on what is happening around town. It is very fitting then that today the Raeford community joins me in support of naming the Raeford Post Office, a building at the center of the community, in honor of our former mayor Bob Gentry.

To his wife Eleanor, I had the privilege, Mr. Speaker, of attending the celebration of his life, the funeral service for him, and to Eleanor, there is a passage of scripture, ``In my Father's House, there are many mansions. I have gone to prepare a place for you.'' Well, Bob Gentry is in heaven right now making sure that water and sewer are taken care of, that the lights are on, and preparing a place for Eleanor and his family and others.

To Marsha, Gary and Mark, his children; to his five grandchildren, Marshall, Lucas, Katie, Kelly and Liam, their grandfather was a wonderful man. He leaves many memories of a life well-lived, a good and faithful servant who has gone on before, who served in many, many ways.

Honesty, integrity, intense commitment, these are the qualities, among many, that signified our friend, Bobby Marshall Gentry.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and honor my friend, a fine public servant.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.

Not everyone knows my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), did not spend his life in Chicago. He grew up in the rural south, and I bet he knew people like Bobby Gentry, the kind of folks you are glad to see on the streets. It particularly pleases me and the people in my community for the gentleman to stand in honoring the memory and life of a man who grew up in a rural farming community, but did many great things from that platform.

I thank the gentleman for his help and support.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of this legislation to designate the Roxboro, NC Postal Service facility as the Oscar Scott Woody Post Office.

Oscar Scott Woody, a native of Roxboro, North Carolina, was a sea post clerk aboard the Titanic. Woody worked 15 years as a railroad mail clerk, spending most of the time on trains running between Washington and Greensboro, North Carolina. He was selected in 1910 to join the sea post service.

The Titanic was not only the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, she was also a Royal Mail Steamer. With five sea post clerks, the Titanic set sail for New York with over six million pieces of mail on board. The clerks worked throughout the voyage, sorting mail in the ship's state-of-the-art mailroom.

Sea post clerks were highly skilled and respected postal workers who sorted, canceled, and re-distributed the mail in transit. Regarded as the best of the best, these men typically sorted over 60,000 letters a day, making few, if any, errors in the process. Their hard work and efficiency allowed the mail to be delivered immediately or forwarded directly to other destinations at the end of a voyage.

Mail was considered precious cargo and sea post clerks were expected to protect it at any cost.

On the evening of April 14, 1912, the sea post clerks took a break to celebrate Mr. Woody's forty-fourth birthday. During their celebration, the Titanic hit an iceberg. They returned to find the mail storage room, located in the forward hold that the iceberg had breeched, flooding with water. The clerks desperately tried to save 200 sacks of registered mail by dragging them to the upper decks. Oscar Scott Woody was last seen alive at work, sloshing through the waist high freezing water to save the mail.

None of the mail clerks survived. Oscar Scott Woody's body was recovered a week later and buried at sea.

An exhibit at the Person County Museum of History in North Carolina notes Oscar Scott Woody's place in history. Governor Mike Easley proclaimed November 24, 2003 as ``Oscar Scott Woody Day'' in North Carolina.

Recognition of Woody's heroic efforts is long overdue. It is certainly fitting to name a North Carolina Post Office after a North Carolinian who gave his life upholding his duties to the U.S. Postal Service. Not only does this legislation recognize a postal hero, it serves as a recognition of the contributions made by postal workers and sea post clerks throughout our nation's history.

Mr. Woody certainly displayed the qualities with which North Carolinians take pride. This account was published by the Roxboro Courier on April 24, 1912:

``Mr. Woody stuck by his post and went down with hundreds of brave men, who scorned to take the places by the law of the sea and of Tar Heel chivalry [that] went to women first . . . More than one North Carolinian today, when it was learned that the dead mail-clerk hailed from down home, expressed their satisfaction that North Carolina courage had not been found wanting in that fearful test.''

On May 1, 1912, an article about Mr. Woody in the same paper was published under the headline, ``Died like a North Carolinian.''

Loyal to the last, Mr. Woody was a true Tar Heel. He stuck by his post like his heels were covered in tar and did his job on that frightful night, choosing duty over his life. On his birthday, he never wavered from his duty, and for that all Tar Heels take pride.

I hope all my colleagues will join me in honoring a man who truly gave his life for his work by naming the Roxboro postal facility the Oscar Scott Woody Post Office.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3740) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 223 South Main Street in Roxboro, North Carolina, as the ``Oscar Scott Woody 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 H.R. 3740.

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

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, the House committee that has oversight responsibilities to the U.S. Postal Service, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 3740. This post office designation act honors Oscar Scott Woody, one of the postal service's little known heroes.

This legislation has been co-sponsored by the entire North Carolina congressional delegation.

Mr. Speaker, Oscar Scott Woody was among the 1,522 victims of the Titanic sinking in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Woody was a clerk of the U.S. Post Office Department, who lived in Clifton Springs, Virginia. He worked 15 years as a railroad mail clerk before joining the Postal Sea Service in 1910. Two years later, Woody was selected as one of five postal clerks to serve aboard the grand Titanic during its heavily anticipated maiden voyage.

While his invitation aboard the Titanic's ill-fated journey was professional in nature, he found time to celebrate his 44th birthday with his postal clerk colleagues on the night of April 14, 1912. That night, when the ship infamously crashed into an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, Woody fled his party to salvage as much of the ship's mail as he could. Survivors of the Titanic's sinking reportedly last saw him desperately bagging up the mail in the ship's flooding post office.

Mr. Speaker, Oscar Scott Woody was born April 15, 1868 in Roxboro, North Carolina. I support this measure that names a post office after him in his hometown.

I want to recognize my esteemed colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) for his work on H.R. 3740.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3740, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 3740, legislation naming a postal facility in Roxboro, North Carolina, after Oscar Scott Woody. This measure, which was introduced by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) on January 28, 2004, and unanimously reported by our committee on May 6, 2004, enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the North Carolina delegation.

Oscar Scott Woody was born on April 18, 1868, and lived in Fairfax County, Virginia. For 15 years, Mr. Woody worked as a railroad mail postal clerk, working the train route between Washington, D.C., and Greensboro, North Carolina.

In 1910, he was selected to serve with the Postal Sea Service. Two years later, Oscar was on the Titanic, serving with four other postal clerks.

According to news reports, Oscar Scott Woody was celebrating his 44th birthday aboard the great ship, the Titanic, when it began to sink. Survivors reported seeing Oscar and the other postal sea clerks trying to save the mail in the ship's post office.

Mr. Woody's body was later recovered, along with keys to the ship's mailboxes and ``facing slips'' which indicated the destination of the mail sack.

Mr. Speaker, once again we are witness to the hard work and dedication of postal employees, even in the face of death and disaster.

I commend my colleague for honoring postal sea clerk Oscar Scott Woody, and although the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) was unable to be here today, I know that he would be proud to see the passage of this bill, which names a postal facility after Mr. Woody.

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that I have any other requests for time and urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 4176, legislation naming a postal facility in Raeford, North Carolina, after Bobby Marshall Gentry. This measure, which was introduced by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes) on April 20, 2004, and unanimously reported by our committee on May 6, enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire North Carolina delegation.

Bobby Gentry, as we have heard, a lifelong resident of Raeford, was a businessman and long-time member of the political establishment in his community. He served on the Raeford City Council for 13 years, from 1977 to 1990,

and was appointed mayor in 1990. He then went on to win three mayoral elections after that.

Sadly, on October 29, 2003, Mayor Gentry passed away of a heart attack. Earlier that day, he had played golf with friends and was out having dinner.

Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the Raeford community, postmaster and mayor are all in support of this measure. I want to commend my friend the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes) for introducing it, and I urge its passage.

I do not have any other speakers.

I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, and it is a pleasure to be here with my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.