To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 137 East Young High Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the "Ben Atchley Post Office Building".

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3769) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 137 East Young High Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the ``Ben Atchley Post Office Building''.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration, H.R. 3769.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 3769 would name the post office building at 137 East Young High Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee as the Ben Atchley Post Office Building. No tribute could be more fitting than to name a facility of the United States Government after one of our most patriotic public servants, Senator Ben Atchley.

Ben Atchley has served for 32 years with great honor and distinction in the Tennessee State Legislature. He served for 4 years in the Tennessee House of Representatives and has served the last 28 years as a State Senator from Knox County, Tennessee. Senator Atchley has served for most of that time as the Senate minority leader, but in a coalition with conservative Democrats he has really had effective control of the Tennessee State Senate. However, I think it is fair, and I think people on both sides of the aisle would agree, he is perhaps the most respected and admired figure in the entire government of our State of Tennessee.

He is a long-time personal friend. He is an outstanding family man, with his wife Sue and two children. He is a recognized and very respected figure in the Presbyterian Church, having received the very first Barnabas award, the highest award ever given to a lay member of the Presbyterian Church.

He has served as the National Chairman for the Ethics Committee of the National Association of State legislators. He has been a leader in his business, in his profession of life underwriting and in the mutual fund business. He has received the Distinguished

President Award of the Optimist International.

Ben Atchley has been outstanding in every conceivable way in both public and private life. He also served from 1948 to 1958 in the Naval Reserves. He has served his community, he has served his State, and he has served this Nation. I think it is very accurate to say that this country is a better place today because of the service of Senator Ben Atchley.

So it is with great pride and a special privilege that I have introduced this bill to name this post office facility after him in tribute to his years of public service, and I urge support for this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

First, I want to commend my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), for his very kind and fitting and appropriate comments in regard to this legislation, and I simply would like to note that our congressional delegation from the State of Tennessee consists of five Democrats and four Republicans. I think we get along about as well as any delegation in this entire Congress. All nine Members of the House Congressional delegation from Tennessee very quickly and eagerly joined this legislation and cosponsored it.

Ben Atchley has been a very loyal Republican, but he has as many friends on the Democratic side as on the Republican side. He is truly a great, great American, and I urge passage of this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, between Sunday February 29 and Wednesday March 3, 2004, I traveled to Libya as part of a Congressional Delegation led by Representative Weldon and as Member of the House International Relations Committee and the Middle East Subcommittee.

While there, we had the opportunity to meet with Col. Mohammar Qaddafi and members of the Libyan People's Congress to discuss Libya's recent renouncement of state sponsored terror and their development of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. Speaker, this prospective opening to the West is not a mystical revision, but a practical decision by the Libyan Government. It must be met with an equally practical policy of one very wary step at a time.

While there, it became clear the Libyan possibility for peaceful regime conversion and rehabilitation gravely underscores the inherent stakes of succeeding in the Iraqi regime change and reconstruction. If the latter fails, the former fades, and we are all worse than we were at square one.

Unfortunately, my participation in this trip forced me to miss a few votes.

During this time I missed six recorded votes. If I was present I would have voted the following way:

On H.R. 3769, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 137 East Young High Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the ``Ben Atchley Post Office Building''. Roll Number 32, I would have voted ``yes.''

On H. Res. 526, expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives for the victims of the devastating earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2003, in Bam, Iran. Roll Number 33, I would have voted ``yes.''

On H. Res 530, urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to end its human rights violations in China, and for other purposes. Roll Number 34, I would have voted ``yes.''

On H.R. 912, Charles ``Pete'' Conrad Astronomy Awards Act. Roll Number 35, I would have voted ``yes.''

On H.R. 3389, to amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to permit Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards to be made to nonprofit organizations. Roll Number 36, I would have voted ``yes.''

On H.R. 1417, Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2003 Roll Number 37, I would have voted ``yes.''

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

As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 3769, legislation naming a postal facility in Knoxville, Tennessee, after Ben Atchley. This measure was introduced by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) on February 4, 2004 and unanimously reported by our committee on February 12, 2004.

Ben Atchley was born in Knoxville, grew up in the area and attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He served in the Tennessee State Senate from the 90th through the 103rd general assemblies. Prior to serving in the State Senate, Mr. Atchley was a member of the State House. As a member of the Tennessee State Senate, Senator Atchley served as the Senate Republican leader from the 95th through the 103rd general assemblies.

As a seasoned politician representing District 6 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Senator Atchley has enjoyed a very successful career. I note that he is retiring this year after 32 years in politics. He has also been very involved in community and business organizations.

Madam Speaker, what I find most interesting about Senator Atchley is that, according to his secretary, his first apartment, after he got married, was directly across the street from the post office being named after him. The Senator also worked right next door to the same post office where he had a job with South Central Bell Telephone Company. And his high school, Young High School, was a stone's throw down the road from the post office. This postal designation was definitely meant to happen.

So I commend my colleague for seeking to honor the contributions of Senator Atchley and urge swift passage of this bill.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 2, 2004, at 10:15 a.m., in closed session to receive a briefing on the situation in Iraq.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on ``The Role of State Securities Regulators in Protecting Investors.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on fire fighting aircraft.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on nominations.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 2, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on the Greater Middle East Initiative.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 at 10 a.m. to hold a business meeting to consider pending Committee business.

Mr. Speaker, I missed votes on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 due to the Ohio Primary. I respectfully request an excused absence for this date. Had I been present, the record would reflect that I would have voted: ``Yea,'' on Roll 33, H. Res. 526 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, Expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives for the victims of the devastating earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2003, in Bam, Iran, and ``Yea,'' on Roll 32, H.R. 3769 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, Ben Atchley Post Office Building.