To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 550 Nebraska Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, as the "Newell George Post Office Building".

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 21, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in open session to consider the following nominations:

1. Vice Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN, for appointment to the grade of Admiral and to be Commander, United States Northern Command/ Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command;

2. Lieutenant General Bantz J. Craddock, USA, for appointment to the grade of General and to be Commander, United States Southern Command;

3. Peter Cyril Wyche Flory to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; and

4. Valerie Lynn Baldwin to be Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller.

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, July 21, 2004, at 10 a.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on ``Regulation N.M.S. and Developments in Market Structure.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at 10 a.m., to hear testimony on ``Bridging the Tax Gap.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on ``The Multilateral Development Banks.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at 10 a.m., to hold a business meeting to consider pending committee business.

Agenda

Legislation

1. S. 1230, a bill to provide for additional responsibilities for the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security relating to geospatial information.

2. S. 2347, a bill to amend the District of Columbia Access Act of 1999 to permanently authorize the public school and private school tuition assistance programs established under the Act.

3. S. 2409, a bill to provide for continued health benefits coverage for certain federal employees.

4. S. 2628, a bill to amend chapter 23 of title 5, United States Code, to clarify the disclosures of information protected from prohibited personnel practices, require a statement in nondisclosure policies, forms, and agreements that such policies, forms, and agreements conform with certain disclosure protections, provide certain authority for the Special Counsel, and for other purposes.

5. S. 2536, the Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2004.

6. S. 2635, a bill to establish an intergovernmental grant program to identify and develop homeland security information, equipment, capabilities, technologies, and services to further the homeland security needs of Federal, State, and local governments.

7. S. 2657, a bill to amend part III of title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of programs under which supplemental dental and vision benefits are made available to Federal employees, retirees, and their dependents, to expand the contracting authority of the Office of Personnel Management, and for other purposes.

8. S. 2639, a bill to reauthorize the Congressional Award Act.

9. S. 2275, the High Risk Nonprofit Security Enhancement Act of 2004.

10. S. 593, Reservists Pay Security Act of 2003.

11. H.R. 3797, the 2004 District of Columbia Omnibus Authorization Act.

Post Office Naming Bills

1. S. 2501/H.R. 4427, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 73 South Euclid Avenue in Montauk, New York, as the ``Perry B. Duryea, Jr. Post Office''.

2. S. 2640, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1050 North Hills Boulevard in Reno, Nevada, as the ``Guardians of Freedom Memorial Post Office Building'' and to authorize the installation of a plaque at such site, and for other purposes.

3. H.R. 3340, an act to redesignate the facilities of the United States Postal Service located at 7715 and 7748 S. Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, as the ``James E. Worsham Post Office'' and the ``James E. Worsham Carrier Annex Building'', respectively, and for other purposes.

4. H.R. 4222, an act to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 550 Nebraska Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, as the ``Newell George Post Office Building''.

5. H.R. 4327, an act to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 7450 Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis, Missouri, as the ``Vitilas `Veto' Reid Post Office Building''.

6. H.R. 4380, an act to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4737 Mile Stretch Drive in Holiday, Florida, as the ``Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith Post Office Building''.

Nominations

1. Neil McPhine to be Chairman, Merit Systems Protection Board.

2. Barbara J. Sapin to be a Member, Merit Systems Protection Board.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet in Executive Session during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 21, 2004.

Agenda

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at 2 p.m. in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building to conduct an oversight hearing on pending legislation to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a business meeting on pending Committee matters, to be followed immediately by a hearing on S. 519, the Native American Capital Formation and Economic Development Act of 2003.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at 10 a.m., on ``An Overview of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building room 226.

Witness List

Panel I: Jeffrey S. Bucholtz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

Panel II: Helen Bandley Houghton, San Antonio, TX; Jeffrey Thompson, San Antonio, TX; Jeffrey Thompson, Jacksonville, AK; Rita Torres, Surprise, AZ.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Children and Families and Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Personnel be authorized to meet for a joint hearing on The Needs of Military Families: How Are States and the Pentagon Responding, Especially for the Guard and Reservists? during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 21, 2004., at 2 p.m., in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 21, 2004, at 2 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on how States have responded to military families' unique challenges during military deployments and what the Federal Government can do to support States in this important work.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 21, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 738, to designate certain public lands in Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, Lake, Napa, and Yolo counties in the State of California as wilderness, to designate certain segments of the Black Butte River in Mendocino County, California, as a wild or scenic river, and for other purposes; S. 1614, to designate a portion of White Salmon River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; S. 2221, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain National Forest System land in the State of Oregon, and for other purposes; S. 2253, to permit young adults to perform projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief on public land through a Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps; S. 2334, to designate certain National Forest System Land in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System; and S. 2408, to adjust the boundaries of the Helena, Lolo, and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests in the State of Montana.

Mr. Speaker, as the author of H.R. 4222, I want to thank Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Waxman of the Government Reform Committee for expediting the floor consideration of this legislation.

In introducing H.R. 4222, I was joined by Representatives Todd Tiahrt, Jim Ryun and Jerry Moran. This legislation would designate the United States Postal Service facility located at 550 Nebraska Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, as the ``Newell George Post Office Building.''

Newell Adolphus George served as a member of the 86th Congress, from 1959-61, representing the Second District of Kansas, which was redesignated as the Third District following the post-1960 congressional reapportionment. He was a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1904, he attended Hawthorne Grade School and Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas, as well as Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri, and Park College in Parkville, Missouri.

After studying law at the University of Kansas City School of Law, Newell George obtained employment as a Capitol Hill elevator operator through the patronage of Senator George Mcgill of Kansas and graduated from the George Washington University Law School.

He then was an attorney for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C., from 1935-1937, a regional counsel for the War Manpower Commission from 1942-43, and a regional attorney for the Bureau of Employment Security and the Federal Security Agency from 1937-52. After the Democratic Party lost control of the Executive Branch, George served as first assistant Wyandotte County Attorney from 1953-58.

At that point, he began running for Congress, losing to incumbent Republican Errett Scrivner in 1954 and 1956. In 1958, however, a strong anti-Republican tide ran through the farm and western states, resulting in the defeat of numerous incumbent Senators and Representatives, including the defeat of Representative Scrivner by Newell George.

With Republican dominance returned to Kansas in 1960, Representative George was defeated for re-election by Robert Ellsworth of Lawrence, making Newell George the most recent resident of Kansas City to represent Kansas in the U.S. Congress.

After his defeat, however, George was the first U.S. Attorney nominated for appointment by the new Kennedy-Johnson Administration. Newell George served as U.S. Attorney for Kansas from 1961-68. After losing another congressional race in 1968 to Representative Larry Winn, Jr., George practiced law privately in Kansas City, Kansas, and died in 1992.

Married to the former Jean Hannan of Kansas City, Kansas, Newell George was an intrepid public servant and active, concerned citizen. In addition to his political activities, he was a member of Abdallah Shrine, Scottish Rite; a master of the West Gate Masonic Lodge; president of the Kansas City, Kansas, Hi-12 Club; a member of the Kansas State Hi-12 Association; a member of the Breakfast Optimist Club; a member of the Wyandotte County, Kansas and American Bar Associations, the American Judicature Society, Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, the American Academy of Political And Social Science, the Kansas City, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Terrace Club, the Top o' the Morning Club, and the First Presbyterian Church of Kansas City, Kansas.

Newell George's other public service included membership on the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission; the Civil Service Commission of Kansas City, Kansas; the Kansas State Government Ethics Commission; and service as a director of the Kansas Multiple Sclerosis Society. Nicknamed ``Punk'' by his friends, George's other activities included managing a string of boxers, after boxing himself at Wentworth Military Academy; bowling; and adding to a collection of old books--mainly Bibles and McGuffey readers--begun by his father.

In short, Mr. Speaker, Newell A. George was the kind of community oriented, politically active individual who made things happen on the state and local level in so many American cities during the middle third of the twentieth century. With regard to Kansas and Kansas City, he was one of a small but hardy group of Democratic activists who kept two-party government alive in one of our country's most Republican states. It is fitting, therefore, that the House today approves legislation introduced by the bipartisan Kansas House delegation that will designate Kansas City, Kansas', civil center post office in memory of U.S. Representative Newell George.

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 my colleague in the consideration of H.R. 4222, legislation naming a postal facility in Kansas City, Kansas, after Newell George. The measure was introduced by the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) on April 27, 2004, unanimously reported by our committee on June 3rd, 2004, and enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire Kansas delegation.

Newell A. George had a distinguished career serving the citizens of Kansas. He served as a member of the 86th Congress from 1959 to 1961, representing the second congressional district. This district was later redesignated as the third congressional district following the 1960 congressional reapportionment.

While serving in Congress, Representative George served on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. After his defeat, former representative George served as U.S. Attorney for Kansas from 1961 to 1968. After that, he practiced law until his death in 1992.

Newell George was an exceptional public servant and active member of his community. Naming a postal facility after the late representative from Kansas honors his legacy and dedication to public service. I commend my colleague, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore), for sponsoring this bill and I urge its passage.

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. 4222) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 550 Nebraska Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, as the ``Newell George 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 on H.R. 4222, and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in support of H.R. 4222, which names the postal facility in Kansas City after former Congressman Newell George.

Congressman George represented the second district of Kansas for one term in this House, from 1959 to 1961. Congressman George was the last resident of the City of Kansas City, actually, to represent the State of Kansas in the Congress. He later served as United States Attorney for the District of Kansas during the 1960s, after being appointed by President John F. Kennedy.

Newell George was a devoted, caring, vigorous public servant, who is highly deserving of this post office naming. It is a pleasure to support this meaningful measure, and I am hopeful and confident the entire House will as well.

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

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