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".

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, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) for her kind words. Hopefully, she will come to St. Louis one day and meet Mr. Reid.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as a sponsor of H.R. 4327, a bill to honor Mr. Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid by permanently designating the Normandy Post Office located at 7450 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri, the Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid Post Office.

As we have heard, Veto Reid has had a U.S. Postal Service career that spanned over 50 years. He started his career on August 20, 1951; and it culminated with his retirement as postmaster on September 1, 2001.

His first assignment was ``indefinite substitute clerk,'' which included working in the mail processing and special-delivery sections. After 18 years as a clerk, he received his first management promotion to mail supervisor in December of 1969. That promotion was indeed a significant accomplishment and was a first for an African American. Affectionately known to his family and friends as Veto, he has been throughout his life a man of many firsts. Some of his many accomplishments are as follows:

Superintendent of station and branches in Berkeley, Missouri; delivery program branch supervisor in Chicago, Illinois; officer-in- charge, in Hazelwood, Missouri Post Office; officer-in-charge in St. Charles, Missouri; postmaster of Godfrey, Illinois; postmaster of St. Charles, Missouri.

Veto Reid's outstanding record of accomplishments as a postal service employee was recognized in the Congressional Record on October 21, 2001. He is an honor graduate of the historic Vashon High School located in St. Louis, and attended Stowe Teachers College and the University of Missouri at St. Louis. He is also a trustee and chairman of the board of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, where he has been a member for more than 65 years.

He also has long-lasting memberships with the Albert Holman Masonic Lodge, Eureka Consistory, and Medinah Temple representing the Shriners of Eastern, Missouri.

Veto Reid served on the boards of many advisory committees throughout the St. Louis community. In January of 1995 he was appointed President of the Advisory Board of St. Joseph's Hospital SSM, St. Charles, Missouri. In July of 1999, he was elected President of the Rotary Club of St. Charles, Missouri. In both cases he became the first African American to hold such positions.

Mr. Reid was also the first African American station manager at the South St. Louis City, Chouteau Branch, and he was also the first African American to be appointed station manager at the Godfrey, Illinois, and St. Charles, Missouri post offices.

Vitilas Reid has received many awards, including the First Postmaster's Leadership Award, which was presented at the 1992 National Association of Postmasters of the United States convention in Nashville, Tennessee. In January 2002, he received the State of Missouri Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. He was inducted into the historic Vashon High School Hall of Fame in 1990, and was inducted into the St. Louis Gateway Classic Walk of Fame in August of 2003.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure in tribute to a man whose life has meant so much to his co-workers and his community.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4327) 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''.

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

General Leave

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.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4327 is a great tribute to the service of one of St. Louis, Missouri's favorite sons. This legislation designates the St. Louis postal facility as the Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid Post Office Building.

Mr. Speaker, longtime Postmaster Veto Reid of St. Charles, Missouri, enjoyed a postal career that spanned over 5 decades. He started his career in 1951 as a substitute clerk and ultimately rose to be the postmaster in Godfrey, Illinois, from 1980 until 1983. He then moved to St. Charles, Missouri, where he served as postmaster for 18 years until his retirement in 2001.

Beyond his postal career, Reid is active in his community and sits on the boards of St. Charles County YMCA, the St. Louis branch of the NAACP, the Habitat for Humanity, and Lindenwood University. Veto and his wife, Bessie, reside in St. Charles; and on behalf of my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), I want to congratulate him for this deserved post office designation. After all, it is highly appropriate to name this postal facility in St. Louis after a great individual and a postal institution in St. Louis like Veto Reid. I commend the gentleman from Missouri for advancing H.R. 4327 to the floor today. I support this meaningful honor of Veto Reid.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 4327.

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