To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 205 West Washington Street in Knox, Indiana, as the "Grant W. Green Post Office Building".

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, December 15, 2005, at 10 a.m. on pending committee business.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Thursday, December 15, 2005, at 10 a.m., for a hearing titled, ``Hurricane Katrina: Who's In Charge of the New Orleans Levees?''.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affaris be authorized to hold an off-the-floor markup during the session on Thursday, December 15, 2005, to consider the nominations of George W. Foresman to be Under Secretary for Preparedness, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Mary M. Rose to be Member, Merit Systems Protection Board.

Agenda

Nominations

(1) George W. Foresman to be Under Secretary for Preparedness, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

(2) Mary M. Rose to be Member, Merit Systems Protection Board.

Post Office Naming Bills

(1) S. 1445, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 520 Colorado Avenue in Arriba, CO, as the ``William H. Emery Post Office.''

(2) S. 1792/H.R. 3770, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 205 West Washington Street in Knox, IN, as the ``Grant W. Green Post Office Building.''

(3) S. 1820, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 6110 East 51st Place in Tulsa, OK, as the ``Dewey F. Bartlett Post Office.''

(4) S. 2036, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 320 High Street in Clinton, MA, as the ``Raymond J. Salmon Post Office.''

(5) S. 2064, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 122 South Bill Street in Francesville, IN, as the ``Malcolm Melville `Mac' Lawrence Post Office.''

(6) S. 2089, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1271 North King Street in Honolulu, Oahu, HA, as the ``Hiram L. Fong Post Office Building.''

(7) H.R. 2113, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 2000 McDonough Street in Joliet, IL, as the ``John F. Whiteside Joliet Post Office Building.''

(8) H.R. 2346, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 105 NW Railroad Avenue in Hammond, LA, as the ``John J. Hainkel, Jr. Post Office Building.''

(9) H.R. 2413, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1202 1st Street in Humble, TX, as the ``Lillian McKay Post Office Building.''

(10) H.R. 2630, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1927 Sangamon Avenue in Springfield, IL, as the ``J.M. Dietrich Northeast Annex.''

(11) H.R. 2894, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 102 South Walters Avenue in Hodgenville, KY, as the ``Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Post Office Building.''

(12) H.R. 3256, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 3038 West Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA, as the ``Congressman James Grove Fulton Memorial Post Office Building.''

(13) H.R. 3368, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 6483 Lincoln Street in Gagetown, MI, as the ``Gagetown Veterans Memorial Post Office.''

(14) H.R. 3439, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 201 North 3rd Street in Smithfield, NC, as the ``Ava Gardner Post Office.''

(15) H.R. 3548, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located on Franklin Avenue in Pearl River, NY, as the ``Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. Post Office Building.''

(16) H.R. 3703, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 8501 Philatelic Drive in Spring Hill, FL, as the ``Staff Sergeant Michael Schafer Post Office.''

(17) H.R. 3825, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 770 Trumbull Drive in Pittsburgh, PA, the ``Clayton J. Smith Memorial Post Office.''

(18) H.R. 3830, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 130 East Marion Avenue in Punta Gorda, FL, as the ``U.S. Cleveland Post Office Building.''

(19) H.R. 4053, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 545 North Rimsdale Avenue in Covina, CA, as the ``Lillian Kinkella Keil Post Office.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent at the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 15, 2005, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a closed meeting.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.

Mr. Speaker, I will not take more than 3. I simply would like

to, as a courtesy to the House, explain the motion.

For the last 2 weeks, the attention of the House has been focused on the efforts of the majority party to pass its reconciliation bill, which includes significant cuts in food stamps, in child support enforcement, in disability payments in order to pay for the tax cuts which this Congress has already largely passed. The problem that we have with that is that this bill, in effect, hits those same poor people a second time with cuts in education, health, worker protection programs that are in the bill.

The Senate appeared to give the persons interested in this bill some hope that those cuts could be avoided by adding a $3 billion financing gimmick to their proposal. But it is clear now that that provision is being discarded, and that means that the new caps that the Appropriations Committee adopted last week will eliminate the ability of the Senate to provide that extra $3 billion. That means that the only way that we can avoid that hit is to reduce the size of the tax cuts being provided to make room in the budget for some of these crucial items.

So this motion simply attempts to instruct the conferees to accept the Harkin amendment which would add $8 billion in order to pay fully for the flu pandemic work that needs to be done. It would instruct the conferees to add $3 billion to the low-income heating assistance program to take into account the huge increase in home energy prices that consumers will face this year, especially low-income consumers.

It would provide an additional $1.5 billion in programs that are meant to discourage abortion, programs such as a maternal and child health block grant, Head Start, domestic violence and numerous others, one-half billion dollars to restore health professions training, and $3 billion to put title I on a 5-year track to full funding under No Child Left Behind; $1.6 billion in additional funding for disabled and handicapped children trying to put that program on the same 5-year glide path; and one-half billion dollars in restoration for worker training and job training programs.

It would ask the conferees to support a provision which would reduce the size of the tax cuts for millionaires from an average of $140,000 to $36,000. That is still a pretty hefty cut.

Mr. Speaker, in essence, that is what the motion to instruct would provide. We are offering it because this is the last chance that this body has to reach a different set of judgments concerning budget priorities that affect the poorest and most defenseless people in this society.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, if one looks at the Budget Act, the purpose of the Budget Act was to force a Congress to get away from runaway spending and runaway deficits by forcing the Congress to confront trade-offs between spending and revenues. In fact, the Congress is being prevented from doing that and the Congress is being shielded from facing those explicit trade-offs unless amendments such as this are offered and debated fully in the House.

We recognize that funding for these programs under the budget resolution is being cut back in order to make room in that same budget resolution for the tax cuts that have been provided and to make room for further tax cuts which the majority party is talking about offering this week. If we cannot offer this kind of an amendment, then it would seem to me that the entire budget process has been intellectually corrupted and turned into a mere enforcement mechanism for majority party will rather than being used as a device to work out an explicit and forthright set of trade-offs.

I would urge the Chair to reject the point of order.

Mr. Speaker, most reluctantly, I do appeal the ruling of the Chair, not because I have any fault with the Chair, but because this is the only opportunity this institution will have to make a different set of priority choices.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3770) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 205 West Washington Street in Knox, Indiana, as the ``Grant W. Green 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 rise in support of H.R. 3770 authored by the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Chocola).

Mr. Speaker, this bill would designate this post office in Knox, Indiana, as the Grant W. Green Post Office Building.

As the longest serving postman in Knox history, Grant Green served the people of Knox from 1920 to 1970. For more than half a century, he refused to let anything, ``neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor dark of night,'' keep him from his appointed routes. For 23 years, he delivered mail to all houses located north of the Nickel Plate Railroad tracks, which ran through the center of town. He spent the remaining 27 years of his career delivering mail

on rural routes at a time when most homes were located on dirt or gravel roads.

Grant Green moved to Knox as a young man to raise a family, but he quickly became the quintessential public servant: hardworking, passionate about his job, and dedicated to the people in the country in which he served. He was also extremely active in the community as a 70- year member of the local Masonic Lodge. Mr. Green passed away on December 29, 1990, but will be forever remembered as one of the most dedicated citizens of the community of Knox, Indiana.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to come together to recognize the vast dedication of Grant W. Green to public service in Knox, Indiana.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 3770, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, the House will consider H.R. 3770, legislation to designate the newly opened post office in Knox, Indiana, as the ``Grant W. Green Post Office Building.''

Grant Green worked as a postal carrier in Knox, Indiana from 1920 to 1970, making him the longest-serving postal employee in the community's history. For 23 years, he delivered mail to all houses located North of the Nickel Plate Railroad tracks, which ran through the center of Knox. He spent the remaining 27 years of his career delivering mail on rural routes at a time most rural homes were located on dirt or gravel roads.

A native of North Judson, Indiana, Grant moved to Knox as a young boy and attended Knox High School. Grant was hired by the local post office in 1920 and he quickly became the quintessential public servant: hardworking, passionate about his job, and dedicated to the people and country he served. Twenty years later, he married Margie Gaede. Together, they raised five children, all graduates of Knox High School. Grant was active throughout the community, including his nearly 70-year membership in the local Masonic Lodge. He died on December 29, 1990 and was buried on his 50th wedding anniversary, December 31, 1990.

For more than half a century, Grant refused to let anything, ``neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor dark of night,'' keep him from his appointed routes. Naming the new post office in Knox after a local courier and pillar of the community will honor not only Grant Green, but also the hard working postal employees with whom he served. It will recognize an era unique in the American experience, and it will make a statement to future generations about the importance Knox places on a strong work ethic and public service. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of representing the city of Knox in Starke County for ten years in Congress, and though it is no longer in my congressional district, it is a town that remains special to me. It is a community filled with tight-knit families who support one another through good times and bad.

What is so fitting about naming Knox's post office for Grant Green is that it is not only a tribute to the people of Knox, but to the men and women of the U.S. Postal Service.

Grant Green lived nearly his entire life in Knox where he raised his family, was a model citizen, and dedicated himself to public service.

It is that public service for which he is best known. For 50 years, he served the people of Knox as a postman.

Now, in these days of instant communication and relatively inexpensive travel, it is sometimes easy to overlook the vital role that the men and women of the U.S. Postal Service have played for our communities, especially our rural communities.

Communities such as Knox may have small populations, but they are typically surrounded by family farms. In decades past, postmen may have been the only outside contact that those families had for weeks. Their arrival and what they brought, not only in the mailbag but also in news from town to town, was vital and eagerly awaited.

For 50 years, Grant Green was the link to the outside world for many families and we honor his service today with the naming of the new Knox Post Office.