To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 208 South Main Street in Parkdale, Arkansas, as the Willie Vaughn Post Office.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross).

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution to rename the U.S. Post Office in Parkdale, Arkansas the Willie Vaughn Post Office, and I want to first express my heartfelt appreciation to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) for sponsoring this renaming legislation. I also want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry), the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) for their cosponsorships. It is also my pleasure to extend thanks to the honorable mayor and members of the Parkdale Arkansas City Council for their concurrence in the renaming of their town's post office: Ms. Glenda Wells, mayor; Louis Mitchell, alderman; Mark Hawkins, alderman; Paula Files, alderman; and Evora Parker, all whose families I knew and in some instances grew up with.

Madam Speaker, I stand here this afternoon with a tremendous amount of pride in being able to participate in passing this legislation.

First of all, I was born and grew up in Parkdale, Arkansas and lived there until I graduated from college. The man for whom we are renaming this post office, Mr. Willie Vaughn, whom we fondly called Uncle Dude and who is now 101 years old, was one of my primary mentors and role models and the most outstanding African American figure in that area for many years. Uncle Dude, who technically was not my uncle, he and my mother were stepbrothers, as they would be called, and sisters because their parents got married after his father's wife had died, and yet our families blended so close together until we were much closer than many blood relatives. As a matter of fact, as a result of the blending, my mother ended up with about 25 brothers and sisters.

In addition, Uncle Dude and my father were close associates and the best of friends, and I spent many a Sunday afternoon in their home eating Aunt L.C.'s famous egg pies.

Uncle Dude never had much formal education. My cousin Cora said that he finished the second grade, and yet he has always been one of the smartest and wisest persons that I have ever known. He had what we call a degree in CSTA; that is, common sense, talent, and ambition.

Legend of Folklore has it that Willie as a little boy did not take kindly to farm work, did not practice it, and did not act as though he wanted to learn. Therefore, he was called ``Dude'' and it stuck. However, Mr. Vaughn became self-taught and in many ways self-educated. He could do almost anything on and off the farm. He, like most of his peers, was a sharecropper, but he also owned the molasses mill and made syrup. He was a tailor and measured me for my first tailored suit, which another uncle of mine sent to me from St. Louis when I was graduating from elementary school, and, I might add, it was one of the few tailored suits that I have ever owned.

He was the chief lay person at our church, the Penny's Chapel CME Church, for more than 50 years, drove the school bus after we got one because we did not always have one, and was oftentimes the bridge between the black and white factions of the community in a small, rural southern town. Mr. Vaughn worked hard, acquired property, was a leading advocate for education, and commanded the respect of all segments of the town and of the area.

Uncle Dude was the Sunday school superintendent at our church for decades, and I shall never forget that, as a teenager, he gave me the opportunity to teach Sunday school, which may have been the reason that I eventually became a schoolteacher. Even in our small semi-isolated town, and he and other adults expressed and conveyed a strong appreciation for education, and I remember my cousin Aubry graduating from high school as the only person in his class.

As an avid church leader, Uncle Dude became a member of the general board of the CME Church and expressed great pride in the fact that he was able to vote to change the name from Colored Methodist Episcopal Church to Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was born the son of former slaves. Mr. Willie Vaughn epitomizes progress that this country has made. He is indeed a living legend who is still alive, alert, and spiritually as well as intellectually engaged. I would not be surprised to find out that he is watching these proceedings on C-SPAN. And if he is, I say congratulations, Uncle Dude, on a life well spent, a Nation well served, a family well loved, and a faith in God well preserved.

Madam Speaker, it is indeed with great pride that I urge passage of this bill and again thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) for introducing it.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Chicago for yielding me this time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3853, legislation which would designate the postal facility in Parkdale, Arkansas, which is located in Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District, the ``Willie Vaughn Post Office.'' This bill has the unanimous support of the Parkdale City Council and its mayor, and I would like to personally thank them for their help with this: Mayor Glenda Wells, and to the City Council, Louis Mitchell, Mark Hawkins, Paula Files, and Evora Parker.

Willie Vaughn, known to friends and family as ``Uncle Dude,'' spent most of his life giving back to this small town located near the Ashley and Chicot County line in southeast Arkansas, just a few miles north of Louisiana. Mr. Vaughn is an active member of his local church, helping not only to build the church but also serving in many leadership positions over the years.

I can think of no person more deserving of this prestigious honor than Willie Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn embodies the definition of ``giving back to your community.'' At 101 years of age, Mr. Vaughn has spent a lifetime, or one might say over a century, working to improve Parkdale through dedication to the CME Church, as a civil rights leader working to remove racial barriers, lending an ear to friends and family throughout the community, throughout southeast Arkansas, and, yes, throughout America. He did so as a school bus driver, as a farmer, as a devoted husband and father. It is evident that Mr. Vaughn's commitment and dedication to his church, to civil justice, and to community service has made a lasting impact on the Parkdale community and its people.

Willie Vaughn has served as a role model to many young people who grew up in this small town of 377 people, people like the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who now resides in Chicago but grew up in Parkdale, people like the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who have gone on to do great things all across America because of the way their lives were shaped and influenced by Mr. Willie Vaughn.

The Willie Vaughn Post Office will stand for decades and generations to come as a testament to Mr. Vaughn's life and the influence, the impact he has made on so many people from all across this great country that spent a little bit of time growing up in that southeast Arkansas community that we call the town of Parkdale.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3853) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 208 South Main Street in Parkdale, Arkansas, as the Willie Vaughn Post Office.

Madam 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. 3853.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 3853, introduced by the distinguished gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross). This bill will designate this post office in Parkdale, Arkansas, as the Willie Vaughn Post Office Building.

Willie Vaughn was born in 1904 in Thomasville, Alabama. He later moved to the State of Arkansas where he spent the better part of his life. Although Mr. Vaughn has little formal education, his dedication and perseverance in bettering his community earned him the undying respect and admiration of his peers. As a farmer who raised hogs, chickens, and cattle, he provided for his family, as well as anyone in need. He was always willing to lend a hand whether it be listening to and counseling members of the community or helping grieving friends plan funerals.

Mr. Vaughn was active in his local church and held various positions within the congregation. As a delegate to the 1945 CME convention, he led the church from the Colored Methodist Church to the Christian Methodist Church. At 101 years of age, Willie Vaughn has experienced life-changing periods such as segregation, reconstruction, the stock market crash, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, and much more. He is truly a man that has contributed to his community by his commitment to humanity and family and has become an icon in Parkdale, Arkansas. I urge all Members to come together and honor the life of this dedicated humanitarian.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 3853. 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, due to a previous commitment, I was absent from legislative business on Monday, October 17, 2005 and Tuesday, October 18, 2005. Had I been present, I would have voted accordingly: On rollcall No. 521, approving the Journal, I would have voted ``nay''. On rollcall No. 522, passage of H. Res. 457, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 523, passage of H. Res. 491, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 524, passage of H. Res. 494, I would have voted ``nay''. On rollcall No. 525, passage of H.R. 1409, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 526, passage of H. Res. 492, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 527, passage of H.R. 3549, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 528, passage of H.R. 3853, I would have voted ``yea''.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration, and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1989, H.R. 2062, H.R. 2183, and H.R. 3853, all en bloc.

I ask unanimous consent the bills be read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc.