To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2404 Race Street in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as the "Hattie W. Caraway Station".

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 14, 2006, at 10 a.m., to mark up S. 418 ``Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act,'' as amended by the committee print; S. 811 ``Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act,'' and to vote on the nominations of Ms. Sheila C. Bair, of Kansas, to be a member and chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Ms. Kathleen L. Casey, of Virginia, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Mr. Robert M. Couch, of Alabama, to be President of the Government National Mortgage Association; Mr. Donald L. Kohn, of Virginia, to be vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and Mr. James B. Lockhart III, of Connecticut, to be the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Immediately following the mark up, the committee will meet in open session to conduct a hearing on ``FASB's Proposed Standard on `Employers' Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans.' ''

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 June 14, 2006, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on ``Extension of HUD's Mark-to-Market Program.''

Mr. President, I would like to ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to hold an oversight hearing on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. to consider whether potential liability deters abandoned hard rock mine clean up.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 10 a.m. for a business meeting to consider pending committee business.

Agenda

Legislation

1. S. 2145, Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005;

2. S. 1554, 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 of the United States and to address the homeland security needs of Federal, State, and local governments;

3. S. 1741, Disaster Area Health and Environmental Monitoring Act;

4. S. 1838, Federal and District of Columbia Real Property Act of 2005;

5. S. 2068, a bill to preserve existing judgeships on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia;

6. S. 2146, a bill to extend relocation expenses test programs for Federal employees;

7. S. 2296, Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act;

8. H.R. 3508, 2005 District of Columbia Omnibus Authorization Act.

Post Office Naming Bills

1. S. 2228/H.R. 4456, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 2404 Race Street in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as the ``Hattie W. Caraway Station;''

2. S. 2376/H.R. 3934, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 80 Killian Road in Massapequa, New York, as the ``Gerard A. Fiorenza Post Office Building;''

3. S. 2722, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 170 East Main Street in Patchogue, New York, as the ``Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy Post Office Building;

4. H.R. 4108, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 3000 Homewood Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, as the ``State Senator Verda Welcome and Dr. Henry Welcome Post Office Building;''

5. H.R. 3440, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 100 Avenida RL Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, as the ``Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa Post Office Building;''

6. H.R. 4786, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 535 Wood Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as the ``H. Gordon Payrow Post Office Building;''

7. H.R. 4561, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 8624 Ferguson Road in Dallas, Texas, as the ``Franciso `Pancho' Medrano Post Office Building;''

8. H.R. 4688, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1 Boyden Street in Badin, North Carolina, as the ``Mayor John Thompson `Tom' Garrison Memorial Post Office;''

9. H.R. 4995, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 7 Columbus Avenue in Tuckahoe, New York, as the ``Ronald Bucca Post Office;''

10. H.R. 3549, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 210 West 3rd Avenue in Warren, Pennsylvania, as the ``William F. Clinger Jr. Post Office Building;''

11. H.R. 2977, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 306 2nd Avenue in Brockway, Montana, as the ``Paul Kasten Post Office Building;''

12. S. 2690, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 8801 Sudley Road in Manassas, Virginia, as the ``Harry J. Parrish Post Office;''

13. S. 3187, a bill to designate the Post Office located at 5755 Post Road, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, as the ``Richard L. Cevoli Post Office;''

14. H.R. 5245, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1 Marble Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, as the ``Matthew Lyon Post Office Building.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on S. 374, the Tribal Parity Act and S. 1535, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Amendments Act of 2005.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Judicial Nominations'' on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness list:

Panel I: The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. and The Honorable William Kovacic, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, Washington,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 14, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, at 10 a.m. on Alternative Energy Technologies.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4456) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2404 Race Street in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as the ``Hattie Caraway Station,'' as amended.

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. 4456, offered by the distinguished gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry), would designate the post office building in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as the ``Hattie Caraway Station.'' All members of the Arkansas delegation have cosponsored this legislation.

Hattie Wyatt Caraway was born on February 1, 1878, near Bakerville, Tennessee. After marrying her husband Thaddeus Caraway, the couple moved on to Jonesboro, Arkansas, where Thaddeus started his political career by being elected into the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as a Democrat in the House from 1912 until 1921, when he successfully ran for the Senate. He served in that capacity until he passed away in 1931.

In the same year, Arkansas Governor Harvey Parnell appointed Hattie Caraway to serve out the rest of her late husband's term. She was confirmed by a special election on January 12, 1932, becoming the first woman elected to the United States Senate.

While serving as a Senator in 1933, Caraway became the first woman to chair a Senate committee; and in 1943, she became the first woman to take up the gavel on the Senate floor as the Senate's presiding officer.

When Caraway was defeated in her reelection efforts in 1944 by William Fulbright, her fellow Senators honored her with a standing ovation on the Senate floor. Her service to our country did not go unnoticed, and her groundbreaking accomplishments paved the way for women everywhere. At this time in our history, women had won the right to vote only 25 years earlier.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this courageous woman who helped shape our Nation's history by passing H.R. 4456.

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

Mr. Speaker, I, along with my colleague, find that one of the great benefits of serving in the House is learning a lot of history, and I, too, have learned a lot today. I want to urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 4456, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think it is fitting and proper that we are here today to proceed with naming a post office in Jonesboro, Arkansas, for Senator Hattie Caraway. She obviously was the first to do a lot of things.

She was the first woman ever elected to the United States Senate in her own right. She was the first woman to chair a Senate committee, the first woman to take up the gavel on the Senate floor.

She was said to be called ``Silent Hattie'' by her colleagues in the Senate; and when asked why she avoided making speeches, and those of us that serve in this distinguished body I am sure can identify with this, she said, ``The men have left nothing unsaid.''

She might have gotten very tired sometimes of hearing it said over and over again, but she served with great distinction, not only the State of Arkansas but this wonderful Nation that we all represent, and broke the way for many people to do some good things.

She also was said to drink a beer occasionally, but she would never fill the glass higher than what her hand reached. I guess to be sure that she did not have too much. I think that is an interesting fact that has been included in the information about Senator Caraway.

She was a resident of Jonesboro, Arkansas, for nearly 50 years. She reared her family there, attended church, and actively participated in the Jonesboro community and civic organizations. Her husband, of course, was a United States Senator and was responsible for getting the post office set up on the Arkansas State University campus. The Caraways were great friends with V.C. Kays, the founding president of Arkansas State University. One year at Christmas, when Thad was dressed as Santa, Hattie supposedly jokingly locked him out of the party.

She made history again recently by becoming the first Arkansasan to ever appear on a stamp. On February 21,

2001, in Little Rock, the 76 cent Hattie Caraway definitive stamp was unveiled, which was the third in the Distinguished Americans series.

The new Hattie Caraway station will be an expansion of delivery services for the postal service in Jonesboro, Arkansas. It will be presided over by the postmaster, Hillrey Adams, who will do a wonderful job of expanding these services; and, again, it is fitting and proper that we name this station after Senator Hattie Caraway and congratulate her and those that have come after her for the wonderful job that she did.

Mr. Speaker, the history of Senator Caraway is a wonderful history, and I keep learning more things about her.

There is a wonderful book that was written by former State Senator David Malone from Arkansas called ``Hattie and Huey,'' and it tells this remarkable story when Senator Huey Long came up to Arkansas to campaign for Senator Caraway. They basically barnstormed all around the small towns of Arkansas, the two of them together: Ms. Caraway, Silent Hattie; and Senator Long. It is just a remarkable and colorful story.

One of the things I just recently learned in the last couple of days about Senator Caraway is that her maiden name was Wyatt, W-Y-A-T-T. Well, I have one of my favorite relatives, my uncle Dick Wyatt, who lives in Medford, Oregon, who had a stroke over the weekend and is doing well but has got a lot of recovery and rehabilitation ahead of him; but I have now got to figure out, well, is my Uncle Dick somehow related to Hattie Wyatt Caraway.

One of my favorite stories about Senator Caraway was she was appointed to the seat after her husband passed away and then they had this election which essentially ratified the appointment, but it was not expected that she would run for reelection for a full regular term herself. She was trying to make up her mind what to do. I think she was with her son in her own home, and they were trying to decide what to do with a group of her advisers. Somebody said, well, let us flip a coin; and so they flipped a coin, and it came up that she should not run. It got real quiet, no one said anything, and then she said, let us go two out of three. That is when they knew she had the fire in her belly and that she wanted to run. They actually flipped the coin. It came up twice that she should run.

I think this is a very fitting tribute to Senator Caraway. She has been a tremendous role model for women in America, and I appreciate the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry) for sponsoring this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder).

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

I suspect that we have exhausted our requests for time, but let me just say that I am pleased to join with both these gentlemen from the State of Arkansas in supporting this legislation.

As a former resident of the State of Arkansas, I thought I knew about its history, but this is one that had actually escaped me. I did not know that Hattie Wyatt Caraway was the first woman elected to the United States Senate. I did not know that Arkansas had been the recipient of that act and of that action, and I certainly want to join with my colleagues in suggesting that it is indeed fitting and proper that we name the post office at Jonesboro, Arkansas, after Senator Hattie Caraway.

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