To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Putnam Avenue in Hamden, Connecticut, as the "Linda White-Epps Post Office".

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry be authorized to conduct a hearing during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 at 10 a.m. in SR-328A, Russell Senate Office Building. The purpose of this hearing will be to consider the nomination of Dr. Richard A. Raymond to be Under Secretary for food safety at the United States Department of Agriculture.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry be authorized to conduct a hearing during the session of the Senate at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 22, 2005, in SR-328A, Russell Senate Office Building. The purpose of this hearing will be to review the Livestock Manadatory Reporting Act 1999.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorize to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. to hold a business meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, June 22, 2005, at 10 a.m. to hold a business meeting to consider pending committee business.

Agenda

legislation

S. 662, Postal Accountability Enhancement Act; S. 457, Purchase Card Waste Elimination Act; S. 611, Emergency Medical Services Support Act; S. 37, a bill to extend the special postage stamp for breast cancer research for two years.

post office naming bills

H.R. 1460, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 6200 Rolling Road in Springfield, VA, as the ``Captain Mark Stubenhofer Post Office Building''.

S. 590/H.R. 1236, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 750 4th Street in Sparks, NV, as the ``Mayor Tony Armstrong Memorial Post Office''.

S. 571, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1915 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY, as the ``Congresswoman Shirley A. Chisholm Post Office Building''.

S. 892/H.R. 324, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 321 Montgomery Road in Altamonte Springs, FL, as the ``Arthur Stacey Mastrapa Post Office Building''.

S. 867/H.R. 289, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 8200 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, CA, as the ``Sergeant First Class John Marshall Post Office Building''.

S. 1207/H.R. 120, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 20777 Rancho California Road in Temecula, CA, as the ``Dalip Singh Saund Post Office Building''.

S. 775, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 123 West 7th Street in Holdenville, OK, as the ``Boone Pickens Post Office''.

S. 1206/H.R. 504, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 4960 West Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA, as the ``Ray Charles Post Office Building''.

H.R. 1001, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 301 South Heatherwilde Boulevard in Pflugerville, TX, as the ``Sergeant Byron W. Norwood Post Office Building.''

HR. 1072, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 151 West End Street in Goliad, TX, as the ``Judge Emilio Vargas Post Office Building.''

S. 904, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1560 Union Valley Road in West Milford, NJ, as the ``Brian P. Parrello Post Office Building.''

HR. 1542, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 695 Pleasant Street in New Bedford, MA, as the ``Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building.''

H.R. 1082, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 120 East Illinois Avenue in Vinita, OK, as the ``Francis C. Goodpaster Post Office Building.''

H.R. 1524, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service at 12433 Antioch Road in Overland Park, KS, as the ``Ed Eilert Post Office Building.''

H.R. 627, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 40 Putnam Avenue in Hamden, CT, as the ``Linda White-Epps Post Office.''

H.R. 2326, a bill to designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 614 West Old County Road in Belhaven, NC, as the ``Floyd Lupton Post Office.''

Nominations

Linda M. Combs to be Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget.

Linda M. Springer to be Director, Office of Personnel Management.

Laura A. Cordero to be Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Noel Anketell Kramer to be Associate Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Mr. President, I would like to announce that the Committee on Indian Affairs will meet on Wednesday, June 22, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building to conduct an oversight hearing on the In Re Tribal Lobbying Matters, et al.

Those wishing additional information may contact the Indian Affairs Committee at 224-2251.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 22, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed briefing.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin) and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) for their kind remarks about a wonderful, wonderful woman. I also want to say thank you to my colleagues in Connecticut for their support of this effort.

I rise in support of the legislation that would name the Whitneyville Branch Post Office in Hamden, Connecticut the ``Linda White-Epps Post Office,'' and this is in honor of her heroic work on behalf of women battling breast cancer.

To all who knew her Linda White-Epps was an inspiration, a true friend. An extraordinary young woman who did so much to improve the lives of those around her, she dedicated her life to her community. She served in the town government on Hamden's Legislative Council and on the boards of local nonprofits. As my colleagues have heard, she served as an executive board member of the NAACP and on the Board of Directors of the local Boys and Girls Club.

But it was her devotion to raising awareness about breast cancer in African American women that became her life's work. Linda herself had beaten breast cancer in 1990, but knew that the disease continued to affect minority communities disproportionately, with African American women facing only a 72 percent 5-year survival rate, 15 percent lower than the survival rate for white women.

That disparity inspired Linda to search for ways to bring survivors together. Knowing that many women often wait too long to be tested and are reluctant to talk about their problems, she wanted to ensure that all women, regardless of race, would be able to take advantage of the remarkable medical advances we have seen over these last several years. Whether it was early detection or increasing access to the best health care possible, she wanted to give every woman a fighting chance of beating this disease. She knew as a breast cancer survivor, as I do as an ovarian cancer survivor, that no one should have to depend on luck when it comes to fighting cancer.

So she created Sisters' Journey, a nonprofit organization which provides education and support to breast cancer survivors, their friends, and their families, and it was the first of its kind in Connecticut.

In 1999, Sisters' Journey published a calendar featuring the pictures of women who have beaten the disease. Each turn of a page provides a look at another month, more stories from ``sisters'' and words of encouragement to women, teaching women to conduct self-examinations and to get mammograms regularly. The unveiling of the calendar still occurs every October at a fund-raiser known as the ``Pink Tea,'' a tradition Linda started.

In addition to Sisters' Journey, she organized the first Relay for Life held in the Hamden community, raising nearly $50,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Sadly, Linda, a grandmother of two, finally succumbed to the disease in 2003, and we miss her to this day. For all her outspokenness on behalf of women too reserved to speak up for themselves, Linda faced her own breast cancer in such a quiet way that many of her neighbors and friends were not aware of the gravity of her illness.

Linda approached advocacy with the same humility, dignity, and grace, receiving numerous awards from the American Cancer Society for her efforts. She won the Greater New Haven NAACP Freedom Fund Award and the ``Daily Point of Light'' award by the Points of Life Foundation, which honors those who have made a commitment to bring people together through service to help meet critical needs in their communities. Indeed, she did. And today, Linda's legacy lives on in her mother, Phyllis White, who long joined Linda on her journey. Now she has taken up her cause as well, bringing new energy to that effort.

Mr. Speaker, Linda White-Epps lived a life of hope and of resilience, perseverance, and dedication to community. She did bring people together and for the greatest of causes. As the granddaughter of a postal carrier, renaming the Hamden Post Office in Linda's honor would be a most fitting tribute. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 627) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Putnam Avenue in Hamden, Connecticut, as the ``Linda White-Epps Post Office''.

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. 627 will designate this post office in Hamden, Connecticut, as the Linda White-Epps Post Office. Linda White-Epps lived a life that is very fitting for this high honor. Mrs. White-Epps was a breast cancer and women's health advocate in her community ever since she personally overcame a bout with breast cancer in 1990.

A result of her battle with the dreaded disease, she founded a group called ``Sisters' Journey,'' a nonprofit organization that provides support to survivors and anyone affected by this dreaded disease.

She was also a member of both the local NAACP executive board and the local Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors. In 2001, she was elected to the Hamden City Council. That same year, she was named a ``Point of Light'' for her work on behalf of women's health issues by the Points of Life Foundation, a national volunteer organization devoted to community service.

Mr. Speaker, sadly, though, Linda White-Epps' form of cancer relapsed more than a decade later and she passed away in 2003. Over the years I know she became very close with the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), and I want to commend my distinguished colleague for her work on this bill. This Post Office will help citizens of Hamden, Connecticut to remember their dear friend, Linda, as well as her contributions and her charitable life.

Linda White-Epps' grandfather was a letter carrier, making this honor of a Post Office all the more fitting and meaningful for her family. I strongly support this resolution and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 627, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

I am pleased to join my colleague, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller), in consideration of H.R. 627,

legislation designating a postal facility in Hamden, Connecticut after the late Linda White-Epps.

This measure was introduced by my good friend, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), introduced on February 8, 2005 and unanimously reported by the Committee on Government Reform on May 5, 2005. It enjoys the support and cosponsorship of the entire Connecticut delegation.

By all accounts, Linda White-Epps was a very active member of her community. A member of the Hamden Legislative Council, Ms. White-Epps served on the executive board of the local NAACP and on the Board of Directors of the local Boys and Girls Club. Most importantly, she was a two-time presidential Point of Light recipient and a breast cancer activist.

Linda White-Epps will forever be remembered for founding ``Sisters' Journey,'' a nonprofit support organization for women of color who have survived breast cancer. The organization published a calendar featuring African American cancer survivors and their stories and their words of support. The calendar also serves as an important reminder to conduct breast self-exams and schedule mammograms.

Although Linda survived breast cancer in 1990, it eventually took her life in October of 2003.

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for seeking to honor the legacy of Linda White-Epps and urge the swift passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the sponsor of this legislation, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit this statement for the record and regret that I could not be present today, Thursday May 12, 2005 to vote on roll-call vote nos. 171, 172 and 173 due to a family medical emergency.

Had I been present, I would have voted: ``yea'' on rollcall vote no. 171 on H.R. 627--to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Putnam Avenue in Hamden, Connecticut, as the ``Linda White-Epps Post Office''; ``yea'' on rollcall vote no. 172 on H. Res. 266--supporting the goals and ideals of Peace Officers Memorial Day; and, ``yea'' on rollcall vote no 173 on H.R. 2107--the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Maintenance Fund Act of 2005.