To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the "Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on the Oversight Committee. I thank him and Chairman Issa for moving this legislation through the committee. It would rename a United States Postal Service facility located in my district at 450 Lexington Avenue after Vincent R. Sombrotto, who is one of the most significant labor leaders of his generation.

Like many of his Postal Service colleagues, Vincent Sombrotto traded his military uniform for a letter carrier's uniform, and he wore both with great distinction.

As a letter carrier at New York City's Grand Central Station in the district I represent, Mr. Sombrotto led the 1970 wildcat postal strike that led Congress to reorganize the modern United States Postal Service.

Later elected as president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, their 16th president, serving from 1978 to 2002, Mr. Sombrotto worked to increase letter carrier wages, moving them from poverty level into middle class levels.

In 1992, he began the National Association of Letter Carrier's food drive, which has developed into the country's biggest 1-day food drive in the entire country. Since it started, the drive has provided more than 1.2 billion pounds of food for food banks in communities throughout the United States.

As a firm believer in civic responsibility, Mr. Sombrotto worked with the United States Postal Service and emergency services organizations to establish Carrier Alert. Carrier Alert is a nationwide program allowing postal carriers to perform humanitarian deeds on their routes, including saving lives, finding missing children and pets, and looking after the elderly.

I urge my colleagues to honor Mr. Sombrotto, who worked to improve the lives of letter carriers, their families, and their communities by supporting H.R. 2291.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, for introducing H.R. 2291, and I join her in supporting this bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office.

Mr. Vincent Raymond Sombrotto was born in New York on June 15, 1923. He joined what was then known as the Post Office Department in 1947 as a

part-time letter carrier after serving with distinction in the Navy during World War II.

In 1971, Sombrotto was elected president of the New York City branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. In 1978, he was elected as NALC's national president, a position he held until 2002.

He was an active supporter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, helping to raise millions of dollars to fight neuromuscular diseases.

Sombrotto passed away in 2013 at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife, seven children, and 14 grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, we should pass this legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), the distinguished sponsor of the legislation.

With that, I urge all Members to vote in favor of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2291) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the ``Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in 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.

H.R. 2291, introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, would designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York, New York, as the Vincent R. Sombrotto Post Office.

Vincent Sombrotto was born in Manhattan in 1923. Mr. Sombrotto was a longtime advocate for postal workers. He joined the National Association of Letter Carriers in 1947 and served as its 16th president from 1978 to 2002. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 89.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.