A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13127 Broadway Street in Alden, New York, as the "Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3472, a bill to rename the U.S. post office in Alden, New York, as the Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial Post Office.

It is an honor to sponsor legislation naming a post office in my district after a hometown hero who gave his life serving our country.

I also want to take a moment and thank Senator Gillibrand and her staff for their work introducing S. 2056, corresponding Senate legislation to rename the post office.

Naming a postal facility honoring Sergeant Gornewicz is just a small token of our country's appreciation for a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom.

In 2006, after being deeply affected by the attacks of 9/11, Sergeant Gornewicz enlisted in the Army Reserves following graduation from Alden High School. From 2007 to 2008, he deployed to Iraq on his first tour and courageously served our country.

Upon his return home to the United States, Sergeant Gornewicz enrolled at Buffalo State College and obtained his degree in mechanical engineering. He was working as a computer-aided designer and mechanical designer for a Tonawanda, New York, company when he again answered the call of duty, returning to Afghanistan for his second tour.

Sergeant Gornewicz is described by many friends and family as a humble leader who always put the needs of others before his own. During his deployment, he displayed this selflessness when he risked his own life to save a fellow soldier during a firefight. He was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions.

Tragically, during Sergeant Gornewicz's second tour in 2012, his unit was hit by an IED in Afghanistan. The lives of Specialist Ryan Jayne of Corning, New York; Staff Sergeant Dain T. Venne of Port Henry, New York; and Sergeant Gornewicz were lost. At the time of the attack, Sergeant Gornewicz was assigned to the 444th Engineer Company. The company's primary mission was to clear roads of improvised explosive devices.

Sergeant Gornewicz was proud of the small town he came from: Alden, New York. It is my hope that this post office will allow the people of Alden, and those throughout the 27th District, to continue to honor the memory of Sergeant Gornewicz and ensure that his legacy of service and sacrifice lives on.

Renaming a post office is but a small step in recognizing this soldier's bravery and ultimate sacrifice for our Nation. Passage of this bill will exemplify

our admiration for our country's Armed Forces, and will honor one of the many heroes who have sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3472.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3472) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13127 Broadway Street in Alden, New York, as the ``Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial 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 to include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 3472, introduced by Representative Collins of New York, which would designate the postal facility located at 13127 Broadway Street in Alden, New York, as the Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial Post Office.

Army Sergeant Brett Gornewicz was killed on November 3, 2012, in Paktia province, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated nearby. He was killed in the same incident as Specialist Ryan Jayne--whom we are also honoring here today--and Staff Sergeant Dain Taylor Venne, another upstate New Yorker for whom the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has reported a postal-naming bill.

A native of Alden, New York, Sergeant Gornewicz was born in Buffalo on January 6, 1985. After graduating from Alden High School, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Buffalo State College.

Sergeant Gornewicz was a man of great humility. So great, in fact, that prior to his death, his family did not know that he had been awarded the Bronze Star with Valor for saving a life during a firefight earlier that year. He was a brave man, serving a tour in Iraq in addition to his deployment to Afghanistan, and performing the highly dangerous job of clearing roadsides of IEDs. Mr. Speaker, his example of courage and strength of character is one that we should strive to follow.

Sergeant Brett Gornewicz is rightly remembered as a hero. At only 27 years old, he made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 3472, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Collins), my distinguished colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership, not just on this, but for those in Alden and throughout his district.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 3472, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 3472, which would designate the United States postal facility located in Alden, New York, as the Sergeant Brett E. Gornewicz Memorial Post Office.

Once again, we are hearing a story of an extraordinary American, and all of us are proud to be associated with memorializing that.

I reserve the balance of my time and look forward to hearing from the sponsor, Mr. Collins.

Mr. Speaker, I join Mr. Meadows in urging all of my colleagues to support the passage of this bill.

Just to comment, listening to Mr. Collins and to his predecessors-- and we are going to have a few more--it is so amazing to think about these people that live in all of our districts, and what they did quietly with no expectation that anyone would notice or a post office would be named.

The thing I find inspiring, as I am listening to my colleagues, is that it is all really rooted in their local community. We are naming post offices, which is the center of activity for a lot of us, to recognize the everyday accomplishments of people who consider themselves to be everyday Americans, but who are quite extraordinary.

So I thank Mr. Meadows and Mr. Collins, and I yield back the balance of my time.