To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1730 18th Street in Bakersfield, California, as the "Merle Haggard Post Office Building".

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1988) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1730 18th Street in Bakersfield, California, as the ``Merle Haggard Post Office Building''.

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.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1988, which designates a post office in Bakersfield, California, as the Merle Haggard Post Office Building.

Merle Haggard once sang about being a ``branded man out in the cold'' because, having served time in prison, ``no matter where I travel, the black mark follows me, I'm branded with a number on my name.'' He lamented that: ``If I live to be a hundred, guess I'll never clear my name.''

Well, Merle didn't quite make it to 100, but it is safe to say that the people of Bakersfield will appreciate seeing the post office bear the name of Merle Haggard. Merle can hold his head up and be proud of who he was.

Now this will be a time for celebration, but remember: ``We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee; we don't take no trips on LSD.'' So in honor of the Okie from Muskogee, illicit substances will be prohibited at the Haggard Post Office. It will be okay to just stay there and drink, but keep in mind that tonight could be the night the bottle let's you down.

We would also appreciate if people refrain from burning draft cards on Main Street, and please don't let your ``hair grow long and shaggy'' at the Merle Haggard Post Office. Waving Old Glory down at the courthouse will, of course, be encouraged.

Now, Merle didn't always make it easy for people, particularly his mother. His mother did everything she could to raise him right, but Merle didn't listen. So, like others, he turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole, and that left only Merle to blame because ``Mama tried, Mama tried.''

Merle appreciated all our fighting men and women who fought and died to keep America free. Merle was right to ask if we can really count on being free if we have to depend on ``some squirrely guy who claims he just'' doesn't believe in fighting.

Merle was a patriot who loved this country. If you don't love it, then just leave it. But be warned: ``When you are running down my country hoss, you are walking on the fighting side of me. . . . ''

May God bless Merle Haggard.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, that was a hard act to follow. I was transported to the 1960s. I was always a fan of Merle Haggard, but not necessarily his political philosophy. I don't believe the proposition that if you disagree with the policies of your government, you have to leave the country. I actually believe the beauty of America is that you get to disagree, you get to respectfully dissent, and you still get to live here as a full-fledged American.

I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of this bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service in Bakersfield, California, as the Merle Haggard Post Office Building.

Merle was born in Bakersfield in 1937, and, as my friend from Florida said, took a circuitous route to becoming ``the poet of the common man,'' as he was known.

As a teenager, he often found himself in reform school after committing petty crimes. By the age of 20, he was serving time, as Mr. DeSantis said, in a California prison. It was that experience, however, that helped him turn his life around.

In prison, Merle Haggard rediscovered his love of music, and later put his talent to work on the Bakersfield club circuit. By singing about poverty, the struggles of the ordinary man and woman, and how music saved him during dark times, he captured the imagination and the attention of the entire country, and had 38 number one country hits.

In 1994, Merle was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2010, he received a Kennedy Center Honors from President Barack Obama. After a long and fulfilling life, Merle died on his 79th birthday in April of last year.

Mr. Speaker, we should pass this bill to recognize the incredible accomplishments to our culture that Merle Haggard represents to celebrate his country music and his ability to give a voice to working men and women everywhere who keep their ``nose on the grindstone'' and ``work hard every day.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1988, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. I just want to echo the sentiments of Mr. McCarthy, the majority leader, in honoring a great artist who overcame enormous obstacles in his life to achieve great success and to make contributions to American culture.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am from California, but I happen to be from Bakersfield, California. I thank the gentleman for his creative use of the lyrics. Merle would be proud.

Mr. Speaker, when you take a look back at American history, you can see figures standing tall who spoke for the everyday working man. Following the long tradition of Whitman and Twain, Merle Haggard was a man who knew America instinctively because he lived an American life. It wasn't a life of the movies, but it was all the more compelling because it was all the more real. That is the reason they called him ``The Poet of the Common Man.''

Merle Haggard didn't have it easy. At the height of the Depression, his family searched for opportunity out West. Merle grew up with little means and lived with a past of mistakes and regrets.

So he sang. He sang in ``Branded Man'' of the stigma of prison, crooning ``I held my head up high, determined I would rise above the shame.''

He sang in ``Working Man Blues'' of the grind of doing his duty to his family, ``working as long as my two hands are fit to use.''

And he sang of his roots, not of power or wealth or status, but of pride in being ``an Okie from Muskogee,'' a place of leather boots, football, and Old Glory.

He found success and, more importantly, redemption in the music he shared with his country.

Now, the Bakersfield Sound changed country music, and it is a testament to Merle Haggard's talent that when you listen to his hits, from ``Branded Man'' to ``Mama Tried,'' to ``Big City,'' to ``Working Man Blues,'' or even to ``Okie from Muskogee,'' you not only hear the hardship and wisdom of a well-lived life, but you can hear the roots of so much of the music we still listen to today.

From a man who went from Bakersfield High School to San Quentin prison, to the Country Music Hall of Fame, a building doesn't seem like much. But I hope that when people pass by the Merle Haggard Post Office Building in

downtown Bakersfield, they will remember an icon of our community, an artist who never backed down, a man whose honesty above his own failings and willingness to pick himself back up inspired music that lifts our spirits and feeds our souls.

Merle Haggard's name will live on in this building, but his spirit will live on in his music that calls us to do the best we can every day God gives us.

Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the bills en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.