To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the "Lawrence M. 'Larry' Walsh Sr. Post Office".

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 700) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Sr. 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 this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, in the interests of time, I submit my statement in support of Mr. Foster's very important bill. I strongly support it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 700, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Sr. Post Office.''

Mr. Larry Walsh Sr. was an American farmer, public servant, and dedicated member of the Will County community. In 1970, he began his career in public service as a member of the Elwood School Board. He was then elected as Jackson Township Supervisor in 1973, where he served until December 2004. Mr. Walsh also served on the Will County Board in 1974 and 1992.

From April 1997 until January 2005, Mr. Walsh was an Illinois State Senator, representing the 43rd District. As a public servant, his mission was always to better the lives of people who lived and worked in his community.

He brought a voice to disability issues, senior citizens' services, preservation, and agriculture concerns.

I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in commemorating Mr. Walsh's dedication to public service by naming the Post Office at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the ``Lawrence M. `Larry' Walsh Post Office.''

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 700, an important bill. I thank Mr. Foster for authoring it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my legislation, H.R. 700, to name the Elwood, Illinois, post office after Larry Walsh, Sr., a public servant and a dedicated member of the Will County community.

Mr. Walsh was raised in Joliet and was a graduate of Joliet Junior College and a lifelong resident of Elwood, Illinois. Larry loved the State of Illinois and devoted his life to making it a better place.

He first began his career in public service as a member of the Elwood School Board and continued to serve his community as an elected Jackson Township supervisor, a member of the Will County Board, and an Illinois State Senator representing the 43rd District, a time during which he was widely reputed to have spent a certain amount of time playing poker with his colleague, then State Senator Barack Obama.

Larry finished his career in public service as the Will County executive, a position he held from 2004 until his passing in 2020.

Larry was a family man and a devoted farmer, a voice for disability issues, senior citizens services, and agricultural workers.

He championed the largest infrastructure improvement investment in Will County's history, alongside modernizing his county's public safety resources. Simply put, Will County is a better place today because of the decades of work that Larry devoted to it.

The Lawrence M. ``Larry'' Walsh Sr. Post Office will be a justifiable source of pride and a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to local government and his community.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, one of the collegial and noble things that Congress can do for a collegial and noble man.

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

Mr. Speaker, Lawrence Walsh was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, where he later served as an Illinois State Senator from 1997 to 2005. He also served his local community as the Will County executive, an office he held from 2004 until his death in 2020.

Mr. Speaker, I support this postal-naming bill honoring an Illinois community public servant, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 471, H.R. 700; Calendar No. 477, H.R. 6614; Calendar No. 518, H.R. 228; and Calendar No. 555, H.R. 3175.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills en bloc be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

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