Bill Barrett Post Office Building

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7507 for the purpose of, as somewhat outlined by my colleague from Maryland, honoring by naming a post office in Lexington, Nebraska, after former Congressman Bill and his wife, Elsie Barrett.

Bill Barrett was born in Lexington, Nebraska, in 1929. Following his service in the U.S. Navy during the Korean war, Bill returned to his alma mater, Hastings College, graduated, then served as vice president for student admissions and later on the college's board of trustees for 32 years.

In 1978, he was elected to the Nebraska legislature, the unicameral, serving for 12 years, with his last 4 as speaker. He was then elected to represent the Third District of Nebraska in the U.S. House.

Known for his ability to cultivate consensus and connect with anyone, Bill was the president of his freshman congressional class, a group that even included the future Speaker of the House, John Boehner.

Tirelessly focused on issues important to Nebraska's farmers and ranchers, as we heard earlier, Bill's former staff have recounted how he would always ask: Does this help the Third District?

During his 5 years in Congress, he served on the House Agriculture Committee and coauthored the 1996 farm bill.

He also presided over the weekly bipartisan prayer breakfast and was eventually appointed chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast. He set a lasting standard of dedicated statesmanship and summed up his approach to public service as a high calling with the quote: Service to others is the best work of life.

Bill's wife, Elsie Carlson Barrett was born in 1930 to a Swedish immigrant family in New London, Connecticut. Elsie and Bill met while Bill was stationed in New London for naval service, and the two married in 1952. They settled in Hastings, Nebraska, where Elsie worked as a nurse before the family moved to Lexington. In Lexington Bill and Elsie raised four children.

Her passion for improving the lives of children blessed many as she served on the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board and as president of her local Philanthropic Educational Organization chapter. Bill and Elsie were an extraordinary team and worked together to help host the National Prayer Breakfast in 1997.

Whether serving in the Navy, the Nebraska unicameral, or in the U.S. House, Bill always put Nebraska first, and Elsie leaves behind a great legacy of bettering the lives of others.

It is a great privilege to sponsor this bill which would name the post office located at 203 East 6th Street in Lexington, Nebraska, for Bill and Elsie Barrett.

I thank my colleagues in the Nebraska delegation who joined in this effort to honor Bill and Elsie, and I urge support for this bill. As Bill would say in this body, we all have an armchair to history.

I am honored to represent the same great district that Bill Barrett did.

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