The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“WES WATKINS AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH LAB AND POST OFFICE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H9591-H9594 on Sept. 16, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WES WATKINS AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH LAB AND POST OFFICE
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1713) to name the South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, and the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 310 North Perry Street in Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of former Congressman Wesley
``Wes'' Watkins.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1713
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REDESIGNATION OF SOUTH CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL
RESEARCH LABORATORY, LANE, OKLAHOMA.
(a) Redesignation.--The South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, shall be known and redesignated as the ``Wes Watkins Agricultural Research Laboratory''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Wes Watkins Agricultural Research Laboratory''.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WES WATKINS POST OFFICE, BENNINGTON,
OKLAHOMA.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 310 North Perry Street in Bennington, Oklahoma, shall be known and designated as the ``Wes Watkins Post Office''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Wes Watkins Post Office''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) and the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
General Leave
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Indiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 1713 would name the U.S. Department of Agriculture's South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane, Oklahoma, as the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 310 North Perry Street in Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of former Congressman Wesley Watkins.
After graduating with two degrees from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Congressman Watkins worked for the Agriculture Department and as an administrator at his alma mater before entering political life, first as a State senator and then as a Member of Congress. Mr. Watkins represented Oklahoma's Third Congressional District for a total of 20 years, both as a Democrat and as a Republican.
I am pleased the name of Congressman Watkins will be part of his former district's role in the important mission of scientific research in agricultural issues that affect all Americans every day, from the fields to our dinner tables.
This bill has the support of the Oklahoma delegation, and I encourage the rest of my House colleagues to support it here today.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment to discuss H.R. 1713, which would name the South Agricultural Research Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, and the United States Post Office facility in Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of my friend and predecessor, Wes Watkins.
Wes has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in public service, first as a member of the Oklahoma State Senate and then as a United States Congressman from Oklahoma's Third District for 20 years. During his tenure, Wes had the honor of serving on three of the House's most prestigious committees, including Appropriations, Budget, and Ways and Means. Before Wes, no other Congressperson had ever served on all three of the House's major committees during their career.
Beyond his committee work, Wes was intimately attuned to the financial needs of the constituents back home in Oklahoma. Recognizing the hardships Oklahoma families had to endure on a daily basis, Wes used his committee assignments to steer resources back to the Third District of Oklahoma. As a part of his efforts to restore financial security to his constituents, Wes took a particularly strong interest in economic development issues, which no doubt changed the economic landscape of Oklahoma's Third District for the better.
Let there be no doubt, had it not been for Wes's dedication and strong leadership, Oklahoma's Third District would not have been what it is today.
On behalf of Wes Watkins and my constituents back home in Oklahoma, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren).
Mr. BOREN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor one of Oklahoma's most distinguished public servants and a former Member of this legislative body, Congressman Wes Watkins.
Madam Speaker, the legislation that we have before us today, H.R. 1713, would name the USDA Lane Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane, Oklahoma, and the United States Post Office in Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of Congressman Wesley ``Wes'' Watkins.
Congressman Watkins' story is uniquely American. Born in De Queen, Arkansas, and raised and schooled in a working class Oklahoma agricultural family, Wes Watkins would grow and develop into one of Oklahoma's most prominent political figures.
Following his graduation from Bennington High School in the spring of 1956, a young Watkins would move to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and enroll in Oklahoma State University. Five year later, Watkins would earn a bachelor's and master's degree with honor and distinction.
After graduating from college, Wes Watkins did what many Oklahomans have done. He decided to serve his State and country by joining the Oklahoma Air National Guard. But in the summer of 1975, Wes Watkins felt he had a higher calling, and that was public service. That fall, he would successfully run for a seat in the Oklahoma State Senate, representing the same ``Little Dixie'' region that the former Speaker Carl Albert called home.
Two years later when Speaker Albert announced his retirement, State Senator Watkins decided he would run for the Speaker's former seat. After winning a competitive primary against the Speaker's former Chief of Staff, Wes went on to win the general election with more than 80 percent of the vote, and for the better part of four decades, Congressman Wes Watkins would represent eastern Oklahoma in the United States House of Representatives. As a Member of the House of Representatives, Congressman Watkins would go on to become the only Oklahoma Congressman to serve on all three major House financial committees.
Madam Speaker, I was fortunate enough to not only be represented by Wes Watkins in Congress, I was lucky to have the opportunity to serve on both his D.C. staff and his district staff, first as an intern in his Washington, D.C. office and then as a field representative in his eastern Oklahoma district. Without Congressman Watkins' guidance and his inspiration, I probably wouldn't be here today representing Oklahoma's Second Congressional District.
Wes Watkins' record serving the State of Oklahoma is one filled with leadership, compassion, and selfless service. The Lane Agricultural Research Laboratory and the United States Post Office that this legislation will name in his honor will serve as a permanent reminder of all that he has given to Oklahoma.
I ask that all my colleagues support this bill.
{time} 1615
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to a fellow member of the Oklahoma delegation, Congressman Cole.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, it is a great privilege to be here with my colleagues and participate in honoring our former colleague in this Chamber, Wes Watkins. Usually when you come down to the floor on an occasion like this, you are armed with all sorts of wonderful prepared remarks, and you lay them out.
But I would rather talk about my friend, Wes Watkins, spontaneously and, frankly, from a rather unique perspective because I have run races against him, and I have run races for him. And I have to tell you, I never beat him when I ran a race against him, but I was a lot more successful working for him.
He is really an extraordinary political figure in his own right. As my friend, Congressman Boren mentioned, he served as a State senator. He was a Congressman. He ran for governor twice, frankly, nearly getting the Democratic nomination in 1990. Had he gotten that, he undoubtedly would have won the election and have been the Governor of our State. He ran again in 1994 as an Independent. Very unusual. By the way, his congressional district voted for him as a Democrat, voted for him as an Independent, and then later voted for him as a Republican. I have never seen a loyalty directed toward an individual that way.
In the course of his 1990 campaign, he got to be pretty good friends with my client, Frank Keating, who later went on to be Governor. Frank Keating thought so much of Wes Watkins, his opponent, that he offered him a job in his Cabinet as a Secretary for international trade because Wes was so passionate about bringing jobs and opportunity to the people of Oklahoma. That says a lot about you as an individual that one of your opponents thinks so highly of you that they want to move you over into their administration.
Unfortunately, some of Wes's colleagues in the State senate in Oklahoma decided that having run as an Independent instead of a Democrat, they were not inclined to do that. But a number of years later, an opportunity came up when the seat that he won came open again. Our good friend, Bill Brewster, decided to retire. And I remember, Wes was still registered as an Independent, and there was 17 days before the cutoff when you had to choose your party. The minute that Frank Keating, then Governor Keating, saw that congressional seat was open, he literally within 20 minutes called Wes Watkins and said, Wes, I want you to run for Congress. I don't care if you run as an Independent; I don't care if you run as a Democrat. I'm a Republican. I would like you to run as that. That doesn't matter. We are going to do everything we can. We need you back in the Congress of the United States. We need your passion and your commitment for economic development and to help the people of this State.
Wes honestly made, I would say, a tough political call because he would have won as a Democrat. He would have won as an Independent. He chose to become a Republican for a lot of reasons, but I think partly because he thought we were in the majority then, he thought he would be very effective in that role, and he was. He was an extraordinarily effective Congressman for his State.
Now, when I think about Wes, you can't think about Wes and not think about Lou Watkins, his partner, his only real political consultant and, quite frankly, now a regent at Oklahoma State University, one of the really fine public figures and one of the best classroom teachers I ever saw in my life. As a college political science professor, I used to occasionally go and deal with her students. And incredibly fair. Together, they have done so much good for our State. They are deep in the hearts of the people that they manage to serve.
I do want to tell one polling story and one media story about my friend, Wes Watkins. When he first decided to run as a Republican, the district was literally registered over 80 percent Democrat at that time. We did a survey. In the survey you ask what are called open-ended questions: What do you like most, what do you like least about this individual.
I never saw this before, 97 percent of the people could tell you something specific about Wes Watkins, all of it positive: he helped my father get a job; he helped bring this business to our community. It was the most incredibly impressive testimony for an individual's good deeds and using public office in an appropriate way to help people that I have ever seen in my life.
We sent the media consultant to travel with him around the district for 3 days. She came back and I asked, What did you think?
She said, In 3 days I only met one person who didn't call him Wes in every little town. She said it was actually a young lady, probably 16 or 17 years. She came up to say, Mr. Watkins, could I please shake your hand. Thank you for something you have done for my family. The consultant said he just threw his arms around her and said, Honey, just call me Wes.
He is just a remarkable human being. I want to thank both of my colleagues for this recognition, particularly my good friend, Dan Boren, who worked with him. Wes Watkins has done as much for our State as anybody I have seen in my political lifetime. And continues to do it. And so does Lou. This is such a fitting and appropriate honor. I am happy to join my friends as a cosponsor and look forward to voting for this particular piece of legislation with a great deal of pleasure.
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, we have no further speakers, but I will reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, as you've heard my colleagues in the Oklahoma delegation address today, Wes is a unique individual. He is a self-made man. In a world where the American ideal is coming from nothing to becoming something, which is the ideal goal, I think, of all of us, Wes represents that. Remember, he was born just across the line in Arkansas in 1938. He lived his life in Oklahoma. He was born in the Great Depression period, a time of economic challenges for all Oklahomans and all people in rural America. He came from a family that had tremendous challenges. But he and his mother and his brother overcame those. He put himself through university at Oklahoma State. He was southeast district FFA vice president. He was State president of what was then the Future Farmers of America. He made himself a homebuilder. He got himself elected to the State senate over tremendous opposition. He got himself elected to the United States Congress.
This individual that we know as Wes, and many Americans on the floor remember as our colleague, Congressman Watkins, is an amazing fellow from the absolute, most humble beginnings in a great little community called Bennington to accomplish for his friends and neighbors back home, because everyone was his friend and everyone was his neighbor, what he did is a testament. That is why I am so pleased and we are so pleased on this side of the aisle to name these two important facilities in the old 3rd Congressional District in his honor because he worked incredibly hard for the good folks of the 3rd District of Oklahoma and, by the actions he took, improved everything for all of us across America.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, if there is no objection, I yield 1 additional minute to Mr. Boren from Oklahoma.
Mr. BOREN. Madam Speaker, I wanted to add a couple of things as a former staffer to Congressman Watkins--and Congressman Cole was very eloquent in his remarks, and so was my good friend, Frank Lucas.
There are so many of us, not just myself but there are many of us in congressional offices across Washington, D.C., people in State government in Oklahoma, a lot of folks involved in agriculture, who can trace back their start to Wes Watkins.
I can tell you when I was starting out and I was looking for a job, he is the first person who gave me an opportunity. There are so many countless people that could say the same thing. So his legacy isn't necessarily just his name on a building. It is also all of the people and all of the families that he has touched. And also I wanted to say, and Tom Cole brought this up, Lou Watkins. She has been his partner for so many years. She has been a State regent at Oklahoma State University and a constant mentor to all of us.
With that, I hope my colleagues would support this legislation.
Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I did not know Congressman Watkins, but after this moving testimony, I would encourage all of our colleagues to pass H.R. 1713.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Clarke). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1713.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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