Lawmakers are delivering tributes to fallen troops

When Larry Bryant goes to buy stamps at the post office two miles from his home in Riverside, it’s a bittersweet experience: If he glances to the right as he goes through the door, he sees a small black plaque identifying the building as the “Lieutenant Todd Jason Bryant” post office.

That’s Bryant’s son, a West Point graduate who was killed in Iraq in October 2003.

“It’s kind of mixed feelings,” Bryant said. “We’re proud that they honored Todd, but it’s a sad reminder of the sacrifice that he and others have made for our country.”

The Inland Empire post office at 5757 Tilton Ave. is one of nine named this year alone for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. So far in 2007, 88 bills have been introduced to rename post offices -- 26 for military personnel killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Honoring dead Americans by putting their names on government buildings has become the most frequently introduced type of legislation on Capitol Hill. Since January, 45 of the 113 pieces of legislation signed by President Bush have been naming bills. Of those 45, 37 were post- office naming acts.

Although members of both parties introduce naming legislation -- Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) introduced the Bryant measure -- the bills have drawn criticism during what some consider to be a stagnant 10 months of Democratic rule.

During wrangling over the State Children Health Insurance Program last month, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized the time spent on naming bills.

“As the House tackles names of post offices and resolutions honoring athletes today, Democrats are again faced with the same choice they’ve faced for months now when it comes to SCHIP: Will they finally work with Republicans to renew this program, or will they continue to allow the days to roll by while they play politics on the backs of our nation’s children?” said Boehner, who has never introduced a postal naming bill. (He has cosponsored four.)

In the 102nd through 105th Congresses -- January 1991 to December 1998 -- 10 naming bills were introduced each term, on average. In each of the next two Congresses, 46 were introduced. In the 108th Congress the number jumped to 75; in the 109th it was 96 -- about 20% of all laws passed that term.

Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, who has researched naming bills, said he suspected that many lawmakers had been unaware that the “naming rights” for post offices were up for grabs. Once word got out, legislators figured that it would be an easy way to please constituents, he said.

“After all, buildings, bridges, roads and parks are among the most visible trappings of government,” Sepp said. “This is still another way that incumbent politicians can use their power to stay in office by raising their visibility. For that reason, there’s not a whole lot of benefit to this for the average person, beyond the immediate gratification that the honoree or their family might receive.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the first separate legislation naming a post office was passed to honor a late chairman of the House Public Works Committee, Charles A. Buckley (D-N.Y.). He died the same year -- 1967 -- that he was immortalized in a post office and federal building in his old district.

Four years later, the U.S. Postal Service was created as a separate entity in the executive branch and given its own real-estate authority. Under its regulations, naming rights for post offices were supposed to be reserved for individuals who had been dead at least a decade, with deceased U.S. presidents and postmasters general the only exceptions.

But that didn’t stop Congress from ignoring the Postal Service’s wishes. In Encino, for example, a post office honors legendary Lakers announcer Francis D. “Chick” Hearn, who died in August 2002 -- only one month before Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) introduced the Hearn legislation.

The trend of naming post offices after Iraq and Afghanistan military casualties began with Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.). In November 2003 he introduced three such bills to honor fallen troops from his district; now post offices in Malden, St. Anne and Manhattan bear the names of two soldiers and a Marine killed in Iraq.

Since January 2003, Weller has sponsored 81 pieces of legislation on a variety of issues. The only six to become law were post-office renaming bills.

“If the only pieces of legislation that he has passed is an effort to honor veterans, then he would be happy by that,” said Weller’s spokesman, Andy Fuller, rejecting criticism of the measures. “It’s more of a statement of the sacrifice of all veterans, and that’s not a waste of time.”

In Riverside, Bryant agreed with that perspective, calling fallen soldiers heroes who “made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve recognition.”

He learned about the legislation for his son from an aide to Calvert, who had nominated both Todd and his sister, Tiffany, to the U.S. Military Academy. “It was unexpected, but we thought it was a great honor for Todd and were very pleased that Congressman Calvert thought enough of him as a person that he thought it was warranted to name a post office after him,” Bryant said.

As is custom for these bills, the entire House delegation from the fallen soldier’s home state -- in Bryant’s case, California -- cosponsored the naming legislation. And, like almost all bills of this type, it passed unanimously.

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tina.macias@latimes.com