[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


      STATEMENT ON DESIGNATING THE BRIEN McMAHON FEDERAL BUILDING

                                 ______


                        HON. BARBARA B. KENNELLY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 1994

  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce legislation today 
which would name the Federal courthouse in Bridgeport, CT, after a 
distinguished former Member of the U.S. Senate, Senator Brien McMahon. 
A native of Norwalk, CT, Senator McMahon was first elected in 1944 and 
was reelected in 1950. His Senate career was tragically cut short by 
his untimely passing on July 28, 1952, at the age of 48.
  A Senator for only 8 years, Senator McMahon nonetheless left his mark 
on our country. Perhaps no area is so identified with him as atomic 
energy. Brien McMahon was responsible for the McMahon Act, also known 
as the Atomic Energy act of 1946. In 1948, he became chairman of the 
Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, where he worked diligently to support 
the weapons program that would become the free world's security blanket 
for the next four decades.
  But Brien McMahon's contributions extended far beyond atomic energy. 
He was the first Member of Congress to venture behind the Iron Curtain, 
where he negotiated an aid program with Marshall Tito, who had just 
broken with Stalin.
  Senator McMahon was also a man of principle. He was one of the first 
Senators to challenge the activities of the late Senator Joseph 
McCarthy. Senator McCarthy even went to Connecticut to campaign against 
Senator McMahon.
  It is particularly appropriate to name a courthouse for Senator 
McMahon. Before being elected to the Senate, he had a distinguished 
legal career. A graduate of Yale Law School, he practiced law in 
Norwalk, CT, where he became a city court judge in 1933. Later that 
same year, he was appointed special assistant to U.S. Attorney General 
Cummings. In 1935, Senator McMahon was appointed Assistant Attorney 
General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Department of 
Justice, where he served for 4 years. For all these reasons, it would 
be fitting to honor Senator Brien McMahon by naming this Federal 
courthouse in his memory.

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