[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     BRIEN McMAHON FEDERAL BUILDING

  A bill (S. 1314) to designate the United States Courthouse located in 
Bridgeport, Connecticut as the ``Brien McMahon Federal Building, was 
considered, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third 
time, and passed; as follows:

                                S. 1314

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     United States Courthouse located at 915 Lafayette Boulevard 
     in Bridgeport, Connecticut shall be designated as the ``Brien 
     McMahon Federal Building''. Any reference in a law, 
     regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the 
     United States to that building shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the Brien McMahon Federal Building.

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support for 
S.1314, legislation I have introduced with Senator Dodd to 
name the Federal courthouse in Bridgeport, CT, after a distinguished 
former member of this body, Senator Brien McMahon. A native of nearby 
Norwalk, Senator McMahon was first elected to the Senate in 1944, and 
was reelected in 1950. His Senate career tragically was cut short by 
his untimely passing on July 28, 1952, at the age of 48.
  Despite serving in the Senate for only 8 years, Senator McMahon left 
his mark on our country. As a freshman senator, Brien McMahon was one 
of the first to grasp the importance of atomic energy. He introduced 
and passed to provide for the study of atomic energy and the 
governmental controls that would be necessary in the post-war era. His 
efforts lead to passage of the McMahon Act, which was also known as the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1946. In 1948 he became chairman of the Joint 
Committee on Atomic Energy, where he was extremely well regarded. He 
also worked behind the scenes to support the weapons program that would 
become the free world's security blanket for the next four decades.
  The use of the atom was not the only area in which Brien McMahon made 
great contributions. In the arena of foreign relations, for example, 
Senator McMahon was the first member of Congress to venture behind the 
Iron Curtain, where he negotiated an aid program with Marshal Tito, who 
had just broken with Stalin.
  Senator McMahon was also a man of principle. He was one of the first 
members of this body 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 judge of the city court 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 extremely fitting to honor Senator 
Brien McMahon by naming the Federal courthouse in his memory.

                          ____________________