[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 133 (Wednesday, August 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 AN ILLINOIS HERO AND ILLINOIS LEADER, JUDGE ABRAHAM LINCOLN MAROVITZ 
                      CELEBRATES HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, a real Illinois hero, a real 
Illinois leader, Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, celebrates his 90th 
birthday on August 10th of this year. Unfortunately, my Senate duties 
prevent me from being in Illinois with Judge Marovitz tomorrow, so I 
want to take this opportunity to tell him how much I think of him, how 
much he has helped me, and how much he means to the people of Illinois.
  I am very proud that Judge Marovitz took the time to act as my 
mentor. He always had time for me. He always made time for me. I feel 
very fortunate to have had the benefit of his counsel and advice 
throughout my career.
  I first met Judge Marovitz as a young Assistant U.S. attorney. Even 
though he was a Federal District Judge, he went out of his way to help 
me become a good trial lawyer. He virtually walked me through my first 
trial, and the special attention he gave me helped convince me that I 
had made the right choice in becoming a lawyer.
  What is really so remarkable about Judge Marovitz, however, was that 
the special attention he gave me was an everyday thing for him. He 
treated everyone as special. He made a major difference in my life, and 
in my career--I probably would not be in the United States Senate today 
if not for his help all through my career--I am but one of the many, 
many people he has helped.
  He has always found the time to encourage the good in people. He is 
never too busy to care, or to give real attention to personal need.
  At the outset of my remarks, I stated that Judge Marovitz was a real 
hero. He was a World War II marine veteran, but his heroism was not 
limited to his years in military service; it encompasses his entire 
life. His is a heroism based on commitment to principle, on always 
living and acting on those principles, and perhaps most of all, on his 
untiring efforts to make this a better America for every American.
  As Steve Neal said in his column entitle ``Marovitz: A Legacy of 
Citizenship'' in today's Chicago Sun-Times, ``Marovitz is a believer in 
the American Dream because he has lived it.'' To that, I would only 
add, that Judge Marovitz has made it his life's work to try to see that 
every American can live that dream.
  He has had a distinguished career as a jurist. And I have to say that 
Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz is very well named; he has always 
dispensed justice, as President Lincoln said in his second inaugural 
address ``with malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness 
in the right as God gives us to see the right * * *.''
  Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz has been a leader all his life, and 
has been the best kind of leader, one whose leadership is based on his 
own life of excellence, of principle, and of commitment to others. He 
has served as a judge for most of his professional life, and he is 
still building on the superb record he has created.
  I wish him the happiest of birthdays, and I want him to know that, 
whether the Senate is in session or not, I intend to be at the party 
celebrating his 100th birthday.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the Steve Neal 
column on Judge Marovitz be printed at this point in the Record.
  There being no objection, the column was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

               [From the Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 9, 1995]

                   Marovitz: A Legacy of Citizenship

                            (By Steve Neal)

       The federal courtroom was packed.
       Senior Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz asked the multiethnic 
     group of men and women, young and old, to stand and take the 
     oath of U.S. citizenship.
       Standing behind the bench in the courtroom that bears his 
     name, Marovitz asks the new citizens to renounce in unison 
     their allegiances or loyalty ``to any foreign prince, 
     potentate, state or sovereignty,'' and to defend the 
     Constitution of the United States.
       He is a man for all people. Marovitz performs this ceremony 
     twice a month, as he has for more than 30 years. For 
     Marovitz, who celebrates his 90th birthday Thursday, the 
     induction ceremony has a special significance. He is a 
     believer in the American dream because he has lived it. His 
     father, a Lithuanian immigrant, took the same oath of 
     citizenship in 1894.
       ``Every time I perform the induction ceremony I think of my 
     father,'' says Marovitz, who is wearing cuff links with 
     portraits of his parents. He talks with love and pride of the 
     legacy of Joseph and Rachel Marovitz. The U.S. Immigration 
     Department has given Marovitz an award for administering the 
     citizenship oath to more naturalized Americans than any other 
     member of the federal bench.
       Nearly everywhere Marovitz goes, he is approached by a man 
     or woman who took the citizenship oath in his courtroom. His 
     door is always open to the people whose lives he has touched.
       Marovitz talks with nostalgia about the immigrant world in 
     which he grew up. He is a West Sider from the old Maxwell 
     Street neighborhood. His father had a tailor shop, and his 
     mother ran a candy store in front of the family's three-room 
     apartment. ``It was a large Jewish community and we learned 
     the importance of hard work, loyalty and fairness,'' said 
     Marovitz.
       His path to prominence wasn't easy. Marovitz still 
     remembers the hurt, anger and humiliation he felt as a 
     teenager when he was fired from his job in a Michigan Avenue 
     clothing store after his employer learned that he was Jewish. 
     ``My father told me that anti-Semitism is an old story, but 
     that one day I would do something about it,'' Marovitz 
     recalled. The elder Marovitz lived to see his son become the 
     youngest assistant state's attorney in Cook County history, 
     and the first Jewish Illinois state senator.
       A Marine veteran of World War II, Marovitz has served on 
     the bench for half of his life. In the mid-1950's, he nearly 
     became the Democratic nominee for governor of Illinois. But 
     Marovitz recalled Tuesday that his mother told him not to 
     quit the court because no office is more important than 
     judge. Marovitz took her advice. He has no regrets.
     

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