[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5004-S5005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Santorum):
  S. 1754. A bill to designate the United States Courthouse at 235 
North Washington Avenue in Scranton, PA, as the ``William J. Nealon 
United States Courthouse''; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.


     the william j. nealon u.s. courthouse designation act of 1996

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am introducing legislation today to 
name the new U.S. courthouse being constructed in Scranton, PA, for one 
of Pennsylvania's most distinguished Federal judges, Judge William 
Nealon.
  Judge Nealon was born and raised in Scranton and attended its public 
schools. After service in the Marine Corps during the Second War, Judge 
Nealon graduated from Villanova University and then received a law 
degree from Catholic University here in Washington. Returning to 
Scranton to practice law, he became a widely respected trial lawyer. 
When a vacancy opened up on the Lackawanna County Court of Common 
Pleas, Judge Nealon was appointed by President Kennedy to serve as U.S. 
district judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. At the time of 
his appointment, Judge Nealon was the youngest Federal judge in the 
Nation.
  Judge Nealon has served the people of the middle district of 
Pennsylvania for almost 34 years since then, including over 12 years 
chief judge of the court. He has been widely respected among the bar of 
the middle district for his intelligence, dedication, and judicial 
demeanor. Throughout his long career, he has been considered by many to 
be the model of a trial judge.
  Judge Nealon has been active in many efforts to improve the 
administration of justice across the Nation. He served as the 
representative of the third circuit to the Committee on the 
Administration of the Criminal Law of the Judicial Conference of the 
United States for 6 years. For 4 years he served as a member of the 
Third Circuit Judicial Council, and for 3 years, from 1987 to 1990, he 
was elected by the other district judges in the third circuit to serve 
as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the 
policymaking body that oversees the Federal courts.

[[Page S5005]]

  To this record of distinction in his professional career, Judge 
Nealon can add a record a community involvement matched by few others. 
It can truly be said that Scranton is a better place because of Judge 
Nealon. He is a former chairman of the board of Mercy Hospital in 
Scranton, of the Scranton Catholic Youth Center, and of the University 
of Scranton. He has also served as a member of the board of Lackawanna 
Junior College, St. Michael's School for Boys, the Everhart Museum, and 
the Scranton-Lackawanna Health and Welfare Authority. He has received 
the Distinguished Service Award from the Boy Scouts of America and was 
the 1995 recipient of the Champion of Youth Award of the Boys & Girls 
Clubs of Scranton, in addition to numerous awards from legal and 
academic institutions.
  One would think that this lengthy record of accomplishment would be 
enough for any one person, but Judge Nealon has also raised an 
outstanding family. He and his wife Jean have 10 children and 26 
grandchildren.
  Earlier this year, I sponsored Senate passage of a bill introduced in 
the House by Representative Kanjorski to name the U.S. Courthouse in 
Wilkes-Barre after Judge Max Rosenn of the third circuit, Wilkes-
Barre's leading jurist. I can think of no one more deserving than Judge 
Nealon of the honor of having the new U.S. Courthouse in Scranton named 
after him.

  I am pleased to introduce this legislation. I hope my colleagues will 
support it and that the Senate will adopt it this year.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the bill appear in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1754

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The United States Courthouse at 235 North Washington Avenue 
     in Scranton, Pennsylvania, shall be known and designated as 
     the ``William J. Nealon United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the Federal building 
     referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the ``William J. Nealon United States Courthouse''.
                                 ______