[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S306-S310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report S. 1575.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1575) to rename the Washington National Airport
located in the District of Columbia and Virginia as the
``Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.''
The Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. COVERDELL addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, first let me say to both the majority
leader and the minority leader that the author and the cosponsors of S.
1575 are pleased that we were able to come to terms on the process by
which we manage the legislation that would name Washington National
Airport the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in memory of a
great President of the United States. We hopefully are still on a
timeframe by which this could be done in time for his birthday, which
is this Friday. He will celebrate his 87th birthday.
The agreement is consistent with the argument that we have made all
along that this is a memorial. The amendment process should be related
to the context of the memorial, and extraneous issues should not have
been a part of the amendment process. There is an integrity in this
unanimous consent. All of these amendments are relevant, and all of
them relate to the concept of whether this ought to be done or not.
We just heard from the Senator from Nebraska about his agreement or
concurrence with the agreement that we would bring up IRS reform by
April 15th. I, too, echo his agreement that that be done. But I did not
believe it ought to be a part of this memorial. It diminished the
nature of this for it to become a legislative vehicle for extraneous
matters. No matter how important they are, they should not have been
dealt with in the context of the memorial to former President Reagan.
I see the Senator from Nevada is present. I ask, if I might, is he
here on behalf of the amendment under the agreement that we have just
agreed to?
Mr. REID. What amendment is that?
Mr. COVERDELL. It has here ``an amendment to be offered by Senator
Reid regarding the FBI building.''
Mr. REID. I say to my friend from Georgia that is the reason I am
here.
Mr. COVERDELL. I yield the floor in deference to the Senator from
Nevada.
Mr. REID addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I will shortly send an amendment to the desk
to delete the name J. Edgar Hoover from the FBI building.
Let me preface my remarks by saying how much I respect and admire
President Reagan. When I served in the House of Representatives, I, on
a number of occasions, sided with the President on a number of issues
that I felt were important to the country and to the State of Nevada.
President Reagan was a good friend of the State of Nevada. His No. 1
adviser and counselor was the Senator from Nevada, Paul Laxalt, for
whom I also have great respect. I wouldn't do anything to withhold this
measure from passing in time for his 87th birthday. This is not
something I am going to talk a long time about. It is just something
that I have
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been looking, for more than a year, for an opportunity, for a vehicle
to remove Mr. Hoover's name from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
building.
I say to the sponsor of this bill that I commend and applaud him for
being as tenacious as he has been in making sure this is done prior to
the President's 87th birthday, which I understand is this Friday. I
hope that the President, even though he is ill, will understand what an
important act of Congress this is. It is one of many things that is
going to be done to honor President Reagan's name. We, of course, have
the largest Federal building in Washington, DC proper that will be
named after him in Federal Triangle. There is going to be an aircraft
carrier named after him, the largest in the Nimitz class that will be
named after President Reagan. All of these honors are appropriate.
I want to make sure that I stress in my statement here today that my
amendment has nothing to do with any attempt to take away the naming of
the building for President Reagan. I hope that my friends on the other
side of the aisle will support this amendment.
Let's look at J. Edgar Hoover. When I first became interested in
this, I would show a book, ``J. Edgar Hoover, A Man and His Secrets,''
by Curt Gentry. Curt Gentry is a personal friend of mine. Curt and I
have worked together for many years on a number of different things. I
have the greatest respect for him. It took him 10 years to write this
book, the most thorough research ever done on J. Edgar Hoover by Curt
Gentry. It is a fine book. It is very readable. As you all know, he
also wrote the book on Charles Manson called ``Helter-Skelter,'' which
was also a best-seller.
I became convinced that we needed to do something to take the name
off that building when I learned that, among other things, J. Edgar
Hoover had a longstanding secret investigation of Quentin Burdick from
North Dakota. Try that one on for size. Quentin Burdick from North
Dakota was investigated by J. Edgar Hoover for his subservience. I
would suggest to everyone that all of us who served with Burdick would
suggest he was nothing other than a patriot.
Among other things, when J. Edgar Hoover died, his secretary had all
of his personal records taken out of the FBI building and taken to his
home. These were files on people. We will never know the full extent of
the investigation this man did over the five decades that he was
involved with the FBI. We know that it took, on a daily basis, working
the longest and as hard as people could, 2\1/2\ months to shred the
personal files which he had on people. We have learned in years past--
and this is one--that he conducted investigations of many, many people.
We could go through a long list of people he conducted investigations
on. The index of this book that I have before me goes over names of
people who are fine Americans who he had secret investigations done on.
We all know of the work that he did to cause all the problems he
could to the person from Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King. And the
things he did alone to Dr. Martin Luther King was about as un-American
as anything could be.
J. Edgar Hoover's name on the FBI building is a stain on the
building. Arguably there is no other public official of this century
who did so much to undermine the civil liberties as did J. Edgar
Hoover. That says a lot because we have had many people who have been
involved in going after people's civil rights and civil liberties, and
I would say Hoover was at the top of the list. This was engaged in
while he was head of the FBI. We have learned since he died that he did
many different things.
Because the sponsor of the bill is from Georgia, I hope that he will
join me in this effort.
Twenty-five separate actions were taken against Dr. Martin Luther
King in the 1960s by J. Edgar Hoover that had no statutory basis--none.
By the FBI's own admission, the allegations of ``Communist'' that flew
over Dr. King were never proved nor established. There was a concerted
undercover campaign of continuous wiretapping of his home, his office,
and travel accommodations for over 3 years. The FBI Director himself
approved of an attempt to disrupt Dr. King's marriage. The FBI launched
an aggressive campaign intended to, among other objectives, replace Dr.
King with a civil rights leader more acceptable to J. Edgar Hoover.
When Dr. Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize, the FBI
sent a thinly veiled recommendation in a letter to Dr. King himself
that Dr. King kill himself before accepting the prize.
J. Edgar Hoover went to extraordinary lengths to pursue a vicious
vendetta against Dr. King, and I don't think I need to dwell on that
anymore. Dr. Martin Luther King did not need this aggravation, this
intrusive interference with this person's life.
The reason I mention Dr. King is because he is a very prominent
figure. This happened to prominent and not-so-prominent people, anybody
that J. Edgar Hoover felt needed to be looked at, and he did so in
spite of what the law might have been because he was the law in his own
mind.
Under his direction, the FBI continued to harass activists, or
protesters, or any political movement. They didn't have to be in the
civil rights movement--any political movement. He moved in with his
minions, harassed, and did whatever he could to disrupt people. This
was carried out by intimidation, slander, and threatening to disrupt
their marriages, force them out of jobs, and smear them in the eyes of
parents and teachers. Letters were used to incite violence between
rival black groups, counting on contracts to be placed on certain
leaders' lives in each group. Additional letters were forged over local
Communist Party leaders' signatures to attack the employment practices
of Mafia-owned businesses in order to intensify further animosity
between these organizations.
The full extent of the FBI involvement will never be known because,
as I have indicated, most all the records of relevant and highly
pertinent Bureau documents were destroyed after he died in 1972.
So now that Americans have the real story on this demagoguery, we
might be shamed into a more appropriate name for the FBI headquarters.
I say to my friend from Georgia that my original intent was to take the
name off the building and insert some other President's name--President
Eisenhower, President Bush, or President Truman. But I do not want to
make this a political debate. I think we should go ahead and name the
airport after President Reagan and get Hoover's name off the FBI
building. Then I am happy to work with my friends from the other side
of aisle to come up with an appropriate name for the FBI building. But
I don't think it does this country any good to have this man's name
affixed to the FBI building. Here is a person who spent his entire life
taking away people's rights.
So I hope this does not become a partisan issue. As I have indicated
to my friend from Georgia, I hope there is a large vote for the Reagan
bill from this side of the aisle. But I also hope there is a vote on
the other side of the aisle to get this man's name off the Federal
Bureau of Investigation building. I have so much respect for that
organization and the people who work in it. I have spoken to FBI agents
who really do not want his name on the building. The more time that
goes by and the less people who worked under his influence, the more
this happens all the time. The FBI is known today as an entity that
protects people's rights, not take rights away.
So I hope that the message has been made. I only use one example.
That is Dr. King. If anyone wants more information, I can certainly
spread across this Senate the records of hundreds of people who were
treated the same way that Dr. King was treated.
Amendment No. 1640
(Purpose: To redesignate the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in
Washington, District of Columbia, as the ``Federal Bureau of
Investigation Building'')
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) proposes an amendment
numbered 1640.
At the end, add the following:
SEC. __. REDESIGNATION OF J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING.
(a) In General.--The J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building located
at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue
[[Page S308]]
in Washington, District of Columbia, shall be known and
designated as the ``Federal Bureau of Investigation
Building''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the
building referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be
a reference to the ``Federal Bureau of Investigation
Building''.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would just state in closing that we have
numerous newspaper articles: ``FBI Aide Terms Effort to Villify King
Illegal;'' ``FBI Can't Justify Acts Against King;'' ``FBI Labeled King
Communist;'' ``Senate Probe Bares Secret Files;'' ``Crusade to Topple
King;'' ``Kelly Explores FBI Effort to Destroy King;'' ``King Widow
Demands Reopening Martin Luther King Murder Probe;'' ``FBI Supervisor
Linked to Dr. King Case;'' `` `No Legal Basis for Harassing King,' FBI
official says;'' ``FBI Tried to Kill Reverend King's Reputation.'' And
I say again there are numerous people who were treated as badly, if not
worse, as Dr. King. And if there is any question from anybody on either
side of the aisle in that regard I would be happy to supply that
information.
I also ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, first I thank the Senator from Nevada
for his opening acknowledgement about the appropriateness of this
legislation to honor former President Reagan. I appreciate his
acknowledgement of the nature of the timeframe, that we are wanting to
do this in conjunction with the President's 87th birthday.
I thank the Senator from Nevada for acknowledging that, indeed, this
is a very unique period in the twilight years of the former President,
and that he is bravely and courageously struggling with an illness;
that he has used that illness as a last attempt to do public good by
calling attention to its nature and highlighting the problem to the
Nation. And I appreciate very much those generous remarks on behalf of
the former President.
With regard to the presentations the Senator has made on behalf of
his amendment, there will be a recorded vote up or down, and the
Members of the Senate may make their decision as to their agreement or
not with whether or not the current name of the FBI building would be
removed and left to future congressional action to determine if another
name should so honor the building.
I also agree with the Senator in his admiration of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. It has had some difficult times, but clearly it has
been throughout our history an instrument to which the American public
looked for security and integrity.
Today, of course, the central objective is to fulfill the goal of S.
1575 which is to honor former President Reagan in this very fitting way
by redesignation of Washington National Airport as Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport.
I thought it might be useful, Mr. President, to share some of the
Nation's efforts to encourage the Congress and the President to get
this job done by Friday. Resolutions are being introduced and passed
throughout the country in support of the renaming of National Airport
for President Reagan. On January 16, 1998, the California assembly
passed a resolution in support of this legislation. Of course, it is
extremely fitting because former President Reagan was twice elected
Governor of the great State of California, where he served successfully
and with integrity and purpose. I have been told that a similar
resolution was introduced yesterday in the South Dakota Senate by
Senator Alan Aiker and in the Maine House of Representatives by
Representative Adam Mack. The Alabama House of Representatives, my
neighboring State, has passed a resolution in support of the
redesignation of National Airport. The Arizona Senate has passed a
resolution in like support of redesignation. The Idaho, Illinois, and
Ohio legislatures will introduce resolutions next week. In Wisconsin, a
resolution has been introduced and will be voted on this week. In
addition, on February 6, President Reagan's 87th birthday, the
Wisconsin legislature will vote on a plan to name the new Department of
Administration building in Madison after former President Ronald
Reagan.
Mr. President, I am glad this short-lived filibuster has come to an
end and that we can move on to resolution of this legislation.
As I said when we began the debate on this legislation, there are
fewer than 12 namesakes of former President Reagan. As indicated by the
Senator from Nevada, assuming the success of this legislation, I think
we are going to see a growing crescendo across the country. As we look
back on the Reagan Presidency, if you had to find a word that
characterized it, it was ``optimism''--optimism, a complete belief in
the spirit and nature of the American people. Historically, there are
very few eras for which the principles of American freedom were more
center point, almost on a par in a sense with the founding. President
Reagan's policies unleashed unprecedented economic liberty, created
millions and millions of new jobs, created unprecedented growth,
created and made the value of economic liberty fall into the homes of
millions and millions of Americans across this country.
Sometimes when we talk about American liberty we tend to focus on the
component of keeping ourselves free from impoundment by adversarial
forces, the Axis powers and Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein. But one of
the critical components of American liberty is economic liberty. We
fought the War of Independence over economic liberty. And there has not
been another American leader so committed to it as was former President
Ronald Reagan. He fought for it throughout his entire life and, as
President, implemented policies that enriched it in every corner.
Having said that, he was also one of the strongest proponents of
defending our freedom through strength, and as we said over the last
several days his strong conviction with regard to the Soviet Union,
which he labeled ``the evil empire,'' was unprecedented in changing the
fortunes of world history as he brought down the Berlin Wall and he
brought down the Soviet Union's grasp over millions of people in the
world. So he was seeing to liberty not only at home but liberty abroad.
Mr. President, I see the Senator from Nevada is seeking recognition,
and I will yield the floor to the Senator at this time.
Mr. REID. I extend my appreciation to the Senator. I want to complete
anything I have on this legislation prior to our automatic 5 o'clock
break, and I want to say a couple things.
First of all, just so the record is clear, there were a number of
things written about J. Edgar Hoover but one of the most telling things
was written on the day of his death when a local columnist wrote about
some of the things they were beginning to discover in some detail, the
files he had kept on people. And this one columnist indicated he had
reviewed the titillating tidbits about such diverse figures as Marlon
Brando, Harry Belafonte, athletes like Joe Namath, Lance Rentzel, Joe
Louis, Muhammad Ali, and, of course, he was always hard on all black
leaders. Included in this article was Ralph Abernathy and Roy Ennis.
After Dr. King was assassinated, he continued his work going after his
widow. It wasn't good enough that he had attempted to vilify this man;
he went after the widow.
And then I guess it is all summed up by a note that President Nixon
sent to John Dean when he said, and I quote, ``He's got files on
everybody,'' which I guess is true. I deleted some swear words in the
note from Nixon to Dean.
So I hope that we could get this part of the history at least off the
FBI building. It is a great institution. Whenever I can do anything
legislatively to help the FBI, I have done that. I think they are a
great organization that today we should be proud of, and in spite of J.
Edgar Hoover the FBI I think has a great reputation.
Mr. President, let me just say, since I see my friend from Arizona in
the Chamber, and I know we have a 5 o'clock break, a couple words to
extend my appreciation to the majority leader for setting a time
certain that we can take up the IRS bill, which certainly is one of the
most important things that we can do, the restructuring of the Internal
Revenue Service. It passed the House widely last year. We should have
[[Page S309]]
passed it ourselves last year. I think it is important that we move
forward on this as quickly as we can. It is important legislation to,
among other things, change the burden of proof in a tax case from the
taxpayer to the tax collector. Certainly it seems that would be an
appropriate thing to do. It needs to be restructured. It will pass
overwhelmingly when we get to it. I hope that Chairman Roth will move
forward with hearings as quickly as possible so that we can have all
that done. There is no excuse we cannot move forward with this on the
date in March the majority leader has selected.
Mr. McCAIN addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, many opponents of this legislation have
expressed concerns about Congress stripping the local airport authority
of its control. As many of my colleagues know, I have long advocated
that the Federal Government get out of the business of running National
and Dulles airports. The Federal Government, much to my chagrin,
mandates the number of hourly operations at National Airport and the
length of nonstop flights to and from National Airport, known to many
of us as the so-called perimeter rule. My attempts to deregulate
National Airport have been met with ardent local resistance.
I just want to take this opportunity to say that National and those
who represent it cannot just accept the Federal regulations that are
convenient for them and that they like. If they oppose our activities
with respect to an airport that's still federally owned, I urge them to
step up and oppose all Federal statutes that specifically address
Washington National, such as the perimeter rule.
I say to those who are raising this concern about our involvement by
acting congressionally in renaming the Washington National Airport the
Ronald Reagan Airport, I hope that you will express at least a
scintilla of that same zeal in trying to remove the Federal requirement
that every flight that leaves National Airport can go no further than
what, just by coincidence, turns out to be the western edge of the
runway at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, which rule happened to have been
put in by the former Speaker of the House, Jim Wright. I know that is
purely coincidental.
The reality is that there are very strict Federal regulations that
govern National Airport and Dulles Airport, and those regulations
should be removed. So I continue, of course, also to be amused at the
fact that at Washington National Airport, hundreds of thousands of
dollars of revenue on an annual basis are lost, or perhaps millions,
because of the reserved parking places for Members of the Congress,
diplomats and judges. But that problem has been, to a large degree,
solved, because the very clever and intelligent people that run
Washington National Airport, when faced with occasional complaints by
people who were struggling past empty parking lots with a sign on them
that said ``Reserved for diplomats, Members of Congress and Supreme
Court Justices,'' struggling people like women with children, elderly
individuals who had to go much, much further away because these parking
lots are reserved close in to the airport, they solved this problem for
us, and it probably will not come up again, because they took down the
signs that said, ``Reserved for diplomats, Supreme Court Justices and
Members of Congress,'' and they put up signs that said, ``Reserved.''
So, for all intents and purposes, that problem is pretty well resolved.
The fact is that it is outrageous and it is a disgrace. It is, again,
an example of the Federal involvement in National Airport.
I would like to be serious for just a moment, if I could. I want to
thank Senator Coverdell. I thank Senator Coverdell for bringing this
issue up and for his usual tenacity in seeing this thing through. But I
also want to say it's not just tenacity that characterizes Senator
Coverdell, it's a willingness to discuss and negotiate this issue with
those on the other side of the aisle so we have reached what I think is
a reasonable agreement that would resolve this issue. I thank my
friends on the other side of the aisle who have been willing to enter
into this agreement so we can have their legitimate concerns ventilated
in the proper parliamentary fashion, the way we do business around here
in the Senate.
I was disturbed last Thursday when apparently we were going to go
through some kind of filibustering over this issue, rather than resolve
it in the way we are resolving it now. I didn't think it was a good way
for us to start the year. So I thank my friends, especially the
Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, for his characteristic willingness
to resolve the differences we may have had.
Each of these amendments which are germane will be voted on. I am
sure many of them have merit. I remind my friends on the other side of
the aisle, they feel very strongly and with great affection for their
heroes. And their heroes are deserving of their respect and affection.
And we on this side of the aisle share that respect and affection for
their heroes. Perhaps not to the degree, but certainly we share the
affection and respect. We also on this side of the aisle believe that
Ronald Reagan did marvelous things, not only for all Americans but all
citizens of the world in providing an opportunity for peace and
freedom. He did keep the United States of America as a beacon of hope
and freedom to all mankind and I believe that what we are going to do
is exceedingly appropriate. I am pleased that we will be able to
resolve this. I am sure that in the minds of many of us there is never
any way we will be able to properly honor and commemorate his services
to our Nation. What we are doing is done in a very small and
insignificant fashion in the grand scheme of things.
Again, I thank Senator Coverdell and I thank my friends on the other
side of the aisle for their cooperation with us on this issue. I
pledge, at least for myself and I think most people on this side of the
aisle, that when an issue of this nature arises which is emotionally as
well as intellectually important, that we will try to show and should
show the same consideration to you as was displayed on this issue.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I thank my cosponsor, Senator McCain of
Arizona, for his remarks and for his support of this effort and for the
enormous contribution he has made to our coming to this point. He spoke
to an amendment that I want to take just a second on.
We understand there will be an amendment that would suggest that this
is an intrusion into local matters. This is, of course, an amendment
that I would encourage all my colleagues to oppose. I would just cite
the Federal law that contemporarily governs Washington National. It
says:
The Federal Government has a continuing but limited
interest in the operation of the two Federally-owned airports
which serve the travel and cargo needs of the entire
metropolitan Washington region as well as the District of
Columbia and the national seat of Government.
To be candid about it, I think if it weren't for the Congress,
National Airport, like many other close-in metropolitan airports, would
have been closed. It is just that the Congress would never have
accepted that. Of course it was funded by the Federal Government
through 1987, and since that time has received appropriate grants from
several Federal entities. So I believe the idea that there is not an
appropriate national and Federal role here cannot be substantiated.
This is one amendment--I have not seen the exact language--but that I
would encourage opposition to. I see my good friend from New Jersey is
on the floor to make comments. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I know to many Americans it may be
strange or bewildering with so many issues before the Congress that we
are debating naming, honoring, Americans by placing their names on
different public facilities. But who we honor, and the names we attach
to public buildings and locations, matters. By whom we choose to honor,
we set standards about ourselves. We communicate with future
generations the qualities of people that we admire and the things in
American history that
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are important. The Senator from Georgia has rightly noted the
considerable contributions of former President Ronald Reagan. The
Senator from Nevada, Mr. Reid, has offered an amendment of importance
for another reason.
Standards change. Nations learn conduct and behavior. No sooner had
the Soviet Union fallen than statues of Stalin and Lenin tumbled to the
streets. Samoza, Marcos, Batista had probably not even left office when
their names and statues were removed from public places.
In America through the years we have had despots of a different
order, people who lived in a free society but did not always respect
the law. They were part of the U.S. Government but not always in its
best traditions. The Senator from Nevada has raised an issue before the
Senate that the name of J. Edgar Hoover remains on the FBI building in
Washington, DC. Every year, thousands of American schoolchildren wander
down Pennsylvania Avenue to visit the FBI headquarters. Because the FBI
now is often a model of law enforcement in our country, because the
country has been fortunate to have Louis Freeh as its director, who
respects the law and is in the highest traditions of our country,
neither those schoolchildren nor many of our citizens, probably,
remember or understand that there was a time when the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's leadership, under J. Edgar Hoover, neither lived within
nor always respected the law.
Mr. COVERDELL. Will the Senator yield for just one moment for an
administrative note?
Mr. TORRICELLI. I am happy to yield.
Order for Recess
Mr. COVERDELL. I ask unanimous consent that at the closure of the
Senator's remarks, the Senate stand in recess until the hour of 6 this
evening. As you know, this is for the Members' briefing on Iraq.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for 1 minute following his remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent
request as amended by the Senator from Nevada? Hearing none, it is so
ordered.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Upon J. Edgar Hoover's death, perhaps his closest
colleague in the Bureau, William Sullivan, described Mr. Hoover as a
``master blackmailer.''
We now know from historians Mr. Hoover had compiled files on
Presidents of the United States and Members of Congress through illegal
surveillance and wiretapping, holding dossiers on leaders of the U.S.
Government. It was a practice of blackmail. It changed policies. It
threatened America. And it was wrong.
Probably no one of his time, through subterfuge, within the U.S.
Government, had a more adverse impact on the civil rights movement. He
vigorously dispatched agents of the U.S. Government to harass the
leadership of the NAACP. He called leading civil rights organizations
``Communist fronts.'' Indeed, he instructed agents to stand by and
watch as racist mobs would beat up voter registration workers and civil
rights workers in organized and lawful marches. To the extent that he
harassed Martin Luther King, former Vice President Walter Mondale
called J. Edgar Hoover ``a disgrace to every American.''
I don't know how we explain to American schoolchildren who leave
their schools to honor Martin Luther King, who learn in our classrooms
about the American Constitution, our respect for laws, that when they
visit this proud Capital of our country, the most prominent name on the
most prominent street in America is J. Edgar Hoover. But I know this,
the Senator from Nevada is right, that it is a contradiction that
should be removed, an explanation that no longer need be made. It is
time to remove the name of J. Edgar Hoover from the FBI building. And
if it is not enough that we suspected all along his intimidation of
Presidents and his violation of basic rights, his biographers now give
us more than enough reason. If you don't respect the Constitution, or
civil rights, or civil liberties, Mr. Hoover lived outside the laws
that he pretended to uphold.
It is now known that he had secret relationships with underworld boss
Frank Costello, whose primary duties in organized crime including
fixing games of chance and horse races. Gambling tips were given to Mr.
Hoover, so he was able to support a lifestyle and live with income
outside of the law. He had close contacts with members of New York's
organized crime families as well, who he refused to investigate, or
even acknowledge that they were a public policy problem for more than a
decade. It is now claimed that outside of these illegal acts, within
the bureau itself he used hundreds of thousands of dollars of public
money for his own personal use.
The Senator from Nevada has brought before the Senate a painful
decision, because it requires an honest reflection on a period of
history of our own country.
Mr. Hoover was not in the best traditions of this country. And in a
time when many fear that civil liberties in our country are sometime
threatened, no longer from without but from within, it is a valuable
message not only to our own people but, indeed, to law enforcement that
we honor people not only who enforce the law but who live within it.
As Richard Cohen of the Washington Post observed in 1990:
You affect the future, by what you do with the past and how
you interpret it. All over the world, when regimes change, so
do names. Danzig becomes Gdansk. Images of Lenin come down
all over Eastern Europe, and in the Soviet Union, Stalingrad
becomes Volgograd. These are all political statements. They
say, ``there's a new way of doing things.''
Mr. President, exactly, there is a new way of doing things.
The Senator from Georgia offers the name of Ronald Reagan because
Ronald Reagan makes us proud. He was the right way of doing things in
our country, whether you agree with the naming of the airport or you do
not. Mr. Hoover is an indication of the wrong way of doing things in
America. I support the amendment offered by the Senator from Nevada. I
am proud to offer it with him. I yield the floor.
Mr. REID addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, there may be some who feel that Ronald
Reagan was not the greatest President. I have already laid across this
Record how I feel about Ronald Reagan. But everyone would say that
Ronald Reagan's heart was in the right place. He was a true American
patriot who did what he thought was best for this country.
The direct opposite is applicable to J. Edgar Hoover. He didn't do
things that were good for this country. His heart was not in the right
place. He was a vicious, mean-spirited man, and his name should be
taken from the building that houses the Federal Bureau of Investigation
the very same moment we rename National Airport for President Ronald
Reagan.
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