[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN HONOR OF HOWARD METZENBAUM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 21, 1998

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Howard Metzenbaum, former 
Senator from the State of Ohio. Serving nineteen years in the United 
States Senate, he represented his constitutents with passion and guile, 
demonstrating both a fierce dedication to justice and a keen 
understanding of legislative procedure. It is these qualities that will 
be commemorated with the renaming of the U.S. Courthouse in Cleveland, 
Ohio as the Howard Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse.
  Howard Metzenbaum's long career of public service began with his 
election to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1943. After serving 
two terms in the House and two terms in the State Senate, he sat on the 
Judicial Council of Ohio and the Ohio Bureau of Code Revision. In 1976, 
Howard Metzenbaum was elected to the U.S. Senate. Ohio voters would 
later return Senator Metzenbaum to Washington for two more terms.
  During his nineteen year career, Senator Metzenbaum would establish 
himself as an outspoken leader for the principles and causes in which 
he strongly believed. The Washington Post called him ``an 
uncompromising, indefatigable and often irascible champion of liberal 
causes.'' Initially gaining notoriety for his skillful use of the 
filibuster in blocking legislation, Senator Metzenbaum became in later 
years an important coalition-builder and legislator. He authored or co-
authored countless amendments and bills, including the Plant Closing 
Notification Act, the Nutrition and Food Labeling Act, the Brady Bill, 
the Alzheimer's Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Senator Robert 
Byrd of West Virginia once said of the Senator, ``I have often felt 
that if we did not have a Howard Metzenbaum in the Senate we ought to 
make one.''
  My fellow colleagues, I can think of no more fitting a symbol of 
Howard Metzenbaum's legacy than his serving as namesake to the U.S. 
Courthouse. May the Senator's high standard of justice, fairness, and 
dignity for all men and women serve as an unyielding challenge to all 
those who enter the Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse.

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