[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9530-S9531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ROBERT C. WEAVER FEDERAL BUILDING

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 486, S. 1700.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1700) to designate the headquarters of the 
     Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, 
     the District of Columbia, as the ``Robert C. Weaver Federal 
     Building.''

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the 
unanimous passage of S. 1700, a bill to designate the headquarters of 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development, located at 451 Seventh 
Street, SW, as the ``Robert C. Weaver Federal Building.'' I am proud to 
offer my tribute to a brilliant and committed public servant the late 
Dr. Robert C. Weaver, advisor to three Presidents, director of the 
NAACP, and the first African-American Cabinet Secretary. He was also a 
dear friend, dating back some 40 years.
  A native Washingtonian, Bob Weaver spent his entire life broadening 
opportunities for minorities in America and working to dismantle 
America's deeply entrenched system of racial segregation. He first made 
his mark as a member of President Roosevelt's ``Black Cabinet,'' an 
informal advisory group promoting educational and economic 
opportunities for blacks.
  I first met Bob in the 1950s when we worked for Governor Averell 
Harriman. He served as Deputy Commissioner of Housing for New York 
State in 1955, and later became State Rent Commissioner with full 
Cabinet rank. Our friendship and collaboration would continue through 
the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. By 1960, Bob was serving as 
President of the NAACP. President Kennedy, impressed with Bob's 
insights and advice, soon appointed him to head the Housing and Home 
Finance Agency in 1961--the highest Federal post ever occupied by an 
African-American.
  When President Johnson succeeded in elevating HHFA to Cabinet level 
status in 1966, he didn't need to look far for the right man to head 
the new Department of Housing and Urban Development--Bob Weaver became 
the nation's first African-American Cabinet Secretary. Later, he and I 
served together on the Pennsylvania Avenue Commission.
  Following his government service, Dr. Weaver was, among various other 
academic pursuits, a professor at Hunter College, a member of the 
School of Urban and Public Affairs at Carnegie-Mellon, a visiting 
professor at Columbia Teacher's College and New York University's 
School of Education, and the president of Baruch College in Manhattan. 
When I became director of the Joint Center for Urban Studies at MIT and 
Harvard, he generously agreed to be a member of the Board of Directors.
  Dr. Weaver had earned his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral 
degrees in economics from Harvard; he wrote four books on urban 
affairs; and he was one of the original directors of the Municipal 
Assistance Corporation, which designed the plan to rescue New York City 
during its tumultuous financial crisis in the 1970s.
  After a long and remarkable career, Bob passed away last July at his 
home in New York City. The nation has lost one of its innovators, one 
of its creators, one of its true leaders. For Bob led not only with his 
words but with his deeds. I was privileged to know him as a friend. I 
think it is a fitting tribute to name the HUD Building after this great 
man.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statement relating to the bill appear 
at this point in the Record.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (S. 1700) was considered read the third time and passed, as 
follows:

                                S. 1700

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF ROBERT C. WEAVER FEDERAL BUILDING.

       In honor of the first Secretary of Housing and Urban 
     Development, the headquarters building of the Department of 
     Housing and Urban Development located at 451 Seventh Street, 
     SW., in Washington, District of Columbia, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Robert C. Weaver Federal Building''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the

[[Page S9531]]

     United States to the building referred to in section 1 shall 
     be deemed to be a reference to the ``Robert C. Weaver Federal 
     Building''.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gorton). The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. ALLARD. What is the order of business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in a period of morning business 
with a 5-minute limitation.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I request unanimous consent to address the 
Senate for 25 minutes in morning business.
  Mr. BYRD. Reserving the right to object, I do not intend to, I think 
that I addressed the Chair ahead of the other Senator, but I wouldn't 
challenge the Chair on that point. I know the Chair has the discretion 
to recognize whomever he hears first, but I would like to make a 
statement.
  Mr. ALLARD. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes.
  Mr. ALLARD. How much time does the Senator need for his morning 
business remarks?
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator. I will require 20 or 25 minutes. But I 
will await my turn. I thank the Senator from Colorado.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BYRD. No objection.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from West Virginia for 
yielding. I was in the Chair, and I had the podium put up much earlier 
this morning, but because a colleague next to me was going to speak, he 
wanted it removed.
  Mr. BYRD. I didn't understand the Senator.
  Mr. ALLARD. I had requested that my podium be put up on the Senate 
floor at 10 o'clock this morning when I was presiding so that I could 
be in proper order to be recognized as soon as I got out of the Chair. 
I certainly didn't intend to create a problem for the Senator from West 
Virginia. I apologize for any inconvenience.
  Mr. BYRD. If the Senator will yield, I have no problem. The Senator 
is not creating a problem for me. I just call attention to the rules, 
that the Presiding Officer recognize the first person who addresses the 
Chair seeking recognition. I have no quarrel with the Chair. I have 
been in the Chair many times, and sometimes it is a little difficult to 
really determine which Senator spoke first. I just wanted to establish 
again--and once in awhile we have to do this--that it is a matter of 
following the rules of recognition, and that it doesn't matter what 
Senator came before or what Senator is seen standing first, or what 
Senator may have his name on a list at the desk. I do not recognize a 
list at the desk. Never have. I try to stick to the rules. I thank the 
Senator. I know I have delayed his speech.
  Mr. ALLARD. I thank the Senator from West Virginia for his comments, 
and I respect the Senator.

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