[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H9119-H9120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      JERE COOPER FEDERAL BUILDING

  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2730) to designate the Federal building located at 309 North 
Church Street in Dyersburg, Tennessee, as the ``Jere Cooper Federal 
Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2730

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The Federal building located at 309 North Church Street in 
     Dyersburg, Tennessee, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Jere Cooper Federal Building''.

     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 ``Jere Cooper Federal Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Kim) and the gentleman

[[Page H9120]]

from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Kim).
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 2730 designates the Federal building in Dyersburg, Tennessee as 
the Jere Cooper Federal building. Congressman Jere Cooper was born on a 
farm near Dyersburg, Tennessee in 1893. He attended local schools and 
earned a degree in law from Cumberland University in 1914.
  In 1917, after commencing his legal practice, he enlisted in the 
Second Tennessee Infantry National Guard and was commissioned a first 
lieutenant. He served his country during World War I and was promoted 
to captain, serving as a regimental adjutant until his discharge in 
1919.
  Congressman Cooper began his political career as a member of the city 
council and city attorney from 1920 through 1928. He was also elected 
to the post of State Commander of the American Legion of Tennessee in 
1921. In 1929, he was elected to the 71st United States Congress, 
representing a major portion of what is now the 8th congressional 
district of Tennessee.
  He served his district for 14 succeeding Congresses, until his death 
in 1957. As a member, Congressman Cooper's distinguished himself on the 
Committee on Ways and Means as both a member and as chairman and served 
as chairman of the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation also.
  I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I want to join and associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Kim) on the bill.
  I would also like to comment a little bit out of school about the 
fine efforts of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) for bringing the 
previous bill to the floor in honoring the great member from his 
district that he now represents so well.
  On H.R. 2730, no question that we have a man that had a great impact 
on America, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, a leader, 
always prepared to stand up and do what he felt was right. I think it 
is absolutely firring that we join with the sponsor the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) to go ahead and support this designation. It is 
aptly fitting.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2730, a bill 
introduced to designate the Federal building in Dyersburg, Tennessee as 
the Jere Cooper Federal Building.
  U.S. Representative Jere Cooper represented in Congress a major 
portion of what is now the 8th Congressional District of Tennessee. 
During his nearly three decades of service, he distinguished himself on 
the House Ways and Means Committee as both a member and as its 
chairman. His service began in 1929 when our country was in the depths 
of the Great Depression and continued through some of our nation's 
greatest challenges--World War II, the Korean War and the beginning of 
the cold war. He served his district, the State of Tennessee, and the 
Nation with pride and distinction.
  Representative Cooper was born on a farm near Dyersburg in Dyer 
County, Tennessee, on July 20, 1893. In 1917, after earning a law 
degree from Cumberland College, he enlisted in the Second Tennessee 
Infantry, National Guard and was commissioned a first lieutenant. He 
served his country in France and Belgium during World War I. He was 
promoted to captain and served as regimental adjutant until discharged 
from the Army. He also served as the state Commander of the American 
Legion in Tennessee. He was first elected to the Seventy-First Congress 
and to the next fourteen Congresses serving from March 4, 1929, until 
his death in December 18, 1957. He served as the distinguished chairman 
of the Ways and Means Committee in the Eighty-Fourth and Eighty-Fifth 
Congresses.
  I believe that designating the Federal building in Dyersburg, 
Tennessee as the Jere Cooper Federal Building is a befitting honor and 
memorial, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2730, a bill to 
honor the late Representative Jere Cooper.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Kim) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2730.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________