[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H9120-H9121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THURGOOD MARSHALL UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2187) to designate the United States Courthouse located at 40 
Foley Square in New York, New York, as the ``Thurgood Marshall United 
States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2187

       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 located at 40 Foley Square in 
     New York, New York, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any references in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the United States 
     courthouse referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the ``Thurgood Marshall United States 
     Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Kim) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Kim).

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 2187, again, designates the United 
States Courthouse at 40 Foley Square in New York City as the Thurgood 
Marshall United States Courthouse.
  Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated cum 
laude from Lincoln University in 1930, and graduated top of his class 
from Howard University School of Law in 1933.
  Upon graduation from law school, Justice Marshall began his legal 
career with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People. It was during this time, as chief counsel, that he organized 
efforts to end segregation in voting, housing, public accommodations 
and education. This legislation led to the landmark Supreme Court 
decision of Brown v. Board of Education which declared segregation in 
public schools to be unconstitutional.
  In 1961, Justice Marshall was appointed to the Second Circuit Court 
of Appeals by President Kennedy, and 4 years later was chosen by 
President Lyndon Johnson to be the first African American Solicitor 
General. Two years later, in 1967, President Johnson nominated Justice 
Marshall to become the first African American Justice of the Supreme 
Court, where he served with distinction until his retirement in 1991. 
Justice Marshall died in 1993, and laid in state at the Supreme Court, 
a rare and privileged honor.
  This is a fitting tribute to an honored jurist and great historical 
figure. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), the sponsor of the bill, and I 
commend him for the outstanding job and the efforts he has put forth in 
ensuring this be brought before the Congress.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Traficant), for those words and, Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage 
my colleagues to support H.R. 2187, a bill which I introduced last year 
to name the Federal Courthouse at Foley Square in New York City as the 
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse.
  By naming the Foley Square Courthouse after Justice Marshall, 
Congress would send a signal to the American people and the entire 
world of the importance of the principle of equality under the law.
  As my colleagues know, the late Thurgood Marshall was not only the 
first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, he 
also was one of the greatest trial and appellate lawyers in the history 
of our Nation. Through his skill, advocacy, and

[[Page H9121]]

dedication to the cause of civil rights, he led the charge for equality 
not only for African Americans but for all Americans.
  Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2nd, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. 
After attending public schools in Maryland, he received his Bachelor's 
Degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, and his law degree from 
Howard University right here in Washington, D.C., where he graduated 
first in his class.
  After handling a variety of private legal cases, Thurgood Marshall 
was appointed in 1936 as special counsel to the NAACP, the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Only 3 years later 
Marshall founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of the 
great protectors of civil rights in our country's history.
  While at the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall won 29 of 32 cases he argued 
before the United States Supreme Court. Most prominent of Marshall's 
victories was Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court 
struck down the ``separate but equal'' policy that was used to justify 
school segregation. While at NAACP, Marshall also won important cases 
against discriminatory poll taxes, racial restrictions in housing, and 
whites-only primary elections.
  In September 1961, after such a distinguished career with the NAACP, 
President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first 
African American to sit as a judge on the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Second Circuit. And later, President Lyndon B. Johnson 
appointed Marshall as the first African American to serve as the United 
States Solicitor General.
  On June 13, 1967, President Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as 
the first African American to sit as an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court. During his tenure on the court, Marshall became known 
for his heartfelt attacks on discrimination, unyielding opposition to 
the death penalty, and support for free speech and civil liberties.
  The Courthouse at Foley Square in Manhattan, in New York City, has 
gone unnamed since its construction in 1935. I believe that identifying 
this courthouse with Justice Marshall would be a fitting tribute to his 
life's pursuit of justice and equality under the law.
  This is a very, very famous courthouse. Indeed, when I first 
announced my candidacy for Congress 10 years ago, back in 1988, I 
announced it at the steps of the Federal Courthouse at Foley Square. It 
is a very, very important and well-known courthouse in the entire New 
York City metropolitan area.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that the New York State Senate, 
the New York State Bar Association and the New York State County 
Lawyers' Association, of which Marshall was a long-time member, have 
endorsed this bill. This bill has been endorsed in a bipartisan fashion 
with cosponsors of the bill, many cosponsors of the bill, including my 
colleagues, the gentleman from Westchester County, in New York, the 
chairman of the Committee on International Relations (Mr. Gilman); the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly); and the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. Lowey). And there are others as well.
  I urge my colleagues to offer this tribute to Justice Thurgood 
Marshall and to support H.R. 2187. This is certainly a bill on which 
everyone agrees, and I am very grateful to the chairman of the 
committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), who was very 
instrumental in helping me get this bill to the floor; the ranking 
member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar); my friend, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant); and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Kim). I want to thank everybody for this. This is truly a 
bipartisan effort.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ENGEL. I yield to the gentleman from New York, the chairman of 
the Committee on International Relations.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Engel) for bringing this matter to the floor, for working so 
diligently, and giving proper recognition to an outstanding leader in 
our country, an outstanding jurist, one we can all be proud of when we 
associate the name of Thurgood Marshall with a Federal Courthouse. 
Again, I join in support of the gentleman's measure.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the former Speaker of the 
State Legislature of Maryland, who is doing an outstanding job down 
here.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I wanted to take a moment to also thank the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Engel) for the introduction of this legislation.
  I feel very close to this legislation because Thurgood Marshall lived 
in a home which is literally about eight blocks from where I live in 
Baltimore right now. As a matter of fact, we also share something else 
in common, in that we are both graduates of Howard University.
  I think Thurgood Marshall brought to our Nation a sense of fairness, 
and he is one who consistently stood up for the things that he believed 
in. Another interesting thing that I love about him is that a lot of 
his research for his cases was done in Clarendon County in South 
Carolina. That is where my mother and father were sharecroppers.
  And so Thurgood Marshall has played a very, very significant role in 
the city of Baltimore. And, of course, he was turned away at one time 
from the University of Maryland Law School, which is the law school I 
attended and graduated from.
  I think it is very fitting that this courthouse be named after Mr. 
Marshall. I would say to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), that 
my only regret is we could not name a courthouse in Baltimore after Mr. 
Marshall, for he is truly a hero for all of us.
  And he is one who is set out amongst lawyers, as we look at lawyers, 
and young African American lawyers looking for a role model. Thurgood 
Marshall was that role model, and I am sure he was a role model for 
many, many other lawyers and for many other people. So I want to thank 
the gentleman for this legislation.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, without a doubt Howard University has 
produced an awful lot of fine graduates.
  I would just like to associate myself with all the remarks made, but 
I would like to steal a quote from FDR, when he talked about a day that 
would live in infamy. I would like to talk about a legal case that will 
literally live in infamy, the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of 
Topeka case. That case handled by our great Supreme Court Justice 
Thurgood Marshall. The bottom line, racial segregation in the United 
States public schools was declared unconstitutional by the efforts of 
that legal case in 1954 that lives in infamy.
  I want to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) and the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) for this legislation. It is 
absolutely appropriate.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sununu). 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. 2187.
  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.

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