[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THURGOOD MARSHALL COURTHOUSE BILL, H.R. 2187

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                               speech of

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong support for this 
initiative to rename the new Federal Courthouse in White Plains, New 
York, in honor of one of the outstanding Americans of the 20th Century, 
the Hon. Thurgood Marshall.
  Recent biographies have spotlighted the remarkable career of this 
distinguished gentleman. His struggle to end segregation in public 
schools culminated in the Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 
1954. As the chief counsel for the NAACP in this landmark decision, he 
successfully brought about not only an overturn of the 60 year old 
Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling, but one made by a unanimous vote which 
virtually every observer and constitutional expert predicted was 
impossible prior to the Court's decision.
  Subsequently, Thurgood Marshall distinguished himself as a justice on 
the U.S. Court of Appeals, where he wrote over 150 decisions, many of 
which impact many lives. Support for immigrant rights, limiting 
government intrusion in illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy and 
right to privacy cases were only some of the landmark decisions he 
reached.
  As U.S. Solicitor General, Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he brought 
before the United States Supreme Court.
  In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as the 
first Supreme Court Justice in history of Afro-American heritage. He 
served on our nation's highest bench until 1991, where he left an 
indelible legacy on our nation.
  I strongly urge our colleagues to join in this most fitting tribute. 
This legislation will remind future generations for many years to come 
of the tremendous debt our nation owes to Justice Thurgood Marshall.

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