[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1492-H1493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      EDWARD N. CAHN FEDERAL BUILDING AND UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 751) to designate the Federal building and 
United States courthouse located at 504 Hamilton Street in Allentown, 
Pennsylvania, as the ``Edward N. Cahn Federal Building and United 
States Courthouse,'' as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 751

       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 and United States courthouse located 
     at 504 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania, shall 
     be known and designated as the ``Edward N. Cahn Federal 
     Building and United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the Federal building 
     and United States courthouse referred to in section 1 shall 
     be deemed to be a reference to the ``Edward N. Cahn Federal 
     Building and United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Franks) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks).
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 751, as amended, the Federal building and United 
States courthouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as the Edward N. Cahn 
Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
  Judge Cahn was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is said 
Judge Cahn was quite a basketball star where he was part of the 
Allentown High championship team in 1951. He went on to attend Lehigh 
University, and graduated magna cum laude in 1955. Judge Cahn was the 
first Lehigh University basketball player to score 1,000 points during 
his collegiate career.
  After graduating from Yale Law School, Judge Cahn returned to the 
Lehigh Valley. He was in the United States Marine Corps Reserve until 
1964, and active in private law practice until 1974.
  In 1975 President Ford appointed Edward Cahn to Pennsylvania's 
Eastern District Federal Court. For the next 23 years, Judge Cahn 
fairly and expeditiously administered the law from the Federal bench in 
Allentown, Pennsylvania, the only judge in the Third Circuit to work 
out of the Allentown courthouse.
  In 1993 Judge Cahn was appointed the court's chief judge until his 
retirement in December, 1998. This is a deserving honor to an 
exceptional jurist and a local Lehigh Valley hero. I support this bill, 
and encourage my colleagues to support it, as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 751 is a bill to designate the Federal 
building and United States courthouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as 
the Edward N. Cahn Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
  Judge Cahn has been serving the citizens of Allentown, Pennsylvania, 
and Lehigh county for four decades. He is a native of Allentown, and 
attended Lehigh University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1955. After 
graduating from Yale in 1958, Judge Cahn was admitted to the Lehigh 
County Court in 1959.
  In 1975 President Ford nominated him for the Federal bench in 
Pennsylvania's Eastern District Court. Judge Cahn worked from the 
Federal bench for the next 23 years in Allentown. Throughout his long, 
distinguished legal career Judge Cahn was known for his attention to 
detail and his fairness. He has been a mentor to others, impressing on 
other lawyers that all cases are important and deserving of attention. 
It is very fitting that we acknowledge the outstanding contributions of 
Judge Cahn by designating the courthouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 
his honor.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Allentown, Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to pass 
H.R. 751, a bill I introduced to name Allentown's Federal courthouse 
for retired Judge Edward N. Cahn.
  Judge Cahn, as a native of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, has honored 
our community with his service as a Federal judge and the determination 
he has brought to everything that he has done.
  The outpouring of community support to name Allentown's courthouse 
after Judge Cahn has been substantial and bipartisan. Judges, 
prosecutors, defenders, corporate attorneys, civil lawyers, and many 
others have asked that Judge Cahn be honored with this distinction. His 
childhood friend and colleague, Judge Arnold Rappoport, once said, 
``Whether it's being captain of the basketball team at Lehigh 
University or being in the Marines, he has a pioneering will to 
achieve. The energy and drive never changed.''
  Judge Cahn served on the Federal bench for 23 years, including 5 
years as chief judge. As a jurist and a public servant, he instilled 
the virtue of fairness and equality under the law. He remains the only 
Federal jurist to come from Lehigh County lawyers. In fact, if it were 
not for Judge Cahn's influence and enormous efforts, Allentown may not 
now have this beautiful new courthouse. It is only fitting that this 
courthouse bear his name.
  Beyond the physical structure of the building, Judge Cahn is widely 
helping with helping Lehigh Valley garner the respect and recognition 
it deserves within the Federal legal community. Judge Cahn's former law 
partner, John Roberts, says, the Federal bench has lost a star.
  I agree, and I would like to take this opportunity to remind us all 
that we should not underestimate the importance of a community having 
representation on the Federal bench. It is something Judge Cahn always 
believed and stresses to this day.
  Federal courts should be reflective of all constituents within their 
borders. Nothing can substitute for the personal knowledge and 
experience of living and working in a region. Judges who understand a 
region's customs and history better understand their jurists, 
plaintiffs, and defendants.
  That is why the Lehigh Valley must have a trial judge on the Federal 
bench, and why I am committed to working with my colleagues to fill 
Judge Cahn's seat with a native of the Lehigh Valley.
  In conclusion, Judge Cahn is already missed on the Federal bench, but 
perhaps naming the courthouse after him will serve as an enduring 
reminder of the contributions he has made to the administration of 
justice in Pennsylvania.
  I would like to thank several people who have been very supportive of 
this measure: first, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden), a 
fellow member of the Pennsylvania delegation; the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and its chairman, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Bud Shuster), as well as the ranking member, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. William Lipinski); the Subcommittee on 
Buildings and Economic Development, and the chairman, the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Bob Franks), as well as the ranking member, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Robert Wise). I would also like to 
thank the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Dick Armey) 
for his support in this.
  Finally, I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 751, and give honor to 
Allentown's courthouse and the man who made it possible.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden).

[[Page H1493]]

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution today, and I 
would like to commend my colleague, the gentleman from Lehigh Valley, 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey) for bringing this legislation to the floor.
  Before coming to Congress, Mr. Speaker, I had the great opportunity 
to serve as sheriff of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, for 7 years.

                              {time}  1215

  During that time period, I had a chance to get to know Judge Cahn, 
and I just wanted to say that he is an honest, sincere, hardworking 
person who has dedicated his life to serving, not only the people of 
Lehigh Valley but the people of Pennsylvania and the people of this 
great country. He has served with distinction on the bench, and his 
knowledge of law and his sense of fairness is beyond question.
  I would just like to say that Judge Cahn so much deserves this honor 
today to have that beautiful courthouse in Allentown named after him 
for his distinguished service. I would like to wish Judge Cahn and his 
family many, many years of happy retirement. I am sure he is going to 
serve in senior status and continue to serve the people in Lehigh 
Valley.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to lend my strong support and again thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey), my friend from Lehigh Valley, 
for bringing this legislation to the floor. I agree with everything he 
said except that we will fill that vacancy in the Lehigh Valley right 
after we fill it with the judgeship from Berks County, Pennsylvania to 
take Judge Cahn's place.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Goodlatte). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 751, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read:
  ``A bill to designate the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 504 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, 
Pennsylvania, as the `Edward N. Cahn Federal Building and United States 
Courthouse'.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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