[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1493-H1496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THURGOOD MARSHALL UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 130) to designate the United States Courthouse 
located at 40 Centre Street in New York, New York, as the ``Thurgood 
Marshall United States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 130

       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 Centre Street 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 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. 130 designates the United States courthouse at 40 
Centre Street 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. As chief counsel, he organized efforts to end segregation in 
voting, housing, public accommodations, and education. These efforts 
led to the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown versus 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 four years later was chosen by 
President 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 in the Supreme Court 
building, a rare and privileged honor.
  This is a fitting tribute to an honored jurist and a great historical 
figure. I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 130 is a bill to name the Federal courthouse 
located at 40 Centre Street in New York City in honor of former Supreme 
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. I thank the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Engel) for introducing the bill and for his steadfast support of 
this legislation.
  The career and character and contributions of Judge Marshall are 
without equal. His struggles for equality and dignity for all people 
were of historical proportions.
  In 1961, President John Kennedy appointed Marshall as a judge on the 
United States Court of Appeals. Marshall was the first African American 
to receive such an appointment. President Johnson appointed Marshall as 
Solicitor General, and in 1967 he was appointed to the United States 
Supreme Court where he served until 1991.
  As my colleagues know, Justice Marshall was born and brought up in 
Baltimore and graduated first in his class from Howard University Law 
School. The brilliance of his legal career is highlighted in the famous 
1954 Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka case in which ration 
segregation in the United States public schools was declared 
unconstitutional.
  Justice Marshall's visions for the future required constant and 
personal commitment by each citizens to racial equality. Justice 
Marshall has given to the American public an enduring symbol of hard 
work, determination, fairness, and honor.
  Mr. Speaker, I am greatly honored and pleased to support H.R. 130.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), sponsor of the bill.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Mississippi for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 130. I 
am proud to be the sponsor of this bill, and this is a bipartisan bill, 
to name the Federal courthouse at Foley Square in Manhattan 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 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 July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. After 
attending public schools in Maryland, he received his bachelor's degree 
from

[[Page H1494]]

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.
  I would urge my colleagues commemorating the life of Thurgood 
Marshall today to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 33, my legislation, which 
commemorates the 90th anniversary of the founding of the NAACP.
  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 of course was Brown versus Board of Education, that famous 
1954 case, in which the Supreme Court struck down the separate but 
equal policy that was used to justify public school segregation that 
had been in effect since 1896.
  While at the 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. He was later chosen by President Lyndon 
B. Johnson as the United States Solicitor General, also the first 
African American to hold this position.
  On June 13, 1967, President Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to 
the Supreme Court. As the first African American Associate Justice, 
Marshall became known for his heartfelt attacks on discrimination,, 
unyielding opposition to the death penalty, and support for free speech 
and civil liberties.
  As my colleagues know, the House passed this bill last year. We are 
considering it again today because it did not come to the floor of the 
Senate by the end of the session. I am hoping the Senate will 
immediately take up this bill after the House passes it.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to note 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. It is bipartisan, strong bipartisan support.
  The courthouse at 40 Centre Street in New York has gone unnamed since 
its construction in 1935. I believe that identifying this courthouse 
with Justice Marshall would be a fitting commemoration of his life's 
pursuit of justice and equality under the law. The Thurgood family is 
delighted to have this important courthouse named after Justice 
Thurgood Marshall.
  I urge my colleagues to offer this tribute to Justice Thurgood 
Marshall and to support H.R. 130. I just want to thank my colleagues, 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks), 
and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Wise), for their cooperation 
and strong support for this bill. I appreciate their collegiality very, 
very much.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking Democratic member 
on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  (Mr. OBERSTAR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, we gather here in this Chamber and with this bill before 
us to pay tribute and to honor a giant of the law and of the 
Constitution. In honoring Thurgood Marshall, we honor and pay tribute 
to all that is good and great in the history of democracy in America, 
for he personified what our American war revolution was all about, what 
the framers of the Constitution intended in writing this great and 
durable document, that all people are created equal and are entitled to 
equal justice under the law and in this Constitution.
  Thurgood Marshall believed in that theme, believed in that promise, 
and made his life a crusade to make the promise of the Constitution 
alive, living, practiced in this democracy.
  What we say here cannot add to the glory that is his and to the 
respect that generations owe him. We can only supplement what was a 
great, courageous, and inspiring life.
  By naming a building, we hope that we in stone, in structure, and in 
all that goes on inside this great courthouse, perpetuate the ideals 
that made up the career and the life and the purpose of Justice 
Thurgood Marshall.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I thank the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking 
member for their attention to this naming bill.
  How appropriate it is that the courthouse at Foley Square would be 
named for the man who sat there as a Second Circuit Judge and went on 
to the highest court, Thurgood Marshall. Of course the Foley Square 
courthouse is one of the preeminent courthouses in the United States in 
part because of some of the notorious cases that have been decided 
there, but also because of where it stands and what it has meant in 
history.
  So to name a preeminent courthouse after a preeminent lawyer, a 
preeminent litigator, a preeminent Justice seems just right. In point 
of fact, Justice Thurgood Marshall was preeminent in so many ways, it 
is difficult to know now how he will be best remembered.
  He spent many years on the Court. He was Solicitor General at an 
important high point of our history when the government was litigating 
cases involving race and other matters of signal importance to the 
constitutional development of our law.
  Yet, I do not believe that the Justice will be remembered 
preeminently as a Justice or as a lawyer. I believe those are too small 
to encase his memory. I believe he will be remembered for what he did 
for American law itself. We are at a proud point in American law 
because the words equality under justice means something.

                              {time}  1230

  We did not get to that point, the law did not get to that point by 
itself. Equality under law was an empty phrase when Marshall began to 
practice law and when he and his cohorts at the NAACP, later to become 
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, began to attack discrimination at its 
core.
  Despite the carnage of the Civil War, the fact is that slavery was 
replaced by a system of law called Jim Crow. It was that system that 
Thurgood Marshall set his sights upon. He embarked upon the mission of 
filling the empty vessel, the words ``equality under law,'' with true 
meaning. Marshall led a brilliant litigation strategy. Today, 
``separate but equal'' is totally discredited, but it took years, 
gnawing at the roots of that doctrine, to finally overthrow that 
doctrine with Brown v. Board of Education.
  When President Johnson sought to appoint Thurgood Marshall to his two 
important positions, he faced an uphill battle, and if I may say so, 
from members of his own party. And yet our law and our courts are 
richer because that battle was fought, and because Thurgood Marshall 
fought his battles for our law and for African Americans; ultimately, 
for all Americans, who now all accept ``equality under law,'' with many 
more coming forward to claim that right than those who happen to be 
black.
  For lawyers like me, Thurgood Marshall was nothing less than a role 
model, because there were so few African American lawyers in the 1960s 
when I came to the bar. He has since become not only a role model for 
my generation but an American legend in the law. It is most appropriate 
that he be honored in this way.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong 
support of H.R. 130, to designate the court house on Centre Street in 
New York City as the ``Thurgood Marshall United States Court House.''
  It is particularly auspicious that this legislation appears before 
the House of Representatives this week when much of the nation will 
learn, for the first time, of one of Justice Marshall's early cases on 
behalf of oppressed members of our society.

[[Page H1495]]

  As a young attorney for the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People (NAACP), Thurgood Marshall went to Treasure Island in 
San Francisco Bay in September 1944 to observe the largest mutiny trial 
in the history of our nation. The accused men were sailors who had 
refused to continue loading highly explosive munitions at the Port 
Chicago Naval Magazine because a terrific explosion just a few weeks 
earlier had, without warning or explanation, killed 320 of their 
colleagues and destroyed this important naval facility. It was the 
largest home front loss of life of the war.
  Marshall was concerned about the Port Chicago courts martial because 
all the accused men were blacks, men relegated to loading munitions on 
ships rather than firing them at the enemy solely because they were 
black. Men who lived in segregated housing, ate in segregated mess 
halls; men denied the post-traumatic leave typically granted. Indeed, 
benefits to the survivors of those black men killed in the explosion 
were reduced from $5,000 to $3,000 when southern senators learned the 
victims were blacks.
  The Navy, dismissing the protests of the NAACP and others over the 
hypocrisy of asking segregated blacks to fight fascism abroad, 
denounced their sailors as having ``exhibited the normal 
characteristics of negroes,'' and prosecuted them for mutiny. Fifty 
stood their ground and were sentenced to long jail terms, later reduced 
in the aftermath of the war. Following their convictions, Thurgood 
Marshall launched an impassioned effort to force the government to 
rescind the convictions, and he won some concessions: two dozen pieces 
of evidence were thrown out as tainted, but the convictions stood, and 
continue to stand today.
  The Navy of the 1990s has proved equally resistant to revisiting the 
Port Chicago convictions. Directed by Congress to re-examine the case 
in 1992, Secretary of the Navy John Dalton admitted that there was ``no 
doubt that racial prejudice was responsible for the posting of African-
American enlisted personnel to the loading at Port Chicago.'' Then 
Secretary of Defense William Perry agreed that ``prejudice in the first 
instance resulted in the assignment of African-American sailors to 
hard, dangerous work, but segregated them and denied them the dignity 
accorded to others in uniform.'' Like Dalton, however, Perry refused to 
overturn the convictions because, they asserted, the pervasive racism 
in the Navy and at Port Chicago was not documented in the actual trial 
proceedings.
  I wonder how the courts ultimately would have treated Rosa Parks if 
they had refused to consider the context in which she defied the law 
and launched the civil rights campaigns of the 1950s. I wonder how 
history might be different if judicial officers reviewing records of 
sit-ins at lunch counters did not consider the environment in which 
those acts of defiance occurred.
  The same is true of the Port Chicago case, and Thurgood Marshall knew 
it over a half century ago. Men who battled to enlist in the Navy to 
defend their country against fascism and racism were treated like 
second class citizens because of their race. They got second class 
jobs, second class training, and they got second class justice.
  For decades, virtually all of the surviving Port Chicago 
``mutineers'' have suffered their unjustified humiliation in silence, 
much as they suffered the anguish of official segregation and Navy 
policies that placed them in extreme risk without even a modicum of 
training. Bolstered by books and news coverage a decade ago, a few of 
these men--several now deceased--worked with Members of Congress to 
secure the Navy reviews and to successfully pass legislation in 1992 
creating the Port Chicago National Memorial in California that honors 
the men who served and died at that facility.
  A decade-long effort to secure the exoneration of over 250 black 
sailors who refused to resume loading the ships is gaining steam. A 
national law firm, Morrison and Foerster, has taken up the pardon 
appeal of Mr. Freddie Meeks of Los Angeles, and will hopefully be able 
to represent additional survivors and the families of those men who 
passed away without ever knowing that this day of reconsideration was 
coming.
  The media also is finally paying attention to the travesty that 
followed the tragedy. The History Channel recently broadcast an hour-
long show, produced by CBS, and the Learning Channel is set to air its 
own account on March 30th. NBC will nationally broadcast a made-for-TV 
movie, produced by actor Morgan Freeman, on March 28 that tells a 
fictionalized account of the Port Chicago story.
  So it is fitting that, as the nation studies the Port Chicago case 
and the important role Thurgood Marshall played in challenging these 
unjust convictions, we meet here today to dedicate this building in his 
memory. Port Chicago was an early, and largely unknown, item in a 
distinguished legal and judicial career, and Justice Marshall surely 
deserves the honor we are about to confer on him.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this 
bill. This bill designates a United States courthouse in New York City 
as the ``Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse.''
  Thurgood Marshall worked for not only African Americans but for all 
Americans to establish and perfect a fundamental structure of 
individual rights. He succeeded in creating new protections under the 
law for women, children, prisoners, and the homeless. These groups owe 
a debt of gratitude to Thurgood Marshall for the increased protections 
that they enjoy as American citizens. Mr. Speaker even the press had 
Marshall to thank for an expansion of its liberties during the century.
  Marshall was America's leading advocate of civil rights and led a 
revolution that has left an indelible mark on the American society as a 
whole. First as an attorney and then as the nation's first African 
American Justice on the Supreme Court, Marshall worked towards the 
integration of the races. He believed that through integration equal 
rights under the law could become a reality for all Americans.
  In 1940, the NAACP created the Legal Defense and Education Fund, with 
Thurgood Marshall as its director and Counsel. During his tenure he 
coordinated the efforts of the NAACP to end racial segregation. His 
efforts culminated with the landmark 1954 decision Brown versus The 
Board of Education, which declared segregation of public schools 
illegal.
  President Johnson would appointment Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, making Justice Marshall the first African 
American justice to sit on the Court. As a justice Marshall worked to 
advance educational opportunity and to bridge the wide gulf of economic 
inequity between blacks and whites. He became a champion of affirmative 
action and other race conscious policies as a means to correct the 
damage from the horrors of racism.
  Marshall's work as an attorney and as a justice would provide the 
framework for improvements in the equal rights of all Americans. 
President Johnson said at the time of appointing Marshall to the 
Supreme Court that it was ``the right thing to do, the right time to do 
it, the right man and the right place.'' I say to you that in naming 
this Courthouse for Thurgood Marshall this body is using the right name 
and sending the right message.
  Thurgood Marshall's name is synonymous with the struggle for equal 
rights in America. His legacy as an advocate for equal rights for all 
Americans is one that should be emulated, remembered and cherished.
   Mr. Speaker; I ask my colleagues to support this measure and vote to 
designate this courthouse as the ``Thurgood Marshall United States 
Courthouse.''
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, today, we honor Thurgood Marshall. 
Marshall was born and raised in the Congressional District I 
represent--Baltimore City, Maryland--and actually lived in a home which 
is about eight blocks from where I live now. We both attended Howard 
University and, more significantly, he was once turned away form the 
law school I attended and graduated from--the University of Maryland. 
As such, I am especially proud to honor Thurgood Marshall, as I share a 
common path with this historic figure.
  In designating the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in New York 
City, the nation also honors and praises this man for his civil rights 
achievements as a lawyer and for reaching the pinnacle of the U.S. 
justice system as the first African American Supreme Court Justice. I 
believe, however, that he should be revered most for his courage and 
independent judiciary and for breathing life into the text of the 
Constitution. He worked tirelessly to guarantee all Americans equality 
and liberty in their individual choices concerning voting, housing, 
education, and travel. It is an honor to recognize a man whose career 
is a monument to the judiciary system, and who has inspired others to 
continue his quiet crusade. I urge support for this legislation.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I have no further 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. 130.
  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.

[[Page H1496]]



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