[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E577-E578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THURGOOD MARSHALL UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 1999

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 130, a 
bipartisan bill which would ``designate the United States Courthouse 
located at 40 Centre Street in New York, New York as the `Thurgood 
Marshall United States Courthouse.' ''
  It is most fitting to honor this great American with this distinction 
as he was not only the first African American Justice of the U.S. 
Supreme Court, but was also one of the greatest trial and appellate 
lawyers in this nation. It was through his knowledge, advocacy, and 
devotion to the cause of civil rights, that propelled Thurgood Marshall 
into leading the charge for equality for African Americans.
  Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall 
graduated cum laude from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and went on 
to receive his law degree from Howard University here in Washington, DC 
where he graduated first in his class.
  In 1936, Thurgood Marshall was appointed as Special Counsel to the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). A 
short time later, he founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Education 
Fund.
  While at the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall was successful in winning 29 of 
32 cases he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the victory 
for which he will best be remembered, was Brown vs. The Board of 
Education, in which Marshall convinced the Supreme Court to declare 
segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

[[Page E578]]

  In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the Second 
Circuit Court of Appeals. After only four years of receiving this 
appointment, President Lyndon B. Johnson chose Justice Marshall to be 
the nation's first black Solicitor General. Just 2 years later on June 
13, 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to become the first 
black justice of the Supreme Court where he would serve until his 
retirement in 1991.
  As my colleagues may remember, the bill passed the House last year, 
but did not come to the floor of the Senate before the session ended.
  As Dean of the New York State delegation, it is my hope that my 
colleagues here in the House on both sides of the aisle, will support 
H.R. 130 for I can think of no greater tribute to the late Justice 
Thurgood Marshall, a man who stood for integrity, justice, and equality 
for all.

                          ____________________