[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 59 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H2975-H2978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 2370) to designate the Federal building located at 500 
Pearl Street in New York City, New York, as the ``Daniel Patrick 
Moynihan United States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2370

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House and Representatives 
     of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN UNITED 
                   STATES COURTHOUSE.

       The Federal building located at 500 Pearl Street in New 
     York City, New York, shall be known and designated as the 
     ``Daniel Patrick Moynihan 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 
     referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.

[[Page H2976]]

  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster).

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I am certainly pleased to move this legislation directly to the 
floor for consideration to honor my good friend Senator Moynihan. This 
legislation designates the United States Courthouse located at 500 
Pearl Street in New York as the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States 
Courthouse.
  Pat Moynihan grew up in New York City, and he experienced the trials 
of Hell's Kitchen. By the age of 16, he was employed as a stevedore, 
and I am sure he made everybody know it, especially those whose 
privilege afforded the social and economic advantage that he never had.
  He earned a Bachelor's Degree from Tufts with honors, studied at the 
London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar, and received his 
M.A. and Ph.D. from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and 
Diplomacy.
  Michael Barone best described Senator Moynihan as ``the Nation's best 
thinker among politicians since Lincoln, and its best politician among 
thinkers since Jefferson.''
  Senator Moynihan played key roles in passing both ISTEA and TEA-21. I 
had the great privilege of working closely with him in conference on 
many very significant transportation and water resource pieces of 
legislation.
  Before entering the Senate, Senator Moynihan was a member of the 
cabinet or subcabinet of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. 
No one else has ever served four successive administrations in such 
capacity.
  His work on welfare earned him the scorn of many, who misunderstood 
his thinking about inner city poverty, which is now widely acclaimed as 
brilliant foresight.
  He is a former U.S. Ambassador to India and a U.S. Representative to 
the United Nations. In 1976, he represented the United States as 
President of the United Nations Security Council. He made this country 
proud by his adherence to democratic principles over the dismay of 
Western European diplomats and the anger of Third World diplomats.
  In addition to his professional duties at Harvard, MIT, Syracuse, 
Wesleyan and Cornell, Senator Moynihan is a recipient of 62 honorary 
degrees. George Will remarked that Moynihan has written more books than 
most Senators have read. Now, I certainly would not agree with that 
assertion, but it is an interesting comment.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this measure. Everybody who knows Pat Moynihan 
knows he is brilliant. But I would suggest that he is more than 
brilliant. I would suggest that he not only has an extraordinarily high 
IQ, but he has a CSQ to match his IQ. Intelligence quotient, yes, but 
common sense quotient to go right with it. Indeed, if one were to open 
the dictionary and look up the definition of wise man, it would be very 
appropriate to see the name Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
  It is a great privilege for me, Mr. Speaker, to offer this 
legislation today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in strong support of this legislation, which designates the 
United States Courthouse located at 500 Pearl Street in New York City 
in honor of the public career of one of America's most renowned and 
prolific political figures, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the senior 
Senator from New York.
  Senator Moynihan can take enormous and justifiable pride in the 
understatement of the words ``a job well done.'' Although he has served 
as an elected official for over 25 years, his other job descriptions 
include Ambassador to India, cabinet level officer for four successive 
administrations, a Smithsonian Regent, educator and author, and in all 
these positions he served with brilliance and dedication and devotion 
to the very highest standards of excellence.
  Senator Moynihan has written or edited 18 books and he has received 
62 honorary degrees. His educational experiences include Professor of 
Government at Harvard University, Assistant Professor of Government at 
Syracuse University, Fulbright Fellow at the London School of Economics 
and Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University.
  Senator Moynihan has long held a passion for social issues and 
reform. During his distinguished career he has received the 
International League of Human Rights Award, the John LaFarge Award for 
Interracial Justice, and was the first recipient of the American 
Political Science Association's Hubert Humphrey Award for notable 
public service by a political scientist.
  He has been honored with national awards from Notre Dame University, 
the American Institute of Architects, the American Philosophical 
Society, the National Institute of Social Sciences and Columbia 
University, to name but a few.
  Senator Moynihan has been, and I am sure will continue to be, a 
distinctive voice in American politics, policy and society. His 
brilliant intellect fuels his convictions, and his beliefs are grounded 
in thoroughly independent thinking. His voice of reason and compassion 
will be sorely missed by both the House and the Senate.
  I strongly support S. 2370 and join my colleagues in honoring one of 
our greatest legislators.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman).
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I am pleased to take this opportunity to speak in support of 
S. 2370, legislation designating the Federal building located at 500 
Pearl Street in New York City in honor of our good friend and 
colleague, the senior Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
  Born on March 16, 1927, Senator Moynihan is a long-time New Yorker. 
He attended public and parochial schools in New York City, graduated 
from the Ben Franklin High School in East Harlem and earned his 
Bachelor's degree from Tufts University. He went on the study at the 
London School of Economics, was a Fulbright Scholar and received his 
M.A. and Ph.D. from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and 
Diplomacy.
  Senator Moynihan attended the City College of New York for 1 year 
before leaving to serve his Nation by enlisting in the United States 
Navy. From 1944 through 1947, Senator Moynihan served as a gunnery 
officer on the U.S.S. Quirinus, and in 1966 he completed 20 years of 
service in the Naval Reserve.
  I have had the opportunity to work with Senator Moynihan on a number 
of important issues facing the State of New York, and on a number of 
occasions we have discussed the state of the State of New York. I have 
welcomed all of his diligent work and the richness of his dedication 
and respect for the people of our State. Accordingly, I urge all of our 
colleagues to support this worthy resolution.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member of the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time, and I thank our chairman, the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Shuster), for his diligent effort, and it was diligent and all-
encompassing to bring this bill forward today. I know that he does so 
with great sincerity and with great respect for Senator Moynihan and 
for the times that we spent together in 1991 drafting ISTEA, in which 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) played a dominant and 
significant role.
  This bill honors one of America's truly great legislators, a person 
who is a distinguished public servant, an educator, and an author. A 
Senator from New York for almost 25 years, Senator Moynihan first won 
election to the Senate in 1976, but his career in the Senate was just 
one chapter of a life filled with dedication to excellence and devotion 
to the highest principles of public service.
  Though he was not born in New York, like so many New Yorkers who 
migrated to that city, he was actually born in Oklahoma, but he 
certainly is a son of New York. He attended public and parochial 
schools there, graduated

[[Page H2977]]

 from Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem, and briefly 
attended City College of New York.
  He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on active duty from 1944 
through 1947. His last tour of duty was as a gunnery officer aboard the 
U.S.S. Quirinus.
  He earned his Bachelor's Degree from Tufts University, an M.A. and 
Ph.D. from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. From 1950 to 
1951, Senator Moynihan was a Fulbright Fellow at the London School of 
Economics and Political Science.
  He holds the distinction of being the first person to serve in four 
successive administrations, in the cabinet or subcabinet of Presidents 
Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford.
  He has been Ambassador to India, U.S. Representative to the United 
Nations, President of the U.N. Security Council, assistant to the 
legendary Governor Harriman, assistant to Secretary of Labor Art 
Goldberg, later a Supreme Court Justice, Director of Urban Studies at 
Harvard and MIT, Vice Chair of the Board of the Woodrow Wilson Center, 
Regent of the Smithsonian Institution.
  He is the author of 18 books on race, ethnicity and social policy. 
Since 1977, every year Senator Moynihan has published an annual account 
of the flow of tax dollars from New York State to the Federal 
Government, underscoring the reality that New York is consistently, in 
many arenas, a donor State.
  An independent-minded Member of the Senate, known for his 
individuality, he is witty, has an extraordinary memory, a great gift 
with words, and always brilliant.
  Just a couple of vignettes, Mr. Speaker.
  I recall in 1981, when we were in conference with the Senate on the 
Budget Reconciliation Act in our Committee on Public Works and 
Transportation on the economic development program, which the Reagan 
administration had proposed to abolish. The gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Shuster) may recall, although I think it was Mr. Hammersmith who 
was on the conference with me, and together we made an appeal to the 
Senate to preserve EDA and Appalachia. At the end of my presentation, 
Senator Moynihan turned to the chair of the Senate conferees and said, 
``Doesn't the eloquence of the gentleman from Minnesota move our 
colleague?'' And the chair on the Senate side said, ``Yes, I am deeply 
moved, but I can vote with him.''
  And so, Senator Moynihan, rather than getting peevish about it, 
smiled and said, ``In time, we will prevail.'' And, of course, in time, 
we did. It took the chairmanship of the gentleman from Pennsylvania to 
prevail, but we have, indeed.
  Then again in 1991, when we were crafting the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act, in which Senator Moynihan was on the 
Senate side and author of what came to be known as the enhancements 
provisions, he insisted time and again that we needed a broader view of 
transportation, and that some of our trust fund dollars should be used 
for purposes that will strengthen transportation, ease pressure on 
roads, give citizens other opportunities in our urban environment. As 
always an urban philosopher.
  And I think it will be to his everlasting credit that he prevailed in 
the councils of the Senate and persisted in our House-Senate conference 
on the enhancements, which have been so widely accepted and such a 
strong point of support for what later became TEA-21.

                              {time}  1430

  He certainly is the model of the philosopher politician that our 
Founding Fathers hoped would lead the Congress that they were crafting.
  It is indeed appropriate to name this particular building, this very 
distinguished structure, for a distinguished member of the United 
States Senate, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not going to let my friend, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) get away with telling stories on Pat Moynihan 
without my sharing my two bits' worth. He is such an extraordinary 
individual, Senator Moynihan, that one might even think he is perfect. 
But I can tell my colleagues, he is not. He is not perfect.
  When the good Lord passed out intelligence, he lingered so long and 
gave Senator Moynihan such great intelligence that he felt he had had 
to somehow make up for that overabundance of wisdom; and so, he 
shortchanged him in a different category. I would suggest that 
different category was in the category of patience.
  Some years ago when we were doing two important bills, the highway 
bill and the water bill at the same time, and Senator Moynihan was in 
both conferences and I was in both conferences running back and forth, 
even though I had an extremely important water provision in the water 
bill for Altoona, Pennsylvania, and we were going to grandfather in the 
Federal share at 75 percent; otherwise, it was being cut to 50 percent, 
I had to leave. I could not be there to defend my position. I had to 
run upstairs to the highway conference. And so, I asked the Senator if 
my chief of staff could stay and help in my behalf, and he said, 
certainly.
  My chief of staff explained to the Senator what it was and how we had 
to have on a $43 million water project 75 percent instead of 50 
percent. Senator Moynihan turned over and said, well, you calculate it. 
Calculate it right away. She became so flustered that she could not 
calculate 75 percent of 43 in time enough to suit the Senator. So he 
simply said, oh, just put in such sums as may be required at 75 
percent.
  So she did. And the project, which was a $43 million project by the 
time it was billed, grew to about an $80 million project. But because 
of the Senator's lack of patience, we had a tremendously nice increase 
in the fund for that project.
  So I am deeply indebted to the Senator for his lack of patience. Even 
when he sometimes seems to come up short in a particular talent, it 
works to people's advantages.
  The last story I would tell about him has to do with a press 
conference that we held after a long, hard negotiation on a highway 
bill. We went out together and somebody said to the Senator, Senator 
Moynihan, which State will you say made out the best in these 
negotiations? And in his puckish way, Senator Moynihan said, State, 
State, State, State, the State of Altoona.
  So for that, too, I wish to thank the Senator.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am certain that, given his own wit, the Senator will 
appreciate the comments of the chairman and the ranking member.
  Mr. Speaker, if I might, I would like to offer some personal comments 
about the Senator, because, though I am a native Washingtonian, I spent 
some of the best years of my career as Human Rights Commissioner of New 
York City and executive assistant to Mayor John Lindsay, where I first 
came to know the Senator. I got to know him before I ever thought of 
joining him in the Congress of the United States. Indeed, the District 
did not even have home rule at the time.
  As one who maintains her tenure by continuing to teach at Georgetown 
Law Center, I have a very special appreciation for Senator Moynihan's 
dual and unequalled feat as an eminently practical politician and 
reigning intellectual of the Congress of the United States, a 
legislator so effective, his work product would be hard to match, all 
the while producing very deep works on social policy.
  What the Senator has managed to do is to bring the deep thinking from 
his natural bent as an intellectual to the legislative process. This 
is, perhaps, why he has chosen to concentrate so often on tough 
legislative issues, on Social Security, on welfare, yes, and on the 
black family. And as an African American woman, I think I ought to say 
right here this afternoon that the Senator was prescient in his work on 
the black family. As controversial as it was, all that he has said and 
more has come true. And he was prescient, as well, on the white family, 
or the American family, since a third of all children in our country 
are born to female headed households, with all of the disadvantages 
that implies.
  Perhaps because the Moynihan report came just as Civil Rights 
legislation was kicking in, many African Americans did not want to face 
the notion that many of the problems of the black

[[Page H2978]]

family were internal and had to be concentrated on by African Americans 
themselves. But whatever was the reason, it took a man of the most 
accomplished intellect, the deepest understanding of social policy to 
understand so early in the process what problems would attend the 
growth of the female-headed household.
  The Senator appears to have chosen as his only monuments, words. That 
is why he has written so many. He, of course, has left other monuments; 
and I want to say a word about those other monuments. But first, let me 
say that, in choosing words, he is in the tradition of the great 
intellectuals of the century in choosing to leave on paper what he 
really thinks so that it can be evaluated now and in the future. He has 
been true to his first profession as professor all the while he has 
been a senator.
  What has been so important to that work, however, is that it has 
risen up off the pages. The Senator has continued to be at the cutting 
edge of social policy, and his deep thinking has obviously guided what 
he has brought to the legislative table.
  I am told he has a hideaway that when the rest of us are running 
around the halls, he goes to and writes and thinks.
  What is truly amazing is that Moynihan is known to have one of the 
most pragmatic and problem-solving minds in the House and the Senate in 
his time. He is, basically, a new deal, economics, jobs-first Democrat.
  When he came here, he rose to be the chair of the Committee on 
Finance. He always served on the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works. Always. He never got off that committee.
  Mr. Speaker, this city and surely the Nation will remember Senator 
Moynihan for a monument he never sought but is his. He is the architect 
of the new Pennsylvania Avenue. Almost single-handedly, Senator 
Moynihan re-made Pennsylvania Avenue. On November 21, 1963, he spoke of 
his plan to take what had become a slum, our major avenue leading 
between the Capitol and the White House, and redo it.
  President Kennedy, and he was then in the administration and not in 
the Congress, said he would meet with Mr. Moynihan when he got back 
from Dallas. President Kennedy never got back from Dallas. But Senator 
Moynihan, in fact, got President Johnson to agree to the Moynihan plan 
for the rededication of Pennsylvania Avenue as an avenue worthy of the 
Nation. It has become one of the most beautiful avenues in the world.
  What it signifies is the ability of Senator Moynihan to simply stick 
to an issue until it gets done. Very few legislators who, after all, 
are forced to jump from issue to issue have that determination and 
stick-to-it-iveness. He followed Pennsylvania Avenue from the 
administration, where he served into the Senate and stuck with it and 
kept with it until it is what we see today.
  This redesign, remaking of the major thoroughfare of the Nation's 
capital, of course, benefitted people of the District of Columbia. But, 
Mr. Speaker, it benefited far more, the Nation. Imagine what our 
constituents would think of us if they found Pennsylvania Avenue today 
the way Senator Moynihan found it. Unwillingly perhaps, Pennsylvania 
Avenue is one of the monuments to his career.
  Mr. Speaker, most courthouses this body names are named simply for 
the honor of the person. The person never had anything to do with the 
courthouse, but we honor him by putting his name on the courthouse. 
Well, that is not true of the Foley Square Courthouse. How could any 
important building like this be built in New York without Senator 
Moynihan's hand on the throttle throughout? This is a courthouse that 
he fought very hard for. It replaces one of the great historic 
courthouses perhaps next to the Supreme Court, the most historic 
courthouse that was tumbling down; and Senator Moynihan was determined 
that there would be a new Foley Square Courthouse.
  How appropriate it is, therefore, Mr. Speaker, that the new Foley 
Square Courthouse would bear the name of a man who sought no monuments, 
only tried to replace those that had deteriorated, to bear the name of 
Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It does this House a great honor to honor this 
great Senator. We honor his career, and we are pleased that this 
courthouse will be one of the monuments to that multifacetted career.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I am in strong support of S. 2370 
designating the Federal Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan 
after a dear friend and true statesman, Senator Daniel Patrick 
Moynihan. This bill is a fitting tribute to a distinguished scholar, an 
outstanding Senator, and a great American. The building that will bear 
his name was built to last more than 200 years and will be a lasting 
monument to the long and distinguished public service career of Senator 
Moynihan.
  Senator Moynihan has served our country for forty-seven years. He is 
the only person in our country's history to serve as a member of the 
Cabinet or sub-Cabinet for four successive administrations. He was 
Ambassador to India, as well as the President of the United Nations 
Security Council. And since 1977, he has served the great people of New 
York in the United States Senate.
  Senator Moynihan is also one of our great scholars. He has received 
more than 60 honorary degrees, has written or edited 18 books, holds a 
Ph.D. from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and 
has taught at such distinguished institutions as MIT, Harvard, 
Syracuse, and Cornell. I know few people who can match his resume and 
none can surpass his commitment to this Nation.
  New York will be losing a strong voice and dear friend in the Senate 
when Senator Moynihan retires at the end of this year.
  I have had the privilege of working with Senator Moynihan on several 
bills on behalf of our constituents over the years. Even as a freshman 
Member of the House, Senator Moynihan was generous with his time and 
became a valued advisor to me. I have enjoyed working with him and will 
sorely miss his presence when he retires. He is a distinguished Senator 
and one we will deeply miss in both Chambers.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 2370.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2370.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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