[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 28, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H449-H451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
      EDWARD N. CAHN FEDERAL BUILDING AND UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 558) 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.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 558

       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 (Mr. Miller of Florida). Pursuant to the 
rule, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Costello) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an exciting day for this subcommittee and the 
full committee. I think this Congress already has passed 10 pieces of 
legislation and this will be the second and third piece of legislation 
that has come out of this hard-working subcommittee and the full 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, headed by the gentleman 
from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the ranking member, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar).
  I also, on a personal note, am excited about the opportunity that 
presents itself in this Congress to work with the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr.

[[Page H450]]

Costello). Unlike some matters we may take up in the 107th Congress, 
the work of this subcommittee will be bipartisan, nonpartisan, and will 
help with the business of building America.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 558 designates 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, and graduated from Allentown, High 
School. He went on to attend Lehigh University, graduating magna cum 
laude in 1955. In addition to winning a high school basketball 
championship with Allentown High, 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 served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves 
until 1964 and in the private practice of law until 1974. In 1975, 
President Ford appointed Edward Cahn to Pennsylvania's Eastern District 
Federal Court; and for 23 years Judge Cahn fairly and expeditiously 
administered the law from the Federal bench in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 
He is 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 of 1998.
  This is a fitting honor to an exceptional jurist and a local Lehigh 
Valley hero. I support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do so 
as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First, let me thank the chairman of the subcommittee. I look forward 
to working with him in this session of Congress, not only on these 
bills but on economic development efforts that the subcommittee will 
undertake in this session.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 558 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 served the citizens of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and 
Lehigh County for 4 decades. He is a native of Allentown and attended 
Lehigh University graduating 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 bench for the next 24 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. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Allentown, Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).
  (Mr. TOOMEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding 
me this time.
  I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 558, a 
bill that I introduced to name Allentown's Federal courthouse for 
retired judge Edward M. Cahn.
  As we have heard, Judge Cahn is a native of Pennsylvania's Lehigh 
Valley, and he has really honored our community over many years with 
his distinguished service as a judge in the district court of eastern 
Pennsylvania. In fact, if it were not for Judge Cahn's substantial 
efforts and commitment, Allentown might not even have this courthouse, 
which we badly needed and which now serves a very important purpose. It 
is only fitting this courthouse would bear his name.
  The outpouring of community support to name Allentown's courthouse 
after Judge Cahn has been overwhelming and bipartisan. I have been 
approached by judges, prosecutors, public defenders, private attorneys, 
and many others asking that Judge Cahn be honored in this way. His 
childhood friend and former colleague, Judge Arnold Rappoport, once 
said, ``Whether it is being captain of the basketball team in Lehigh 
University or being in the Marines, he has a pioneering will to 
achieve. The energy and drive never changed for Judge Cahn.''
  As we have heard, he is a graduate of Lehigh University in the Lehigh 
Valley, a graduate of Yale Law School, and Judge Cahn practiced law in 
Allentown for 16 years before President Ford appointed him to the 
District Court. Judge Cahn then served on the Federal bench for 23 
years, including 5 years as chief judge. As a jurist and public 
servant, he practiced fairness and equality under the law.
  Judge Cahn is widely credited with helping the Lehigh Valley of 
Pennsylvania garner the respect and recognition it deserves within the 
Federal legal community. One of Judge Cahn's former law partners, John 
Roberts, said of Judge Cahn's retirement that ``the Federal bench has 
lost a star.'' And although he is recently retired, Judge Cahn is 
already missed on the Federal bench. Perhaps naming the courthouse 
after him will serve as an enduring reminder of the contribution he has 
made to the administration of justice in Pennsylvania.
  I would like to take a moment to extend some special thanks to some 
people who have helped: my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Holden) for his efforts in helping to pass this bill. I would also 
like to thank the members of the Pennsylvania delegation who agreed to 
cosponsor this legislation and honor someone who has done so much for 
Pennsylvania.
  I would like to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
LaTourette), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, 
Public Buildings and Emergency Management; the gentleman from Alaska 
(Mr. Young), the chairman of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, as well as the ranking members, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Costello) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Oberstar).
  I would also like to thank briefly the gentleman from Texas, the 
majority leader, for helping to bring this legislation to the floor so 
expeditiously; and I want to urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 558 and 
bestow this well-deserved honor on Allentown's courthouse and the man 
who made it possible.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden), a member of the full 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time. I rise in strong support of this legislation.
  The gentlemen from Ohio and Illinois and my neighbor from 
Pennsylvania have already elaborated in great detail about the 
distinguished career that lasted 23 years for Judge Cahn on the Federal 
bench. He certainly did serve with distinction not only the Lehigh 
Valley but all of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and, really, the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during that tenure.
  I would just like to add for the record that during part of Judge 
Cahn's tenure on the bench, I served as sheriff of Schuylkill County 
for 7 years, and I had the great pleasure of being in his courtroom on 
several different occasions and had my deputies in his courtroom on 
many, many more occasions. I would just like to say that he was well 
respected. His reputation for being honest and sincere and hard working 
was beyond question.
  I think it is all together fitting and proper we name this beautiful 
courthouse in Allentown after Judge Cahn for his outstanding service of 
23 years. And maybe after that, I say to my friend from Lehigh Valley, 
we can get a judge in the Lehigh Valley and we can get one to the 
vacant courthouse in the city of Reading, as we fill these vacancies 
that are so desperately needed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
  But I think this is good legislation. Judge Cahn is certainly 
deserving of it. I urge all my colleagues to support it.

[[Page H451]]

  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 558.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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