[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2667-S2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Wellstone, and Mr. Dodd):
  S. 584. A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at 
40 Centre Street in New York, New York, as the ``Thurgood Marshall 
United States Courthouse''; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, it is an honor to be here today in order 
to join my colleague Congressman Eliot Engel and other members of the 
New York Delegation in introducing a bill that would designate the U.S. 
Courthouse situated at 40 Centre Street in New York City the Thurgood 
Marshall United States Courthouse.
  The courthouse on 40 Centre Street is the site where Thurgood 
Marshall served from 1961 to 1965 during his tenure on the U.S. Second 
Circuit Court of Appeals. For over 30 years of his life, Thurgood 
Marshall worked in New York, first as chief counsel of the NAACP, and 
later as a Justice on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
  President Kennedy nominated Thurgood Marshall to serve on the federal 
bench in a recess appointment--at the time there was resistance to an 
African American being named to the federal appeals court. Robert 
Kennedy was Thurgood Marshall's sponsor, and sat beside him in a show 
of support throughout his confirmation hearing. The Senate eventually 
confirmed his nomination.
  Later, President Johnson went on to name Justice Marshall Solicitor 
General of the United States, and then to nominate him as the first 
African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court. There, he 
became one of the most influential and respected justices of this past 
century. In a tribute to Justice Marshall, Chief Justice Rehnquist 
said:

       Inscribed above the front entrance to the Supreme Court 
     building are the words ``Equal Justice Under Law.'' Surely, 
     no one individual did more to make these words a reality than 
     Thurgood Marshall.

  It is amazing to think that a little boy who grew up under the iron 
grip of Jim Crow, a talented student who was denied admission to the 
University of Maryland's Law School because of his race and went on to 
graduate at the top of his law class at Howard University, charted a 
course in the courts that led the way for the Civil Rights Movement to 
put an end to the segregation that had plagued our country for so long.
  Thurgood Marshall will always be our nation's preeminent civil rights 
lawyer. He won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court. 
During his time with the NAACP, he argued one of the hallmark court 
cases of our time, Brown v. Board of Education, which declared 
segregation illegal.
  For those of us who were alive then, we will forever have etched in 
our consciousness images of the Little Rock Nine, and the sheer courage 
of those children who would not be deterred from their efforts to 
integrate Central High School. As foot soldiers of the first true test 
of Brown v. Board of Education, the Little Rock Nine will always be 
American heroes. And so will Thurgood Marshall, whose brilliance and 
persistence in the courtroom made possible the eventual success of the 
civil rights movement, as it took root in small towns and large cities 
all across America.
  Thurgood Marshall was a role model to all who knew him in the way 
that he carried himself and treated his coworkers and friends. He was 
known for his casualness, and his ability to put people at ease. And he 
enjoyed life--his son, Thurgood Marshall, Jr., has shared with me the 
love his father held for New York City and the joy he found there. I 
had the privilege of attending his memorial service, and saw that 85 of 
his former law clerks were there. This is a great testament to Thurgood 
Marshall, and I believe they, and all the good works they do, may be 
one of his greatest legacies.
  New Yorkers will be proud to have a courthouse named after a man who 
committed himself to attaining equal opportunity for every American. 
For many years of his life, Thurgood Marshall was denied access to the 
institutions, restaurants and hotels in New York City and elsewhere. 
But he always found an open door at the courthouse, and he never gave 
up on his belief that he could right the nation's wrongs through the 
courts. There could not be a more fitting tribute than to name a 
courthouse in New York City, a city at the forefront of so many 
national and global movements, after Thurgood Marshall, an American 
hero and visionary whose work embodies the spirit of our country.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 584

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL UNITED STATES 
                   COURTHOUSE.

       The United States courthouse located at 40 Centre Street in 
     New York, New York, shall

[[Page S2668]]

     be known and designated as the ``Thurgood Marshall United 
     States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference 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 PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I commend my colleagues from New York and 
our colleagues in the House, Congressman Engel, for their introduction 
of this bill. I compliment my friend from New York for her wonderful 
remarks about Thurgood Marshall, who has been an inspiration for a 
generation of us who grew up watching him change the law of this 
country, making a difference in the lives of millions and millions of 
people but also for generations to come, who will remember and reflect 
on his work as an inspiration in their time to redress the wrongs of 
their age.
  It is appropriate, proper, and fitting that this building in New York 
that houses the Federal judiciary be named for such an inspiring figure 
of our times.
  I commend the Senator from New York for offering this, for her words 
today, and my compliments to Thurgood Marshall's family. Thurgood 
Marshall, Jr. has been a great friend to many of us here and has been a 
wonderful public servant in his own right. He carries on the great 
tradition his father carried as a judge and Member of the U.S. Supreme 
Court.
  I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to be a cosponsor of this bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank Senator Clinton for her words 
about Thurgood Marshall. I certainly also would like to be a cosponsor 
of this. I recommend on the floor of the Senate, if it is appropriate, 
Juan Williams' wonderful biography of Thurgood Marshall that I read 
about 6 months ago, which was a very inspiring biography because it was 
about such an inspiring civil rights leader and great judge.
  I thank the Senator from New York for her remarks.
                                 ______