[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 70 (Monday, May 21, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H2340-H2341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ELDON B. MAHON UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1801) to designate the United States courthouse located 
at 501 West 10th Street in Fort Worth, Texas, as the ``Eldon B. Mahon 
United States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1801

       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 501 West 10th 
     Street in Fort Worth, Texas, shall be known and designated as 
     the ``Eldon B. Mahon 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 ``Eldon B. Mahon United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would first like to notice, Madam Speaker, that H.R. 1801 was 
discharged from committee consideration and expeditiously brought to 
the floor for immediate consideration. Although not the normal process, 
in the interest of time, the committee will occasionally discharge 
consideration, as it has in this case.
  H.R. 1801 designates the United States Courthouse located at 501 West 
10th Street in Fort Worth, Texas, as the Eldon B. Mahon United States 
courthouse. Judge Mahon was born in 1918 and attended public schools in 
Loraine, Texas. He earned his bachelor degree from McMurry University 
and law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
  During the Second World War, Judge Mahon served in the United States 
Air Force, enlisting as a private and being discharged at the rank of 
captain after serving active duty in the South Pacific with the Fifth 
Bomber Command.
  Before being appointed the United States District Judge for the 
Northern District of Texas in 1972, by President Richard Nixon, Judge 
Mahon clerked for the Supreme Court of Texas, served as Mitchell County 
Attorney, Texas District Attorney, District Judge for the 32nd Judicial 
District of Texas, vice president of an electrical service corporation, 
maintained an active private law practice from 1968 until 1972, and 
served as the United States District Attorney for the Northern District 
of Texas. He is also an active member of many professional associations 
and foundations.
  Judge Mahon was responsible for overseeing and monitoring 
desegregation of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Judge 
Mahon took senior status in 1989, after serving on the Federal bench 
for more than 28 years. This is a fitting way to honor such a 
distinguished public servant. I support the bill and urge my colleagues 
to join in their support.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I want to thank the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), for his bipartisan support for this 
legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1801, a bill to designate 
the courthouse located at 501 West 10th Street in Fort Worth, Texas, as 
the Eldon B. Mahon United States courthouse.
  Judge Mahon is a true Texan, born in 1918 and raised in Texas. He 
received his undergraduate degree from McMurry University in Abilene in 
1939 and received his law degree from the University of Texas in 1942.
  After serving for 3\1/2\ years in the Army Air Corps during World War 
II, he returned to Texas and became the briefing attorney for the Texas 
Supreme Court. For over 50 years, Judge Mahon has served the people of 
Texas at the county level as County Attorney, at the State level as the 
State District Attorney from 1948 to 1960, and at the Federal level as 
the U.S. Attorney and Federal Judge.
  In 1968, President Johnson appointed him as the U.S. Attorney for the 
Northern District, and in June 1972, President Nixon appointed him to 
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District. Judge Mahon assumed 
senior status in 1989, and is still active with judicial matters at the 
age of 83.

[[Page H2341]]

  During his years on the Federal bench, Judge Mahon presided over 
several significant cases. The decision he considered his greatest 
accomplishment was the decision involving racial integration of the 
Fort Worth school system.
  Judge Mahon has received numerous awards and honors, including having 
a scholarship named in his honor at McMurry University, receiving an 
Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Texas Wesleyan University, and 
receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from McMurry University in 
1987. He has devoted countless hours of volunteer work to the Methodist 
church, the Lion's Club and the Girl Scouts.
  Judge Mahon is held in very high regard by his fellow jurists, who 
call him a wonderful judge who does a fantastic job, a fair-minded 
judge, and a judge with an excellent judicial temperament and demeanor. 
It is both fitting and proper that we honor the decades of dedicated 
work of this outstanding public servant by designating the courthouse 
in Fort Worth as the Eldon B. Mahon United States Courthouse.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time 
as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger), the 
author of this legislation.
  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time and I am pleased today to present to the House of 
Representatives legislation to designate the United States in downtown 
Fort Worth, Texas, as the Eldon B. Mahon United States courthouse. 
Judge Mahon has dedicated his life to public service and to justice.
  Judge Mahon was born and raised in the West Texas town of Loraine. He 
earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and government from 
McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. Judge Mahon then attended the 
University of Texas Law School, where he graduated in 1942. He and his 
wife, Nova Lee Mahon, have three wonderful children, Jan, Martha and 
Brad.
  Upon his graduation from law school, like so many of America's 
greatest generation, Judge Mahon served in the United States Army Air 
Corps during World War II. He gave America 40 months of dedicated 
service, including one year in the South Pacific as a captain with the 
Fifth Bomber Wing. After the war was over, he came back home to Texas 
and began his long and distinguished career in public service.
  From 1945 to 1946, he served as the briefing attorney for the Texas 
Supreme Court. In 1947, he returned home to Mitchell County and 
successfully ran for county attorney. After 1 year, he was appointed 
District Attorney for the 32nd Judicial District of Texas covering 
Nolan, Mitchell, Scurry, and Borden Counties. After his years as 
District Attorney, Judge Mahon was elected to the bench as District 
Judge for the 32nd Judicial District, presiding over that court from 
1961 to 1963. He then moved to Fort Worth to take a position as vice 
president of Texas Electric Service Company.
  However, only after 1 year in the corporate world, the law called him 
back. He became a partner in the Abilene, Texas law firm of Mahon, 
Pope, and Gladdon.
  In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him United States 
Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Judge Mahon is a lifelong 
Democrat, but President Richard M. Nixon appointed him to the Federal 
Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1972. He reached senior 
status in 1989 and continues to be an active member of the Federal 
bench today at the very young age of 83.

                              {time}  1430

  During his years on the Federal bench, Judge Mahon presided over the 
racial integration of the Fort Worth School District. Judge Mahon 
considers this as the greatest accomplishment of his court.
  Judge Mahon has tirelessly served every community of which he has 
been a part. He is a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, 
serving in most lay positions in Westcliff United Methodist Church in 
Fort Worth. He is a past president of the West Texas Girl Scout Council 
in Abilene and of the Colorado City, Texas, Lions Club.
  Judge Mahon is a past member of the Board of Trustees at McMurry 
University in Abilene and served on the Board of Trustees for Harris 
Methodist Health System in Fort Worth. Currently, he serves on the 
Board of Trustees at my alma mater, Texas Wesleyan University in Fort 
Worth. Judge Mahon has been a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth 
since 1988.
  Judge Mahon has been recognized on numerous occasions for his 
outstanding service to the legal community. July 10, 1997, was declared 
``Judge Eldon B. Mahon Day'' throughout Tarrant County, Texas, to 
commemorate his 25th anniversary as a Federal judge.
  The Tarrant County Bar Association recently established the ``Eldon 
B. Mahon Lecture Series on Ethics and Professionalism'' at Texas 
Wesleyan University School of Law.
  In 1998, Judge Mahon received the ``Samuel Passara Outstanding Jurist 
Award'' from the Texas Bar Foundation and last year, he was selected as 
one of 100 lawyers from the State of Texas as a 20th century ``living 
legend'' by the Texas Lawyer Magazine.
  Judge Mahon has first and foremost been a family man. His wonderful 
family is a testament to that. Judge Mahon represents the values that 
call so many of us to public service: The importance of family, 
community, and the strong desire to serve his fellow Americans.
  Naming the United States courthouse after Judge Mahon is an 
appropriate tribute to such a fine man and exceptional jurist.
  I would like to thank several people who have been very supportive of 
this measure. First, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the 
chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; as well as 
the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member; the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), the chairman of the Subcommittee 
on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management; and 
also the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello).
  Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank all of the bill's 
cosponsors for their support. And, finally, I would like to thank the 
majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) for his support 
of this effort.
  Madam Speaker, there is no more deserving man than Eldon B. Mahon. I 
am honored to sponsor this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to 
support its passage.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) for 
bringing this important legislation before the body; and I want to 
thank the chairman of our full committee, the gentleman from Alaska 
(Mr. Young), and the ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Oberstar), for helping us discharge it. And nothing happens important 
in the subcommittee without the help and counsel of the ranking member, 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), and I thank him for his 
help as well; and I urge Members to support the bill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). 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. 1801.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). In the opinion of the Chair, 
two-thirds of those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Ms. GRANGER. Madam 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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