[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 26 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H1443-H1444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RUSH HUDSON LIMBAUGH, SR., UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 342) to designate the United States courthouse located at 
555 Independence Street, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as the ``Rush Hudson 
Limbaugh, Sr., United States Courthouse,'' as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 342

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

     SECTION 1. RUSH HUDSON LIMBAUGH, SR. UNITED STATES 
                   COURTHOUSE.

       (a) Designation.--The United States courthouse located at 
     555 Independence Street in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, shall be 
     known and designated as the ``Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. 
     United States Courthouse''.
       (b) 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 subsection (a) shall 
     be deemed to be a reference to the ``Rush Hudson Limbaugh, 
     Sr. United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.


                             General Leave

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 342.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 342, to designate the U.S. 
courthouse at 555 Independence Street, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as the 
Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr., U.S. Courthouse.
  Judge Limbaugh was a leading figure in the legal profession, not only 
in Missouri, not just in the United States, but worldwide. He practiced 
law for over eight decades. At the age of 104, at the time of his 
death, he was still practicing law and was in fact the oldest 
practicing attorney in the United States.
  He argued over 60 cases before the Missouri Supreme Court, tried 
cases before the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Labor Board and 
the Internal Revenue Appellate Division. He was city attorney for Cape 
Girardeau from 1917 to 1919. In 1923, he started a law firm that bears 
his name to this day.
  From 1942 through 1946, he was Missouri counsel for the War Emergency 
Pipelines, which transported gasoline from Texas and Louisiana to the 
east coast as part of our war effort.
  He was president of the Missouri Bar from 1955 through 1956, and 
served on a committee that drafted the Missouri Probate Court. In the 
early days of the independence of India, the State Department sent 
Judge Limbaugh to that country to be an Ambassador for the U.S. legal 
system.
  He was active in civic aspects of life; elected to the Missouri State 
legislature in 1932 and 1933, where he advocated for the formation of 
the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He was president of the State 
Historical Society for Missouri from 1956-1959. He was a Sunday school 
teacher; active in the Boy Scouts of America, his Centenary United 
Methodist Church, and the Salvation Army. He died at his home on April 
8, 1996.
  Judge Limbaugh will be remembered as a brilliant attorney and a great 
American. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. 
Oberstar, for moving this legislation so expeditiously to the floor. 
H.R. 342 was introduced by our colleague, Representative Jo Ann Emerson 
of Missouri, and it designates the United States courthouse located in 
Cape Girardeau, Missouri as the Rush H. Limbaugh, Sr., United States 
Courthouse.
  I also want to commend Mrs. Emerson's commitment to this legislation. 
She recognized Rush Limbaugh, Sr.'s tremendous record of public service 
and has provided a fitting tribute for one of the most remarkable 
figures in Missouri history.
  This bill honors Rush Limbaugh, Sr., a remarkable lawyer whose awards 
and accomplishments over a legal career that spanned eight decades are 
too numerous to count.
  Mr. Limbaugh was born in 1891. He attended school at a one-room 
schoolhouse and excelled academically from the start. He attended the 
University of Missouri at Columbia and the University of Missouri 
School of Law, paying his way through school by doing carpentry work, 
working on a farm, waiting tables and firing furnaces.
  After passing the bar in 1916, he was admitted into the practice of 
law in Missouri and immediately opened a law office in Cape Girardeau.
  Limbaugh was known for being extremely hardworking and ethical; he 
was also known for his fiery advocacy and ability to craft creative 
solutions.
  President Reagan once remarked that Limbaugh, Sr.'s contributions 
read like a virtual who's who of accomplishment. His resume accurately 
depicts the image of an extraordinary man, superb lawyer and model 
citizen.
  During his career, he tried more than 60 cases before the Supreme 
Court of Missouri and acted as city attorney and general counsel of 
Cape Girardeau. He was also a member of the advisory committee for the 
drafting of the Probate Code of Missouri, president of the Missouri 
Bar, and president of the State Historical Society. In his free time, 
he also taught Sunday school and served as a Boy Scout leader.
  Limbaugh, Sr. rose to national prominence when he served as a 
representative of the United States on a 6-week lecture tour to the 
newly independent India on constitutional government and the United 
States judicial system.

[[Page H1444]]

  Limbaugh, Sr. called Cape Girardeau home. It is only fitting that we 
name the new United States courthouse in his honor and recognize his 
accomplishments and dedication to his community.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and encourage my colleagues 
to do the same.
  I would indicate to my good friend, the chairman of the full 
committee, that I have no additional speakers. If he is prepared to 
yield back, I would yield back my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman for his comments; he added 
several items of which I was not aware about Judge Limbaugh's 
distinguished career.
  I, too, do join in expressing our appreciation in the committee to 
Representative Jo Ann Emerson for her steadfast advocacy for this 
naming of the courthouse, and also to Representative Russ Carnahan and 
Representative Lacy Clay, who also expressed their strong support for 
the legislation.
  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, later this year, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 
will open a new United States Federal Courthouse. Over the past many 
months, I have watched this structure rise, due to the diligent efforts 
of hundreds of skilled men and women working tirelessly to give justice 
a new home in our region. I am certainly thankful for their beautiful 
accomplishment, in the form of our new Courthouse.
  At the same time, we should reflect on the people who dedicated their 
lives to the construction of a strong, vibrant and enduring rule of law 
in our region and our Nation.
  Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. perfectly embodies our respect for the law 
and love for our communities. His practice of law for more than 80 
years, from 1916 to 1996, is the stuff of legends. At the age of his 
death, the 104-year-old resident of Cape Girardeau was still going in 
to his office twice a week. He was the Nation's oldest practicing 
attorney.
  The litany of legal accomplishments of Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. 
cloud our memory of the man. He helped construct the Missouri Probate 
Code and begin the Missouri Highway Patrol. He was sent to India to 
help shape the new legal code in that fledgling democracy. He advocated 
for the reach of the federal judiciary to extend outside American urban 
centers and into the rural parts of our great Nation.
  Yet he was more than an attorney--Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. was also 
devoted to his family, his faith, and his community. He taught Sunday 
School. He worked to help Cape Girardeau expand its commerce of goods 
as well as ideas. He devoted countless hours of his time to the Boy 
Scouts of America. We remember him as a good citizen as well as a good 
lawyer.
  It is safe to say that, of the many hours of Rush Hudson Limbaugh, 
Sr.'s life, none of them were wasted. As we devote one hour of the 
United States House of Representatives to remember him, we are ensuring 
that Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr.'s legacy and example endure in the 
community he loved, on a building that carries on the work to which he 
was dedicated: the American promises of liberty and law, fundamental 
principles of fairness, and a system of jurisprudence for all Americans 
that is the envy of the world.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 342, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``To designate the 
United States courthouse located at 555 Independence Street in Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, as the `Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. United States 
Courthouse'.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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