[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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