[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 35 (Monday, March 5, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1141-H1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1720
              JAMES M. FITZGERALD UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1710) to designate the United States courthouse located at 222 
West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, as the James M. Fitzgerald United 
States Courthouse.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1710

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

[[Page H1142]]

     SECTION 1. JAMES M. FITZGERALD UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE.

       (a) Designation.--The United States courthouse located at 
     222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``James M. Fitzgerald 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 ``James M. Fitzgerald 
     United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Denham) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DENHAM. 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 S. 1710.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Senate bill 1710 would designate the United States courthouse located 
at 222 West Seventh Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, as the James M. 
Fitzgerald United States Courthouse.
  Just last week, the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public 
Buildings and Emergency Management, which I chair, marked up the House 
companion bill introduced by Congressman Don Young of Alaska, and I 
want to thank him for his leadership on this issue.
  Judge James M. Fitzgerald had 47 years of experience as a judge, both 
in the State of Alaska and on the Federal bench. He was one of the 
first judges appointed to the Superior Court in Alaska when Alaska 
became a State in 1959 and was later appointed to the Alaska Supreme 
Court in 1972.
  In 1974, President Ford appointed Judge Fitzgerald to the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Alaska, where he remained until his 
retirement in 2006. I think it is more than fitting that a Federal 
courthouse in Anchorage bear his name. I support passage of this 
legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1710 and am pleased to speak in 
support of the bill that names the United States courthouse located at 
222 West Seventh Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska, as the James M. 
Fitzgerald United States Courthouse.
  Judge James Martin Fitzgerald is considered one of the founding 
fathers of law in the State of Alaska. He dedicated his life to public 
service and was well respected throughout the Alaskan legal community. 
Judge Fitzgerald was a World War II veteran, serving in both the U.S. 
Army and the U.S. Marines. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying 
Cross and an Air Medal for his military service and was honorably 
discharged in December 1946.
  After his military service, Judge Fitzgerald earned his LL.B. and 
B.A. simultaneously from Willamette University and graduated in 1951. 
Soon after graduation, Judge Fitzgerald was appointed as an Assistant 
U.S. Attorney in Ketchikan, Alaska, and Anchorage, Alaska, earning a 
reputation as a prosecutor willing to take on corruption in law 
enforcement. In 1959, he was appointed by the governor of Alaska as the 
legal counsel for the State, and shortly thereafter was appointed as 
the State's first commissioner of public safety. Judge Fitzgerald was 
later appointed as a Superior Court judge in 1959 and in 1972 to the 
Alaska Supreme Court.
  In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed Judge Fitzgerald as the 
first district judge for the District of Alaska. Nine years later, 
Judge Fitzgerald was appointed chief judge for the District of Alaska, 
where he served until he assumed senior status in 1989. Judge 
Fitzgerald continued to serve as a judge in Alaska and on the Ninth 
Circuit until his death on April 3, 2011. In total, Judge Fitzgerald 
spent 53 years on the bench. Because Judge Fitzgerald took on his first 
judicial appointment the same year as Alaska achieved statehood, he had 
a unique role in shaping all Alaskan jurisprudence.
  Because of Judge Fitzgerald's service as a member of the U.S. 
military and his contribution to the Alaskan and the U.S. legal 
community, it is appropriate to designate the United States courthouse 
located in Anchorage, Alaska, as the James M. Fitzgerald United States 
Courthouse. I commend my colleague from Alaska who sponsored this bill 
for his recognition of the judge, and I urge my colleagues to join me 
in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Alaska (Mr. Young).
  (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I do thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  S. 1710, this legislation, as has been mentioned by both speakers, 
will name the Federal courthouse in Anchorage after the late Judge 
James Martin Fitzgerald. James Fitzgerald served Alaska from 1959 to 
2006 on the first Alaska Superior Court bench, on the Alaska Supreme 
Court, and on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
  Judge Fitzgerald was an honorable man and represents the best of 
Alaska in its earliest years as a State. As was mentioned, from his 
service to his country in the South Pacific during World War II to the 
time he served on the State of Alaska's highest court, Judge Fitzgerald 
always put his country and State first. From 1959 until his retirement 
in 2006, he served with distinction as a State and Federal judge 
unanimously praised for his brilliance, his modest nature, and his 
sense of justice.
  In addition to serving as a judge, Judge Fitzgerald was a decorated 
World War II Marine veteran, a prosecutor, Alaska's first commissioner 
of public safety, and the initiator of what would become the Alaska 
State Troopers and the Alaska Village Public Safety Officer Program.
  I am proud to have helped championed this legislation to designate 
the United States courthouse in Anchorage as the James M. Fitzgerald 
United States Courthouse. He was a great man, and this will ensure his 
life and accomplishments are properly memorialized in my State. Again, 
I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DENHAM. 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 California (Mr. Denham) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1710.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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