[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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