[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 22, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6646-H6647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PAUL BROWN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 185) to designate the United States courthouse located at 
101 East Pecan Street in Sherman, Texas, as the ``Paul Brown United 
States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 185

       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 101 East Pecan 
     Street in Sherman, Texas, shall be known and designated as 
     the ``Paul Brown 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 ``Paul Brown United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BARLETTA. 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 H.R. 185.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 185 would designate the United States courthouse located at 101 
East Pecan Street in Sherman, Texas, as the Paul Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  During World War II, Judge Paul Brown enlisted in the United States 
Navy. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law 
and started a law practice in Sherman, Texas. In 1953, he served as an 
assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas and 
later as the United States attorney. In 1985, he was appointed by 
President Ronald Reagan to serve as district judge for the Eastern 
District of Texas. He served as a district judge and then as a senior 
district judge until his death in 2012.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) for his 
leadership on this legislation.
  I think it is fitting to honor the service of Judge Brown to this 
Nation by naming this courthouse after him. I support passage of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 185, which designates the 
United States courthouse in Sherman, Texas, as the Paul Brown United 
States Courthouse.
  Judge Brown was a highly respected member not only of the Federal 
judicial community but also in the Sherman, Texas, community. After 
serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he returned to Texas to 
continue his education and received his law degree from the University 
of Texas Law School in

[[Page H6647]]

1950. In 1953, Mr. Speaker, he was appointed as an assistant United 
States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
  In 1959, President Eisenhower appointed Judge Brown as the United 
States attorney in the Eastern District, where he served until 1961. He 
returned to private practice in Sherman from 1961 to 1985 and enjoyed a 
reputation as an outstanding civil litigation lawyer. President Reagan 
later nominated him to become a Federal judge in the Eastern District 
of Texas in 1985.
  Judge Brown presided over cases that involved bank and savings and 
loan failures of the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as many 
intellectual property and patent cases. Judge Brown was also a 
prominent member of the community, serving as a board member of Medical 
Plaza Hospital, president of the Sherman School Board, and president of 
the Optimist Club of Sherman.
  Judge Brown assumed senior status in April 2001 and later died in 
2006 after 21 years of distinguished service on the Federal bench. This 
designation is a fitting tribute to his career as a veteran and 
respected jurist.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 185.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Hall).
  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of H.R. 185, as has been 
stated, a bill designating the United States courthouse located at 101 
East Pecan Street in Sherman, Texas, as the Paul Brown United States 
Courthouse.
  Judge Brown was an outstanding Federal judge who passed away on 
November 26, 2012, after 21 years of very distinguished service. Judge 
Brown was my good friend, a respected judge, and beloved member of the 
Sherman, Texas, community.
  Judge Brown represented the finest qualities of jurisprudence. 
Hanging on his wall in the Sherman Federal Courthouse were Socrates' 
four qualities for a good judge: to hear courteously; to answer wisely; 
to consider soberly; and to decide impartially. Judge Brown embodied 
all of these qualities, and he dispensed justice accordingly. He was 
highly regarded, well-respected, and was a role model for many.
  Judge Brown was the youngest of a family of six raised on a farm in 
Pottsboro, Texas. He graduated from Denison High School and, although 
underage, he was able to get his parents' consent to join the United 
States Navy when World War II broke out. He served on a minesweeper in 
both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters and as a part of the occupation 
forces in Japan. He was discharged as an electrician's mate 2nd class 
in June 1946.
  He returned to his studies and received a law degree in 1950 from the 
University of Texas before being recalled to Active Duty in the Korean 
war. He saw combat aboard a minesweeper which was sunk by mines. He 
received an honorable discharge in December 1951.
  Judge Brown worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Texarkana under 
U.S. attorney William Steger, who would become his mentor, good friend, 
and eventually fellow colleague on the bench. He served as assistant 
U.S. attorney from 1953 to 1959, and then followed in Judge Steger's 
footsteps as U.S. district attorney from 1959 to 1961.
  While in Texarkana, he met and married Frances Morehead, and the two 
returned home to Sherman, where he practiced law for a number of years. 
In 1985, Senator Phil Gramm recommended him to President Reagan for a 
new judge's position created by the Eastern District of Texas, and he 
was confirmed that year. He held court in Beaumont, Paris, Sherman, and 
Texarkana, and as the caseload grew, he eventually presided over the 
Sherman courthouse exclusively.
  Premier cases over the years included intellectual property, patent 
cases, and criminal cases precipitated by the bank and savings and loan 
failures of the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, he noted the increase 
in drug cases and expressed his regret that in spite of all the efforts 
that have been made to prosecute drug dealers, the Nation is not making 
much progress in curtailing the use of drugs. No matter what type of 
cases came before him, Judge Brown always enjoyed the work and ran an 
efficient and orderly courtroom. His personal ethics and judicial 
integrity were remarkable, and his reputation for punctuality is 
legendary.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life 
of a great American, outstanding public servant, and respected jurist. 
This bill has the support of the Federal judges in the Eastern 
District, and I ask for your support of H.R. 185, to designate the 
United States courthouse in Sherman, Texas, the Paul Brown United 
States Courthouse.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. STOCKMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today in support 
of H.R. 185 in this 113th United States Congress, being brought before 
us by the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hall, which will honor an esteemed 
gentleman from Sherman, Texas, the Honorable Paul Brown.
  Judge Paul Brown was a great Texan and a Great American, having 
served his country with valor in the U.S. Navy in both World War II and 
in Korea.
  Judge Brown was a civic leader, having served Texas and the United 
States as Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of 
Texas. He was nominated by President Eisenhower to serve as U.S. 
Attorney in Tyler, Texas, and he served his state well on his 
appointment by President Reagan as Eastern District Judge, where he 
finished his career after twenty one years of service as a Senior 
Judge.
  His devotion to his community and his faith guided him, as he 
remained engaged with local, state, and legal initiatives throughout 
his life.
  Judge Brown's life and record of distinguished service to our country 
and to Texas serves as a textbook example of what it means to have been 
a member of The Greatest Generation. His long and distinguished service 
in the courtroom serves as a template for all officers of the court, 
and his commitment to his family and his community provides a brilliant 
illustration for all Texans and Americans about what it means to serve 
one's fellow man.
  This courthouse we are naming today will remind us of Judge Brown's 
loyalty to his country, his community, and to The Great State of Texas, 
and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 185.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. 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, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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