[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN RECOGNITION OF THE HONORABLE JUDGE HOWARD F. SACHS

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                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 1, 2019

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Honorable Judge 
Howard F. Sachs' service and commitment to justice throughout his forty 
years on the bench. Judge Sachs has spent his entire career advancing 
the cause of justice in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri and 
throughout Missouri's Fifth Congressional District.
  A lifelong Kansas Citian, Judge Sachs was born in 1925 to Alex and 
Rose Sachs. Judge Sachs attended Southwest High School in Kansas City's 
Brookside neighborhood before serving the country in the Pacific 
Theatre as a Naval Electrical Technician's Mate aboard the U.S.S. South 
Dakota. While he was anchored in Tokyo Bay on Fleet Admiral Chester 
Nimitz's Flag Ship, the Japanese signed the terms of surrender, ending 
World War II. Judge Sachs was there, serving his country, during this 
significant moment in history. Upon discharge from the military, Judge 
Sachs attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where 
he received his bachelor's degree and graduated valedictorian of his 
class in 1947. In 1950, Judge Sachs received his Juris Doctor with 
honors from Harvard Law School.
  After completing law school, Judge Sachs returned to his hometown of 
Kansas City and was a law clerk for the Honorable Albert A. Ridge of 
the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri from 1950 
to 1951. While clerking for Judge Ridge, Judge Sachs was assigned the 
well-known Swope Park Swimming Pool case, which challenged the 
constitutionality of segregated municipal pools in Kansas City. He 
contributed to the opinion siding with the argument made by the NAACP's 
chief attorney at the time, Thurgood Marshall, that segregated public 
swimming pools violated the constitution of the United States. Though 
this case was profoundly significant, the work of Judge Sachs was only 
beginning. During his private practice in the 1950s, a tumultuous time 
for race relations in America, Judge Sachs served as Chairman of the 
Board of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City and helped orchestrate 
the admission of women and African American lawyers into the Kansas 
City Bar Association. In 1962, Judge Sachs drafted the ordinance that 
finally ended segregated public accommodations in Kansas City, 
Missouri. Judge Sachs also was a force for change via the significant 
leadership positions he held within the community, serving as a member 
of the Kansas City Commission on Human Relations and as President of 
the Jewish Community Relations Bureau.
  After thirty years in private practice, Judge Sachs was nominated for 
his position on the recommendation of Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, 
appointed by President Jimmy Carter, and took office in October 1979, 
making him the first native-born Kansas Citian to serve in the Western 
District of Missouri. When Judge Sachs was confirmed, he was the first 
Jewish district judge to sit within the Eighth Circuit in nearly one 
hundred years. In 1990, Judge Sachs served as chief judge of the court 
and took senior status in 1992. While on the bench, Judge Sachs has 
overseen numerous noteworthy cases, from ruling that inmates had a 
right to marriage in 1984--a case which eventually reached the Supreme 
Court--to the writing of a lower court ruling in Mistretta that 
challenged the constitutionality of the Sentencing Commission and 
produced federal sentencing guidelines. Even in his fortieth year on 
the bench, Judge Howard F. Sachs continues to maintain a significant 
docket.
  Throughout his career, Judge Sachs has received noteworthy public 
recognition including numerous awards from the Lawyers Association of 
Kansas City, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, the Truman 
Award for Public Service, the Difference-Maker Award from the Urban 
League of Greater Kansas City, and the designation of ``Judge Howard F. 
Sachs Day'' on September 26, 2019 by the city of Kansas City, Missouri, 
in recognition of forty years of distinguished service on the Federal 
Judiciary.
  Judge Howard F. Sachs' reputation equals impressive his legal career. 
He is widely-known for his unparalleled devotion to the legal 
profession and his well-analyzed, clearly expressed opinions rooted in 
the bedrock of justice. Distinguished by his intellectual interest, 
faithfulness to precedent, and reserved demeanor, Judge Sachs has 
established an inspirational legacy steeped in justice, fairness, and 
due process. To this day, at ninety-four years old, he remains as 
veracious and committed to his duties as his first day on the bench.
  Madam Speaker, please join me and all of Missouri's Fifth 
Congressional District in celebrating Judge Howard F. Sachs' forty 
years serving as a U.S. District Judge of the United States District 
Court for the Western District of Missouri. Let us honor his 
unremitting commitment to the American people, and the rule of law

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