[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1070-H1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HAROLD L. MURPHY FEDERAL BUILDING AND UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 532) to designate the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, as the 
``Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 532

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Judge Harold L. Murphy was born in Felton, Georgia, in 
     1927.
       (2) He attended West Georgia College before serving in the 
     United States Navy during the closing years of World War II.
       (3) He resumed his studies at the University of Mississippi 
     and the University of Georgia School of Law, where he 
     graduated in 1949.
       (4) He began a law practice in Haralson County, Georgia, 
     and in 1950 was elected to the Georgia House of 
     Representatives as the youngest Member at the time.
       (5) Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms before 
     stepping down in 1961 to focus on practicing law.
       (6) In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by Governor Jimmy 
     Carter to the Superior Court for the Tallapoosa Judicial 
     Circuit, and following his election in 1976, President Carter 
     nominated Judge Murphy to the United States District Court 
     for the Northern District of Georgia.
       (7) Judge Murphy was confirmed by the United States Senate 
     on July 28, 1977.
       (8) For 45 years, he served his country on the Federal 
     bench and became an acclaimed jurist and legal icon with a 
     stellar reputation that extended far beyond Georgia.
       (9) He always displayed a quick wit and a keen sense of 
     humor, was kind and empathetic, and treated all those who 
     appeared before him with courtesy and respect.
       (10) Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and carried a full 
     docket until the age of 90, when he took senior judge status 
     in the Northern District of Georgia.
       (11) He continued to preside over cases until his death on 
     December 28, 2022.
       (12) Judge Murphy received many professional awards and 
     recognitions, including from the State Bar of Georgia and the 
     University of Georgia School of Law.
       (13) In 2014, Alabama State University renamed its graduate 
     school after Judge Murphy in recognition of his landmark 
     ruling in Knight v. Alabama, a long-running case that the 
     Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals asked him to handle 
     involving the vestiges of racial segregation then present in 
     the Alabama University System.
       (14) Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving and devoted 
     husband and father--and a strong role model.

[[Page H1071]]

  


     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION.

       The Federal building and United States courthouse located 
     at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and 
     United States Courthouse''.

     SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the Federal building 
     and United States courthouse referred to in section 2 shall 
     be deemed to be a reference to the ``Harold L. Murphy Federal 
     Building and United States Courthouse''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Van Orden). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Molinaro) and the gentleman from Tennessee 
(Mr. Cohen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 532.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill honors Judge Harold L. Murphy, a former judge 
of the United States District Court for the Northern District of 
Georgia, by naming the Federal building and United States Courthouse in 
Rome, Georgia, after him.
  After being nominated to the United States District Court by 
President Jimmy Carter, Judge Murphy served on the Federal bench for 45 
years. It is fitting that we honor the late Judge Murphy by naming this 
courthouse after him.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I also support this legislation. Just about 
anything Jimmy Carter did, he did right. This imprimatur about Mr. 
Murphy's serving on the bench was obviously a good one. He spent those 
45 years there.
  He was the son of a farmer and a schoolteacher. He attended the 
University of Mississippi and the University of Georgia School of Law.
  He was the youngest member elected to the Georgia House of 
Representatives, serving five terms there before he was appointed a 
superior court judge by then-Governor Jimmy Carter. After Mr. Carter 
was elected President, he nominated Judge Murphy to serve as the 
Northern District Federal judge.
  Judge Murphy remained on the bench until 2017 when he took senior 
status. Judge Murphy remained an active senior judge until his death at 
the age of 95.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation. I urge my colleagues to do 
the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Ms. Greene) to speak on her bill.
  Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my 
bill, H.R. 532, to designate the Federal building and United States 
Courthouse located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, as the 
Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
  This bill honors a man who devoted his life to the service and 
protection of our Nation, Judge Harold Murphy.
  Born in Felton, Georgia, in 1927, Judge Murphy attended West Georgia 
College before serving in the Navy toward the end of World War II. He 
resumed his studies at the University of Mississippi and the University 
of Georgia School of Law where he graduated in 1949. He began a law 
practice in Haralson County, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the 
Georgia House of Representatives as the youngest member at the time.
  Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms before stepping down in 
1961 to focus on practicing law. In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by 
Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for the Tallapoosa Judicial 
Circuit, and following his election in 1976, Mr. Carter nominated Judge 
Murphy to the United States District Court for the Northern District of 
Georgia. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 28, 1977.
  For 45 years he served his country on the Federal bench and became an 
acclaimed jurist and legal icon with a stellar reputation that extended 
far beyond Georgia. He always displayed a quick wit and a keen sense of 
humor. Judge Murphy once subpoenaed a talking myna bird who had 
witnessed a store robbery to testify in court.
  He was kind and empathetic and treated all those who appeared before 
him with courtesy and respect.
  Judge Murphy's congeniality was only surpassed by his fairness and 
prudential impartiality. In fact, he is the only judge who was known to 
receive Christmas cards from inmates in prison that Judge Murphy had 
himself put away. He was so excruciatingly fair and impartial that 
during one case, he even talked a defendant out of a guilty plea.
  Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and carried a full docket until the 
age of 90 when he took senior judge status in the Northern District of 
Georgia. He continued to preside over cases until his death on December 
28, 2022.
  Judge Murphy received many professional awards and recognitions, 
including from the State Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia 
School of Law.
  In 2014, Alabama State University renamed its graduate school after 
Judge Murphy in recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. 
Alabama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals 
asked him to handle involving the vestiges of racial segregation then 
present in the University of Alabama System.
  Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving and devoted husband and 
father, and a strong role model who made everyone who knew him in 
northwest Georgia proud.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, Judge Murphy showed that people can rise to 
certain levels and do things where he was recognized by Alabama State 
University, an HBCU, by naming their graduate school for him, and I 
guess it related to that particular case where he got the case by 
interchange.
  Moreover, going almost to 95 years old speaks to the fact that 
somebody can be even older than 81 and can still do their job for the 
Federal Government in a good way.
  Otherwise, I support the bill greatly, I appreciate Ms. Greene 
bringing it, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. In closing, 
let me offer further support to this bill which certainly recognizes 
Judge Murphy's service to our country by naming this Federal building 
after him. I certainly am encouraged by my colleague, Ms. Greene's, 
sponsorship of the legislation.
  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 New York (Mr. Molinaro) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 532.
  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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