[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8327-8332]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 J.J. ``JAKE'' PICKLE FEDERAL BUILDING

  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 118) to designate the Federal building located 
at 300 East 8th Street in Austin, Texas, as the ``J.J. `Jake' Pickle 
Federal Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 118

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The Federal building located at 300 East 8th Street in 
     Austin, Texas, shall be known and designated as the ``J.J. 
     `Jake' Pickle Federal Building''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the Federal building 
     referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the ``J.J. `Jake' Pickle Federal Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Franks) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks).
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 118 designates the Federal building in Austin, 
Texas, as the ``J.J. `Jake' Pickle Federal Building.''
  Congressman Pickle began his long career in public service by serving 
3\1/2\ years with the United States Navy in the Pacific during World 
War II. Following the war, Congressman Pickle returned to Austin, 
Texas, and held positions in the private and public sectors. He served 
his party ably as executive director of the Texas State Democratic 
Party.
  In 1963, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives 
in a special election to fill a vacant seat created by Congressman 
Thornberry's resignation. He was then reelected to the next 15 
succeeding Congresses, until his retirement on January 3, 1995.

[[Page 8328]]



                              {time}  1815

  During his tenure in Congress, Congressman Pickle provided a strong 
voice on civil rights issues. He vigorously advocated and supported 
such historic legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 
Voting Rights Act. For over 30 years Congressman Pickle continuously 
worked on behalf of civil rights issues and equal opportunities for 
women and minorities.
  In addition, as chair of the Committee on Ways and Means' 
Subcommittee on Oversight and the Subcommittee on Social Security, he 
worked to shape the system of Medicare to assure that it fulfilled its 
intended purpose of providing basic health care for those in need, and 
tirelessly fought for the future of Social Security.
  Congressman Pickle was a dedicated public servant who remained close 
to his Texas constituents. Thus it is fitting legislation that honors 
him here today.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and encourage my colleagues to 
support it as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 118 is a bill to designate a building located at 
300 East 8th Street in Austin, Texas, as the ``J.J. `Jake' Pickle 
Federal Building.'' It is a pleasure and an honor to support this bill 
intended to honor the significant contributions of our dear friend, 
Jake Pickle.
  As we all know, Jake was a native Texan and very proud of his 
heritage. He was educated in public schools and was graduated from the 
University of Texas in 1938. Jake is a World War II veteran, serving 
his country in the Pacific arena.
  Jake entered politics after a special election to fill the seat of 
Homer Thornberry. Officially he began his service in the House in 
December of 1963. Jake immediately showed his mettle and joined five 
other southern Members who voted in favor of President Johnson's Civil 
Rights Act of 1964. He further demonstrated his support for equal 
rights by voting for the Voting Rights Act.
  Jake was a close friend of President Johnson, and his friendship and 
with Mrs. Johnson continues strong even today. Due to his closeness 
with the Johnson family and President Johnson's administration, Jake 
often served as a personal historian for one of the greatest American 
Presidents.
  Jake himself is best known for his devotion and dedication to his 
constituents and his extensive community involvement. It is with great 
pleasure that I join the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) and others 
in supporting this very worthwhile bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Doggett).
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Shows) for yielding this time to me, and of course I join in support of 
this measure that is before the House now. But we find ourselves in the 
curious situation this afternoon that this is one of the rare 
occasions, perhaps the first since I have been a Member of this body, 
that the House has moved faster than we have been told on the schedule 
instead of slower, and so we have actually this afternoon proceeded 
with the approval of a piece of legislation in which I am most 
interested that will rename our Federal Building in Austin, Texas, for 
Congressman J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle, my predecessor. And so I come with 
shortened remarks, hoping not to say anything that would cause us to 
reconsider this legislation which I am most appreciative to my 
colleague from New Jersey and our colleague from West Virginia for 
their prompt approval in the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, basically we had two choices. We could either try to 
paint that Federal building pickle green, or we could simply put a 
plaque up dedicating it as the J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle Federal Building, 
and so the House chose the more practical approach of putting his name 
on the building. This is actually legislation that this House approved 
in the last session of Congress last year. Unfortunately, the Senate, 
which moves a little slower sometimes, they usually get an hour to 
speak when we get a minute, did not get this piece of legislation 
passed last session, and we are hoping that they will react to it as 
speedily as the House has considered it this afternoon.
  Let me just say a few words, and there are several of my colleagues 
from the Texas delegation and beyond north Texas, I believe New York 
State, that may want to offer comments in support of this legislation.
  Jake Pickle served central Texas for some 31 years. I first came to 
know him as a high school senior at Austin High School where I was in 
class with his daughter, Peggy, and he was elected the year that I was 
a senior at Austin High School. He has really been the only Congressman 
who has ever served our district during the time that I was growing up 
and living there in central Texas, and he along with his great wife 
Beryl have served our community with the greatest distinction.
  This is certainly not the first and probably not the last monument to 
his service. The Pickle Research Campus at the University of Texas is 
where much of the development that produced the success that we have 
had in central Texas with high technology had its origin through 
public-private partnerships beginning right there at the University of 
Texas. During his tenure here in Congress that was a real priority of 
Congressman Pickle, and it is most appropriate that it should bear his 
name.
  And most recently, just within the past month, I have been 
participating in the many dedication ceremonies at the new Austin-
Bergstrom International Airport. We have managed to dedicate just about 
everything in that airport except for some of the luggage carousels and 
the storage closets, but in particular and first in our dedications, we 
dedicated one of the new runways to Congressman Pickle because even 
after his service here in the House, he continued to work on our 
Airport Advisory Committee to ensure that this airport was completed 
and that it had an all-weather runway that would meet the needs of our 
community not only for hauling passengers around the world, but hauling 
the cargo that is so very important to our technology industries there 
in central Texas.

                              {time}  1845

  So it is now that ``onward through the fog'' in central Texas is more 
than a bumper sticker at Oat Willie's. It is the center, the 
indication, that the Pickle runway along with the LBJ runway at that 
new airport are available to serve our community, whatever the 
conditions.
  I have to say that I will feel just a little better going home, and 
perhaps some of my Democratic colleagues will want to join me, knowing 
that when one lands there in Austin they either get the LBJ runway or 
the J.J. Jake Pickle runway, and when they pull up to the terminal they 
come into the Barbara Jordan terminal. So that is a pretty good place 
for those of us on this side of the aisle or either side of the aisle 
to call home, to come in and see the capital city of the great State of 
Texas.
  Congressman Pickle was a distinguished veteran, distinguished former 
Student Body President of the University of Texas at Austin. I do not 
know what it is in the water up at Big Spring, but he is well into his 
eighties now, and he and I know a number of his classmates gathered 
there in Austin awhile back. They seemed to have something good going 
on up there because he remains a very vigorous force in our community.
  Here in the Congress, he is remembered as one of the few Members from 
the south who had the courage to vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
for the Voting Rights Act; and he still is proud, and justly so, of the 
call that he received from President Johnson at 2:00 a.m. in the 
morning after that vote to commend him for his courage.
  There are many tall tales that he has about the work on the Great 
Society there in the Federal building that we are naming in his honor 
with President

[[Page 8329]]

Johnson, where the President had an apartment and an office that 
remains in generally the condition that it was in when he left the 
presidency. I am confident that at least a few of those tales are true, 
because there was much good accomplished by these two good friends and 
partners working together not only for central Texas but for our entire 
country.
  Of course, Congressman Pickle's service on the Committee on Ways and 
Means, where he played a major role in addressing both Social Security 
and preserving and continuing it, and Medicare addressed issues that we 
face once again in Congress, but we are able to deal with them now 
because of the good work that he contributed over the years.
  Jake Pickle never turned down the chance to help a neighbor, and that 
is perhaps his greatest legacy, not just what he accomplished in this 
room but his accessibility and his willingness to be available when 
people had problems in our community with various aspects of the 
Federal bureaucracy.
  So naming our Federal building in Austin after Congressman Pickle is 
the most appropriate symbol of our admiration, our respect and our 
appreciation for his true public service, and I am hopeful that the 
Senate will move quickly on this legislation this year and speedily 
approve it.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Hall).
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to get to say a word or 
so about Jake Pickle.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) and others have talked about 
all of his attainments, his acquisitions and his honors. I guess I just 
want to talk about Jake Pickle, the good guy that I knew.
  I have probably known him longer than any Member of this Congress. I 
have known Jake since I was about 20 years old. I am 75 years old, and 
Jake would say that he is much younger than I am.
  People are proud of him all the way from Roscoe, Texas, where he was 
born out in far west Texas, Big Spring, Austin. He knows everybody. 
Everybody knows Jake. There was no better Member of Congress, no one 
more persuasive, no one that could get something done because everybody 
liked Jake and everybody wanted to help Jake, and Jake knew everybody 
in the world.
  Allan Shivers, John Connally, of course, LBJ, Joe Kilgore, all the 
movers and shakers. Jake was a close personal friend of theirs, and 
they felt a brotherly feeling, and people in this Congress felt like 
Jake was a brother to them because he loved them and they loved him.
  I just know of no public servant that has been any better than Jake. 
I first knew him when he was in a PR firm there in Austin, a young man, 
handsome, of course, and part of the Lyndon Johnson team from the word 
go. They have had great Members of Congress to serve Travis County and 
the area around: LBJ, Homer Thornberry, Jake Pickle, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Doggett) doing a superb job of representing that area today.
  Jake was always the same. That is what I liked about him. He was 
always the same. He was always cordial. He was always smiling. He 
always knew everyone, and he was always persuasive.
  He could have a bill that he had introduced, moving something out of 
someone else's district that they liked into Travis County and he was 
so persuasive he could make them think it helped them more than it did 
him. That was the Jake Pickle I knew and loved. I wish him the best, I 
wish Beryl the best because they are the best. God bless this couple 
and God bless this occasion for Jake Pickle.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Franks) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to once again voice support for this 
measure honoring Jake Pickle. Jake was a friend of most of us here in 
the Congress, I virtually would say all of us in the Congress, when he 
served over 30 years in great public service to our Nation.
  I knew Jake as an expert on Social Security. I knew Jake as a 
traveler when we went overseas together and his good wife Beryl 
traveled with us. Jake is someone we have long missed in the Congress. 
He had a good word for all of us, and I think it is highly appropriate 
that this building be named for a deserving public servant.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Gonzalez).
  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is my own honor to rise and offer these 
remarks in support of the measure that would name the Federal building 
in Austin, Texas, after former Representative Jake Pickle.
  As many that are gathered here tonight know that my father served in 
this Congress for 37 years and, of course, shared every one of those 
years, at least 31 of those years, with Jake Pickle as his esteemed 
colleague.
  We will hear stories often expressed by Jake Pickle and my father 
regarding the many rides they would take back to their district on Air 
Force One when LBJ was the President. They will always talk about the 
Civil Rights Act and the great vote of 1964 and the 2:00 a.m. phone 
call that President Johnson made to Jake Pickle, which is an 
interesting story in and of itself. The real story, though, lies in the 
phone calls that both my father and Jake Pickle received from LBJ 
before the vote.
  Jake Pickle is an extraordinary man, and I have had the great 
privilege of knowing him since I was a teenager. When I went to college 
in Austin and Jake Pickle was back in the district, he would come to 
the State capital where many of the students would work. And he would 
come in there and he would mentor us and he would counsel us.
  He is a great man in many, many respects, not just a great 
representative but everything that we should aspire to as public 
officials. He is the kind of individual that will take the time, from 
the busiest of schedules, and do it the old way and that is to sit with 
the person, to meet with them, to listen, to understand them and then 
give good, sage counsel and advice.
  To Jake Pickle, I think it would be the greatest honor but truly it 
would be something that would remind us every day of what public 
service is all about.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Green).
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored tonight to stand in 
support of H.R. 118 designating the J.J. Jake Pickle Federal Building 
in Austin, Texas. This is a fitting tribute to a unique Texan and 
former Member of Congress. I hope Jake and his wife are watching 
tonight in Austin, Texas.
  Jake Pickle is a legend to me, and even by Texas standards he is a 
legend. He put himself through college during the Depression, worked 
for President Roosevelt's National Youth Administration, served in the 
Pacific in World War II and started a radio station in central Texas, 
and he represented the Tenth District from 1963 to 1995.
  He had a long, distinguished career that my other colleagues have 
talked about, chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security of the 
Committee on Ways and Means. At one time even with the famous Claude 
Pepper, Jake Pickle won out on the Social Security reform bill with 
Claude Pepper.
  Mr. Speaker, Jake has a book just simply called ``Jake,'' and a 
couple of years ago on Father's Day my daughter was a student at the 
University of Texas and she went over and had Jake sign his book for 
me. And Jake talked to my daughter, and she has now graduated, and Jake 
was talking about some of his stories. His book is great on stories 
about Congress. I am just going to tell one of them because it is a 
great story.
  Jake is known for his storytelling abilities, and anybody who wants 
to read some great stories needs to look up that book at the Library of 
Congress and ask for ``Jake.'' It would probably make him happy if we 
even bought it.
  Jake served so many years, and in one of the chapters in his book, 
chapter

[[Page 8330]]

35, there is a great story that, in 1957 or 1958, Governor Price Daniel 
and Jake were in El Paso attending the State Democratic Executive 
Committee. At the time, the State of Chihuahua and Texas were 
instigating a program to eradicate the yellow boll weevil. So the 
Governor was in El Paso to officially give credence to the boll weevil 
eradication program as well.
  Their party stayed in El Paso, but they went across the border to 
Juarez. In Juarez, there was a good band and a floor show. So the 
manager looked around and he had heard the governor of Texas was in the 
party but he wished no publicity. The governor did not want it known, 
this was in the 1950s, that he was in a bar in Mexico, particularly 
since most of Texas was dry then, particularly the part Governor Daniel 
was from in east Texas.
  When their group arrived at the bar, they were seated at a long table 
near the band. Governor Daniel was a Baptist and a teetotaler, and he 
never drank, but he liked Cokes. And every once in awhile he would say 
well, Jake, I will take a Coke.
  Jake said he would go up to the bartender and ask the bartender to go 
ahead and put a shot of bourbon in it. He always asked for Cokes.
  Anyway, the funny part of the story is that everything went fine for 
a few minutes and the band having played some lively tunes from Mexico 
suddenly stopped and they had a drum roll. The governor looked around 
and looked at Jake and the band leader then announced on the mike, we 
are proud to have with us tonight the governor of the State of Texas, 
and another drum roll, the Honorable Price Daniel. Amid the fanfare, 
the light swept the bar and came to rest on their table, and nobody 
moved.
  Obviously, the governor did not want to stand up and be recognized in 
that bar in Mexico. Again, the announcer announced, damas y caballeros, 
another drum roll and still no movement from Governor Daniel.
  With the spotlight still on us the third time, the announcer said, 
please, will the governor of Texas stand and be recognized. Finally, 
the governor's wife, Jean, leaned over and whispered, Jake, for 
goodness' sakes, will you do it?
  The governor said, Jake, I bet you always wanted to be governor. Now 
here is your chance.
  So Jake Pickle stood up in that bar in Juarez and was recognized as 
the governor of Texas, and the band struck up ``The Eyes of Texas.''
  That is just one of Jake's stories. Obviously, we miss him from Texas 
and all over Congress. He was a great Member.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 118, designating the 
J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle Federal Building in Austin, Texas. This is a 
fitting tribute to a unique Texan and former Member of Congress.
  Congressman Pickle is a legend even by Texas standards. He put 
himself through college during the Depression, worked for President 
Roosevelt's National Youth Administration, served in the Pacific during 
World War II, started a radio station in Central Texas, and represented 
Texas' Tenth Congressional District from 1963 to 1995. During his long 
and distinguished career in the Congress, Jake Pickle prided himself as 
a protector of small businesses and a specialist in the Social Security 
system.
  Over the years, Congressman Pickle managed to involve himself in 
every major issue that confronted the Ways and Means Committee, from 
Social Security to trade to the complete revision of the Tax Code.
  During the 98th Congress, Jake Pickle chaired the Ways and Means 
Social Security Subcommittee. As chairman of that subcommittee, he was 
convinced that the way to save the Social Security system from a long-
term collapse was to raise the retirement age. Democratic leaders, 
including Thomas P. O'Neill and Claude Pepper, wanted to solve long-
term financing problems with eventual increases in the payroll tax. Few 
expected Pickle would prevail on the floor, but he did.
  Through months of argument over what to do about Social Security, 
Pickle and Pepper were the spokesmen for two diametrically opposite 
points of view. During floor consideration, the House chose Jake 
Pickle's approach, which later became law. This victory represents the 
culmination of a long personal struggle for Jake Pickle to put the 
Social Security system on a sound personal footing.
  Most everyone knows Jake Pickle as a political protege of President 
Lyndon B. Johnson. Congressman Pickle was a campaign manager and a 
Congressional aide to Johnson before World War II and an advisor in 
Johnson's 1948 Senate campaign. Jake always speak reverently about 
President Johnson and his commitment and dedication is a testament to 
their friendship.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have served with Congressman Jake Pickle 
and will be forever grateful for his friendship and his leadership. 
This designation is only a small token of our appreciation to a 
dedicated public servant.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards).
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Franks) for graciously giving me this moment to speak.
  Mr. Speaker, I love Jake Pickle. He is a man of courage, a man of 
compassion, and someone who loves life, every day of it.
  He was a man of compassion as a freshman Member of this House when, 
in 1965, as a young southern representative he voted in favor of the 
Civil Rights Act, an act that made major changes in allowing equal 
opportunity for American citizens of all colors.
  He was a man of compassion in everything he did, especially in his 
leadership and saving the Social Security system back in the 1980s. We 
could all talk about the many accomplishments of Jake Pickle but, 
frankly, the reason I love Jake Pickle, in addition to respecting him 
for his legislative accomplishments, is because he personifies the 
biblical passage of, this is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice 
and be glad in it.
  Jake Pickle brought light into any room, into anyplace where he came. 
He loves life and we love him. We miss Mr. Pickle of Texas, our dear 
friend.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 
minutes to our colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm).
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me. I appreciate my colleague bringing this up and naming the Federal 
Building after J.J. Jake Pickle, a very appropriate honor for a man 
serving on the Committee on Ways and Means, and I think that all of his 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree with me when I say 
that there have been very few Members that have ever taken their job 
more diligently, more seriously, in looking at the questions from 
social security reform to any tax bill that has ever come before us.
  He also was a man of responsibility. One thing that I noted, and we 
try to emulate but cannot come close to Jake, when he says he is going 
to be at a dinner party for the Texas delegation or any other place, he 
is always there. Very seldom did he ever miss. When he said he was 
coming, he came.
  I think one appropriate remark that I have not heard, maybe it has 
been mentioned, but to me, this building could be better named if it 
were named the J.J. Jake and Beryl Pickle Building, because so many 
times those of us recognize our spouses do not nearly get the credit 
that they deserve when we get honored in ways in which we honor Jake 
today.
  I think of the story that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) 
was telling, and there was no better storyteller to ever occupy a seat 
in this House. He was great at it.
  But all of the times that Beryl listened to those stories, which were 
repeated not one, ten, one hundred, but for the thousandth time, and 
still laugh when her husband told that joke, I think Beryl ought to be 
somewhere in the name of this building. I know she will be in spirit by 
those of us who knew and loved her as well as Jake Pickle.
  Jake was born in my district. Therefore, I have always had to take 
somewhat responsibility for the actions that Jake has taken, and I have 
done it proudly.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute 
to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan). The gentlewoman from Texas

[[Page 8331]]

(Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 2 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Shows) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks) 
for yielding time to me, and for guiding us through a very welcomed 
event this evening, and that is to properly give recognition to J.J. 
Jake Pickle, and of course, his wife, Beryl. They are Texas heroes, 
both of them, and today I hope with the naming of this Federal Building 
that it will be forever grounded in our memories that they are American 
heroes as well, both.
  I have great pleasure in acknowledging the leadership of Jake Pickle. 
I was talking to my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Charlie 
Stenholm), and I was trying to claim the fact that I had served with 
Jake Pickle, I guess because I viewed him as such an historic but as 
well such an institutional person with such great leadership.
  I was trying to claim having been here with him, but he retired in 
1994 and I came to this Congress in 1995. But we can be assured that 
Jake Pickle's legacy, his smile, his genuineness, his gentlemanliness 
was here on the premises. In fact, I think the reason why I thought I 
served with him is because right after he retired from this Congress, 
he spent a lot of time with us. I enjoyed lunching with him and, again, 
hearing some of the stories.
  But Jake Pickle, the man, is someone that I admire, in particular 
because he served 31 years and he served with a commitment to this 
country. He was someone, as the chair of the powerful Subcommittee on 
Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, that cared about a good 
Medicare system, a good health care system, and worked hard to 
guarantee all Americans receive basic health care. As chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Social Security, his work is credited with extending 
the life of the social security system.
  I remember him telling me of his friendship with the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan, one of the predecessors of this particular 
congressional district, the Eighteenth Congressional District. I guess 
I remember him most by looking at a picture of the signing of the 1964 
Civil Rights Act, and saw a number of Texans who were Congresspersons 
at that time gather in the room with President Lyndon Baines Johnson to 
sign that historic act.
  But I am most mindful of the time that that occurred and the courage 
that was taken. I heard my colleague from Texas make a statement about 
his father, Henry Gonzalez. But I am reminded about the courage of Jake 
Pickle to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and to give opportunities 
to those who did not have them. He was courageous in that, he was 
courageous in his service. Mr. Speaker, he is truly a great Texan and 
truly a great American. This building will truly be a very historic 
building by being named after J.J. Jake Pickle, H.R. 118. I ask my 
colleagues for support.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 118. This bill 
designates a federal building in Austin, Texas as the ``J.J. Jake 
Pickle Federal Building.'' It is fitting, Mr. Speaker, that the 
building in which he worked for 28 of his 31 years in Congress, bear 
his name.
  It is an appropriate memorial to a man who dedicated himself to his 
community and to his constituents. The residents of Austin remember 
Representative Pickle for his tireless dedication to the community he 
loved. When asked to describe his career as a Member of Congress, all 
sight his effective and efficient constituent service. I know that 
Representative Pickle gave selflessly of his time and energy. His 31-
year career stands as a memorial to current and future Members, on how 
to conduct constituent relations.
  During his 31-year tenure Congressmen Pickle took on several 
legislative challenges. In spite of the political risk he voted in 
favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This vote was to be the first in 
the line of a career dedicated to ensuring civil rights and equal 
opportunity for both minorities and women.
  As chair of the powerful Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, 
Congressmen Pickle recognized the value of the Medicare system. He 
worked to guarantee that all Americans would receive basic health care. 
As Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee his work is credited 
with extending the life of the Social Security system.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear from his 31-year career in Congress, his 
selfless dedication to his country and to the State of Texas, that the 
federal building in Austin should bear his name. J.J. ``Jake'' Pickle 
has set a proper example for this body to emulate and as testimony to 
that example I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
H.R. 118, legislation that would name the federal building in Austin, 
Texas in honor of former Representative Jake Pickle.
  The building is located at 300 East 8th Street in Austin. It houses 
district offices for Congressman Pickle's successor, Representative 
Lloyd Doggett, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, as well as local 
offices for the IRS, FBI and other federal agencies.
  It is all together appropriate that these offices be named for 
Representative Pickle since they are where he worked for 28 of his 31 
years in Congress.
  For those of us fortunate enough to know him, former Representative 
Pickle is a very skilled storyteller and a man steeped in Texas and 
U.S. history. One can not speak with him for any amount time without 
departing having heard one of his ``yarns'' about the legislative 
process or his work with President Johnson.
  James Jarrell ``Jake'' Pickle was born in 1913 in Big Spring, a small 
town in the northwest part of Texas represented today by Congressman 
Charlie Stenholm. He is a product of the Big Spring public schools and 
the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his BA in 1938.
  After working as Area Director for President Roosevelt's National 
Youth Administration, Jake served 3\1/2\ years in the Navy in the 
Pacific during World War II. Upon returning to Austin, he entered the 
radio and public relations business, later serving as director of the 
Texas State Democratic Executive Committee and as an appointee to the 
Texas Employment Commission. He resigned from the TEC to run for 
Congress in a special election called after the resignation of Homer 
Thornberry. He began his Congressional career in December, 1963.
  Congressman Pickle wasted little time in demonstrating what sort of 
Member of Congress he intended to be. Despite well-founded fears that 
his actions might end his fledgling political career, Representative 
Pickle joined only five other Southern members who voted in favor of 
Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Act in 1964. Looking back on it, 
Representative Pickle says that is the one vote of which he is most 
proud and recalls with great fondness a personal phone call at 2:00 
a.m. after the vote from President Johnson to thank him. Jake followed 
this vote a few months later with a vote in support of the Voting 
Rights Act and then spent the next 30 years working on behalf of civil 
rights and equal opportunity for minorities and women.
  This was not the first or last time Representative Pickle faced the 
challenge of being the President's Congressman. He was a close friend 
and ally of both President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson. His 
friendship with the former First Lady remains strong to this day.
  Naming this federal building in Jake's honor is particularly 
appropriate because it houses his friend LBJ's apartment and office 
suite, preserved in all its early 1970's splendor. Jake's stories of 
working with Johnson on the Great Society, often in these rooms, are 
the stuff of Texas political legend. Jake stands as one of the few 
remaining personal historians of one of the greatest American 
Presidents.
  Representative Pickle also distinguished himself as Chairman of the 
Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee. From that post, Jake worked 
tirelessly to rid the Medicare system of waste and fraud, constantly 
laboring on behalf of those who rely on the Medicare system for their 
basic health care.
  In addition, former Congressman Pickle served as Chairman of the 
Social Security Subcommittee in the 98th Congress and is widely 
credited with shepherding through Congress a legislative package that 
has extended the life of the Social Security system by decades. His 
work on behalf of the poor and the elderly complements perfectly his 
long-time commitment to civil rights.
  Based on his long service to Texas and the nation, I believe H.R. 118 
is a fitting tribute to Representative Pickle's legacy. I urge all 
Members to support its passage.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, it was an honor to preside over the House 
during the consideration of a bill naming a Federal building in Austin, 
TX, after Congressman J.J. (Jake) Pickle.
  Congressman Pickle served in the House for more than 31 years. For 30 
of those years he served with either my father or me.
  In their service on the Ways and Means Committee, he and my father 
became the closest of friends.

[[Page 8332]]

  I remember being told that on the plane returning from my father's 
funeral in Louisville, Congressman Pickle led the plane's passengers in 
singing some old-time hymns.
  In fact Congressman Pickle was famous within the Congress for the 
stories he used to tell about the hymns sung at the Thursday morning 
House prayer breakfasts. Some people wondered if the stories were 
totally accurate or were, at least in part, made up by Congressman 
Pickle as he went along.
  At any rate, Congressman Jake Pickle was a great and dedicated Member 
of the House. His love for others and for this institution shown 
through in everything he did.
  I join my colleagues in supporting this bill, a very fitting tribute 
to a very kind man and great American, Congressman Jake Pickle.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Franks) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 118.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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