[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19391-19392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2130
               WAYNE LYMAN MORSE UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2672) to designate the United States courthouse to be 
constructed at 8th Avenue and Mill Street in Eugene, Oregon, as the 
``Wayne Lyman Morse United States Courthouse''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2672

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF WAYNE LYMAN MORSE UNITED STATES 
                   COURTHOUSE.

       The United States courthouse to be constructed at 8th 
     Avenue and Mill Street in Eugene, Oregon, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Wayne Lyman Morse 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 Wayne Lyman Morse United States Courthouse.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Brown of South Carolina). Pursuant to 
the rule, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentleman 
from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2672 designates the United States courthouse to be 
constructed at 8th Avenue and Mill Street in Eugene, Oregon, as the 
``Wayne Lyman Morse United States Courthouse.''
  Born in 1900 in Dane County, Wisconsin, Senator Morse graduated from 
the University of Wisconsin in 1924, from the law department at the 
University of Minnesota in 1928, and from Columbia University Law 
School in 1932. Senator Morse was a professor of law and later dean at 
the University of Oregon Law School until his election to the United 
States Senate in 1944.
  Early in his career, Senator Morse witnessed America's rapid urban 
and industrial development; specifically, its effects on the rural 
lives of the farmers in his home State of Wisconsin. Influenced by such 
progressive change, Senator Morse worked to maintain a balanced 
connection between political democracy and the citizens of that 
democracy, upholding the belief that this country's true wealth, its 
people, would flourish in such an environment. Throughout his career, 
Senator Morse held the conviction of ``principle over politics,'' made 
evident by his serving as a Republican, an Independent, and as a 
Democrat prior to his defeat in the election of 1968.
  Senator Morse died while campaigning for a return to the Senate in 
1974. The designation of this courthouse is a fitting tribute to a 
dedicated public servant.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the sponsor of the bill, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), of our committee. The gentleman 
from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is not known as one of the more retiring 
members of our body, and it does not matter whether it is disparate 
user fees in the national Forest Service on behalf of his constituents 
or this particular piece of legislation. I had the pleasure of being in 
the full committee markup on other matters this week, and this bill was 
not only a matter of interest to the gentleman, but he fought hard with 
the leadership of our committee and received the acclamation of the 
leadership of our committee in convincing the leadership of this 
Congress to put this piece of legislation on the floor tonight, and it 
is his tenacity which I am sure his constituents not only appreciate, 
but for which they reward him with consistent reelection.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in support of the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his generous remarks. I would 
say that my tenacity and outspoken nature are but a mere shadow of that 
of Wayne L. Morse. Actually, the highest compliment that any of my 
older constituents who remember Wayne Morse can pay me is to say, 
``That reminds me of Wayne Morse. You seem a lot like him.''
  There could be virtually no more appropriate time to bring this bill 
forward, not only because this month will mark the 100 anniversary of 
Wayne Morse's birth; born in Wisconsin in 1900, raised as a populace 
progressive and in a tradition that focused on the democratic rights of 
the working class and disenfranchised. He first moved to Oregon in 1931 
and became a law professor within 9 months. He was dean, and he served 
until 1943 and was elected to the United States Senate in 1944. He 
served there until 1968. He was often known for lonely stands he took 
on a number of issues. He changed from Republican to Independent in 
1952 and to a Democrat in 1955.
  Now, why I feel this is a particularly important time to do this is 
because one of Wayne Morse's most famous moments was his lengthy speech 
in opposition and adamant opposition to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, 
one of only two votes in the United States Senate, and one of only two 
to oppose that war as unwise, as this House is rushing, and the Senate 
is rushing, to rubber stamp an extraordinarily broad grant of power to 
the President that eerily echoes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution with 
even fewer underpinnings and, in fact, this time, marking a preemptive 
war, perhaps unilateral preemptive war by the United States, the first 
in our history. I think if Wayne Morse were still with us, even if he 
were with us at the age of 100, his voice would be heard loud and clear 
expressing concern about that resolution and this new rush to war by 
the Congress.
  He also was known as one who exercised an extraordinary independence 
of judgment on many issues. In fact, there is the Wayne Morse Pledge, 
which I have posted in my office. I hope that it will be incorporated 
at some appropriate place into the new courthouse. The pledge was: ``I 
will exercise an independence of judgment on the basis of facts and 
evidence as I find them on each issue. I will weigh the views of my 
constituents and my party. But I will cast my vote free of political 
pressure and unmoved by threats of loss of political support if I do 
not do the bidding of some pressure group.'' If only, if only we had 
more Members of Congress like that today, this would be a much 
different place and the policies of this country would be very 
different.
  President Truman, who once actually offered to make Wayne Morse 
Attorney General said, ``Wayne Morse is one of the great dissenters, 
and we need dissenters, not only in the Senate, we ought to have them 
in the House. We should have them in the legislatures of various 
States. Many of the great things we have were voted down by the 
majority and finally had to be adopted for the benefit and welfare of 
the people. You may not agree with Senator Morse, you do not have to 
agree with him when he is right, but what he advocates usually becomes 
what the people want.''
  And then finally, when Senator Morse left the Republican Party, he 
told a reporter from the Detroit Free Press, ``I sometimes wonder if I 
am going at all this too hard, but then I think of all of the men and 
women who wish there was just one politician in Washington who would 
speak his mind and cast his vote honestly and freely, with only his 
conscience to guide him. Maybe it's a bit brash to assume that I am 
that man, but believe me, I am trying to be.''
  That was Wayne Morse, and that is something I try to be every day in 
representing the district from which he was elected to the United 
States Senate.

[[Page 19392]]

  So with that, Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the House would 
unanimously endorse the naming of the new Federal courthouse in Eugene, 
Oregon. I believe there could be no more appropriate honor in the 
memory of Wayne Morse on the 100 anniversary of his birth.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time 
and again congratulate the gentleman from Oregon for not only his 
legislation, but for his floor statement. I urge passage of the bill.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2672, a bill to 
honor the former Senator from Oregon, Wayne L. Morse by designating the 
new courthouse in Eugene Oregon in his honor.
  From 1931 until 1944, Senator Morse served as the dean and professor 
of law at the University of Oregon at Eugene. In 1944, he was elected 
to his first term in the United States Senate as a Republican Senator. 
He was reelected in 1950. In 1956, Senator Morse ran for election to 
the Senate as a Democrat. He won that election and was again reelected 
in 1962.
  Senator Morse lost his bid for a fifth term when he was defeated in 
1968. However, by 1974 he had won the Democratic Senate nomination and 
was actively engaged in campaigning when he died in Portland, Oregon, 
in July of that year.
  Senator Morse was known as a gifted and principled lawmaker and a 
dedicated public servant. His tireless advocacy of the rights of 
organized labor and the collective bargaining process, and his 
unshakeable belief in the rule of law contributed to Senator Morse 
being called the ``conscience of the Senate''. He championed equal 
access to education and was an outspoken defender of the Constitution's 
system of checks and balances.
  Senator Morse's political philosophy was simply to promote the 
welfare of the American people. To use his own words: ``If you want to 
understand my political philosophy, here's the basic tenet--I think the 
job of a U.S. Senator is to seek to translate into legislation values 
that promote the welfare of people Because the keystone of the 
Constitution is the general welfare clause and the wealth of America is 
its people, not in materialism''.
  Senator Morse broke with the Republican Party in the 1950's when he 
led the filibuster against the Taft-Hartley bill, which threatened to 
erase nearly every fundamental employment right he had secured while on 
the War Labor Board. In the years preceding the Vietnam War, Senator 
Morse fiercely opposed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. He declared that 
Article I of the Constitution would be violated if Congress surrendered 
to the President its Constitutional authority to declare war. 
Throughout the War he took great issue when the Johnson Administration 
and its handling of the war.
  Senator Morse had the courage to speak and vote his convictions 
during one of the most tumultuous times in our Nation's history. He 
knew his opinions would be controversial and that they could, and 
ultimately did, cost him his seat in the U.S. Senate. But Wayne Morse 
had the strength to look beyond politics and do what he believed to be 
in the best interest of the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, the consideration of H.R. 2672 is particularly timely. 
As we begin debate tomorrow on a resolution that would authorize the 
President of the United States to use military force against Iraq, I 
hope that we could all follow the example of Wayne Morse and have the 
courage to speak our minds--whatever our particular beliefs--and that 
this Body will engage in a open and honest debate that will ultimately 
determine the best course for the American people.
  H.R. 2672 is a fitting tribute to a true public servant. I thank the 
Gentleman from Oregon, Mr. DeFazio, for introducing this legislation, 
and I urge all Members to support it.
  Mr. TOURETTE. 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 Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2672.
  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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