[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17819-17820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   JOSEPH L. NELLIS, FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL OF HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE 
                               JUDICIARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 2004

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay respect to Joseph L. Nellis, 
87, former Chief Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee during the 
early 1980s, who passed away July 10 from congestive heart failure at 
his home in Northwest Washington, DC. He also served as Chief Counsel 
of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, and 
Associate Counsel of the Kefauver Committee (the U.S. Senate Committee 
to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce). Joe was also a prominent 
local businessman, Democratic Party insider, and Washington area 
resident for more than 60 years. In addition to his public service on 
Capitol Hill, he argued a number of landmark cases before the Nation's 
highest courts, developed downtown properties, and founded the G.E.M. 
(Government Employees Mart) Department Stores.
  Born in 1916 in Minsk in what is now Belarus, Joe grew up in Chicago 
and attended the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, 
and Northwestern University's School of Law. He moved to the Washington 
area to work at the Office of Price Administration and Control in 1944.
  His service as a Captain in the Army Air Corps during World War II 
was marked by several decorations, including one for work with the 
cryptology team that broke the Japanese Navy's secret code and led to 
the American victory at Midway.
  Following a stint at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation 
Administration (UNRRA) guiding post-war relief efforts in Greece and 
Italy in the late 1940's, he returned to Washington to enter private 
practice. In late 1949, Senator Estes Kefauver (D-Tennessee) called him 
and asked, ``Joe, I'm about to get the Senate to pass a resolution 
authorizing an investigation of organized crime. It's never been done 
before. Why don't you come up to the Hill and help me chase some 
gamblers?'' Nellis became associate counsel and the youngest member of 
the first Senate investigation into the activities of organized crime 
in interstate commerce. He achieved instant recognition among audiences 
nationwide when the committee's New York hearings--featuring such 
legendary mob figures as Virginia Hill and mafia boss Frank Costello--
became the first nationally televised congressional hearings. After 
conducting a 2:00 a.m. ``secret'' deposition of entertainer Frank 
Sinatra regarding his connection with then-exiled mob boss Lucky 
Luciano, Joe determined that calling Sinatra as a public witness would 
not further the mission of the committee and might only serve to damage 
Sinatra.
  Joe was a prominent advisor to Presidential candidates, including 
former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, and Senator Kefauver during 
both his 1952 and 1956 bids for the Democratic Party Presidential 
nomination. In 1968, he served as Deputy Director of Citizens for 
Humphrey-Muskie. For a number of years, Joe was also a friend and 
advisor to Eleanor     Roosevelt and later served as general counsel 
for the Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Foundation.
  In private law practice, Nellis argued major civil and corporate 
cases. He challenged the constitutionality of the DC abortion statute 
in the first abortion rights case accepted for argument before the U.S. 
Supreme Court (United States v. Milan Vuitch, 1971). In a newspaper 
interview, Joe commented, ``The key questions here are: does a woman 
have an absolute right to control the reproductive processes of her own 
body, . . . and does her physician have the freedom to prescribe 
medical treatment as he sees fit, without vague threats of prosecution 
for a felony?'' He then played a role in the successful argument of Roe 
v. Wade by assisting the attorneys to prepare for their appearance 
before the Court.
  Joe was also the author of numerous articles in professional and 
popular journals and coauthor of The Private Lives of Public Enemies 
(McKay, 1974 and Dell, 1974). Surviving family includes his wife, 
Muriel, sons David M. Nellis and Adam Pressman, daughters Barbara 
Nellis and Amy Pressman, and

[[Page 17820]]

nine grandchildren. Because the House Judiciary Committee is a family 
of sorts, I would like to recognize Joe's extended family.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, we have lost a former Hill staffer who 
served the House and Senate for many years with distinction on critical 
issues to this country.

                          ____________________