[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17542-17543]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     NAMING NEW FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN BUFFALO FOR ROBERT H. JACKSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Higgins) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, on November 28 a new Federal courthouse 
will open in western New York. Located on historic Niagara Square in 
Buffalo's central business district, the 10-story structure will be 
home to the United States Court for the Western District of New York.
  The striking profile of the courthouse is a reminder that Buffalo's 
future is connected to its unique architectural heritage. As we draw 
inspiration for our future from this impressive building, I can think 
of no name more fitting to grace it than one from our past, that of 
western New York's only Supreme Court Justice, Robert H. Jackson.
  Jackson was born and raised near Jamestown, New York. He spent the 
first 42 years of his life in western New York and for a time lived on 
Johnson Park, which is in the shadow of the new courthouse, and he 
practiced law at the historic Ellicott Square Building in downtown 
Buffalo. He was a prominent local attorney, and in 1934, President 
Roosevelt called him to public service in Washington.
  After stints as Assistant Attorney General for Tax and Antitrust, 
Jackson was appointed U.S. Solicitor General. He personally argued more 
than 30 cases before the Supreme Court on which he would later sit. 
Louis Brandeis, who was a Supreme Court Justice at the time, said of 
Jackson that he was so good he ``should be Solicitor General for 
life.'' But Jackson was soon tapped to head the Justice Department as 
United States Attorney General. He was instrumental in helping 
President Roosevelt formulate America's national security policies as 
the United States headed toward inevitable involvement in World War II.
  In 1941 Roosevelt appointed Jackson to the United States Supreme 
Court. He remains to this day the only Supreme Court Justice from 
western New York. He served on the Court for 13 terms and took part in 
several important decisions, none bigger than the landmark Brown v. 
Board of Education, which prohibited segregation.
  Justice Jackson was known on the Court for personally authoring 
thoughtful and compelling opinions. The leading constitutional scholar 
Laurence Tribe called Jackson ``the most piercingly eloquent writer 
ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court.''
  In 1945 President Truman asked Jackson to take a leave from the Court 
to serve as the United States Chief Prosecutor at the International 
Military Tribunal, the Nuremberg Trials. Jackson was the chief 
prosecutor of the Nazi war criminals and was responsible for achieving 
consensus among the allies on the design and implementation of the 
trials. Some believe that the year Jackson spent away from the Court 
cost him a chance of being elevated to Chief Justice, but Jackson 
argued that Nuremberg was the most important work of his life.
  True to his western New York roots, immediately upon returning from 
Europe, Jackson took a train to Buffalo to address the University of 
Buffalo's centennial. He spoke eloquently of the subjects of war, 
international law, and the need for countries to work together for 
peace.
  Robert Jackson died in 1954 and is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in 
Frewsburg, New York, not far from his childhood home. The Federal 
Judges and the United States Attorney of the Western District of New 
York have endorsed the naming of the courthouse in Jackson's honor. 
Chief Judge William Skretny called him ``the most distinguished jurist 
and most acclaimed legal mind to come out of the Western District.'' 
And Senior Judge John Curtin said of Jackson, ``I think we should pick 
someone from the court family in western New York. I can't think of a 
better choice.''
  Mr. Speaker, Justice Jackson's story is uniquely American and it's 
uniquely western New York. I will soon introduce legislation to name 
our new courthouse for Robert H. Jackson, and I invite my colleagues to 
join to support this effort.

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