To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 200 West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio, as the "Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse".

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) for doing this. It is a tremendous symbol of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats coming together, nothing to gain. Mr. Hall is gone. And yet the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) does this. I want to thank him. Also it is interesting that we have Members from both sides, Republican and Democrat, who have come together to agree on the impact that Congressman Hall has had not only on this institution, but also the poor and the hungry of the world.

Tony has said many times that when you give to the poor, and it is from Proverbs, you really lend to God. And no one that I know has taken their faith into the world and into the community, if you will, and had a greater impact on the lives of the poor and the hungry and the naked. His life was almost a kind of symbol of the Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the poor, the hungry, the naked, and those in prison. Tony has taken that.

He has also had an impact on the lives of a lot of Members in this body. There is a statement by Francis of Assisi that, I would rather see a sermon than hear a sermon. And by watching Tony Hall, and not listening but watching it, we have seen the sermon whereby he has taken his life, as the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) has said.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Tony and his wife, Janet, and their daughter Jill for the life here, but the life is just kind of beginning.

Tony has now left this institution and is in Rome and doing as much there, and we are going to hear a lot more about Tony Hall. This is not like we get some bills whereby somebody has come to the end and is moving back to their district, they are buying a retirement home down in wherever they are. This guy is just kind of moving out. He is a young man, just beginning, and we will see a lot from Tony.

Lastly, I want to personally thank Tony Hall. He asked me to go to Ethiopia in 1984 and took me to Romania in 1985, which literally changed the direction of my life in this institution. So on behalf of all the Members on both sides of the aisle, we thank Tony for the impact he has had on this institution and on our lives, and particularly for taking care of the poor and hungry around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 548, to designate the Federal Building and United States courthouse at West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio, as the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse.''

Our former colleague Tony Hall, the representative of the 3rd District of Ohio for nearly 24 years, continues to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies located in Rome, Italy, since his appointment by President Bush in 2002. As you may recall, Tony resigned his House seat to take up the ambassadorial post in Rome, where he is continuing his passionate work as a leading advocate for ending hunger and promoting food security around the world.

I want to thank Congressman David Hobson of Ohio for introducing H.R. 548 to honor Tony in his hometown of Dayton by attaching his name to the Federal building and courthouse there. It is an appropriate recognition

for the nearly 24 years of service in the House and the 10 years of service in the Ohio General Assembly that Tony Hall provided to the people of Dayton and surrounding areas.

I miss my dear friend Tony very much as our colleague in the House, but I know that he is absolutely the right person to be serving as the United States Representative to the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development, all agencies of the United Nations which assist international hunger-relief efforts.

Tony Hall's name is synonymous with the cause of alleviating hunger both domestically and worldwide. He believes that food is the most basic of human needs, the most basic of human rights.

He passionately worked to convince others that the cause of hunger, which often gets lost in the legislative shuffle and pushed aside by more visible issues, deserved a prominent share of attention and resources to assist people who are the most at risk and too often the least defended.

He also worked as a tireless advocate for the cause of human rights around the world and focused his attention on the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone. He convinced me to travel with him to Sierra Leone in late 1999 to see how the machete-wielding rebels there intimidated men, women and children by hacking off arms, legs, and ears. He led the effort in bringing to the attention of Congress the conflict diamond trade and authoring legislation to certify that the diamonds Americans buy are not tainted with the blood of the people of Sierra Leone and other African nations.

We also traveled together in January 2002 to Afghanistan with Congressman Joe Pitts as the first congressional delegation to that country after the launch of the war on terrorism. We visited hospitals, an orphanage, schools, and refugee camps. We met with U.S. diplomats and soldiers; with local leaders and officials with direct responsibility for humanitarian problems and refugees; with representatives of the United Nations and private relief organizations; and in Pakistan with refugees and members of religious minority groups.

Tony is never deterred in his effort to help make a positive difference in the lives of suffering people. In his years in Congress, he traveled to wherever the need arose and met with whomever he could to effect change, taking risks few would take, with his own comfort and safety never entering his mind.

I believe Tony's life destiny is to be a servant. During 1966 and 1967, he taught English in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer.

He returned to Dayton to work as a realtor and small businessman for several years, but before long, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives where he served from 1969 to 1972, and then to the Ohio Senate, serving from 1973 to 1978. On November 7, 1978, Tony was elected to the House of Representatives from the 3rd District of Ohio and served with distinction for over two decades.

Tony Hall is an inspiration to everyone fortunate enough to know him. He has a wonderful combination of compassion and passion filled with spiritual purpose--compassion to see the suffering in the less fortunate in the world and the passion to work to do something about it.

I urge a unanimous vote in support of H.R. 548, to recognize the dedicated public service of Tony Hall by naming the Federal building and courthouse in Dayton, OH, in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 548, to designate the Federal Building and United States courthouse at West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio, as the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse.''

Our former colleague Tony Hall, the representative of the 3rd District of Ohio for nearly 24 years, continues to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies located in Rome, Italy, since his appointment by President Bush in 2002. As you may recall, Tony resigned his House seat to take up the ambassadorial post in Rome, where he is continuing his passionate work as a leading advocate for ending hunger and promoting food security around the world.

I want to thank Congressman David Hobson of Ohio for introducing H.R. 548 to honor Tony in his hometown of Dayton by attaching his name to the Federal building and courthouse there. It is an appropriate recognition for the nearly 24 years of service in the House and the 10 years of service in the Ohio General Assembly that Tony Hall provided to the people of Dayton and surrounding areas.

I miss my dear friend Tony very much as our colleague in the House, but I know that he is absolutely the right person to be serving as the United States representative to the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development, all agencies of the United Nations which assist international hunger-relief efforts.

Tony Hall's name is synonymous with the cause of alleviating hunger both domestically and worldwide. He believes that food is the most basic of human needs, the most basic of human rights.

He passionately worked to convince others that the cause of hunger, which often gets lost in the legislative shuffle and pushed aside by more visible issues, deserved a prominent share of attention and resources to assist people who are the most at risk and too often the least defended.

He also worked as a tireless advocate for the cause of human rights around the world and focused his attention on the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone. He convinced me to travel with him to Sierra Leone in late 1999 to see how the machete-wielding rebels there intimidated men, women and children by hacking off arms, legs, and ears. He led the effort in bringing to the attention of Congress the conflict, diamond trade and authoring legislation to certify that the diamonds Americans buy are not tainted with the blood of the people of Sierra Leone and other African nations.

We also traveled together in January 2002 to Afghanistan with Congressman Joe Pitts as the first congressional delegation to that country after the launch of the war on terrorism. We visited hospitals, an orphanage, schools, and refugee camps. We met with U.S. diplomats and soldiers; with local leaders and officials with direct responsibility for humanitarian problems and refugees; with representatives of United Nations and private relief organizations; and in Pakistan with refugees and members of religious minority groups.

Tony is never deterred in his effort to help make a positive difference in the lives of suffering people. In his years in Congress, he traveled to wherever the need arose and met with whomever he could to effect change, taking risks few would take, with his own comfort and safety never entering his mind.

I believe Tony's life destiny is to be a servant. During 1966 and 1967, he taught English in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer.

He returned to Dayton to work as a realtor and small businessman for several years, but before long, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives where he served from 1969 to 1972, and then to the Ohio Senate, serving from 1973 to 1978. On November 7, 1978, Tony was elected to the House of Representatives from the 3rd District of Ohio and served with distinction for over two decades.

Tony Hall is an inspiration to everyone fortunate enough to know him. He has a wonderful combination of compassion and passion filled with spiritual purpose--compassion to see the suffering in the less fortunate in the world and the passion to work to do something about it.

I urge a unanimous vote in support of H.R. 548, to recognize the dedicated public service of Tony Hall by naming the Federal building and courthouse in Dayton, Ohio, in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) mentioned that Tony Hall was a friend to every Democrat and every Republican in this body. He and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) reached across the aisle united in a goal to alleviate hunger throughout the world, to be a friend to those who were sick and in need of hope. He is not only our friend but every sick child in every poor country of the world has a friend in Tony Hall. Anyone who goes to bed hungry in those countries tonight has an advocate in Tony Hall. And those that do not have a job in these poor countries that only wish to work and help bring up their children and educate them, they all have a tireless supporter in Tony Hall.

If anyone has done what we might say is the work of the Lord or of our God throughout this world it is Tony Hall.

The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) last year on the floor of this House described our colleague, former colleague, as the ``real deal,'' and he is the real deal. He was the same back in his district and here in Washington as when he goes to emerging third world countries. Back in his district, where he served for 24 years, the longest-serving Member from Dayton, Ohio, in the history of this Congress, he organized programs to take surplus and leftover food down to the shelters in his district, homeless shelters. And through those programs today on the streets of Dayton and other cities in Ohio, people will go to bed tonight with food in their stomachs because of his efforts in their own hometown.

When he was in Washington, he was a tireless advocate. You may recall in 1993 as chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger that that committee was abolished. Tony Hall went on a hunger strike not for one day, not for 5 days, not for 10 days, but for 22 days. He fasted and went without food. Now that is commitment. That is a ministry.

Now today he is doing the same thing as our ambassador to the U.N. agency in Rome. He is not riding a desk. He is not sitting back and have others report to him. He is going out. And his average day is not spent in Rome, but it is spent traveling throughout the world, seeing firsthand, witnessing these different programs, finding out those that work and improving them, finding out those that do not work and are failing. And even today, he is doing what he did here. Poor children, those that are sick, those that are without hope, Tony Hall today in his travels throughout the world is making a better life for them and for us.

Let me close by simply discussing two things. One is a 3-page resume, but it is really a witness to a life well served, a life of commitment and devotion, a ministry and a passion that Tony Hall has to the poor and the hungry and the hopeless of this world. UNICEF awards, Oxfam awards, Bread for the World Award, numbers of awards. But Tony Hall would say, Do not recognize me for that. Recognize me for the hope that I have brought to the world, to the poor and the sick and the hopeless.

I also would like to introduce this 3-page document, a life well lived, a life really which ought to be honored, and a courthouse is the least thing we should do for him, but also a tribute that the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) gave to this great American, this great individual, Tony Hall. And to him and his wife, Janet, I give my sincere and utmost thanks for everything they have done to make this a better world for all of us.

Ambassador Tony P. Hall

Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Ambassador

Tony P. Hall is a leading advocate for hunger relief programs

and improving human rights conditions in the world. In

February 2002, President George W. Bush asked him to serve as

the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies

for Food and Agriculture. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate

and was sworn in by Secretary of State Colin Powell in

September 2002.

Prior to entering the diplomatic corps the Dayton, Ohio

native represented the Third District of Ohio in the U.S.

House of Representatives for almost twenty-four years, their

longest serving representative in history. During his tenure,

he was chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger and

the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Hunger. He founded and

was one of two House members on the steering committee of the

Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors. He authored

legislation that supported food aid, child survival, basic

education, primary health care, micro-enterprise, and

development assistance in the world's poorest countries.

Ambassador Hall also founded and chaired the Congressional

Hunger Center, a non-governmental organization committed to

ending hunger through training and educational programs for

emerging leaders.

A founding member of the Select Committee on Hunger, Mr.

Hall served as its chairman from 1989 to 1993. During this

time, he initiated legislation enacted into law to fight

hunger-related diseases in developing nations. He sponsored a

successful 1990 emergency measure to assist state-run Women,

Infants and Children (WIC) programs. Mr. Hall helped to

establish a clearinghouse that provided food through

gleaning, a process of gathering grains and produce left on

the ground after harvesting. Mr. Hall has worked to promote

micro-enterprise to reduce joblessness. In response to the

abolishment of the Hunger Committee in April 1993, he fasted

for 22 days to draw attention to the needs of hungry people

in the United States and around the world.

In his efforts to witness the plight of the poor and hungry

first-hand, he has visited poverty-stricken and war-torn

regions in more than 100 countries. He was the first Member

of Congress to visit Ethiopia during the great famine of

1984-5. He has visited North Korea six times since 1995, and

was one of the first Western officials to see the famine

outside of the capital, Pyongyang. In 2000, he became the

first Member of Congress to visit Iraq to investigate the

humanitarian situation. During his second week as Ambassador,

he traveled to Zimbabwe and Malawi to see the food deficit

crisis in southern Africa.

Mr. Hall has worked actively to improve human rights

conditions around the world, especially in the Philippines,

East Timor, Paraguay, South Korea, Romania, and the former

Soviet Union. In 2000, he introduced legislation to end the

importation of conflict diamonds mined in regions of Sierra

Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1983

he founded the Congressional Friends of Human Rights

Monitors. In 1999, he was a leader in Congress calling for

the United States to pay its back dues to the United Nations.

In 1997 and 2000, Mr. Hall introduced legislation calling on

Congress to apologize for slavery. He also has worked at

promoting reconciliation among diverse peoples through a

number of private initiatives.

In 1964 Mr. Hall graduated from Denison University in

Granville, Ohio where he was a Little All-American football

player. During 1966 and 1967, Mr. Hall taught English in

Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He returned to Dayton to

work as a realtor and he was a small businessman for several

years. Mr. Hall and his wife Janet raised two children.

Mr. Hall served in the Ohio House of Representatives from

1969 to 1972, and in the Ohio Senate from 1973 to 1978. On

November 7, 1978, Mr. Hall was selected to the 96th Congress.

He served on the Foreign Affairs and Small Business

Committees before being appointed to the Rules Committee at

the beginning of the 97th Congress.

Ambassador Hall was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for

1998, 1999 and 2001 for his humanitarian and hunger-related

work. For his hunger legislation and for his proposal for a

Humanitarian Summit in the Horn of Africa, Mr. Hall and the

Hunger Committee received the 1992 Silver World Food Day

Medal from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Mr. Hall

is a recipient of the United States Committee for UNICEF 1995

Children's Legislative Advocate Award, U.S. AID Presidential

End Hunger Award, 1992 Oxfam America Partners Award, Bread

for the World Distinguished Service Against Hunger Award, and

NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. He received honorary Doctor of

Laws degrees from Asbury College, Antioch College and Eastern

College and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola

College in Baltimore. In 1994, President Clinton nominated

Mr. Hall for the position of UNICEF Executive Director.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation now under consideration by the House would permanently name the Dayton Ohio Federal building in honor of our good friend and former colleague, Tony Hall. This legislation which, as I introduced, as you have heard, has been cosponsored by every member on both sides of the aisle of the Ohio delegation. For nearly 24 years Tony Hall represented Ohio's Third Congressional District with honor and distinction. And he currently serves as United States ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies in Rome. There he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of those who face the hardships of hunger around the world.

In Congress, Tony was always guided by his faith and family. He spent 21 years on the House Rules Committee, was a founding member of the select committee on hunger, and a founder and chairman of the congressional hunger center.

As colleagues, Tony and I worked together in a partnership for the benefit of citizens of the Miami Valley on numerous projects and initiatives, including those involving Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, which is the first bill that I passed in this legislature.

A leading humanitarian, Tony has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with hunger, relief aid programs, and improving international human rights conditions.

Tony was a football star, a little All American at Denison, a Peace Corps volunteer, a noted world traveler, and

a devoted husband and father and a dedicated public servant.

We are all better people today because Tony Hall was in Congress. The example he set in working to improve the lives of others is something that all of us can learn from.

This legislation is a lasting way to pay tribute to Tony's efforts over the years, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill. And I hope we will meet with better success this year in the other body than we did in the two previous years. And I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my fellow Ohioan and good friend, Tony Hall.

For years, Tony and I have worked together for the benefit of the citizens of the Miami Valley on numerous projects and initiatives. I am very happy that he has this new opportunity to work directly on hunger issues at the United Nations, but it is still very said to see him leave the House of Representatives.

Tony is now at the end of a nearly 24-year career representing the people of Montgomery County on Capitol Hill and is taking his crusade against hunger to a global stage.

The youngest son of one of Dayton's most beloved mayors, Tony has been a football star, a Peace Corps volunteer, a noted world traveler, a devoted husband and father, and a dedicated public servant. Tony has become the area's longest-serving Congressman and a three-time Nobel nominee known worldwide for his work against hunger.

In Congress, Hall has been guided by faith and family and never chosen Capitol Hill events over the importance of being home with his wife and children. He has spent 21 years on the House Rules Committee, and I have been pleased to work with Tony on numerous local projects for the Miami Valley: from supporting the National Composites Center, to saving the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Ten years ago, Tony and I worked to establish the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park and we just recently embarked upon a new effort to create the National Aviation Heritage area to preserve Ohio's aviation heritage for the future.

When I first came to Congress, Tony was one of the first Members of Congress to reach out to me, and show me the ropes. He didn't have to do that, and I have always appreciated his willingness to make me feel comfortable in this new environment.

Nobody goes around Capitol Hill grumbling about Tony Hall. He is the genuine article, he works hard for his constituents and he is a man of principle, and of his world.

Tony has managed to be a positive force, despite the difficult challenges he has faced in his personal life. We are all better people because Tony Hall has been here.

As Ohio's Seventh District Representative to the Congress of the United States, I take this opportunity to join with members of the Ohio delegation to honor the efforts and the many outstanding achievements of Rep. Tony Hall. His many contributions as a member of the House of Representatives and leadership will be remembered.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 548, a bill to honor our former colleague Tony Hall by designating the federal building located at 200 West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio as the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse.'' The House introduced and passed two similar bills with strong bipartisan support in the 107th and 108th Congresses. Unfortunately, the other body did not vote on either bill. We reintroduced this legislation early in this session and are considering it today to ensure that Congress has the opportunity to complete action on it in the 109th Congress.

Tony Hall was elected to his first term in Congress in 1978. He went on to serve 11 consecutive terms. Congressman Hall spent 21 years on the House Rules Committee and was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Hunger. Congressman Hall's long career in public service is distinguished by his unwavering commitment to humanitarian causes, in particular to combating hunger issues not only in this country, but also among the world population. His early commitment to helping others and serving this Nation began in the Peace Corps, which he joined in 1966 after graduating from Denison University in Ohio.

I witnessed this commitment first hand in 1983 when I traveled with Congressman Hall and two other colleagues to Kansas City. At a time of high unemployment in our country, the Federal Government was storing surplus milk, butter and cheese in Kansas City. Congressman Hall was determined to focus national attention on this issue and press for the release of this surplus food into general distribution. He even personally went on a hunger strike to compel the government to release the stored food. As a result of these efforts, the stored food was eventually distributed to homeless shelters and the general public.

Throughout his career, Congressman Hall focused on helping those in need. He promoted economic development that created jobs, championed efforts to ease food-stamp reductions, and in 1997, spearheaded the ``Hunger Has A Cure'' campaign.

In the international arena, Congressman Hall visited numerous countries around the world in an effort to focus attention on the problems of world hunger and to promote international aid. He took part in one of the first Congressional delegation trips to Ethiopia in the 99th Congress, and he traveled to Bangladesh to observe disaster relief programs in the 100th Congress. Congressman Hall also helped create the Select Committee on Hunger, which focused on the problem of hunger both domestically and internationally. He served as Chairman of that Select Committee from 1988 until its elimination in 1993. He was also founder and co-chair of the Congressional Hunger Center, a nonprofit organization created to bring awareness to world hunger concerns. Tony Hall made numerous other trips across the world to serve as an advocate for human rights, including a trip to draw attention to the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone.

Congressman Hall continues to work to banish world hunger and promote developmental assistance. In 2002, President Bush appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He was once

aptly described by former colleague Eva Clayton as ``the moral conscience of Congress on issues of hunger and poverty.'' This bill to designate the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse'' is a fitting tribute to the compassion and humanity with which Ambassador Hall conducts his public service.

I urge all of my colleagues to honor Tony Hall and to support H.R. 548.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 548) to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 200 West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio, as the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse''.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring before the House H.R. 548, introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from Springfield, Ohio (Mr. Hobson), which designates the Federal building and United States courthouse at 200 West 2nd Street in Dayton, Ohio, as the ``Tony Hall Federal Building and United States Courthouse.''

Tony Hall's record of service to the United States and the world is well documented. He has served as a teacher of English in Southeast Asia, a member of the Ohio State legislature, a member of the House of Representatives and, now, as an official with the United Nations.

During each of these endeavors, Tony Hall worked to make life better for those less fortunate, whether it was educating a single child who may not otherwise have attended school, or as an administrator of an international organization bringing food to the hungry worldwide.

This is an appropriate honor that has the support of the entire Ohio delegation. Unfortunately, this is the third time that this matter has come to the Floor. During the 107th and 108th Congresses, my predecessor, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), brought this matter before the House and each time it passed by voice vote, but was never considered by the Senate.

As a new subcommittee chairman, it is my pleasure to continue his efforts to get this bill enacted into law. I hope the results of our consideration this year will be more positive.

I support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson).

Mr. Speaker I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).

(Mr. BACHUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).

(Mr. REGULA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers at this time. Again, Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to support H.R. 548 in honor of Tony Hall and for what he has done for this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.