To designate the Federal building located at 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest in the District of Columbia as the 'Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building'.

Madam Speaker, as an original cosponsor and proud Texan, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 584, which designates the national headquarters building of the U.S. Department of Education located in the District of Columbia as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building. I support this bill because it is a fitting tribute to the greatest ``education President'' in the history of our Nation.

It is no exaggeration to say, Madam Speaker, that Lyndon Baines Johnson's record of extending the benefits of education to all Americans in every region of the country, of every race and gender, irrespective of economic class or family background, remains unsurpassed. Lyndon Johnson recognized that the educated citizenry is a nation's greatest economic asset and most powerful guardian of its political liberties.

Madam Speaker, Lyndon Johnson did more than any single American, living or dead, to make the Federal Government a partner with States and localities in the vitally important work of educating the people of America, from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate school. It makes perfect sense, therefore, to name the headquarters building of the U.S. Department of Education in his honor.

Madam Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of the leading figures of the 20th century. This teacher who became a President served his country in numerous, distinguished ways, including as lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, as a Member of both Houses of Congress, as Vice President of the United States, and as the 36th President of the United States.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, TX. In 1927, he enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos, TX--Texas State University--San Marcos. He took a leave of absence for a year to serve as principal and teach fifth, sixth, and seventh grades at Welhausen School, a Mexican-American school in the south Texas town of Cotulla. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in August 1930. After graduation he taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall, TX, and taught public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston, TX. In the spring of 1931, his debate team won the district championship.

In a special election in 1937, Johnson won the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing the 10th Congressional District of Texas, defeating nine other candidates. He was re-elected to a full term in the 76th Congress and to each succeeding Congress until 1948.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Johnson became the first Member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the Armed Forces--U.S. Navy, reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941. Johnson received the Silver Star from GEN Douglas MacArthur for gallantry in action during an aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea on June 9, 1942. President Roosevelt ordered all Members of Congress in the Armed Forces to return to their offices, and Johnson was released from active duty on July 16, 1942.

In 1948, after a campaign in which he traveled by ``newfangled'' helicopter all over the State, Johnson won the primary by 87 votes and earned the nickname ``Landslide Lyndon,'' and in the general election was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was elected minority leader of the Senate in 1953 and majority leader in 1955. He served in the U.S. Senate until he resigned to become Vice President in January 1961.

Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

During his administration, education was one of the many areas where President Johnson blazed new ground. He pursued numerous education initiatives, and signed many landmark education bills into law.

In 1963, President Johnson approved the Higher Education Facilities Act--P.L. 88-204, which authorized a five-year program of Federal grants and loans for construction or improvement of public and private higher education academic facilities. This legislation was the largest education program enacted by Congress since the National Defense Education Act of 1958, and it was the first broad education bill enacted in the post-World War II period that was not tied to national defense.

In 1964, Johnson signed the Library Services Act--P.L. 88-269--to make high quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and rural residents. The funds made available under this act were used to construct as well as operate libraries, and to extend this program to cities as well as rural areas. Later that year, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act--P.L. 88-352, which among its landmark provisions authorized Federal authorities to sue for the desegregation of schools and to withhold Federal funds from education institutions that practiced segregation.

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act--P.L. 89-10--at the former Junction Elementary School in Stonewall, TX, where he first attended school. Sitting beside him as he signed the bill was his first teacher, Mrs. Kathryn Deadrich Loney. This legislation was the first general aid-to-education program ever adopted by Congress, and it provided programs to help educate disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas. Later that year, he also signed the Higher Education Act--P.L. 89-329, which was the first program approved by the U.S. Congress for scholarships to undergraduate students.

In 1965, President Johnson launched Project Head Start, as an 8-week summer program, to help break the cycle of poverty by providing pre- school children from low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Recruiting children from ages three to school-entry age, Head Start was enthusiastically received by education and child development specialists, community leaders, and parents across the Nation. Currently, Head Start continues to serve children and their families each year in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories, as well as many migrant children.

In 1966, President Johnson signed the International Education Act-- P.L. 89-698, which promoted international studies at U.S. colleges and universities.

In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1967--P.L. 90-247, establishing bilingual education programs for non-English speaking children, and providing more funds for special education for disabled children. Later that year, he also signed the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act--P.L. 90-538, which authorized experimental programs for disabled children of pre-school age.

After leaving office, Lyndon Johnson returned to his native Texas and continued his involvement in public education. His presidential papers are housed at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum at the University of Texas, which in 1970 established the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, The ``LBJ School,'' as is commonly known, pioneered what was then regarded as a novel approach to training for public service.

The curriculum combined courses in theory with courses that took students into government agencies to work and conduct research; the faculty included academics from various disciplines as well as practitioners from various levels of government; public service programs included an academic publishing program as well as workshops for government officials. This blend of the academic and the practical remains the distinguishing characteristic of the LBJ School and this highly effective approach to training for public service is today an accepted model for public affairs graduate programs across the country.

Madam Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who died January 22, 1973, will be remembered not only as a great President and Member of Congress, but also as the greatest champion of accessible and affordable quality education for all. President Johnson truly understood the importance of leaving no child behind, and he didn't.

For all these reasons, Madam Speaker, it is most appropriate that the headquarters building of the Department of Education located at 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., in the District of Columbia be designated the ``Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.''

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 584) to designate the headquarters building of the Department of Education in Washington, DC, as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Federal Building, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 584.

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

I commend Congressman Gene Green of Texas for his steadfast advocacy to this bill. In the 109th Congress, he introduced H.R. 4252, a bill to designate the Department of Education headquarters building. Lyndon Baines Johnson, ``the teacher who became President,'' was one of the leading political figures of the 20th century, I think, on both sides of the aisle, it would be agreed.

He served the country in ways too numerous to mention, including lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

A Member of both Houses of Congress, Vice President of the United States and, of course, the 36th President of the United States, we are all aware of President Johnson's humble beginnings in Stonewall, Texas. In 1927, he enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos, Texas, now the Texas State University at San Marcos.

He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in August 1930. After graduation, he taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall, Texas, and taught public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston, Texas. In a special election in 1937, President Johnson won the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing the 10th Congressional District of Texas, defeating nine other candidates. In the next election he was elected to a full term in the 76th Congress and to each succeeding Congress until 1948.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, President Johnson became the first Member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the Armed Forces, enlisting in the U.S. Navy, reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941.

President Johnson received the Silver Star for gallantry from General Douglas MacArthur.

In 1948, he campaigned for and was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was elected minority leader of the Senate in 1953 and majority leader in 1955, where he served until January 1961, when he resigned to become Vice President of the United States.

Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on November 22, 1963, after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

During his administration, education was one of the many areas where Johnson blazed new ground. He pursued numerous education initiatives and signed many landmark education bills into law.

In 1963, President Johnson approved the Higher Education Facilities Act, which authorized a 5-year program of Federal grants and loans for construction for improvement of public and private higher education facilities in 1964. President Johnson signed the Library Services Act in order to make high-quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and rural residents.

Later that year, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which, among its provisions, authorized the Federal authorities to sue for the segregation of schools and to withhold Federal funds from education institutions that practiced segregation, if I may say so. The bill also authorized title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the equal employment part of the act it was my great privilege to enforce as Chair of the EEOC.

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Act. This was the first general aid-to-education program ever adopted, and it provided programs to help educate disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas.

Later that year, he also signed the Higher Education Act, which was the first U.S. congressional approval for scholarships to undergraduate students.

In 1965 as well, President Johnson launched Project Head Start as an 8-week summer program to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs.

In 1966, President Johnson signed the International Education Act, which promoted international studies at United States colleges and universities.

In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act amendments of 1967, establishing bilingual education programs for non- English speaking children and providing more funds for special education for handicapped education.

Later that year, he also signed the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act, which authorized experimental programs for handicapped children of preschool age. After leaving office, President Johnson continued his involvement in education and taught students while he wrote his memoirs and pursued other academic endeavors. President Johnson died January 22, 1973.

Lyndon Baines Johnson will be remembered not only as a great President and Member of the House and of the Senate, but also as a champion of education. Thus, the Department of Education, located at 400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest, Washington, D.C., most appropriately should bear the name of and be designated as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from South Carolina for such time as he may consume.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, the author of the bill, such time as he may require.

Madam Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on both sides?

Does the gentleman have any further speakers?

Madam Speaker, I appreciate very much the courtesy of the gentleman in yielding additional time, and I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson).

Madam Speaker, may I ask Mr. Graves, the gentleman from Missouri, whether he has any more speakers and if he is prepared to yield back his time?

I thank the gentleman again for his courtesy in allowing a number of Members to speak with the time he provided.

Madam Speaker, before I yield back the remainder of our time, I must say that it would be hard to find a greater domestic policy President than Lyndon Baines Johnson. The only one I could think of would be FDR himself, and of course, President Johnson updated the Roosevelt New Deal. In fact, we are naming the education building, the Department of Education building after President Johnson. We could as soon have named the HHS building. This is the Medicare President. This is the Medicaid President.

On both sides of the aisle, the historic accomplishments of this great President have been embraced. And I must tell you, they have certainly been embraced by our constituents. He updated the New Deal. And as we consider what domestic legislation lies ahead for us, I think we would do well to remember that history gets made in one era; and the New Deal era with Social Security, unemployment insurance and the like, and then in another era, new issues come forward. President Johnson found those issues. None could have been more important than education and health care, and I appreciate the bipartisan nature of this bill.

No building should be named in Washington that is not embraced on both sides of the aisle, and there is no more appropriate person to name this building after than President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 584, a bill to designate the Department of Education headquarters building located at 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest in the District of Columbia as the ``Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.''

I commend the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, and his colleagues of the Texas delegation, for their steadfast advocacy for this bill. In the 109th Congress, Mr. Green introduced a similar bill, H.R. 4252. Regrettably, the House did not take action on that legislation.

Lyndon Baines Johnson, ``the Teacher who became President,'' was one of the leading political figures of the 20th century. He served his country in ways too numerous to detail, including as lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Member of both houses of Congress, Vice President of the United States, and the 36th President of the United States.

President Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, TX. In 1927, he enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos, TX--Texas State University--San Marcos. He took a leave of absence for a year to serve as principal and teach fifth, sixth, and seventh grades at Welhausen School, a school in the south Texas town of Cotulla. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in August 1930. After graduation, he taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall, TX, and taught public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston, TX.

In a special election in 1937, Johnson won the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing the 10th Congressional District of Texas, defeating nine other candidates. In the next election, he was re-elected to a full term in the 76th Congress and to each succeeding Congress until 1948.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Johnson became the first Member of Congress to volunteer for active duty in the Armed Forces--U.S. Navy, reporting for active duty on December 9, 1941. Johnson received the Silver Star from GEN Douglas MacArthur for gallantry in action during an aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea on June 9, 1942. President Roosevelt ordered all Members of Congress in the Armed Forces to return to their offices, and Johnson was released from active duty on July 16, 1942.

In 1948, he campaigned for and was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was elected minority leader of the Senate in 1953 and majority leader in 1955, where he served until January 1961, when he resigned to become Vice President.

Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

During President Johnson's administration, education was one of the many areas where Johnson blazed new ground. He pursued numerous education initiatives, and signed many landmark education bills into law.

In 1963, President Johnson approved the Higher Education Facilities Act--P.L. 88-204--which authorized a 5-year program of Federal grants and loans for construction or improvement of public and private higher education academic facilities. This legislation created the largest education program since enactment of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, and it was the first comprehensive education bill enacted in the post-World War II period that was not tied to national defense.

In 1964, President Johnson signed the Library Services Act--P.L. 88- 269--to make high quality public libraries more accessible to both urban and rural residents. The funds made available under this act were used to construct as well as operate libraries, and to extend this program to cities as well as rural areas. Later that year, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act--P.L. 88-352--which, among its landmark provisions, authorized Federal authorities to sue for the desegregation of schools and to withhold Federal funds from education institutions that practiced segregation.

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Act-- P.L. 89-10. This legislation was the first general aid-to-education program ever adopted by Congress, and it provided programs to help educate disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas. Later that year, he also signed the Higher Education Act--P.L. 89-329, which was the first program approved by Congress for scholarships to undergraduate students.

President Johnson launched Project Head Start, as an 8-week summer program in 1965, to help break the cycle of poverty by providing pre- school children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Recruiting children ages three to school-entry age, Head Start was enthusiastically received by education and child development specialists, community leaders, and parents across the Nation. Currently, Head Start continues to serve children and their families each year in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories, including many American Indian and migrant children.

In 1966, President Johnson signed the International Education Act-- P.L. 89-698, which promoted international studies at U.S. colleges and universities.

In 1968, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1967--P.L. 90-247, establishing bilingual education programs for non-English speaking children, and providing more funds for special education for disabled children. Later that year, President Johnson also signed the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act--P.L. 90-538, which authorized experimental programs for disabled children of pre-school age.

After leaving office, Lyndon Baines Johnson continued his involvement in education and taught students while he wrote his memoirs and pursued other academic endeavors. Lyndon Johnson died January 22, 1973.

Lyndon Baines Johnson will be remembered not only as a great President and Member of Congress, but also as a champion for education. Thus, it is very appropriate that the headquarters building of the Department of Education, located at 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest in the District of Columbia, be designated as the ``Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.''

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 584.

Madam Speaker, as author and sponsor of the bill, I rise in strong support of H.R. 584. I would like to thank both Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Norton and Ranking Member Mica and Ranking Member Graves for moving this legislation out of committee, and I like to thank Majority Leader Hoyer for bringing it to the floor.

A bipartisan group of Texas delegation members introduced this bill to name the Department of Education headquarters building in Washington, D.C. the Lyndon Baines Johnson Federal Building. We now have over 50 cosponsors from around the country, and I am proud to be joined on this legislation by the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Joe Barton, who just spoke, Congressman Mike McCaul, and also our dean of the Texas delegation, Congressman Solomon Ortiz. Representative McCaul actually represents the Johnson family in Congress. Their bipartisan efforts have helped move this bill to the floor, and I think they should be congratulated for the efforts.

I would say one thing, though. Former Congressman Jack Brooks is not deceased. He is still much alive, and Congressman Barton, I suspect you will be getting a call very shortly from Jack Brooks, as we all know, former dean of the Texas delegation.

I did have the opportunity at a very young age to meet President Johnson. In January 1973, I was a young State Representative in Austin, Texas, my first term. President Johnson came to our swearing in my first term in 1973, and I actually got a very candid photo with him that I hang proudly in our office here in Washington. He passed away a week later, and I was honored to be able to go to his funeral and his burial there at the Johnson Ranch.

President Johnson was a proud Texan, and back in those days, many of my Republican friends were Democrats as well. President Johnson pioneered issues such as civil rights and voting rights, but his educational leadership stands out even among these accomplishments. President Johnson passed away over 30 years ago, and to this day, he has no Federal buildings in his name in the Capitol area. So we believe the Education Building is a fitting honor. Presidents Reagan and Bush have been honored with the International Trade Center for President Reagan and the Central Intelligence Agency building for President Bush reflecting their priorities and contributions.

President Johnson presided during turbulent times in our Nation's history. He ascended to the presidency after the Kennedy assassination and faced a difficult conflict in Southeast Asia. President Johnson was a very human figure, but his legacy is with us in many ways today.

Lyndon Johnson's first priority in life was education. He was the first ``Education President.'' Before Johnson, educational opportunity in America was not a national priority, as it continues to be today for both our parties, including current President George W. Bush.

In 1927, Lyndon Baines Johnson's career and education began when he went to Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos, Texas. He earned money as a janitor and taught the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades at the Mexican-American School in the South Texas town of Cotulla. He taught later at Sam Houston High School, which is part of our congressional district.

As a Jeff Davis High School student, which Madam Speaker, you actually visited a few years ago, in 1965 and 1966, I saw the impact of the first Federal dollars that came to my high school firsthand.

In his memoirs, President Johnson declared, ``There is an old saying that kids is where the money ain't.'' And I need to repeat that. That may be true today, Madam Speaker, ``That kids is where the money ain't, which summed up one of the major problems confronting the American educational system when I became President.'' And that is a direct quote.

Continuing the quote, ``because of these convictions, I made a personal decision during the 1964 Presidential campaign to make education a fundamental issue and to put it high on the Nation's agenda.

``I proposed to act on my belief that, regardless of a family's financial condition, education should be available to every child in the United States, as much education as he or she could absorb. I had no intention of walking away from this fight.''

President Johnson succeeded in his fight to improve education for all Americans. He signed into law 60 education bills, including the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which established the Head Start program, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Higher Education Act of 1965.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was the first real Federal assistance to grade school education, and it is widely supported today. The President actually signed that in a one-room schoolhouse in Stonewall, Texas, with his elementary school teacher.

In large part, President Johnson's education priorities are accepted by both political parties, as some of them were then. The Higher Education Act passed by 368-22 in the House and 79-3 in the Senate, strong bipartisanship votes.

In discussing President Johnson's education legacy, we have to recognize First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, who was also a major contributor and strong advocate for his educational initiatives. During her White House years, Ms. Johnson served as honorary chair of the National Head Start program, the program for underprivileged school children which prepares them to take their places in the classroom on par with their peers.

In part for her education efforts, President Ford presented her with the country's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. Mrs. Johnson turned 94 last December, and hopefully she is listening to this debate.

Mrs. Johnson also received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Reagan in 1988. This legislation is a fitting honor for both President Lyndon Baines Johnson and also First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson.

I want to thank Congressman Graves for his gracious allocation of time.

I rise in strong support for H.R. 584, a bill to name the Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Federal Building. I am proud to be the primary Republican sponsor of this legislation, and I believe that all the Republicans in the Texas delegation have also cosponsored this particular piece of legislation.

I commend Mr. Green of Texas for being the primary sponsor of the overall bill and his tireless work on this. He has worked on it for a number of years now, and it is good to see that it has finally come to fruition.

I never had the privilege to meet the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson. I wish I had. I am a great admirer of his in many ways, not so much some of the policies that he pursued, but I am a great admirer of the enthusiasm and the tenacity with which he pursued those policies.

In my first campaign for Congress in 1984, I read the first Caro book, ``Path to Power,'' the first installment of that, and required all my campaign staff to read that book; because President Johnson, when he ran for Congress in the 1930s in the middle of the Depression, he made it a motto of his that he would literally search out the voters of his congressional district one by one, whether they were in the fields plowing or in the stores working or at church socials or wherever. He went where the people were to spread his message.

And I took that to heart, and numerous times traveled hundreds of miles to meet with small groups and in a few cases one or two people just so I could have an option. On one occasion, I went and met with a gentleman at 6 a.m. because he didn't think I would show up at 6 a.m., and so he said meet him at 6 a.m. when he opened his business. And I was there at 5:45. On another occasion, a banker in Houston couldn't see me. I waited in his waiting room from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 8:30 that evening, and finally, in exasperation, he agreed to see me and, before I left, had given me a substantial contribution and agreed to let me use his name on my steering committee. Those were both things that I got from the way President Johnson ran his campaign.

In terms of his policies, the two bills that he supported that became law that had the greatest impact on my life were the creation of the White House Fellows program in 1965. I was a White House Fellow in 1981 and 1982. That is a program that President Johnson established to bring young Americans to Washington for a year to work in the Cabinet agencies, and then either go back to their areas or to stay in Washington. And so far, there have been about, I believe, 700 young Americans have gone through that program. Texans like Henry Cisneros come to mind, a former White House Fellow. Colin Powell is a former White House Fellow, Senator Sam Brownback in the other body is a former White House Fellow. But it had a tremendous impact on my life and led me for the first time to think about trying to become a Member of this body.

Another program that President Johnson established was the Head Start program. And in the summer I believe of 1964 or 1965, when that program was established in Waco, Texas, my mother became a Head Start assistant at Brooke Avenue Elementary School in Waco, Texas, at a time when my family was in need of financial income, and so she decided to work part time outside the home and went to work at a Head Start program; and, because of that, became a school secretary and spent her career in education. The impact on me that summer was, I was the oldest child, and it forced me to learn to cook, learn to clean and learn to take care of my three younger brothers and sisters.

I will never forget the day that my father showed up for lunch and I had been trying to make gravy. To this day, that gravy is still in the pan because it would not come out of the pan when you turned it upside down. That was my one and only attempt to learn how to make gravy. And my father said, ``From now on, son, if you need to make gravy, ask your mother to do it or ask me to do it, but nobody can eat what you are trying to make.'' So thanks to President Johnson, I never had to learn to cook, because that was one of the few times I even attempted it.

So I rise in strong support of this piece of legislation. President Johnson was a great President, he was a great American, and he was obviously a great Texan. And there are still people in Washington today that are effective in the political arena. People that come to mind that are still active in Washington, Jack Valenti who was for many years the president of the Motion Picture Association of America who came to Washington with President Johnson, and an attorney named Harry McPherson who is still active in his practice, he, too, was involved with the President. Some of the former members of this body, the late Jake Pickle, the late Jack Brooks, were LBJ proteges. And then former Governor of Texas, John Connelly, a good friend of mine who helped me politically when I was getting started, is another protege of Lyndon Johnson.

So I am proud to be a cosponsor of the bill with Congressman Green. I think it is right to honor President Johnson with this building. He wanted to be known as the ``educational president'' and did many, many things to bring forth public education for our citizens.