An act to designate the United States courthouse located in the 700 block of East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, as the "Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., United States Courthouse".

Mr. Speaker, allow me to rise for a brief moment to congratulate the Senators from Virginia and my good from friend and colleague on the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Scott, and, of course, the manager of this legislation and the minority manager as well.

No one who has benefited from the civil rights of the law, if you will, could ignore the contributions of Spottswood William Robinson III. So I rise today to again add my respect for the naming of this courthouse after these two jurists, both Robert Merhige and of course Spottswood W. Robinson III, but particularly want to add my appreciation to what Judge Robinson did for education in the lawsuit that was filed on behalf of 100 parents and 450 students at Moton High School in Prince Edward County, convinced that their only chance was getting this case before the Supreme Court. In addition, his work on the 1954 Brown versus Board of Education, the work of his efforts with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he laid the pathway for those of us who are the beneficiaries of his great work.

Let me also suggest that the same with Robert Merhige and his work on civil rights issues but also dealing with major corporate litigation cases.

These namings sometimes are alluded to as not being very important, but as we proceed on many important issues such as solving the energy crisis, I'm glad, Mr. Speaker, that we stop for a moment to give honor to individuals who laid the groundwork not only for me and those like me but really for America, and those who stand on the floor of the House that value democracy and equal opportunity, these individuals are deserving of the respect and admiration of this United States Congress and certainly are deserving of the naming of the courthouse after them.

I rise today in support of S. 2403, which designates the new Federal courthouse in Richmond, Virginia as the ``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse.'' I want to thank Senator Warner and the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure, and Senator Webb, for remembering a great educator, civil rights attorney, and judge, along with U.S. Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia who has championed this legislation.

background

Spottswood William Robinson III

Spottswood William Robinson III, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 1916. He attended Virginia Union University and then attended Howard University School of Law, graduating first in his class in 1939.

Like his fellow jurist, Thurgood Marshall, he often credited the law school with instilling in its students the notion of social responsibility. He said, ``one of the things that was drilled into my head was . . . `This legal education that you're getting is not just for you, it was for everybody. So when you leave here, you want to put it to good use.' ''

Spottswood Robinson argued one of the Supreme Court cases that led to the 1954 decision striking down school segregation. In early 1951, Robinson, who would later become a Federal judge, and his law partner in Richmond had no plans to attack school segregation in Virginia as unconstitutional. They were more focused on forcing local school systems to invest more in segregated black schools.

But that was before Barbara Johns, a high school junior, called their law office in April. She complained that nothing at her school--buses, textbooks, facilities--even approached the quality of those provided at White schools.

Robinson and his then-law partner Oliver Hill filed suit on behalf of 100 parents of 450 students at Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Va., convinced that their only chance lay in getting the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The issues in that case and four others--including Brown vs. Board of Education--were decided in the high court's historic 1954 Brown decision declaring ``separate but equal'' schools unconstitutional.

Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder wrote in a tribute to Robinson that, ``Where one can ride on a bus, a train, or plane, or where one can live and rent or buy a house, or whether public education has to be given the same level to all people are basic Issues. Spottswood Robinson has been there . . . in his quiet, unassuming . . . way, charting and paving a path for countless Americans . . . who owe to him a great debt of gratitude.''

Judge Robinson was a faculty member of the Howard University School of Law from his graduation in 1939 until 1947. Judge Robinson was one of the core attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1948 to 1960. Through the NAACP LDF Robinson worked on important civil rights cases including Brown v. Board of Education and Chance v. Lambeth, 4th Cir., 1951, establishing the invalidity of carrier- enforced racial segregation in interstate transportation.

From 1960-64 Spottswood Robinson became Dean of the Howard University School of Law. He then served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1961 to 1963.

In 1964, Judge Robinson was the first African-American to be appointed the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In 1966, Judge Robinson became the first African-American appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when he was appointed by President Johnson.

On May 7, 1981, Judge Robinson became the first African-American to serve as Chief Judge of the court. Judge Robinson took senior status in 1989 and later retired. He passed on in 1998. Leaving behind a legacy of civil rights leadership and legal advocacy. Robert R. Merhige, Jr.

Robert R. Merhige Jr., was the U.S. District Court judge who ordered Virginia schools desegregated and presided over major corporate litigation cases. His unusually long tenure on the Federal bench--31 years--brought him many cases of national importance. He wrote the decision for a three-judge panel that threw out the appeals of Watergate figures G. Gordon Liddy, Bernard Barker, and Eugenio Martinez, after they were convicted of breaking into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist.

He ordered the University of Virginia to admit women in 1970. He clarified the rights of pregnant women to keep their jobs. He presided over the trials of Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party members accused of injuring and killing members of the Communist Workers Party in Greensboro, NC, in 1979.

No decision made him more unpopular than his orders to integrate dozens of Virginia's school systems. He was widely considered the most hated man in Richmond in the early 1970s and required 24-hour protection by U.S. marshals. Segregationists threatened his family, spat in his face, and shot his dog to death after tying its legs. Protesters held weekly parades outside his home. A guest cottage on his property, where his mother-in-law lived, was burned to the ground.

Not long ago he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he was still amazed, disappointed and angry at the public reaction to his rulings. He was known for his kindness and integrity and for brooking no delays or foolishness in his court, part of the Eastern District of Virginia known as the ``rocket docket.'' He once ordered a marshal to remove a man who had fallen asleep in the courtroom. The man, it turned out, was his father.

Born in New York, Mr. Merhige attended High Point College in North Carolina and received his law degree from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law in 1942.

He served in the Army Air Forces in World War II as a crewman on a B- 17 bomber based in Italy. Mr. Merhige practiced law in Richmond from 1945 until he was appointed to the Federal bench in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Two weeks into his job, the new judge drew the first of the controversial cases that became the hallmark of his career. He ordered the release of African-American activist H. Rap Brown, who was imprisoned in Virginia after making an impassioned and militant speech in Maryland.

In 1968, Mr. Merhige ruled that the conflict in Vietnam was a war, whether or not it was a declared war. That ruling came in a case in which 96 Army reservists tried to avoid serving in Vietnam. Mr. Merhige denied their request.

On a tour of his memorabilia-filled chambers two decades later, a reporter noted that among signed photographs, which ranged from former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to former attorney general Ramsey Clark, a copy

of President Richard M. Nixon's resignation adorned the mantelpiece. ``I wanted that since the day he was inaugurated,'' Mr. Merhige was quoted as saying.

Conclusion

Mr. Speaker, Judge Robinson and Judge Merhige were men who stood their ground, followed their conscience and the law. I am pleased to see the good State of Virginia--known as the Capitol of the South-- recognizing two men who sought to change it--for the better.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 2403, and the new Federal courthouse that celebrates these two great civil rights advocates.

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

S. 2403 designates the new Federal Courthouse on East Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia, as the ``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert Merhige Jr. Federal Courthouse.'' Both Judge Robinson and Judge Merhige were exceptional leaders and prominent figures in the desegregation and civil rights movement.

Spottswood W. Robinson III was a distinguished jurist and a Virginia native. His was a career of firsts, beginning with his graduation from law school, first in his class. He then became the first African American to be appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the first African American to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the first African American chief judge of the D.C. Circuit.

Beyond simply being the first African American to serve in these positions, Judge Robinson worked on many important cases that helped to pave the way for those who followed. During his time working at the NAACP, Judge Robinson worked on the Brown v. Board of Education case and was part of several other groundbreaking civil rights judicial decisions.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Robinson served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights and was dean of the Howard University Law School. Much like Judge Robinson, Judge Merhige will be remembered for, among many other accomplishments, his significant impact in the civil rights movement.

Judge Merhige's 1967 opinion to desegregate Virginia schools was one of the most important and groundbreaking steps in the civil rights movement. Following the issuance of the opinion, Judge Merhige had an around-the-clock guard to protect him from those who disagreed. While his decision was unpopular at the time, it was a vital step towards educational equality in Virginia.

Prior to his service on the Federal bench as a judge, Merhige served honorably in the United States Air Force during World War II. He returned home to work as a lawyer and an advocate for a variety of clients in his adopted State of Virginia.

The naming of this courthouse after these two well-respected judges is an appropriate way to honor their service. While their service as jurists had an impact on the entire Nation, they will also be remembered as distinguished Virginia judges.

The bill has the support of the two Senators from Virginia and the entire Virginia congressional delegation. I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

And I would just ask that we reflect upon the circumstances in Virginia today, the progress that we have made since these decisions and since these judges led us out of segregation and into this modern era where we are in a society where our children grow up without real comprehension of what some of their predecessors lived through.

I would urge adoption.

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

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

I just wanted to say a few extra words about this resolution and about the progress that this country has made.

I have by now a few years on me, longer than a half century, and having grown up in the very Caucasian Midwest but traveled almost all the corners of this country and a lot of places in the world, and I have seen some examples of the segregation that existed back in those years that flowed through post-Civil War all the way up through the 1950s and 1960s and began to break down in the 1960s. And as I mentioned in my brief remarks in the opening, it is a condition today where we have a desegregation and integration that is far, far superior to what we had in our society a generation or two ago. And the young people growing up today really don't have, I think, a touch or a feel for what this Nation was like or the culture that was there. The South has transformed remarkably from what it was to where it is today.

I would submit that the leadership of these two gentlemen is part of the solution. They deserve significant credit for the leadership to move out of this.

I would state that we are all God's children, and because of that we need to pull together and recognize there is

much more that identifies us together than separates us apart. And when we get to this point where we are pulling together as one Nation, one people, and one cause and erase the divides that are easy to identify, we get to the point where we can joke with one another and laugh with one another and work with one another and love and fight with one another in a fashion that enhances this country and glorifies our Creator, then that is where this Nation needs to go. This is a big step in the right direction. It's timely. I urge the adoption of this resolution, and I appreciate all the gentlemen and gentlewomen from Virginia that are cosponsors of this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and privilege to rise in support of S. 2403, a bill to designate the new Federal Courthouse, located in the 700 block of East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, as the ``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr. United States Courthouse.''

The Commonwealth of Virginia has a rich history of contributions in the founding of this country and in the establishment and development of our legal system. Virginia practitioners such as George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Monroe, and Henry Clay have all profoundly shaped and molded our country's legal traditions. In fact, the first law school in the country was our own College of William and Mary located in Williamsburg, Virginia.

It is therefore fitting that we would name the new Federal Courthouse in our State's capital after two distinguished jurists, Judge Spottswood W. Robinson III and Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., whose exemplary careers under the law displayed the best ideals and principles of our Constitution and legal traditions.

Spottswood William Robinson III was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 1916, and passed away in his home in Virginia on October 11, 1998. He attended Virginia Union University and then Howard University Law School, graduating first in his class in 1939 and serving as a member of the faculty until 1947.

In 1964 Judge Robinson became the first African American to be appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Judge Robinson the first African American to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On May 7, 1981, Judge Robinson became the first African American to serve as chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Robinson served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and as dean of the Howard University Law School.

In addition to these exemplary and groundbreaking roles, Judge Robinson is probably best known for his role as one of the lead attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1948 to 1960 and specifically for his representation of the Virginia plaintiffs in the 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, which declared ``separate but equal'' schools unconstitutional and is one of the landmark cases in our Nation's history.

Judge Robert R. Merhige was born in New York, New York on February 5, 1919, and passed away in Richmond on February 18, 2005. He attended High Point College in North Carolina where he received his undergraduate degree in 1940. He then earned his law degree from T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond from which he graduated at the top of his class in 1942.

From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, Judge Merhige served in the United States Army Air Force as a crewman on a B-17 bomber based in Italy. After the war he returned to Richmond where he practiced law from 1945 to 1967. During that time, Judge Merhige established himself as a formidable trial lawyer representing a wide variety of clients.

In August of 1967, Judge Merhige was appointed U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, where he served for 31 years. While on the Federal bench, Judge Merhige presided over some of the most important and complex litigation in United States history. He ordered the University of Virginia to admit women in 1970. In 1972 he ordered the desegregation of dozens of Virginia school districts. As a result of his decision, he and his family were victims of threats and violence, and he was given 24-hour protection by U.S. marshals. His judicial courage and independence in the face of strong opposition is a testament to his dedication to equal justice under the law, and I believe his example is as pertinent today as it was then.

The new Federal Courthouse in Richmond is under construction and nearing completion. I believe that naming it after these two exemplary jurists will not only serve as a tribute to their fierce adherence to the Constitution and to their legacy of equal justice under the law but also will serve as a reminder of their contributions to ensuring a fair and just legal system for all people.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Senator John Warner and Senator Jim Webb for introducing this bill in the Senate, as well as the support from the entire Virginia delegation. I would like to thank Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Norton, Ranking Members Mica and Graves, Representatives Carney and King, and both the Democratic and Republican leadership for the swift passage of this measure.

Mr. President, I seek recognition to introduce The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Substitution Act of 2007, to substitute the Federal Government for the telephone companies in litigation challenging the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program. This is a very complex issue, and I have been discussing it at length with my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee. It does raise some very important questions, and I begin my analysis by acknowledging the good citizenship of the telephone companies for whatever it is that they have done. We still don't know all of what that is. But I do not believe that it is appropriate to grant what is called ``retroactive immunity'' because of what has occurred here.

The legislation substitutes the U.S. in place of any electronic communication service company which provided communications in connection with an intelligence activity that was authorized by the President between September 11, 2001, and January 17, 2007, and designed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack against the U.S.

In order for substitution to apply, the electronic communications service provider must have received a written request from the Attorney General or the head of an element of the intelligence community indicating that the activity was authorized by the President and determined to be lawful. If the provider assisted the Government beyond what was requested in writing, this legislation will leave the provider on the hook for any surplus assistance. On the other hand, the Government will be substituted if the Attorney General certifies that the electronic communications service provider did only what the Government asked. Once substitution occurs, Federal and State courts are directed to dismiss the providers from the action.

This legislation provides that plaintiffs in these cases may continue to send third-party discovery requests such as Rule 45 subpoenas to the electronic communications service providers after they have been dismissed. Moreover, the bill provides that plaintiffs may also deem provider admissions as Government admissions in their case against the Government. My legislation provides that the Government will not have sovereign immunity in the 40 or so cases currently pending in the California Multi-District Litigation.

This bill provides authority for the U.S. to remove actions from State court to Federal court. Notably, the legislation is intended to ensure that the Government can only assert those defenses the electronic communications companies may assert under current law. On the other hand, nothing in the bill is designed to increase or diminish the ability of the Government to assert the States Secret privilege. The legislation is carefully crafted so as not to disturb plaintiffs' standing to bring their claims against the Government.

Now, recognizing the telephone companies are good citizens, I am prepared to see their involvement held to the minimum. We hear concerns about them being involved in litigation. Well, I don't know if there's much litigation

for them to be involved in once the Federal Government is substituted. Some express dismay over the continued burden of discovery. I am not convinced there will be much further discovery here. Some have expressed a reticence to having their service technicians, in-house counsel, and other employees called as witnesses. Yet, I don't know that they are necessarily going to be witnesses. We can't judge that now.

I believe there are very important--perhaps even constitutional-- privacy issues here that ought to be subjected to judicial review. We know that important litigation in the Federal court in San Francisco, Judge Walker has declined to dismiss a challenge to the Terrorist Surveillance Program on State secrets grounds.

I don't think Congress can stand by, and in the face of what has happened, give carte blanche, a free ticket, grant retroactive immunity to suggest to future administrations that they can ignore separation of powers and they can ignore Congressional oversight and just run roughshod over the entire process without being held accountable. The better practice is to allow judicial proceedings to take their course and let the courts make their own determinations.

I strongly encourage all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike, to carefully consider this bill as we begin to debate the related FISA Amendments Act of 2007.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak on S. 2403, a bill to name the new United States courthouse in Richmond, VA, for two distinguished jurists and sons of VA.

Senator Webb and I introduced this bill together last year, and the bill passed the Senate on June 24, 2008. The House of Representatives is expected to pass this bill tonight, with a minor technical change. It is my hope that the Senate will accept this minor modification and pass this bill when the legislation returns to the Senate tonight or early tomorrow.

Our bill will recognize two of Virginia's outstanding jurists: Spotswood Robinson III and Robert Mehrige, Jr. They were lawyers who throughout their careers adhered to the principle of ``equal justice under law.''

The first, Spottswood William Robinson, III, was born in Richmond, VA, on July 26, 1916. He attended Virginia Union University and then the Howard University School of Law, graduating first in his class in 1939 and serving as a member of the faculty until 1947.

Judge Robinson was one of the core attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1948 to 1960, achieving national prominence in the legal community with his representation of the Virginia plaintiffs in the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Brown outlawed public school segregation declaring ``separate but equal'' schools unconstitutional.

In 1964, Judge Robinson became the first African American to be appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and, in 1966, President Johnson appointed Judge Robinson the first African American to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Finally, on May 7, 1981, Judge Robinson became the first African American to serve as chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit.

Our second jurist, Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., was born in 1919 and later attended High Point College in North Carolina. He subsequently earned his law degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, from which he graduated at the top of his class in 1942.

From 1942 to 1945, Judge Merhige served in the U.S. Air Force, he practiced law in Richmond from 1945 to 1967, establishing himself as a formidable trial lawyer representing criminal defendants as well as dozens of insurance companies.

On August 30,1967, Judge Merhige was appointed U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division by President Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as a Federal judge until 1998. In 1972, Judge Merhige ordered the desegregation of dozens of Virginia school districts. He considered himself to be a ``strict constructionist'' who went by the law as spelled out in precedents by the higher courts. In 1970, he ordered the University of Virginia to admit women. As evidence of Judge Merhige's groundbreaking decisions, he was given 24-hour protection by Federal marshals due to repeated threats of violence against him and his family. His courage in the face of significant opposition of the times is a testimony to his dedication to the rule of law.

As my colleagues may be aware, I have worked to name the new courthouse in Richmond for these two men for several years. I am proud that the Virginia Congressional delegation, the Virginia Bar Association, the mayor of Richmond, and many others decided that the best way to honor both men was to have them equally share the honor of having the courthouse so named.

With the ribbon cutting for this grand facility tentatively set for October 17 of this year, I can think of no better time than now to move this legislation in honor of Spottswood Robinson and Robert Merhige. I thank the committee for the consideration of this bill and look forward to working with my colleagues in seeking its passage.