To designate the property between the United States Federal Courthouse and the Ed Jones Building located at 109 South Highland Avenue in Jackson, Tennessee, as the "M.D. Anderson Plaza" and to authorize the placement of a historical/identification marker on the grounds recognizing the achievements and philanthropy of M.D. Anderson.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I thank my colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for his support of this as well as my colleague from middle Tennessee for his support as well.

Mr. Speaker, my bill, H.R. 1264, will rename the plaza between the two Federal buildings in Jackson, Tennessee, located in the Eighth Congressional District, after Monroe Dunaway Anderson, a true hero to millions of people who have been diagnosed with cancer.

For those who don't know M.D. Anderson, he was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee, during the late 19th century. In 1904, after completing college and spending a few years working as a banker in Memphis, M.D. Anderson joined a cotton trading venture started by his older brother, Frank Anderson, and Frank's brother-in-law Will Clayton.

Their corporation, Anderson, Clayton, and Company, flourished due to the rising demand for cotton during World War I. They eventually moved the business to Houston, Texas, to have better access to deepwater shipping. By the 1920s their operation had trading offices in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The company continued to succeed through the 1930s and 1940s, diversifying its capital into a marine insurance company, a barge line, cotton mills, an investment bank, machine works, and even a foods division. By 1950 Anderson, Clayton, and Company was a multimillion dollar corporation, and their international market sales reached 3.5 percent of all the world's cotton production.

But we're not standing here tonight to honor M.D. Anderson because of his incredible success and contributions to agribusiness. Many would keep the fruits of their labor for themselves, but M.D. Anderson had others in mind.

In 1936 he established a charitable foundation with $300,000, and upon his death in 1939, the foundation received an additional $19 million endowment. M.D. Anderson had a particular interest in health care, specifically in working to find a cure for cancer. Trustees of the foundation kept M.D. Anderson's interests and passions in mind as they decided how to use the foundation endowment after his death.

Funding for the foundation helped to start the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, which is the largest medical complex in the world. Funding was also used to establish the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the Texas Medical Center, which is one of the world's most respected centers, devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education, and prevention. Since 1944, nearly 900,000 patients have turned to M.D. Anderson for cancer care. In addition to the medical research, the M.D. Anderson Foundation has built libraries, auditoriums, college buildings, and a planetarium on the campus of Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee.

We honor M.D. Anderson today not because of his success in agribusiness but because of his generosity and interest in bettering the lives of others.

I want to take a moment to thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, Ms. Norton, for her support and for working with me on the language in this bill. I also want to recognize the hard work of Mayor Jerry Gist of Jackson, the Jackson City Council, Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris, and the Madison County Commission.

Finally, I want to specifically thank Mr. Dickie Day of Jackson, Tennessee, and Mr. Carter Edwards of Maury City, Tennessee, for their efforts to ensure that the life and achievements of M.D. Anderson are memorialized in his hometown of Jackson, Tennessee.

It is an honor to sponsor this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes or such time as I may consume, whichever comes first.

I rise in support of H.R. 1264, which designates the property between the United States courthouse and the Ed Jones Federal Building in Jackson, Tennessee, as the M.D. Anderson Plaza. Ed Jones was the Congressman who preceded Mr. Fincher in that district, who preceded Mr. Tanner. He had the slogan, ``Ed Jones--the heart of the district with the district at his heart.'' Quite a fine man. This bill also authorizes the placement of a historical marker and a statue on the grounds recognizing the achievements and the philanthropic good deeds of M.D. Anderson.

Born in 1873 in Jackson, Mr. Anderson, who was known as M.D. Anderson, was a successful businessman, farmer, and philanthropist. He went to college in Memphis--smart man he was to go to Memphis. It was then called Southern Baptist, but I believe it became Union, then Jackson, Tennessee. After he was in Memphis and had that opportunity, he moved back to Jackson and went to work in his family-owned business--a good choice. He went into the cotton business with his older brother, Frank, and with Frank's brothers-in-law, and they became the largest cotton company in the world, according to Fortune magazine in 1945.

In 1936 M.D. Anderson created a charitable foundation that bore his name and funded it with an initial investment of $300,000--a considerable amount of money at that time, not a bad amount of money today. After his death, the trustees of M.D. Anderson's

estate directed an additional $19 million towards his foundation, which helped create M.D. Anderson's lasting legacy by providing seed funds for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is one of the world's leaders in cancer research and treatments.

Thankfully, people I know have had the opportunity to be treated there. It's a great clinic, and it's the best place to go if you've got cancer and have that opportunity to be treated by the world's greatest professionals there in Houston.

M.D. Anderson is considered to be the father of the institution, and because the charitable foundation matched the initial State funds for a Texas-based cancer research and treatment center, he is given that appellation. His charitable foundation has also funded and supported libraries and college buildings, including ones at Lambuth College in Jackson, now known as the Lambuth University of Memphis. It has funded planetariums also in the city of Jackson and in his adopted hometown of Houston, Texas.

Given his lasting and significant contributions to his community and, really, to the world, with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is the finest cancer clinic, I suspect, in the world, it's fitting that we honor his commitment by giving the plaza between the two Federal buildings his name. Some might question our taking the time of this Congress, on this floor, to do this when we have so many things going on, but this is the type of activity that will, hopefully, inspire others to use their good fortune and/or good works to help others who are in situations as dire as having cancer. M.D. Anderson did that.

So it's a commendable piece of legislation, and I'm happy that Mr. Fincher brought to it the floor. I'm happy to support it, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1264 in memorializing this gentleman.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1264) to designate the property between the United States Federal Courthouse and the Ed Jones Building located at 109 South Highland Avenue in Jackson, Tennessee, as the ``M.D. Anderson Plaza'' and to authorize the placement of a identification marker on the grounds recognizing the achievements and philanthropy of M.D. Anderson, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 1264.

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

H.R. 1264 would designate the property between the United States Courthouse and the Ed Jones Building located at 109 South Highland Avenue in Jackson, Tennessee, as the M.D. Anderson Plaza and authorize the placement of historical markers on the grounds recognizing the achievements and philanthropy of M.D. Anderson.

I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fincher) for introducing this legislation. Monroe Dunaway Anderson, also known as M.D. Anderson, was one of the United States' most successful agribusinessmen and philanthropists of the early 20th century.

M.D. Anderson was born in 1873 in Jackson, Tennessee. He attended college in Memphis and came back to his hometown to work at the Peoples National Bank. In 1904 M.D. Anderson, his older brother Frank Anderson, and a businessman named Will Clayton established a partnership to buy and sell cotton in Jackson, Tennessee. By 1945 Fortune magazine called their company the largest buyer, seller, storer, and shipper of raw cotton in the world. Outside of his cotton business, M.D. Anderson contributed to numerous philanthropic causes, especially that of medical research. In 1936 he established the M.D. Anderson Foundation, which funded cancer research and education at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which grew into the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, one of the largest medical complexes in the world.

I believe this legislation is appropriate in honoring M.D. Anderson's enduring legacy in his hometown as a successful American businessman and, more importantly, in honoring his contributions to vital medical research and philanthropy.

The subcommittee worked closely with the bill sponsor to make improvements to the legislation, which are reflected in the amendments to the bill. The amendments ensure the legislation is in line with the Commemorative Works Act by requiring that the design of the statue be approved by the General Services Administration prior to its installation.

I support the passage of this legislation, as amended, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fincher).

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

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from consideration of S. 1710 and the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 1710 and H.R. 1264, which is at the desk en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table on both of these matters, and any statements related to these measures be printed in the Record.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall 930, I was away from the Capitol due to prior commitments to my constituents. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''