[House Report 110-824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 110-824
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SPOTTSWOOD W. ROBINSON III AND ROBERT R. MERHIGE, JR., UNITED STATES
COURTHOUSE
_______
September 8, 2008.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Oberstar, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2403]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom
was referred the bill (S. 2403) 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. Federal Courthouse'', having considered
the same, report favorably thereon with amendment and recommend
that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.
The United States courthouse located in the 700 block of East Broad
Street, Richmond, Virginia, shall be known and designated as the
``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., United States
Courthouse''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other
record of the United States to the United States courthouse referred to
in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Spottswood W.
Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., United States Courthouse''.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill 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''.
PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION
S. 2403, as amended, designates the new 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''.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Spottswood William Robinson III was born in Richmond,
Virginia, on July 26, 1916. Robinson attended public schools in
Richmond, which were segregated at the time, and graduated from
Armstrong High School in 1932. Following high school, he
studied at Virginia Union University from 1932 until 1934 and
from 1935 until 1936. Judge Robinson entered Howard University
School of Law in Washington, D.C., before completing his
bachelor's degree, and graduated magna cum laude in 1939.
After his graduation, Judge Robinson became a professor at
the Howard University School of Law, where he taught for eight
years. In the 1940s, he emerged as a prominent civil rights
attorney. In 1951, Judge Robinson was appointed southeast
regional counsel for the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (``NAACP''). Shortly after
joining the NAACP, Robinson represented an African-American
student in Virginia's Prince Edward County. The lawsuit was
eventually combined with the Brown v. Board of Education case,
which the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear in 1954.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Judge Robinson
to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a six-member bipartisan
commission charged with studying civil rights violations in the
United States. Judge Robinson was confirmed by the Senate by a
vote of 73 to 17. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson
appointed Judge Robinson to the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia and two years later, he became the first
African-American to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit. Judge Robinson served as Chief Judge of the U.S.
Court of Appeals from 1981 to 1986, and served on the Court
until his retirement in 1992.
On October 11, 1998, Judge Robinson passed away in
Richmond, Virginia.
Robert R. Merhige, Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, on
February 5, 1919. Judge 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. Upon
graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps,
where he served as a crewman aboard a B-17 bomber based in
Italy.
After returning from World War II, Judge Merhige began
practicing law and became one of the most formidable lawyers in
Virginia. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Judge
Merhige to the District Court. Two weeks into his service on
the court, Judge Merhige drew the first of many high-profile
cases that became the hallmark of his career. He ordered the
release of black activist H. Rap Brown, who was imprisoned in
Virginia after making an impassioned and militant speech in
Maryland.
Judge Merhige was involved in many high-profile cases
during his 31-year tenure on the Federal bench. 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. In 1970, he ordered the University of Virginia to
admit women. He clarified the rights of pregnant women to keep
their jobs. In 1979, 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. He also ordered
the integration of dozens of Virginia schools.
On February 18, 2005, Judge Merhige passed away.
SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATION
Section 1. Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr.,
United States Courthouse
Section 1(a) designates the new United States Courthouse
located in the 700 block of East Broad St., Richmond, Virginia,
as the ``Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr.,
United States Courthouse''.
Section 1(b) ensures that any reference in a law, map,
regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United
States to the building referred to in subsection (a) be a
reference to the Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R.
Merhige, Jr., United States Courthouse.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
On December 3, 2007, Senator John Warner introduced S.
2403, 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.,
Federal Courthouse''.
On June 4, 2008, the Committee on Environment and Public
Works of the Senate reported S. 2403 favorably to the Senate.
On June 24, 2008, the Senate passed S. 2403 by unanimous
consent.
On July 31, 2008, the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure met in open session to consider S. 2403.
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and
Emergency Management Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton offered
an amendment in the nature of a substitute that made technical
corrections to the bill. The amendment was adopted by voice
vote with a quorum present.
The Committee ordered the bill, as amended, reported
favorably to the House by voice vote with a quorum present.
RECORD VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the House of Representatives
requires each committee report to include the total number of
votes cast for and against on each record vote on a motion to
report and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter,
and the names of those members voting for and against. There
were no recorded votes taken in connection with consideration
of S. 2403. A motion to order S. 2403, as amended, reported
favorably to the House was agreed to by voice vote with a
quorum present.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are
reflected in this report.
COST OF LEGISLATION
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is
included in this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(2) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee
references the report of the Congressional Budget Office
included in the report.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
performance goals and objectives of this legislation are to
designate the United States courthouse located at 700 block of
East Broad St., Richmond, Virginia, as the ``Spottswood W.
Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., United States
Courthouse''.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2403
from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
August 1, 2008.
Hon. James L. Oberstar,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed the following legislation as ordered reported by the
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on July
31, 2008:
H.R. 4131, a bill to designate a portion of
California State Route 91 located in Los Angeles
County, California, as the ``Juanita Millender-McDonald
Highway'';
S. 2403, 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'';
S. 3009, an act to designate the Federal
Bureau of Investigation building under construction in
Omaha, Nebraska, as the ``J. James Exon Federal Bureau
of Investigation Building''; and
S. 2837, an act to designate the United
States courthouse located at 225 Cadman Plaza East,
Brooklyn, New York, as the ``Theodore Roosevelt United
States Courthouse.''
CBO estimates that enactment of those pieces of legislation
would have no significant impact on the federal budget and
would not affect direct spending or revenues. Those bills
contain no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no
costs on state, local or tribal governments.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Peter H. Fontaine
(For Peter R. Orszag, Director.)
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XXI
Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, S. 2403, as amended, does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI
of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Pursuant to clause (3)(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, committee reports on a bill or
joint resolution of a public character shall include a
statement citing the specific powers granted to the Congress in
the Constitution to enact the measure. The Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure finds that Congress has the
authority to enact this measure pursuant to its powers granted
under article I, section 8 of the Constitution.
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act (Public Law 104-4).
PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt State, local,
or tribal law. The Committee states that S. 2403, as amended,
does not preempt any State, local, or tribal law.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this
legislation.
APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law
104-1).
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
S. 2403, as amended, makes no changes in existing law.