The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE HARRY S TRUMAN FEDERAL BUILDING” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S4908-S4909 on June 8, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE HARRY S TRUMAN FEDERAL BUILDING
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed the consideration of H.R. 3639, which is at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3639) to designate the Federal building located at 2201 C Street, Northwest, in the District of Columbia, currently headquarters for the Department of State, as the ``Harry S Truman Federal Building.''
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a farmer, Army captain, Senator, and President of the United States who founded the United Nations, launched the Marshall plan, and forged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]. As an original cosponsor of the bill to name the Federal building located at 2201 C Street, Northwest, in the District of Columbia, currently headquarters for the Department of State, as the ``Harry S Truman Federal Building.'' I am pleased that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and in both Houses have unanimously agreed to adopt this measure.
Fifty-five years ago, President Truman challenged Democrats and Republicans in his Four Point Speech to join together and lend their full support to international organizations; continue programs for world economic recovery; join with other free peoples in the defense of democracy; and draw on our country's vast storehouse of technical expertise to help people overseas help themselves in the fight against ignorance, illness, and despair. President Truman envisioned ``that what happens beyond our shores determines how we live in our own lives,'' and the American people agreed. He exemplified the very best of what we need in our elected officials.
The United States is extremely fortunate to have had such a man be its Chief Executive in a time of two wars, where he presided over the fall of Germany, the ultimate surrender of Japan, and the preservation of South Korea. It is only appropriate for us to honor a man who made the United States a major force in world affairs by working with all the world for freedom and democracy. I look forward to seeing this legislation adopted, and giving President Truman the recognition he deserves for his tireless efforts to bring peace.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to endorse the measure to name the State Department's headquarters after one of the great leaders of the twentieth century--President Harry S Truman.
Harry Truman symbolized the path that this country took during the
``American Century,'' moving from a small community in the American midwest, to the center of the world stage, where he helped rebuild a devastated Europe and contain Communism.
Harry Truman might have stayed on his farm in Independence, Missouri, but World War I intervened and he found himself in Europe as a captain in the Field Artillery. The man whose poor eyesight had kept him out of West Point, was a hero on the battlefields of France. When he returned to Independence--and the beautiful Bess Wallace--his reputation as a leader in battle led to his election as county judge in 1922. In 1935 he was elected Senator from Missouri, and in 1945, he became President upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt.
Truman's mother once said of him: (i)t was on the farm that Harry got his common sense. He didn't get it in town. It was this common sense--a hard-eyed pragmatism, really--that made him a great President. Having fought through the First World War in Europe, he was able to understand the ruin that faced Europe after the Second World War. This led to his support of the brilliant plan of his Secretary of State, George Marshall, who rebuilt Europe. It is not an exaggeration to say that our European allies own the peace and prosperity that they have enjoyed for the last two generations to Truman and Marshall.
It was also this hard-eyed pragmatism that gave Truman a clear view of the Communist threat that come on the heels of World War II. He laid out--and acted upon--the Truman Doctrine--in 1947, when he provided
$400 million to fight the spread of Communism in Greece and Turkey. In 1949, he joined with Europe to form the alliance that contained the Soviet Union for nearly 50 years--NATO. And, although we were weary of war in 1950, he sent American forces to defend South Korea from incursions by the Communists of North Korea.
Harry Truman's foreign policy decisions were never easy. Europe's reconstruction, fencing in Communism, creating NATO, required clear vision, and a decisiveness that had nothing to do with favorable poll numbers or reelection prospects. Those are the attributes that made Harry Truman a great President--an ability to see what needed to be done, and the willingness to do it.
Because President Truman's greatest legacy was in international affairs, it is fitting that his name be bestowed on the State Department's main building. I hope that it will provide an inspiration to our diplomats, as they seek to defend the interests of our country, and the world.
Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, it is my great privilege to speak on the passage of H.R. 3639 as I am the sponsor of the Senate's companion bill, S. 2416. This bill will name the State Department's headquarters at 2201 C Street in Washington, DC, the ``Harry S Truman Federal Building.'' First, I would like to provide my deepest thanks to my esteemed co-sponsor who have joined this effort. From the onset, this proposal has had strong bi-partisan support in both Houses. Senators Bond, Warner, DeWine, and Moynihan and Representatives Roy Blunt and Ike Skelton have been incredibly helpful in seeing this proposal become a reality. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Honorable Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, for her unqualified support and cooperation for honoring President Harry Truman befittingly honored in this manner.
Today I enjoy the privilege, granted to me by the citizens of Missouri, of occupying the Senate seat formerly held by Harry S Truman. Truman left this seat in January 1945 to become Vice President, and by April of that year assumed the office of President of the United States in the wake of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death. The day after becoming President, Truman told a group of reporters that ``boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now . . . I feel like the moon, the stars, and all the planets have fallen on me.''
As the new President, Harry Truman inherited a world on fire. The most destructive war in human history still raged on in Europe and Asia; and Truman, the only chief executive in this century who did not enjoy a university education, faced a most crucial role bringing the war to a close and constructing a viable international system in the postwar. Truman, whose strong personal integrity and vast common sense was forged in the small towns of western Missouri, brilliantly succeeded.
This bill will name the building that houses our Nation's Department of State--the agency responsible for international relations--in honor of Missouri's favorite son and one of our country's greatest statesmen. This is benefitting, for it was the decisions made by President Truman in the realm of foreign policy that made his Presidency one of the most monumental and influential in our country's history.
President Harry Truman led during one of the most trying times in our nation's tumultuous history. During Truman's years in the White House, crisis compounded crisis overseas and hard decisions continually confronted a President who stoically dealt with the awesome responsibilities he had to face.
After Truman assumed office he successfully led the United States to victory against the Axis powers. However, the end of the Second World War brought little respite for the new President from Missouri. The cooperation Truman, and most Americans, hoped to find with the Soviet Union collapsed as an Iron Curtain descended across the heart of Europe. Behind it, the creation of totalitarian Communist regimes confronted the United States with a new dark challenge--the cold war.
In response to this newest danger, President Truman led the free world forward. He emphasized the need to support free people and assist those who resisted attempted subjugation by armed minorities and outside pressures. To this end, Truman began the United States' single most successful foreign aid initiative, the Marshall plan. Under Truman's leadership, this ambitious program saved the economies of Western Europe and set vital United States allies on the path of full recovery within a democratic political framework.
President Harry S Truman realized that economic recovery of war torn areas would not, in itself, secure the free world from Communist aggression. Therefore, President Truman spearheaded the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, one of the most successful military alliances of all time and the cornerstone of Western Europe's defense for the past five decades.
Europe was not the only place where President Truman took a stand for freedom and democracy in the face of aggression and hostility. When Communist North Korea blatantly invaded South Korea in 1950, only Truman's quick action, and continued resolve, made possible South Korea's escape from the control of North Korea's totalitarian regime. Throughout the world, in Northern Iran, Berlin, China, and the Eastern Mediterranean, Truman's strong and wise leadership, grounded in a small town Missouri sense of right and wrong, heroically guided our country through some of its most dangerous years. In addition to his commitment to fight Communist aggression, the institutions created during the Truman years--such as the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency--eventually ensured victory in the cold war, and enhanced the United States strength in the years after. Surely Winston Churchill exhibited his always impressive observational abilities when he told Truman in 1950 that ``. . . you, more than any other man, have saved Western Civilization.''
I am proud to be a part of this effort today to see President Harry S Truman so honored. More than any other post-war President he shaped the world we live in today. To name the headquarters of the United States State Department after this fellow Missourian is a fitting and just choice.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 3639) was read the third time and passed.
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