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Odell Horton Federal Building

Floor Speech

Date: Nov. 3, 2021
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, H.R. 390, which would fully name the Federal building in Memphis for Odell Horton, a great jurist. Right now, it is the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building, and this would remove Clifford Davis' name from the Memphis Federal building.

In one of my first acts as a Congressman, the first bill I passed was a bill to add Judge Horton's name to the Federal building and to call it the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building. I initially hoped to simply rename the building for Judge Horton, but the political will to do that was not present at that time.

Now, here we are in 2021, and the political will is present, including the family of the late Clifford Davis, who we communicated with, and they suggested that it should be renamed. The family said: ``We are proud of Cliff Davis' many contributions to Memphis, but his membership in the Klan and his support for Jim Crow cannot be excused.''

I completely agree and believe it is time to ensure that all of Memphis can look with pride and respect at their Federal building and have a name for this great jurist who served in that Federal building.

Judge Horton left a remarkable legacy as the first Black Federal judge appointed since Reconstruction. Judge Horton also served as chief judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney, the first African- American member of Mayor Henry Loeb's city administration as the head of health and hospitals, and the president of LeMoyne-Owen College, a historic HBCU located in Memphis.

Judge Horton was a man of honor who dedicated his life to public service for the betterment of west Tennessee. Judge Horton broke down racial barriers and served the judicial system well. Judge Horton is long deserved in this individual distinction.

I thank the entire Tennessee delegation and Mr. Guest for joining in the movement to pass this bill and honor Judge Horton in this singular manner. I also thank Chairman DeFazio, Chairwoman Titus, and Ranking Members Graves and Webster for advancing this bill to the floor.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me and vote ``yes'' on this bill.

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