W. Craig Broadwater Federal Building and United States Courthouse

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing this forward and for their very strong support of this measure.

I too rise today in support of S. 307, which will rename the Federal courthouse and the Federal building at 217 West King Street in Martinsburg, West Virginia for W. Craig Broadwater, as it will be designated as the W. Craig Broadwater Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

Martinsburg is in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, very close here to Washington, D.C. It's also part of my district. Judge Broadwater was one of my constituents. I learned more from Judge Broadwater than he ever learned from me, I can tell you that. He was a very kind, supportive, gentle person, but also a very fair-minded and humble public servant.

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As we've heard, and I am going to repeat it, he served with distinction and honor to this country for over 40 years, first as an Army lieutenant, later as a Federal court judge, and a brigadier general for the West Virginia National Guard.

I know he was deployed the year before he passed away very suddenly. He came to West Virginia, where he attended West Virginia University in 1972, and he entered ROTC. It obviously made a large impression on his life, as he stayed not only for 2 years as a military officer, intelligence officer, but also retained his dedicated service to our country through the military throughout his life.

He graduated from West Virginia University in 1977, went into private practice as a practicing attorney until 1983. He then became the circuit judge of the First Judicial Circuit in West Virginia and served in that capacity from 1983 to 1996, where he then was appointed, as my colleague from Florida said, by President Clinton on January 26, 1996, where he served until he passed away December 18, 2006.

He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army for 2 years. He joined the Army National Guard in 1976 as an operational detachment executive officer and, as I said, remained in the Guard the rest of his life.

He was deployed several times. He was deployed as a battalion commander from 1994 to 1996, where he led the battalion for service in Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy. He became a brigadier general during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was mobilized in 2003 and in 2005 at the Horn of Africa.

After serving, he was then sent to Djibouti, where he served as the deputy commanding officer. But what I would like to talk about are the several times that I actually got to meet and talk and get to know Craig Broadwater. He was very young when he was stricken quickly and taken from us and his family. He is missed, I know, every day in their hearts and certainly in the hearts of the eastern part of West Virginia.

Being a Federal judge is, I think, not only an awesome responsibility, it takes a special kind of person to do it well, and Judge Broadwater did it well. He was, as I said, kind, soft-spoken, considerate, a great listener and very respectful of all individuals, whether you would be talking to the Governor or whether you would be talking to the person who is helping you keep your building in order during the evenings. He loved his family, his State and his country.

I know that by naming this courthouse and this Federal building for Judge W. Craig Broadwater, that those who serve in that building and in that courthouse will have an inspiration as they walk in. As they enter and see his name on the front of the building, they are going to realize that sacrifice of yourself and of your family is sometimes what's important in service to your country, to your State, to the law. He did this uncomplainingly, with great humor, and deep respect for our country, our laws of fairness and justice.

I think for those folks, whether you are going in as a person who is a judge or an attorney or somebody who is seeking representation, when you enter the building that's named for Judge Broadwater, you are going to feel like you are going into a building that's dedicated to the fairness and upholding the highest standards that he, himself, upheld during his life. We miss him to this day, and I think this is a fitting tribute.

I want to thank Senator Rockefeller for joining together, the two of us, to put this forward. I look forward to the day when we can attach onto that Federal building in honor of Judge Broadwater the ``W. Craig Broadwater Federal Building and United States Courthouse.''

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