On Thursday, September 22, 2016, the House will likely consider H.R. 5873, to designate the facility of the United States Courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as the “R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United States Courthouse” under suspension of the rules. H.R. 5873 was introduced on July 14, 2016, by Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which ordered the bill reported by voice vote on September 14, 2016.
H.R. 5873 designates the facility of the United States Courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as the “R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United States Courthouse.”
Robert Ewing Thomason was both a member and Speaker for the Texas House of Representatives. In the state legislature, Thomason advocated for the rebuilding of what is now the University of Texas at El Paso after a large fire destroyed the majority of the campus. His successful bill allocated $100,000 to restoring the facilities. Thomason was also mayor of El Paso as well as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing the 16th district. As mayor, Thomason established the first municipal airport for El Paso. Thomason was then appointed by President Harry Truman to serve as a United States District Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Some of his celebrated cases consisted of the Clinton Jenks case in 1961, the first airplane hijacking in American history, the Thelma White case of 1955, and the Billie Sol Estes conspiracy trial in 1963.[1]
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[1] See R.E. Thomason bio.
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate for this bill is currently unavailable.
For questions or further information please contact John Huston with the House Republican Policy Committee by email or at 6-5539.
