Norvell Emerson: “I speak in support today of H.R. 3639, designating the Harry S. Truman Federal Building. I really want to commend the…”

“I speak in support today of H.R. 3639, designating the Harry S. Truman Federal Building. I really want to commend the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) who is a very dear, close personal friend. He has worked tirelessly over the past few years in Congress to make sure that the only Missourian ever elected to serve as President of the United States is duly recognized for his great work to this country. I commend the gentleman for the dedication and commitment he has made. I want to thank him for that. I also want to say that I find it very fitting that we are debating the naming of the headquarters of the State Department in honor of President Harry Truman. Many of President Truman's greatest legacies center around foreign policy, from winning the war to winning the peace to helping negotiate NATO and the creation of the National Security Council, to the writing of the Marshall Plan which assisted in the rebuilding of Europe following World War II. Back in 1899, Congressman William Duncan Vandiver, who was my predecessor in Congress, defined what it meant to be from Missouri when he said, "I come from a State that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." No one better exemplified this sentiment than our own plain speaking Harry S. Truman.”