Jim Matheson: “Mr. Speaker, S. 1459 is a bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 550 West Fort…”

“Mr. Speaker, S. 1459 is a bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 550 West Fort Street in Boise, Idaho, as the James A. McClure Federal Building and United States Courthouse. Jim McClure served the citizens of Idaho as both a United States Representative and as a Senator. He was born in Payette, Idaho, in 1924. He attended public schools and the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1950 he graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law. He began his public service as the prosecuting attorney of Payette from 1950 until 1956. For the next 13 years he served as the city attorney for Payette and as a State senator from 1961 to 1966. In 1966 he was elected to the United States Congress and was reelected in 1968 and 1970. In 1972, McClure was elected to the U.S. Senate and served three terms until 1990. His work in both the House and the Senate reflected the interests of his constituents. Senator McClure focused on the uses of public lands and other natural resource issues. In fact, over 25 years ago, Senator McClure predicted much of the energy questions and debates that we just had this past summer. His focus on energy issues as Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee from 1981 to 1987 helped to begin the debate on crafting a national energy strategy. He was one of the first policymakers to focus our attention on our growing demand for energy.”