CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E711 HON
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April 29, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E711 of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which cer, mental disorders and cancerous growths. The $137 million Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. spread radiation over much of northern Eu- The United Nations said in a statement that United States Courthouse, going up at 400 N. rope. in some areas of Belarus, thyroid cancer Miami Ave., will be completed next year. In all, 7 million people in the former So- among children has increased more than 100– Only seven federal courthouses across the viet republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine fold when compared with the period before country are named after African-Americans. are estimated to suffer physical or psycho- the accident. Ferguson, who was 65 when he died last logical effects of radiation related to the Two years ago, the U.N. reported that year of leukemia, earned a reputation as an April 26, 1986, catastrophe, when reactor No. 200,000 people still live in highly contami- even-handed jurist who championed the un- 4 exploded and caught fire. nated areas and 4.5 million residents in three derdog. His friend, Miami civil rights attor- An area half the size of Italy was contami- countries are receiving financial help—drain- ney H.T. Smith, eulogized Ferguson as ‘‘the nated, forcing hundreds of thousands of peo- ing national budgets. judge for the least, the last, the lost, the ple to be resettled and ruining some of Eu- The explosion and fire at Chernobyl’s No. 4 looked-over and the left out.’’ rope’s most fertile agricultural land, the reactor contaminated 23 percent of Belarus, 5 In his most resonant federal court ruling, United Nations said. percent of Ukraine and 1.5 percent of Russia, Ferguson was credited with improving the Hundreds of Ukrainians filled the small according to the report. It also spewed a ra- lives of thousands of disabled Florida resi- Chernobyl victims’ chapel in the Ukrainian dioactive cloud across Europe. dents. In 1999, he held the state in contempt capital, Kiev, at 1:23 a.m. Monday (6:23 p.m. f of court, forcing it to increase funding for Sunday ET), the exact time of the explosion. home nursing care and other services. The Later, they laid flowers and lit candles at a CONSIDERATION OF S. 1904, WILKIE move allowed thousands of disabled people to small hill where marble plates are inscribed D. FERGUSON, JR. FEDERAL live at home rather than in institutions. with the names of hundreds of victims. Ferguson was born in May 1938 in Miami, Nearly 1,000 mourners gathered Monday COURTHOUSE where his father, Wilkie Sr., was founding afternoon at Kiev’s memorial to Chernobyl pastor of St. Andrew’s Missionary Baptist victims, a soaring statue of five falling me- HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK Church in Opa-locka. The elder Ferguson tallic swans. Some placed flowers and photos OF FLORIDA died last year at age 94. of deceased relatives at its base. His first landmark case came as a Miami- ‘‘Nothing can be compared with a mother’s IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Dade Circuit Court judge, when he ruled sorrow,’’ said Praskoviya Nezhyvova, an el- Thursday, April 29, 2004 blacks had been systematically excluded derly retiree clutching a black-framed pho- from a jury. He served on the state’s Third tograph of her son, Viktor. She said he died Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask District Court of Appeal in Miami from 1980 of Chernobyl-related stomach cancer in 1990 that the following newspaper articles from the to 1993, when President Clinton appointed at age 44. Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sen- him to the federal bench. Volodymyr Diunych, a driver who took tinel appear in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ferguson heard most of his cases in Fort members of the hastily recruited and inad- immediately following my statement: equately equipped cleanup crews to the site, Lauderdale. [From the Miami Herald, April 29, 2004] The new courthouse bearing his name is recalled watching as residents were evacu- U.S. HOUSE OKS BILL NAMING NEW FEDERAL taking shape as one of the most ated ‘‘in an awful rush’’ days after the dis- COURTHOUSE FOR LATE JUDGE WILKIE FER- architecturally distinctive buildings to ap- aster. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s tradi- GUSON pear on Miami’s skyline in years. It consists tional May Day celebrations went ahead in of two 15–story glass towers connected by an Kiev, 80 miles south of Chernobyl, only five (By Larry Lebowitz) atrium. When completed and landscaped, it days after the accident. The U.S. House of Representatives on Soviet authorities had withheld much in- Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that will resemble a ship afloat on a wavy sea of formation on the world’s worst nuclear acci- would name the new federal courthouse in grass. dent, both from its own people and from the downtown Miami after the late U.S. District The bill was backed by 19 South Florida rest of the world. Only last year, Ukraine’s Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. and sent it to Congress members; U.S. Sens. Bob Graham security service declassified secret files doc- the President for his signature. and Bill Nelson; the Dade County Bar Asso- umenting malfunctions and safety violations ‘‘His career is an inspiration to hundreds of ciation; the former Black Lawyers Associa- at the plant that caused the release of small young attorneys, and his honor and integrity tion, now known as the Wilkie D. Ferguson doses of radiation from time to time long be- make him a symbol of fairness on the federal Bar Association; the Caribbean Bar Associa- fore the explosion. bench,’’ said Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami. tion; the Haitian Lawyers Association; the Ukraine shuttered Chernobyl’s last work- ‘‘. Naming the new federal courthouse Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners ing reactor in December 2000, but many prob- after Judge Ferguson is an honor that will and the city of Miami. lems remain. reinforce his legacy for decades to come.’’ f Ukrainian experts say that the concrete- Only seven U.S. courthouses nationwide have and-steel shelter that was hastily con- been named for black jurists, none of them TRIBUTE TO DR. TOMAS A. structed over the damaged reactor needs ur- in Florida. The Senate version, introduced ARCINIEGA ON THE OCCASION OF gent repairs, but authorities claim that and co-sponsored by Florida Democratic HIS RETIREMENT there are no serious safety threats. Mean- Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, passed on while, many people injured or displaced be- March 12. cause of the explosion complain about inad- The $163 million courthouse, which will HON. CALVIN M. DOOLEY equate government support. feature two 14–story towers connected by a OF CALIFORNIA Sergei Shchvetsov, the head of Russia’s mammoth atrium, is located at 400 N. Miami IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Chernobyl Union, said that 40,000 people dis- Ave. It is slated to open in late summer 2005. Thursday, April 29, 2004 abled in operations to clean up the blast live in Russia and the ‘‘volume of benefits to [From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Apr. Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I which (they) are eligible is narrowing every 29, 2004] rise today to congratulate Dr. Tomas A. year,’’ the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. MIAMI FEDERAL COURT BUILDING TO BE FIRST Arciniega for his 20 years of distinguished Greenpeace activists held a small protest IN STATE NAMED AFTER AFRICAN-AMERICAN service as the president of California State outside Russia’s Department for the Inspec- (By Ann W. O’Neill) tion of Radiation Security, carrying signs University-Bakersfield. His retirement in July that read ‘‘No more Chernobyls.’’ Congress unanimously approved legislation 2004 concludes a remarkable career noted for Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian town of naming Miami’s newest courthouse after the his leadership in the development of CSU-Ba- Slavutych—built to house Chernobyl work- late U.S. District Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson kersfield as a major regional university. ers displaced by the accident—people held a Jr., making it the first federal court building Throughout his career, Dr. Arciniega has been solemn memorial meeting early Monday to in Florida to bear the name of an African- a tireless advocate for expanded access to American. honor the memory of their relatives, friends higher education for low-income and minority and colleagues. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Kendrick The accident occurred after officials put B. Meek, was approved Wednesday by a 406– students in California’s San Joaquin Valley. the reactor through a test in which power 0 vote. Dr. Arciniega was born and raised in El was reduced and some safety devices were ‘‘Now, that’s consensus,’’ Meek said of the Paso, Texas and earned a bachelor’s degree disabled. unanimous roll call vote. ‘‘People in South in teacher education from New Mexico State More than 2.32 million people have been Florida seeking justice can see an example of University and a master’s degree in edu- hospitalized in Ukraine as of early 2004 with a man who stood tall.’’ cational administration from the University of Meek, D-Miami, and other backers said illnesses blamed on the disaster, including New Mexico. His early career included military 452,000 children, according to Ukraine’s naming the building after Ferguson shows Health Ministry. Ukraine has registered how South Florida has evolved from a seg- service as an officer in the United States Army some 4,400 deaths. regated society where, a generation ago, and an appointment by the United States For- The most frequently noted Chernobyl-re- some courthouses housed blacks and whites eign Service as a human resources advisor in lated diseases include thyroid and blood can- in separate holding cells.