| Sponsor | Begich (Alaska) |
| Committee | Commerce, Science, and Transportation |
| Date | March 5, 2012 (112th Congress, 2nd Session) |
| Staff Contact | Andy Koenig |
On Monday, March 5, 2012, the House is scheduled to consider S. 1710 under a suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. S. 1710 was introduced by Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) on October 13, 2011, and was approved in the Senate on December 17, 2011, by unanimous consent.
S. 1710 would designate the United States courthouse located at 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, as the “James M. Fitzgerald United States Courthouse.”
Judge James M. Fitzgerald served as the Senior Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska from 1989 until his retirement in 2006. In addition, Judge Fitzgerald served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Alaska (1952 to 1956), city attorney for Anchorage, Alaska (1956 to 1959), judge of the 3rd District of Alaska Superior Court (1959 to 1972), and justice of the Alaska Supreme Court (1972 to 1975). Fitzgerald also served as a non-senior judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska from late 1975 to 1989. Prior to Alaska statehood, Judge Fitzgerald served as an assistant United States attorney in the First and Third Divisions of the Territory, and later as Anchorage city attorney and legal counsel to Alaska’s first governor, William A. Egan. Judge Fitzgerald died on April 3, 2011, at the age of 90.
According to CBO, any costs related to the enacting of this legislation are not significant.