WASHINGTON U.S. House to vote on name for courthouse

The $10 million federal courthouse is slated to open in fall 2002.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation, sponsored by U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., to name the new federal courthouse being built in Youngstown after two prominent federal judges born in Youngstown.
The $10 million courthouse on East Commerce Street would be called the Nathaniel R. Jones and Frank J. Battisti Federal Building and United States Courthouse under Traficant's proposal, which also needs approval by the Senate. Traficant, of Poland, D-17th, introduced the legislation Tuesday. A vote is planned for today.
About the judges: Judge Jones has served on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati since 1979. The judge is a former general counsel for the NAACP and served as assistant general counsel to then-President Lyndon B. Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission. He worked on school desegregation issues.
Judge Battisti was appointed as a federal judge in northern Ohio in 1961 and played a key role in ending school segregation in the state, Traficant said. The judge died in 1994.
Upon completion in fall 2002, the courthouse will house U.S. Bankruptcy Court and offices for the congressman, U.S. trustees, Internal Revenue Service and General Services Administration. The current federal courthouse on Market Street, called the Thomas D. Lambros Courthouse and Federal Building, will remain open once the second building is finished and will continue to house U.S. District Court.