Brown Building Opposed

A potentially emotional political battle is on the verge of erupting, as several House Republicans are trying to stop efforts to name a federal building in New York after the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Public Buildings and Economic Development Subcommittee Chairman Jay Kim, R-Calif., canceled a markup Tuesday of 12 bills naming federal buildings after public figures.

Kim told CongressDaily he canceled the markup because he is questioning the practice of naming public buildings after members of Congress, and not because of the Brown issue.

Brown, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and close ally of President Clinton, was killed in an early 1996 plane crash near Bosnia.

Kim did say several House Republicans have asked him to block the bill naming a federal building at 290 Broadway in New York City after Brown, although he did not name the members or say why they objected to naming the building after the late Commerce secretary.

However, Kim said: "I don't see any problem with [naming the building after Brown]. He's a hero, he did a good job, and he passed away."

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., sponsor of the bill, Tuesday said he was not aware of the Republican opposition or that the markup had been canceled.

Kim, who just took over the Public Buildings subcommittee, said the markup was canceled because he was concerned about several of the bills naming public buildings after former members of Congress, especially those who are still alive, such as former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and former Reps. Kika de la Garza, D-Texas, and Roy Rowland, R-Ga., for whom legislation scheduled for markup Tuesday would have named buildings.

"I can understand having them named after some dead judges," Kim said, but added he has concerns about continuing the practice of naming them after living members of Congress.

In addition, Kim said he would "like to see more consensus from the communities where these buildings are, maybe a city council resolution or something like that instead of just the recommendations of just one person [sponsoring a bill]."

Meanwhile, Kim also said he is likely to become chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Railroads Subcommittee once the post is vacated by current Railroads Subcommittee Chairwoman Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., who is resigning from Congress in August to host a CBS News program.

Kim said he recently talked with Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Shuster about the Railroads subcommittee chairmanship, and that Shuster "said he's strongly inclined to do that," Kim said of Shuster allowing him to take over the panel.

Kim said his background in civil engineering will be an asset for the post.