U.S. House approves Limbaugh name for federal courthouse building in Cape

The ceremonial naming of the Federal Courthouse after a well-known local attorney, the late Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr., took a step forward Monday when a bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a voice vote.

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, introduced the bill by eulogizing Limbaugh's accomplishments. She recounted that Limbaugh, at age 104, was the oldest practicing lawyer at the time of his death in 1996. She also lauded his role in constructing the Missouri Probate Code and beginning the Missouri Highway Patrol.

"It is safe to say that, of the many hours of Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr.'s life, none of them were wasted," Emerson said in introducing the bill.

"As we devote one hour of the United States House of Representatives to remember him, we are ensuring that Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr.'s legacy and example endure in the community he loved, on a building that carries on the work to which he was dedicated: the American promises of liberty and law, fundamental principles of fairness, and a system of jurisprudence for all Americans that is the envy of the world," she said.

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. said his grandfather would have been honored but embarrassed by all the attention.

"It's an honor to the entire family. My grandfather was modest and self-effacing, and had you known him you would know that he thought the naming of courthouses should be reserved for U.S. senators and presidents. He thought it was a dignity far above his station and wouldn't have wanted any part of it. He was a humble person," Limbaugh said.

"The greatest honor of his life, aside from fact of being married to my grandmother for 63 years, was the honor of being a lawyer. He held his chosen profession in such high esteem that if every lawyer could approach his example then the field of law would regain its status as one of the noble professions."

Shana Marchio of U.S. Sen. Kit Bond's office said the bill will come before the Senate in early March.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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