IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 532 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, 

as the ‘‘Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United 

States Courthouse’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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HR 532 RFS

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Judge Harold L. Murphy was born in 

4 Felton, Georgia, in 1927. 

5 (2) He attended West Georgia College before 

6 serving in the United States Navy during the closing 

7 years of World War II. 

8 (3) He resumed his studies at the University of 

9 Mississippi and the University of Georgia School of 

10 Law, where he graduated in 1949. 

11 (4) He began a law practice in Haralson Coun12 ty, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the Georgia 

13 House of Representatives as the youngest Member 

14 at the time. 

15 (5) Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms 

16 before stepping down in 1961 to focus on practicing 

17 law. 

18 (6) In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by 

19 Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for 

20 the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, and following his 

21 election in 1976, President Carter nominated Judge 

22 Murphy to the United States District Court for the 

23 Northern District of Georgia. 

24 (7) Judge Murphy was confirmed by the United 

25 States Senate on July 28, 1977. 


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HR 532 RFS

1 (8) For 45 years, he served his country on the 

2 Federal bench and became an acclaimed jurist and 

3 legal icon with a stellar reputation that extended far 

4 beyond Georgia. 

5 (9) He always displayed a quick wit and a keen 

6 sense of humor, was kind and empathetic, and treat7 ed all those who appeared before him with courtesy 

8 and respect. 

9 (10) Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and car10 ried a full docket until the age of 90, when he took 

11 senior judge status in the Northern District of Geor12 gia. 

13 (11) He continued to preside over cases until 

14 his death on December 28, 2022. 

15 (12) Judge Murphy received many professional 

16 awards and recognitions, including from the State 

17 Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia School 

18 of Law. 

19 (13) In 2014, Alabama State University re20 named its graduate school after Judge Murphy in 

21 recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. Ala22 bama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit 

23 Court of Appeals asked him to handle involving the 

24 vestiges of racial segregation then present in the 

25 Alabama University System. 


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HR 532 RFS

1 (14) Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving 

2 and devoted husband and father—and a strong role 

3 model. 

4 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION. 

5 The Federal building and United States courthouse 

6 located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, shall 

7 be known and designated as the ‘‘Harold L. Murphy Fed8 eral Building and United States Courthouse’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

10 Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 

11 paper, or other record of the United States to the Federal 

12 building and United States courthouse referred to in sec13 tion 2 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Harold 

14 L. Murphy Federal Building and United States Court15 house’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 11, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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