madam speaker , i rise in strong support of h.r. 483 , a bill to honor two members of the united states judiciary .  the bill would designate the federal courthouse located in brownsville , texas as the reynaldo g. garza and the filemon b. vela united states courthouse .  i 'd like to recognize the gentleman from texas , congressman ortiz , for introducing this bill .  the gentleman introduced this same legislation in the 108th congress , which passed the house last september .  unfortunately , the other body did not act on that bill .  i am hopeful that with our passage of the bill today , the senate will take quick action on it .  these two jurists displayed the very finest in legal scholarship .  judges garza and vela have contributed several decades of legal excellence to the judicial system of the united states .  in addition , both these gentlemen have made substantial contributions , through extensive volunteer efforts , to the well being of their communities .  judge reynaldo garza was appointed by president kennedy to the federal bench and was the first hispanic federal judge .  after serving in the federal district court , judge garza was appointed to the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit .  he also served on the brownsville independent school board , the texas educational standards committee , and the select committee on higher education .  when judge garza was appointed to the fifth circuit , judge filemon vela succeeded him on the u.s. district court for the southern district of texas in brownsville .  judge vela had a history of service to the community of south texas .  he worked closely with the esperanza home for boys , and headed numerous local activities to encourage young people to stay in school .  he was an active member of the texas conference of churches and was former district chairman of the boys scouts of america .  judges garza and vela were active members in numerous civic organizations including the texas bar association , and the united states sentencing commission , brownsville rotary club , the latin american relations committee , and the brownsville chamber of commerce .  they were beloved and revered members of the mexican-american community , the judicial community , and the city of brownsville .  judges garza and vela were outstanding jurists and good friends .  this designation is a fitting tribute to their distinguished public and civic careers of two remarkable texans and i urge its adoption .  