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Friday, August 20, 2004

It's Now Domenici U.S. Courthouse

By Scott Sandlin
Journal Staff Writer
    The General Services Administration called it a "naming ceremony," but Thursday's christening of the federal courthouse in Albuquerque was really a Petefest.
    It had all the hallmarks of a party— a tent, cameras, free food, men and women in funny costumes.
    It had the celebratory buzz of a family reunion.
    Most of all, it had New Mexico's senior U.S. senator, Republican Pete V. Domenici, basking in the adulation as his name was unveiled above the $56.8 million courthouse's entrance.
    Domenici's three sisters, his wife, Nancy, and some of his children and grandchildren got front-row seats for the 45-minute event.
    Members of old-time Italian-American merchant families who helped build downtown Albuquerque, and whose lives often intertwined at St. Mary's High School, showed up to celebrate one of their own.
    There was also a sizable contingent from the state's judiciary.
    From Metro Court judges to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the featured speaker, the focus was on Domenici's contributions to the judiciary, starting with his work as an attorney before his election to the Senate.
    Domenici used his clout as Senate Budget Committee chair to get not only money for the courthouse construction, completed in 1998, but also to fund new judgeships.
    Scalia, the high court's lightning rod, was all charm and no controversy with his capsule history of the federal judiciary in New Mexico and an appreciation of fishing in the San Juan, which he sampled a week ago.
    Where Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan quoted the Roman orator Cicero on justice in the invocation, Domenici's remarks displayed partiality to American statesman Daniel Webster, who called justice the "ligament that holds civilized societies together."
    Courthouses, Domenici said, represent "the core of what makes America what it is.
    "America is a nation of freedoms, liberties and fundamental rights. Judges in courthouses throughout our country protect these rights by delivering justice," he said.
    As the plastic sheet came down to reveal the silvery metal lettering of the Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse, the senator quipped, "Let me congratulate the GSA. You did spell my name right."