House votes to name new Nashville courthouse after Fred Thompson

WASHINGTON — A bill naming the new federal courthouse in Nashville after former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson has cleared its first hurdle in Congress.

The House approved on a voice vote Tuesday the legislation formally naming the $194 million structure the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood. A companion bill by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, is pending in the Senate and could get a vote before the end of the year.

Thompson, who died last fall at age 73, represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 1994 to 2003. He mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for president in 2007, but dropped out of the race after failing to draw much interest in the early primaries.

Read more: http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/29/house-votes-name-new-nashville-courthouse-after-fred-thompson/94629628/