[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 294 Engrossed in House (EH)]

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                             H. J. RES. 294

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION

 To express appreciation to W. Graham Claytor, Jr., for a lifetime of 
             dedicated and inspired service to the Nation.



                                     


103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 294

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 To express appreciation to W. Graham Claytor, Jr., for a lifetime of 
             dedicated and inspired service to the Nation.

Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., has announced his retirement at age 81 from the 
        National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, where 
        he has served as President and Chairman of the Board since 1982;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., has provided remarkable, energetic, inspired, 
        and at times heroic service to the Nation during a career that has 
        included service in the United States Navy, a brilliant legal career, 
        leadership of one of the Nation's largest private railroads, service as 
        Secretary of the Navy, Acting Secretary of Transportation, and Deputy 
        Secretary of Defense, and stewardship of Amtrak during a period that 
        witnessed the rebirth of the Nation's passenger rail system;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., has brought to his work enormous intellectual 
        and analytical skills developed at the University of Virginia, where he 
        received his bachelor's degree in 1933, and Harvard Law School, where he 
        graduated in 1936 summa cum laude and as President of the Harvard Law 
        Review;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., worked as a law clerk for two of the finest and 
        most brilliant jurists in this Nation's history, Judge Learned Hand of 
        the United States Court of Appeals for the Second District in 1936-1937, 
        and Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis in 1937-1938, and later as 
        an associate and partner at the law firm of Covington & Burling;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., served his Nation during World War II, advancing 
        in the United States Navy from ensign to lieutenant commander, and held 
        commands of the U.S.S. SC-516, the U.S.S. Lee Fox, and the U.S.S. Cecil 
        J. Doyle;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., is credited with having saved almost 100 
        survivors of the sinking heavy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis, which had 
        been torpedoed in shark-infested waters in the Pacific, by decisively 
        changing the course of his ship, the U.S.S. Doyle, to rescue the 
        survivors hours before receiving orders to take part in the rescue;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., retired in 1977 as Chairman and Chief Executive 
        Officer of Southern Railways, where he also had served as Vice President 
        of Law and President, and was responsible for revamping the 
        corporation's management style, planning, and long-term focus, and for 
        making the railroad one of the largest and most successful in the 
        Nation;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., brought his experience as a decisive Naval 
        officer and premier corporate manager to bear on the challenge of 
        shaping a strong, versatile, modern Navy through his appointment by 
        President Jimmy Carter and confirmation by the Senate in 1977 as 
        Secretary of the Navy, and on the challenge of providing for a strong 
        defense within mounting budgetary constraints in 1979 as Deputy 
        Secretary of Defense, as well as serving as Acting Secretary of 
        Transportation;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., was appointed President and Chairman of the 
        Board of Amtrak in 1982 at the age of 71, and is directly responsible 
        for the dramatic improvement in the economics, quality, and 
        marketability of rail passenger service that has occurred over the last 
        decade, and in the resurgence of demand for Amtrak service as a means of 
        addressing growing highway and airport congestion across the Nation;
Whereas the vision of leadership of W. Graham Claytor, Jr., is responsible for 
        having enabled Amtrak and Congress to withstand zealous attempts to 
        eliminate the Nation's rail passenger system by demanding of his 
        corporation that Amtrak operate as a private business with strict 
        attention to the bottom line and to improvements in efficiency and 
        quality of service, and by engineering a substantial reduction in the 
        corporation's revenue-to-cost ratio and in level of Federal support 
        required to operate the system;
Whereas W. Graham Claytor, Jr., has positioned Amtrak to be the Nation's leader 
        in the development of high-speed rail for the next century and has 
        overseen development of the Northeast Corridor as the Nation's premier 
        rail passenger line and a model for high-speed operations across the 
        country; and
Whereas the retirement of W. Graham Claytor, Jr., will mean the loss of one of 
        the Nation's most knowledgeable, inspiring, and persuasive voices in 
        government service and of a close, personal friend to many in Congress, 
        the Government, and business: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress recognizes 
the critical role of Amtrak in the Nation's transportation system, and 
that the Nation profoundly thanks W. Graham Claytor, Jr., for a 
lifetime of dedication and superb service to this Nation, for his 
willingness to assume major new public challenges at a time when his 
peers had long ago retired, for his ability to profoundly change the 
course of events, from the lives of the sailors of the U.S.S. 
Indianapolis to the preservation of national rail passenger service, 
and for his brilliant stewardship of Amtrak over the past decade.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 19, 1993.

            Attest:






                                                                 Clerk.