[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 58 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 58

Commending the Honorable Howard Henry Baker, Jr., formerly a Senator of 
          Tennessee, for a lifetime of distinguished service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2005

Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Reid, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Cochran, 
   Mr. Stevens, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Lugar) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Commending the Honorable Howard Henry Baker, Jr., formerly a Senator of 
          Tennessee, for a lifetime of distinguished service.

Whereas Howard Henry Baker, Jr., son of Howard Henry Baker and Dora Ladd Baker, 
        was heir to a distinguished political tradition, his father serving as a 
        Member of Congress from 1951 until his death in 1964, his stepmother 
        Irene Baker succeeding Howard Baker, Sr. in the House of 
        Representatives, and his grandmother Lillie Ladd Mauser having served as 
        Sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as an officer in the United 
        States Navy in the closing months of World War II;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee 
        Law School in Knoxville where, during his final year (1948-1949), he 
        served as student body president;
Whereas after graduation from law school Howard Baker, Jr. joined the law firm 
        founded by his grandfather in Huntsville, Tennessee, where he won 
        distinction as a trial and corporate attorney, as a businessman, and as 
        an active member of his community;
Whereas during his father's first term in Congress, Howard Baker, Jr. met and 
        married Joy Dirksen, daughter of Everett McKinley Dirksen, a Senator of 
        Illinois, in December 1951, which marriage produced a son, Darek, in 
        1953, and a daughter, Cynthia, in 1956;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was elected to the Senate in 1966, becoming the first 
        popularly elected Republican Senator in the history of the State of 
        Tennessee;
Whereas during three terms in the Senate, Howard Baker, Jr. played a key role in 
        a range of legislative initiatives, from fair housing to equal voting 
        rights, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, revenue sharing, the Senate 
        investigation of the Watergate scandal, the ratification of the Panama 
        Canal treaties, the enactment of the economic policies of President 
        Ronald Reagan, national energy policy, televising the Senate, and more;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as both Republican Leader of the Senate (1977-
        1981) and Majority Leader of the Senate (1981-1985);
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was a candidate for the Presidency in 1980;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as White House Chief of Staff during the 
        Presidency of Ronald Reagan;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as a member of the President's Foreign 
        Intelligence Advisory Board during the Presidencies of Ronald Reagan and 
        George H.W. Bush;
Whereas following the death of Joy Dirksen Baker, Howard Baker, Jr. married 
        Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a former Senator of Kansas;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as Ambassador of the United 
        States to Japan during the Presidency of George W. Bush and during the 
        150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between 
        the United States and Japan;
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest 
        civilian award; and
Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. set a standard of civility, courage, constructive 
        compromise, good will, and wisdom that serves as an example for all who 
        follow him in public service: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate commends its former colleague, the Honorable 
Howard Henry Baker, Jr., for a lifetime of distinguished service to the country 
and confers upon him the thanks of a grateful Nation.
                                 <all>