[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 229 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 229

  Relative to the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran, former 
          United States Senator for the State of Mississippi.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2019

 Mr. Wicker (for himself and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Relative to the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran, former 
          United States Senator for the State of Mississippi.

Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, in 
        1937;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran graduated from Byram High School in 
        Hinds County, Mississippi, as valedictorian, an Eagle Scout, a member of 
        4-H, and a student athlete;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran studied at the University of 
        Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi;
Whereas, while a student at the University of Mississippi, the Honorable William 
        Thad Cochran was president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, vice president 
        of the student body, company commander in the Navy Reserve Officers' 
        Training Corps, and head cheerleader;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was commissioned an Ensign in the 
        United States Naval Reserve, served aboard the USS MACON from 1959 to 
        1961, served on staff of the Commandant of the Eighth Naval District in 
        New Orleans, Louisiana, taught military law and naval orientation at the 
        Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1962 to 1964, 
        and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the United States Naval 
        Reserve;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran studied at the University of 
        Mississippi School of Law in Oxford, Mississippi, and at Trinity 
        College, University of Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland, on a Rotary 
        Foundation Graduate Fellowship;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran joined the law firm of Watkins & 
        Eager in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, was made a partner at that firm 
        in less than 3 years, and served as chairman of the Mississippi Law 
        Institute, lawyers' chairman for the Heart Fund and United Givers Fund, 
        president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar 
        Association, a board member of the Jackson Rotary Club, and chairman of 
        the Legal Services program of the Jackson Junior Bar;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was elected to the House of 
        Representatives to represent the Fourth District of Mississippi in 1972, 
        and was reelected in 1974 and 1976;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was elected to the Senate in 1978, 
        becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide 
        election in the State of Mississippi, and was reelected in 1984, 1990, 
        1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014, with a total period of service lasting from 
        December 27, 1978, to April 1, 2018;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chair of the Senate 
        Republican Conference from 1991 to 1997;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chairman of the Committee 
        on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate from 2003 to 2005;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran served as Chairman of the Committee 
        on Appropriations of the Senate from 2005 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2018;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran championed education programs, 
        including programs to increase educational achievement among 
        disadvantaged children, particularly in rural areas, to build the 
        research capabilities of universities, and to support Historically Black 
        Colleges and Universities;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran worked to strengthen the Armed Forces 
        by supporting shipbuilding programs for the Navy, the Marine Corps, the 
        Coast Guard, and other critical Federal organizations and the military 
        bases and installations in the State of Mississippi and across the 
        United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was the chief sponsor of the National 
        Missile Defense Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-38; 113 Stat. 205), which 
        made the United States exponentially safer by creating the missile 
        defense system used by the United States as of June 2019;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was a leader in agriculture and 
        worked to promote United States agricultural innovation around the world 
        through the development of the Cochran Fellowship Program of the 
        Department of Agriculture, which trains fellows from middle-income 
        countries to strengthen and enhance trade linkages between the countries 
        of the fellows and agricultural interests in the United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran led the effort to provide critical 
        Federal assistance to the State of Mississippi and other Gulf Coast 
        States devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the worst natural 
        disaster in the history of the United States;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was a devoted father, grandfather, 
        and husband;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was awarded honorary degrees from 
        Kentucky Wesleyan College, Mississippi College, Blue Mountain College, 
        the University of Richmond, Belhaven University, and Tougaloo College;
Whereas the Honorable William Thad Cochran was recognized as the tenth-longest 
        serving Senator in the history of the United States;
Whereas the service of the Honorable William Thad Cochran on behalf of the 
        people of the State of Mississippi and all people of the United States 
        earned the Honorable William Thad Cochran the respect and devotion of 
        colleagues and the title ``the Quiet Persuader''; and
Whereas the death of the Honorable William Thad Cochran has deprived the State 
        of Mississippi and the United States of one of the most distinguished 
        statesmen: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the 
        announcement of the death of the Honorable William Thad 
        Cochran, former Senator for the State of Mississippi; and
            (2) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the 
        Senate--
                    (A) communicate this resolution to the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to 
                the family of the Honorable William Thad Cochran.
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