[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    U.S. ATTORNEY GEORGE L. PHILLIPS

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, George Phillips, the U.S. attorney for 
the Southern District of Mississippi, is the senior U.S. attorney in 
the Nation. When he steps down as U.S. attorney, he will have served 
longer in that office than anyone else who is now a U.S. attorney.
  He was named acting U.S. attorney in June 1980, and received his 
appointment by President Reagan on my recommendation on October 8, 
1981. He has served with great distinction, and I congratulate him on 
his outstanding record of service.
  Mr. Phillips was born in Fulton, Ms, in 1949. He graduated with 
honors in 1971 from the University of Southern Mississippi. After 
earning a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law 
in 1973, he practiced law in Hattiesburg, MS. He was twice elected 
Forrest County prosecuting attorney.
  George Phillips has been particularly effective in forging 
cooperation among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.
  The Blue Lightning Task Force, which has been very successful in 
bringing big time drug smuggling to justice is evidence of his 
leadership efforts to coordinate law enforcement along the Gulf Coast.
  During his career, George Phillips has won the respect and 
appreciation of law enforcement officials and the general public for 
his conscientious and effective prosecutions. He has received many 
special awards, including the U.S. Attorney General's Award for 
Excellence in Law Enforcement Cooperation, and the Man of the Year 
Award presented by the University of Southern Mississippi's Criminal 
Justice Association. He has also been cited for special commendation by 
the Mississippi Chiefs of Police and the Mississippi Sheriffs 
Association.
  He is one of only two U.S. attorneys to have served two terms on the 
U.S. Attorney General's Advisory Committee, and he has been chairman of 
the Investigative Agencies Subcommittee on this advisory panel. He is 
especially proud to have been elected recently as president of the 
Mississippi Quarter Horse Association.
  As further evidence of the excellent reputation he as earned, I ask 
unanimous consent to include in the Record an editorial dated August 
31, 1994, printed in the Jackson, MS, Clarion Ledger, entitled ``George 
Phillips: Leaves Legacy of Tough Prosecutions.''
  There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          George Phillips: Leaves Legacy of Tough Prosecutions

       A new candidate for U.S. Attorney for the Southern District 
     has been selected, with Jackson lawyer Brad Pigott getting 
     the nod. Pigott is a good candidate.
       But, he will have some big shoes to fill following the 
     current officeholder, U.S. Attorney George Phillips.
       Phillips, who has served in the post since 1980, leaves a 
     legacy of tough prosecutions, from unflinchingly prosecuting 
     drug lords to nabbing heavy-weight politicians.
       At times, his drug lord prosecutions were so tense that 
     federal agents had to be stationed with machine guns atop the 
     federal courthouse.
       But, his most sterling success must be the record arising 
     from the FBI's ``Operation Pretense'' probe that led to 
     charges against 57 county supervisors in 25 counties.
       The result of those investigations, in which informants 
     posed as equipment salesmen to catch local county supervisors 
     accepting kickbacks, was to usher in the unit system of 
     government in about half of Mississippi's counties.
       Phillips put the fear of the federal government in the 
     ``good ol' boy'' power structure in Mississippi.
       Perhaps the most sensational case under Phillips' watch was 
     the extortion conviction of former state Sen. Tommy Brooks of 
     Carthage.
       The powerful Senate president pro tem was caught red-handed 
     by federal agents accepting $15,000 in a brown paper bag as 
     part of a $50,000 influence-peddling scheme involving horse 
     racing proposals for Mississippi.
       The late senator was convicted in 1985 in a trial that 
     exposed the underbelly of Mississippi politics.
       If confirmed by the Senate, Pigott has some large shoes to 
     fill, indeed. The U.S. attorney's job, as Phillips has 
     defined it, requires someone of unflinching belief in justice 
     who refuses to be intimidated by the most powerful drug lords 
     or most influential politicians, someone who will pursue 
     white-collar criminals as zealously as the most odious of the 
     common criminal element.
       Phillips can leave the U.S. attorney's office with pride--
     and with the law-abiding public's heartfelt appreciation.

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, will the Senator from Iowa yield me 4 
minutes?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield, without losing my right to the floor, to the 
Senator from Oklahoma.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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