[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 115 (Thursday, September 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6801-H6802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN MEMORY OF FORMER MISSISSIPPI REPRESENTATIVE FRANK SMITH

  (Mr. WICKER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from the Second District of 
Mississippi and I have the sad duty this morning to report the death of 
one of our former House Members from Mississippi, Frank Ellis Smith, 
who served

[[Page H6802]]

capably for 6 terms in the House of Representatives and died on August 
2 in Jackson, MS, at the age of 79.
  After fighting in the European Theater during World War II, Frank 
Smith returned to his hometown of Greenwood to become managing editor 
of the Greenwood Morning Star. Two years later in 1947 he was elected 
to the Mississippi Senate, and shortly afterward he came to Washington 
to serve on the staff of Senator John C. Stennis.
  He was elected to Congress in 1950 and served until 1962. During that 
time he was a leader in efforts to bring economic development to the 
South, serving as president of the Lower Mississippi Valley Flood 
Control Association. From 1955 to 1962, he was a member of the North 
American Treaty Organization Parliamentary Committee.
  In retirement, Representative Smith served as a visiting professor of 
public policy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 
and was later special assistant to Mississippi Governor William Winter 
from 1980 to 1983. He was the only Mississippian ever to serve on the 
board of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
  Representative Smith was the author of six books and edited other 
publications. He operated a well-known bookstore in Jackson for many 
years. He is survived by his wife Helen, a son, a daughter, and 3 
grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, during his exemplary career Frank Smith made his mark on 
the Mississippi political scene as a legislator who took care of his 
constituents, voted his convictions, and worked to improve economic 
opportunities for his State and Nation.

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