[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 9 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E71-E72]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO LESTER S. JAYSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 7, 2000

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late 
Lester S. Jayson, who passed away at the age of 84 on December 30, 
1999. Lester Jayson served the Congress faithfully for over 15 years, 
first as a Senior Specialist in American Public Law Division and Chief 
of the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service, 
then as Deputy Director of the Service and finally as the Service's 
Director from 1966 until his retirement in 1975. Mr. Jayson's 
distinguished record of public service also included an 18 year career 
in various capacities with the Department of Justice, including chief 
of the torts section of the Department's civil division.
  Lester Jayson served as CRS Director during the crucial period of the 
1970 Legislative Reorganization Act, which transformed CRS from its 
role as essentially a reference service to an analytical support arm of 
the Congress. This change was designed to provide Congress with the 
expertise it needed to effectively perform its legislative role. CRS 
became a source of objective non-partisan data analysis and information 
that was, and is, essential to the legislative process. Mr. Jayson's 
tenure as Director saw a doubling of the staff at CRS and the infusion 
of high level analytical expertise. His vision and leadership enabled 
that expertise to be put to use in the service of the Congress. When he 
retired in 1975, Lester Jayson left a transformed and potent 
Congressional Research Service. He laid the groundwork for the current 
infrastructure that provides close analytical support for Members and 
Committees.
  In 1936, Mr. Jayson graduated with honors from the College of the 
City of New York. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1939, he 
went into private practice. His public service began in 1942, when he 
served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General and continued 
through 18 years at the Department of Justice, which he left in 1960 to 
join CRS. Four years after joining CRS, Mr. Jayson wrote ``Federal Tort 
Claims: Administrative and Judicial Remedies, considered the preeminent 
source on federal torts, which he last updated in 1997. In 1964, he 
also was supervising editor of ``The Constitution of the United States 
of America: Analysis and Interpretation,'' published by the Government 
Printing Office.
  After retiring from CRS in 1975, Mr. Jayson was a professor of 
constitutional and American law at Potomac Law School. He continued to 
stay active in the Federal Bar Association, of which he was a past 
chairman of the federal tort claims committee. He was also active in 
the American Bar Association, the Cosmos Club, the Harvard Club of 
Washington, and American Friends of Wilton Park.
  Mr. Speaker, Lester Jayson was a man who was dedicated to public 
service and service to the United States Congress. This is his legacy, 
which we honor here today. To his wife Evelyn, his children Diane and 
Jill, his family, friends, and former colleagues, I extend our deepest 
sympathies.

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