[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 80 (Thursday, June 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


SENATOR PAT THOMAS--DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN LEGISLATOR, GREAT FLORIDIAN, 
                           AND GREAT AMERICAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2000

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, today I pay 
tribute to Florida State Senator Pat Thomas. Pat was a genial, small-
town, citizen legislator with a big heart and a folksy touch, who 
served in the Florida Legislature for nearly 30 years. Sen. Thomas 
passed away yesterday, after a bout with cancer. He was 66.
  Senator Thomas leaves a legacy of integrity, loyalty, and good cheer. 
He was emblematic of an era when big-hearted, back-slapping country 
politicians were the rule rather than the exception.
  He was remembered by his colleague State Representative Al Lawson as 
an ``uncommon man who had the common touch. As a hero to his community, 
because he grew up there poor and knew what it was to have opportunity 
through education.''
  Pat began his political career as a teenager in the Future Farmers of 
America and was active in student politics at the University of 
Florida. Thomas became a power in the Florida Democratic Party during 
the heyday of the ``Pork Chop Gang'' of the early 1960s, and served as 
Party Chair from 1966-70. When I served in the Florida Senate from 
1982-1992, he was still a powerful force to be reckoned with. He served 
as Senate President in 1992 and again in 1994.
  Senator Thomas was equally at home in the tobacco barns of his native 
Gadsden County and fish fries of the campaign trail as he was in the 
back rooms and power suites of the Florida Capitol.
  But that is only part of Pat Thomas' legacy. He genuinely loved 
people and delivered the kinds of basic services that they needed--
roads, sewers, and education. He kept a black and white photograph in 
his office showing two small children in his district getting water 
from a creek. He once used that photo during debate to persuade the 
Legislature to extend water service to parts of Gadsden County that had 
not been served. That's the kind of person he was, always looking out 
for the ``little people.''
  History books will likely remember him for his major legislative 
accomplishments, what some derisively refer to as ``turkeys or pork.'' 
But, his major strength as a legislator was finessing a good deal, so 
it's no surprise that he himself considered local projects such as 
water towers and schools to be among his top achievements.
  Pat Thomas worked with great diligence in serving the best interests 
of his constituents and the people of Florida. But, above all, he was a 
fine gentleman whose good nature and passion for life and public 
service endeared him to so many.
  Mr. Speaker, few have achieved the success that Senator Pat Thomas 
has known in his profession. Few have achieved such universal respect 
and love. He was a compassionate giant who did common things, 
uncommonly well.
  Mary McLeod Bethune was fond of saying, ``service is the price that 
we pay for the space that God lets us occupy.'' Mr. Speaker, we have 
lost not only a great public servant, but a great Floridian and, 
indeed, a great American.

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