[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1679-S1680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 58--COMMENDING THE HONORABLE HOWARD HENRY BAKER, JR., 
   FORMERLY A SENATOR OF TENNESSEE, FOR A LIFETIME OF DISTINGUISHED 
                                SERVICE

  Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Reid, Mr. Alexander, Mr. 
Cochran, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Warner, and Mr. 
Lugar) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                               S. Res. 58

       Whereas Howard Henry Baker, Jr., son of Howard Henry Baker 
     and Dora Ladd Baker, was heir to a distinguished political 
     tradition, his father serving as a Member of Congress from 
     1951 until his death in 1964, his stepmother Irene Baker 
     succeeding Howard Baker, Sr. in the House of Representatives, 
     and his grandmother Lillie Ladd Mauser having served as 
     Sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as an 
     officer in the United States Navy in the closing months of 
     World War II;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. earned a law degree from the 
     University of Tennessee Law School in Knoxville where, during 
     his final year (1948-1949), he served as student body 
     president;
       Whereas after graduation from law school Howard Baker, Jr. 
     joined the law firm founded by his grandfather in Huntsville, 
     Tennessee, where he won distinction as a trial and corporate 
     attorney, as a businessman, and as an active member of his 
     community;
       Whereas during his father's first term in Congress, Howard 
     Baker, Jr. met and married Joy Dirksen, daughter of Everett 
     McKinley Dirksen, a Senator of Illinois, in December 1951, 
     which marriage produced a son, Darek, in 1953, and a 
     daughter, Cynthia, in 1956;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was elected to the Senate in 
     1966, becoming the first popularly elected Republican Senator 
     in the history of the State of Tennessee;
       Whereas during three terms in the Senate, Howard Baker, Jr. 
     played a key role in a range of legislative initiatives, from 
     fair housing to equal voting rights, the Clean Air and Clean 
     Water Acts, revenue sharing, the Senate investigation of the 
     Watergate scandal, the ratification of the Panama Canal 
     treaties, the enactment of the economic policies of President 
     Ronald Reagan, national energy policy, televising the Senate, 
     and more;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as both Republican Leader 
     of the Senate (1977-1981) and Majority Leader of the Senate 
     (1981-1985);
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was a candidate for the 
     Presidency in 1980;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as White House Chief of 
     Staff during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as a member of the 
     President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during the 
     Presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush;
       Whereas following the death of Joy Dirksen Baker, Howard 
     Baker, Jr. married Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a former Senator 
     of Kansas;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as 
     Ambassador of the United States to Japan during the 
     Presidency of George W. Bush and during the 150th anniversary 
     of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the 
     United States and Japan;
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Freedom, 
     the Nation's highest civilian award; and
       Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. set a standard of civility, 
     courage, constructive compromise, good will, and wisdom that 
     serves as an example for all who follow him in public 
     service: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate commends its former colleague, 
     the Honorable Howard Henry Baker, Jr., for a lifetime of 
     distinguished service to the country and confers upon him the 
     thanks of a grateful Nation.

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