[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 139 (Thursday, October 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S12027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING JOSEPH JEFFERSON ``SHOELESS JOE'' JACKSON FOR HIS OUTSTANDING 
                        BASEBALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 289, which was submitted 
early today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 289) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that Joseph Jefferson ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson should 
     be appropriately honored for his outstanding baseball 
     accomplishments.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask that the Senate now proceed to a 
voice vote on adoption of the resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  The question is on agreeing to the resolution.
  The resolution (S. Res. 289) was agreed to.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 289

       Whereas Joseph Jefferson ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson, a native 
     of Greenville, South Carolina, and a local legend, began his 
     professional career and received his nickname while playing 
     baseball for the Greenville Spinners in 1908;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson moved to the Philadelphia 
     Athletics for his major league debut in 1908, to the 
     Cleveland Naps in 1910, and to the Chicago White Sox in 1915;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson's accomplishments 
     throughout his 13-year career in professional baseball were 
     outstanding--he was 1 of only 7 Major League Baseball players 
     to ever top the coveted mark of a .400 batting average for a 
     season, and he earned a lifetime batting average of .356, the 
     third highest of all time;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson's career record makes him 
     one of our Nation's top baseball players of all time;
       Whereas in 1919, the infamous ``Black Sox'' scandal erupted 
     when an employee of a New York gambler allegedly bribed 8 
     players of the Chicago White Sox, including Joseph Jefferson 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson, to lose the first and second games 
     of the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds;
       Whereas in September 1920, a criminal court acquitted 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson of the charge that he conspired to 
     lose the 1919 World Series;
       Whereas despite the acquittal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain 
     Landis, baseball's first commissioner, banned ``Shoeless 
     Joe'' Jackson from playing Major League Baseball for life 
     without conducting any investigation of Jackson's alleged 
     activities, issuing a summary punishment that fell far short 
     of due process standards;
       Whereas the evidence shows that Jackson did not 
     deliberately misplay during the 1919 World Series in an 
     attempt to make his team lose the World Series;
       Whereas during the 1919 World Series, Jackson's play was 
     outstanding--his batting average was .375 (the highest of any 
     player from either team), he set a World Series record with 
     12 hits, he committed no errors, and he hit the only home run 
     of the series;
       Whereas because of his lifetime ban from Major League 
     Baseball, ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson has been excluded from 
     consideration for admission to the Major League Baseball Hall 
     of Fame;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson died in 1951, after fully 
     serving his lifetime ban from baseball, and 85 years have 
     elapsed since the 1919 World Series scandal erupted;
       Whereas Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig took 
     an important first step toward restoring the reputation of 
     ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson by agreeing to investigate whether 
     he was involved in a conspiracy to alter the outcome of the 
     1919 World Series and whether he should be eligible for 
     inclusion in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame;
       Whereas it has been 6 years since Commissioner Selig 
     initiated his investigation of ``Shoeless Joe'', but there 
     has been no resolution;
       Whereas the Chicago White Sox are the 2005 American League 
     Champions, and will compete in the World Series for the first 
     time since 1959;
       Whereas ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson helped lead the Chicago 
     White Sox to their last World Series Championship in 1917; 
     and
       Whereas it is appropriate for Major League Baseball to 
     remove the taint upon the memory of ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson 
     and honor his outstanding baseball accomplishments: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that Joseph 
     Jefferson ``Shoeless Joe'' Jackson should be appropriately 
     honored for his outstanding baseball accomplishments.

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