[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S5401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SENATE RESOLUTION 182--HONORING THE LIFE OF JACK VALENTI

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. 
Boxer, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Kerry, Ms. 
Stabenow, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. 
Coleman) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 182

       Whereas Jack Valenti was born September 5, 1921, in 
     Houston, Texas, the grandson of Sicilian immigrants, Joe and 
     Josephine Valenti, and was the youngest high school graduate 
     in the city at age 15;
       Whereas Jack Valenti married his beloved Mary Margaret in 
     1962, with whom he had 3 children, John, Alexandra, and 
     Courtenay;
       Whereas Jack Valenti joined the United States Army Air 
     Forces in 1942 and flew 51 combat missions as a pilot of a B-
     25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force in Italy during 
     World War II, obtained the rank of lieutenant, and received 4 
     decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the 
     Air Medal with 4 clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citation 
     with one cluster, and the European Theater Ribbon with 4 
     battle stars;
       Whereas Jack Valenti received a B.A. degree from the 
     University of Houston in 1946 after doing all of his 
     undergraduate work at night and working during the day, and 
     became the first University of Houston graduate to be 
     admitted to Harvard Business School, receiving an M.B.A. 
     degree in 1948;
       Whereas, in 1952, Jack Valenti cofounded Weekley and 
     Valenti, an advertising and political consulting agency that 
     worked on Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential campaign in 
     Texas, Representative Albert Thomas's run for Congress, and 
     John Connally's campaign for Governor of Texas;
       Whereas Jack Valenti met then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon 
     B. Johnson in 1957, the two became close friends, and Valenti 
     worked on Lyndon Johnson's presidential campaign during the 
     primaries of 1960;
       Whereas Weekley and Valenti handled press during President 
     John F. Kennedy's and Vice President Lyndon Johnson's fateful 
     trip to Dallas, Texas, in November 1963;
       Whereas Jack Valenti became the first special assistant 
     hired when Lyndon Johnson ascended to the Presidency;
       Whereas Jack Valenti resigned his White House post in 1966 
     and went on to serve as the president of the Motion Picture 
     Association of America (MPAA) for the next 38 years;
       Whereas Jack Valenti, as president of the MPAA, created the 
     voluntary film rating system that is still in place today, 
     which provides parents with advance information they can use 
     to determine which movies are appropriate for their children;
       Whereas Jack Valenti's persona and skill combined to give 
     the motion picture industry a strong and enduring presence in 
     the Nation's capital, which grew year by year during his 
     nearly 4 decade tenure at the MPAA;
       Whereas Jack Valenti presided over a worldwide change in 
     the motion picture industry, ushered movies into the digital 
     era, championed artists' rights, and condemned intellectual 
     property theft;
       Whereas Jack Valenti authored 5 books, including ``A Very 
     Human President'', ``Protect and Defend'', ``The Bitter Taste 
     Of Glory'', ``Speak Up With Confidence'', and, his most 
     recent, ``This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White 
     House, and Hollywood'', and wrote numerous essays for the New 
     York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, 
     Reader's Digest, Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, Cox newspapers, 
     and other publications;
       Whereas Jack Valenti was awarded with France's highly-
     prized Legion d'Honneur, the French Legion of Honor, and has 
     been honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; 
     and
       Whereas Jack Valenti will be remembered as a dedicated 
     family man, a philanthropist, a voice for copyright owners, a 
     true visionary whose devotion, intelligence, creativity, and 
     wisdom transformed the film industry, and as Hollywood's 
     ultimate leading man: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate honors the life of Jack Valenti, 
     a pioneer in the fields of motion pictures and public 
     service, a dedicated family man, and a legendary figure in 
     the history of the United States.

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