[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 10, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S8949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 267--HONORING THE LIFE OF RENOWNED PAINTER AND WRITER 
 TOM LEA ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH AND COMMENDING THE CITY 
       OF EL PASO FOR RECOGNIZING JULY 2007 AS ``TOM LEA MONTH''

  Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Bingaman) submitted 
the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 267

       Whereas Tom Lea was born on July 11, 1907 in El Paso, 
     Texas;
       Whereas Tom Lea attended El Paso public schools before 
     continuing his education at the Art Institute of Chicago and 
     working as an apprentice to muralist John Warner Norton;
       Whereas Tom Lea painted Texas Centennial murals at the 
     Dallas State Fairgrounds Hall of State in 1936;
       Whereas Tom Lea won many commissions for murals from the 
     Section of Fine Arts of the Department of the Treasury, 
     including commissions for ``The Nesters'' at the Benjamin 
     Franklin Post Office in Washington, D.C.; ``Pass of the 
     North'' at the Federal Courthouse in El Paso, Texas; 
     ``Stampede'' at the Post Office in Odessa, Texas; 
     ``Comancheros'' at the Post Office in Seymour, Texas; and 
     ``Back Home, April 1865'' at the Post Office in Pleasant 
     Hill, Missouri;
       Whereas Tom Lea was an accredited World War II artist 
     correspondent for Life magazine who traveled over 100,000 
     miles with United States military forces and reported from 
     places such as the North Atlantic, China, and on board the 
     Hornet in the South Pacific;
       Whereas Tom Lea landed with the First Marines at Peleliu;
       Whereas many of the war paintings of Tom Lea are displayed 
     at the United States Army Center for Military History in 
     Washington, D.C. and others have been loaned to exhibitions 
     worldwide;
       Whereas Texas A&M University Press plans to publish the war 
     diaries of Tom Lea in 2008;
       Whereas Tom Lea wrote and illustrated 4 novels and 2 
     nonfiction works, including The Brave Bulls (1948) and The 
     Wonderful Country (1952), both of which were adapted as 
     screenplays for motion pictures, and a 2-volume annotated 
     history of the King Ranch;
       Whereas Tom Lea excelled at painting portraits for public 
     buildings in Washington, D.C. and at capturing the likenesses 
     of individuals as diverse as Sam Rayburn, Benito Juarez, 
     Claire Chennault, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, and the bullfighter 
     Manolete;
       Whereas Tom Lea was honored with numerous awards, including 
     the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the United 
     States Marine Corps' Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award, and 
     the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Great 
     Westerners Award;
       Whereas the paintings of Tom Lea hang in the Oval Office of 
     the White House, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the 
     United States Army Center for Military History, the Dallas 
     Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of Art, the University of 
     Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M University, and the University of 
     Texas at Austin;
       Whereas Tom Lea enjoyed living on the east side of Mount 
     Franklin in El Paso because it was the ``side to see the day 
     that is coming, not the side to see the day that is gone''; 
     and
       Whereas Tom Lea lived on the east side of Mount Franklin 
     with his wife, Sarah, until he died on January 29, 2001: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the life and accomplishments of Tom Lea on the 
     100th anniversary of his birth; and
       (2) commends the City of El Paso, Texas for recognizing 
     July 2007 as ``Tom Lea Month''.

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