[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 140 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE HONORABLE H. EMORY WIDENER, JR.

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, today I have a heavy heart. It is 
with great regret that I share with the Senate that the Honorable H. 
Emory Widener, Jr.--one of our country's extraordinary jurists, an 
exceptional Virginian, and a good friend--has passed away. For 38 
years, he served our Nation and Virginia as a member of the Federal 
judiciary.
  Our Nation has lost one of its finest jurists, someone who was 
universally admired for his dedication to the Constitution, to the laws 
passed by the Congress and subsequently enacted, and to the impartial 
treatment of those who appeared before him.
  Emory Widener started his career in public service by entering the 
Naval Academy in Annapolis. Responding to the call of duty, he served 
as an officer in the final year of World War II. He later served in the 
Korean war and received an honorable discharge in 1958. Following 2 
years in the Naval Reserves, he began law school at Washington and Lee 
University, and upon graduation he returned to that region of Virginia 
which he loved so dearly, southwest Virginia, to enter private practice 
in Bristol.
  In 1969, Emory Widener was nominated for a lifetime appointment to 
the Federal court as a U.S. district judge for the Western District of 
Virginia and was promptly confirmed by the Senate. After an unusually 
brief period of time, only 2 years, he became the chief judge of this 
Federal court. In 1972, he was nominated for a seat on the Fourth 
Circuit and again received an expedient confirmation by the Senate.
  By his extraordinarily well written opinions, Judge Widener became a 
legend on the Fourth Circuit. Judge Widener's exemplary judgment and 
integrity were profound assets to this important court, and I always 
have had a deep admiration and respect for this magnificent man and 
jurist. He was a legal giant in Virginia, a legal giant in America's 
Federal courts, and his service as a jurist should be a model for 
others.
  Without question, southwest Virginia has lost one of its dearest 
friends. Yet the region can everlastingly point with great pride and 
admiration to the achievements of one of its greatest sons. He will be 
missed not only in Abingdon, VA, where his kept his office, but also by 
he fellow jurists, those who practiced before him, and throughout the 
Commonwealth and the Nation.
  We all join in extending our deepest sympathies to his family and his 
friends as they mourn his passing.

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